Tales of the Underground: Crestfallen - 26. Jekyll & Hyde

As Eli moved more towards the crowd, I could make out the fear in their faces. Even those who weren’t afraid still took a few steps away from him. The red hood and mask transformed the blonde haired hockey player into some type of demon. His movements even seemed to morph into something different. It was as though each step he took caused the ground to rumble, every gesture was concise and terrifying, and his words tore through the air like thunder. Believe me when I say I’ll fight almost anyone, but Eli in the underground…I don’t think that’s someone I want to take on.

Eli nodded to me, and I followed him towards our group of bodyguards “Don’t sleep on Static.” He boomed to the crowd as we made our exit “Just give him the right fuckin fights, and before you know it we’ll be running the show!”

His confidence exceeded far beyond anything I had ever seen, and stayed there until he got into the driver’s side. As I opened the passenger door to climb in I felt my dad grab onto my shoulder to stop me.

I shrugged off the hand before turning to meet his eyes. “You need a lot of work to get where you need to be.” He began “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t proud of you. That was a great first fight. You didn’t even get touched once!” I felt a weird shot of adrenaline begin to hit me as he spoke “And that way you kicked him…I didn’t know you had it in you! I mean, you pulled off at the end there when you should have done so much more…but still, you did good Aidan.” He reached out and rested his hands on my shoulder one last time “Keep growing, I expect big things from you. I’ll see you late Sunday night, be good for Perry.”

“Sure thing dad” I nodded getting into the car, and shutting the door behind me. I felt Eli’s eyes on me as I squirmed with excitement. I looked over at him, and caught a cold gaze “What?”

“Nothing” he sighed “I just forgot you’re still a kid.”

“I’m not a kid!” I let out, trying to lower how much emotion I was showing.

“You’re young, it’s cool.” He mumbled throwing the car into gear. “Just don’t take what someone tells you as gospel, especially not something from your parents.”

“You don’t understand the expectations a guy like my father has for his kids. We have to be perfect in every single thing we do. If we slip up even once, we’re a failure.” I whined “He’s just a tough guy to have for a dad I guess. So when he does praise me…it’s the best feeling in the world.” I looked over to Eli and saw him working out something in his head. Suddenly I realized the type of father he had, and how that story ended.

Eli caught me staring and threw the car into a higher gear “What?” he grunted.

“Nothing…” I began, but stopped myself “Why is everyone so afraid of you down there? Like sure people at school are scared of you, but down there…it’s a huge difference.” I trailed off, losing my nerve.

“Don’t know” he lied “I guess you’ll have to ask them.”

“Maybe I will.” I teased, trying to bait him into telling me more, but he didn’t bite. “Alright fine, but that clearly wasn’t your first time back, so like I know you have a reason to now…but why go back before tonight?”

I heard a deep breath escape his lips “Why is it that every time I hang out with you I have to tell you to leave something alone?” he growled, I shot him a persistent look and he shook his head “Because it’s the place I feel close…I’m close with…”

“I get it.” I nodded, stopping him from having to finish the though. “But still all that power you have down there…you really want to wear that crown?”

“I’d rather not.” He admitted “but it fell on my head, and I can’t just throw it away…it wouldn’t feel right.”

“I get that.” I lied, not quite understanding what he meant. To be honest I really don’t understand anything Eli does, but forcing him to talk has gotten him to relax around me, and I guess that’s some progress. His hand slipped a little from the stick and I flinched away from it. “So you’re scared of me now too?”

“I don’t fear anything.” I stubbornly lied

“Yeah like I couldn’t see your face down there.” He mumbled

I tried to play innocent, but wound up shrugging my shoulders “What do you want me to say? You had crowds of people backing away from you. The way you spoke…the way you moved…it wasn’t anything like you. It’s like you were something else down there.”

“I’m what I have to be when I’m in the underground.” He hissed “I pray to god that you don’t ever have to learn how to be like that.”

“Oh so now you believe in god?” I teased

“Oh there’s a god.” Eli preached “and he’s one fucked up bastard.”

I shifted my look from him to the window, taken back a bit by his words. “You’re not gonna be like this tomorrow are you?” I muttered.

“Why?” He angrily barked “You worried I’ll scare off your little friends.”

“Just worried you won’t make any new ones.” I quietly admitted.

“I’m not looking for any new ones.” He lectured “I’m looking to get our shitty project done. I’m not even friends with you, why would I be friends with them?”

“We’re friends.” I argued. His scowl sunk further in his face as he thought about it “I’m the only person in the whole school you actually have conversations with. Sometimes you nod to me in the hallways, or stop when I say hi.” He grunted to my words, unhappy with the point I made. As we pulled up to my house I turned and flashed him a big smile “Goodnight friend.”

“Fuck yourself!” He yelled as I shut the door behind me. In spite of the fear I was feeling, deep down I knew I had to try and keep the atmosphere around Eli light. Sometimes I’m worried it’s the only way to keep him around.

