ICE (The Benders Series) (18 page)

Kenna knew, however, that seeing him was not an option in her father’s mind. If she were honest with herself, she thought it was a possibility that he might kill Jon if he came near her again. And then what? Having her dad locked away for life wasn’t a good option either.

Kenna’s cries began to fade as she started to devise several plans for reuniting with the Colewell, at least one more time. She’d have to be stealthy, she’d have to be quick. She’d have to be more crafty and more devious than ever before.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Shopping.

Kenna noticed that the house was running low on food and that surely her father would have to head up the highway to restock the empty shelves. Three days had passed since she came home on that dreadfully eventful night. Since then, she’d had no contact with Jon or Bryce. Britney had somehow retrieved her phone and dropped it off, but her father had taken the device captive.

His trust in her had all together fled. And if he’d been stalking her in the past, now things had reached a whole new level. There was no talk of going out to the park or for a walk or to Britney’s house. The man wouldn’t even let Kenna return to school, not until she’d at least physically healed.

Kenna supposed that she understood his suspicious. During their heated discussion in her room, she had admitted to the man that she loved Jon. And that fact had to scare him. But despite the confession, he managed to hold tight to his convictions. Kenna was not to go near Jon, not ever again, no matter how much she pleaded, no matter how much she ‘loved’ him, she was to stay away.

Or at least stay away to her father’s knowledge. As the days passed, Kenna became more intent on seeing Jon again. She had to straighten things out. She could just leave things the way they were. The guilt she held onto was overwhelming, and the hurt was almost unbearable. She needed some kind of relief, she needed to know how he felt. So, unfortunately, she’d have to do everything in her power to get her father out of the house, at least for an hour.

When she first came down that morning, she knew it was the right time to act.

“We’re out of eggs,” she noted out loud as her dad sat at the breakfast table.

“Can I make you waffles?” he suggested.

“Well, I was in the mood for eggs,” she said as she walked over to the kitchen counter where the bread normally sat. “And I guess no toast either,” Kenna added with irritation.

The man sighed, “I suppose I will need to head to the store this afternoon.” Kenna smiled internally, pleased that her plan was working. “But you’ll have to come with me. I can’t leave you here alone just yet.”

Her internal smile quickly faded into a scowl. “Dad, I don’t want to go out in public like this,” she pleaded. “I’m not ready.”

“Then we can wait til you are ready, and we can eat whatever is lying around,” he retorted quickly.

Kenna shook her head. She needed another excuse. “No, Dad. I need some… feminine stuff… I’m all out… and chocolate, lots of chocolate.”

“You have your period?” her father asked nonchalantly. The question, of course, resulted in Kenna giving him quite an impressive glare.

“No, I need tampons for a school project, Dad. Not because I have my period,” she replied sarcastically.

She could see that he was also trying to think of a way out of the situation. “I could go to the gas station,” he suggested.

“Dad!” she hollered. “I need the good brand. Do you know what kind of chaffing I’ll have if I use the gas station crap!” She could see that he was growing increasingly uncomfortable. The observation caused her to add, “Dad, I need tampons, badly, okay? I’m going to FREAKIN bleed everywhere if I don’t get some soon. I only have two left!”

The man seemed convinced as he let out yet another sigh. “Fine. But I’m taking your keys with me,” he shot back. And I’ll be back in an hour. Don’t even think about trying to get out to see that Colewell kid.”

Kenna folded her arms across her chest. “Just get me the tampons please. I don’t care if you take the stupid keys.” It was difficult for her to maintain the charade. Honestly, she had no idea how she would reach the Colewell with no phone and no car.

He gave a stern nod, finished his coffee, and headed out shortly after her statement, leaving Kenna about one hour to make her move.

Yet, the girl simply stood there, contemplating how she could possibly reach Jon with no phone and no vehicle. As she stood there, paralyzed with thought, an idea struck her. Last time that she didn’t have a phone, she was able to borrow Britney’s.  Although her friend was at school, there was a chance that her old, decrepit Buick was sitting in the parking lot…with the keys inside.

Yes, Bertha was her only shot at reaching the Colewell.

With her plan devised, Kenna shot through the front door and began a very urgent-paced walk towards the school. In a matter of minutes, she’d reached the parking lot, and to her luck, there sat her friend’s vehicle!

“Sorry about this, Britney,” she whispered to herself, “but I’ll have Bertha back before you knew she was gone.”

Kenna then lunged into the vehicle and seized the keys that were sitting on the armrest. Knowing that she had no time to second guess her thievery, she started the engine and pulled swiftly away.

“I’ll be back in half an hour,” Kenna reminded herself. “No one will know.”

Racing the clock, the girl sped her way to the Colewell residence, a place that she knew might be even less inviting than ever before.

Breathing fast, she closed the door of the Buick and sprinted towards the front door, but it flung open as she approached the front stairs.

“What are you doing here?” Mrs. Colewell asked with a sneer, her arms folded and her glare as hostile as could be imagined. “Don’t you think enough damage has been done?”

Kenna swallowed hard. It was difficult for her to hear such a statement. The girl hadn’t thought much about what she would say to Jon or his family. She had no excuses and was filled with an intense shame. “Maybe,” she choked back. “I just… I need to know if everyone is okay…”

“Everyone? You mean including Bryce who you practically left for dead?” she shot back with a snap of her fingers.

Kenna could feel her eyes beginning to tear. “Yes,” she answered honestly, the fact just as difficult to admit out loud as it was to internally bare. “Just five minutes? Then I’ll go. I swear.”

The woman gave her a skeptical look, and Kenna knew Mrs. Colewell had no intention of letting her into the house.

“Let her in, Mom.” It was Bryce’s voice. Somehow he was always there at just the right time.

The woman turned and frowned, but when she flipped back around to Kenna, she proceeded to step aside and indicate that Kenna could go in. When the girl first walked through the doors, she saw a badly beaten but smiling Bryce. A hand shot immediately over her open mouth as she looked in shock.

Both of his once joyous blue eyes had been punched and sunken in. Dark purple, splotched bruising surrounded both of the orbs and faded into dark yellow coloring. The bridge of his nose was even yellow, indicating that the bruising had at one point spread there as well.

His bottom lip had been severed directly down the center. And apparently no amount of healing water power had been able to rejoin the split. There appeared to be three faded scratch marks on his lower left cheek, and the opposite side of his jaw appeared swollen making his face appear somewhat lopsided.

And that was just what she could see. She hated to think what could have been hiding underneath his clothes.

Yet, Bryce wore a smile, a large friendly smile.

Seeing her horrified expression, he added, “Doesn’t even hurt.” He proceeded to approach Kenna and give her a light hug. “I’ll be fine. Are you hanging in there?”

Kenna couldn’t believe how kind and selfless he was being. It made her feel even more guilty as tears rushed to her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Bryce,” she said in a half-whisper as her hand once again covered her mouth.

He shook his head. “I’m fine. Glad to see you are okay. Jon is in the living room on the couch.” Kenna nodded, but as she began to walk towards the other room, Bryce added, “He’s in tough shape. Just a heads up.”

She stopped in her tracks.
Tough shape?
She thought. If Bryce was ‘fine’ she couldn’t imagine what was meant by tough shape. Somehow, she swallowed the fear and gained enough courage to press onward. But once she stepped into the room, she almost wished she hadn’t.

Sprawled out on the couch was a very severely burned Jon. He wore nothing but a loose fitting pair of athletic shorts while most of the rest of his skin lay exposed to the cool air and some healing ice pieces that lay on top of him. His eyes were closed, and he hadn’t heard the girl walk in.

Kenna felt more tears escape her as she gazed upon him. Most of his limbs and parts of the right side of his chest were covered in dark red and even some black burns. She could see where parts of his skin had blistered and peeled, and other parts were his skin oozed from the scalds. Even a small portion of his left check was blistered and peeling.

Before she could say anything, Mrs. Colewell came in from behind her. “He should rest,” she ordered as she looked down at Kenna with an unsympathetic glare.

But as the woman spoke, Jon’s eyelids began to flutter, and two glowing blue orbs appeared from behind them.

Both females were silent as he woke, making Jon the first in the room to speak again.

“Kenna?” His voice was tired and confused. But upon realizing that it was indeed the beautiful blond that stood across the room from him, he repeated her name. “Kenna!”

He attempted to sit in his surprise to see her. However, the instinct caused him such pain that he let out an unintentional yell.

“Jon!” his mother scolded. “You are in no condition to move!” She ran to him and replaced some of the thin, clear, healing ice that had fallen upon his movement. The woman that twisted back around and pointed a hostile finger in Kenna’s face. “You need to leave! You have done enough!”

“Mom!” Jon screamed back at her. “I need to see her!”

Mrs. Colewell turned back to her son. “You need nothing but rest and hydration! Don’t you think that there has been enough damage done by this futile relationship that you-“

“Then let things end on our own terms! Not yours!” he hollered back.

The woman breathed loudly, but her anger began to subside as her son’s words registered. “Fine,” she agreed. “You have five minutes,” she warned as she turned to Kenna and marched out of the room.

“End?” Kenna repeated softly as she began to cry. Through the waterworks, she could see the hurt and the pain written on Jon’s face.

He coughed a little and tears began to trickle from his tired blue eyes.

“Kenna, I love you,” he said. He was looking at the ceiling, unable to bear the agony of facing her. “But I can’t hurt you again. I could have killed you.” His words were whispers of guilt and regret.

“Jon, it was my fault,” Kenna interrupted quickly. “You told me to stop.”

He shook his head just slightly in disagreement. “How bad is it?” He looked at her to see a confused expression. “How bad did I hurt you? Did I rape you?” He choked on the words as they came out. “Kenna, how am I supposed to live with myself?”

Her weeping was soft. “You didn’t rape me. I just…”

“But I could have Kenna. If I didn’t, then I was going to. If Bryce hadn’t shown up…”

They were both quiet, pondering what the consequences might have been if Bryce hadn’t come.

“What happened?” Kenna heard herself ask. “I thought Bryce couldn’t beat you.”

Tears still ran silently down Jon’s face as his eyes turned back up to the ceiling. “I don’t remember it clearly. It was a different kind of rage. Honestly, I think he accidentally hit me in the crotch, and it was enough to knock the wind out of me. Then Bryce ran. And I just, threw things, hit things. By the time my mother found me, I had overheated and was on the floor writhing in pain.” He paused. “But sitting here listening to you cry is worse. Kenna, I have to let you go.”

She cried a little harder. “But I love you too.”

Now he was crying audibly, and his whole body was trembling. But he quickly caught his breath, unable to tolerate the physical pain that crying brought him. “I have to let you go, Kenna. I’m leaving next week. I’m going to get better. I’m going to learn control. Then I’ll come back. Then maybe we can be together. But I don’t know what’s going to happen. And you can’t wait for me.”

“You’re leaving? What do you mean?” she sputtered as she began to curl herself into a self-hug. She felt so alone, so at fault, so sad.

“There’s a special place for ice elemantalists, where they learn to better understand and use their power. My mom thought she could teach us on her own, but I’m too out of control, Kenna,” he explained. “I have to learn control.”

Kenna’s crying had become louder as he spoke, the thought of his leaving causing her a new form of heartbreak. “It’s all my fault,” she managed to say. “Jon, I don’t want you to go.”

“I don’t have a choice,” he whispered, his heart also breaking with every word that passed through his lips. “But you do, Kenna. You can be happy. It’s like what your dad was telling me.”

His words had trailed off at the end of his statement so Kenna hadn’t heard what he said. “What?” she asked. “It’s like what?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly. “It’s like a bird. I have to let you go. And if it’s meant to be, we’ll be together again in the future…when I’m better…when I can be good for you…when I have control.”

“But you are good for me. You actually get me,” she argued as she fought the unsteady stream of tears.

He was starting to cry audibly again. “Kenna, please,” Jon begged. “I love you. This is already hard.”