Sleeping that night was a lot easier than I thought it would’ve been. I woke up the next morning at 6 am to squeeze in some gym time before everyone came over, the morning seemed to go by perfect, I made it home with just enough time to shower before Henry, Ivy, and Jayden pulled in. I quickly fixed my hair, and ran downstairs, trying to beat Perry to the front door.

“Why?” he sighed, as I raced to the door.

“Because It annoys you.” I teased, opening up the front door. “Welcome everyone, today you’re all actually allowed to be here.”

Ivy rolled her eyes, and easily pushed through the other two and into the house. Henry went to shove me, but I side stepped him and held the door nicely for Jayden. “How did you 3 all-time this perfectly?”

“Ivy’s mom drove us.” Henry shrugged, making his way to the kitchen.

I closed the door, and quickly offered to take the backpack from Jayden. He shrugged at first, but finally handed it over. “You don’t need to do everything for me.” He teased.

I flashed him a smile, and began to walk up the stairs “I like to.” I taunted, lying the bag down by the guest room door. I ran up to the bannister that over looked most of the house, and laughed as Henry harassed Ivy and Perry. “Henry stop being such an asshole!” my screams echoed through the wide open house, making Henry and I laugh a little too hard. I waved for Jayden to go into the kitchen, and took the alternate staircase that led there. “Perry you know you can go home right? We can take care of ourselves today.”

Perry rolled his eyes “Master Aidan, if I did that there would be no house to return to.”

“Like that would be such a bad thing.” Ivy giggled “Admit it Perry, you hate this job.”

“Contrary to how it may seem, I actually really love this job. I’ve gotten to see Master Aidan grow before my eyes.” He confessed with some nostalgia.

“How long have you worked for Aidan’s family?” Jayden asked, trying to connect dots in his mind.

“For what feels like centuries.” Perry joked, trying to clean the counters “It must be for close to 25 years now. I was really more of a house keeper at first, but as Madam Brooke and Master Aidan entered the world, I guess I’ve become more of a caregiver.”

“and a shitty one at that.” I prodded, trying to get under his skin further.

“Alright children, run along.” Perry ordered “I’ll call you all back when lunch is ready.”

“Children?” Henry repeated “We’re all 15 Perry, you gotta get over it. We’ve grown up.”

Perry looked at him and shrugged “Then maybe you should all act like it.” He teased, laughing to himself.

“Come on guys” I sighed, leading them down past the living room and into the large movie theater which was buried in the back of my house.

I heard a woh escape Jayden’s lips as he observed the playroom for the first time. “This is part of your house?” he let out, in a slight state of shock.

“Yeah” I laughed “What? You don’t have a movie theater in your house?”

“Don’t do that.” Ivy remarked, giving me the evil eye “It’s not cute.”

I ran up and jumped onto the huge couch on the front row. “Get comfy” I instructed Jayden, as Henry took the couch on the row above mine, and Ivy took the recliner next to me. Jayden looked around, unsure of where to put himself, and took the seat on the other side of me. “What do you guys want to watch?” I asked getting comfortable.

“Watch?” Henry interjected, tossing an xbox controller down on top of me “ Bitch we’re playing games right now.”

“That hurt you prick!” I shouted, waving a fist up at him. He tossed another controller to Jayden, and stuck his tongue out at Ivy.

“I don’t like video games anyway!” She fired back, giving him the finger.

“That’s why I saved the time and gave it to Jayden.” He said with his tongue still out “You better not suck.” He added, putting pressure on Jayden.

“What the hell are we gonna play anyway?” I asked, tossing him the remote to the projector.

“Halo duh” Henry announced as though it was obvious. As he finally got the game going, he turned up the volume and let it blast.

We played for a good hour while Ivy messed around on her phone. Finally she got sick of the noise, and turned off the xbox. “Hey!” Henry shouted “We were using that!”

“And now you’re not. We need fresh air.” She decided, happy with herself

I shrugged, and led the way, making sure to grab a jacket on the way out. The second we hit the open fall air Henry started to scream “Oh fuck this! Fuck this!” He yelped “How can anyone like the cold? This is just inhumane!”

“Stop being such a pussy.” I taunted “It’s only like 50 degrees out, it’s gonna get so much worse soon.”

“Fuck this.” He repeated, trying to bundle up more.

I looked over to Jayden who had his baggy hood over his head, his pale face was colored with a light shade of pink from the cold air. He returned the look, and made a face “What?”

“You look pretty comfortable in the cold.” I giggled, tapping him with my elbow.

“Comfortable is a strong word.” He laughed “But it’s not bad out, I don’t know why Henrys freaking out.”

“Shut up!” Henry whined, climbing onto the big trampoline that laid in the backyard.

“Even your backyard is crazy.” Jayden remarked, taking in the new environment. I shrugged not knowing how to respond. “And whats with your family and trampolines? What do you have them all over the place?”

Suspicion crept into Ivy’s face as she listened to our conversation. “You took Jayden to bounce!” she screamed.

“No, I just told him my family owns it.” I lied joining Henry.

“Bullshit!” Henry called out, trying to tackle me.

I side stepped his attempt, and pounced down hard as he hit the tarp floor. “Fine, ask him then.”

I turned, and immediately regretted putting Jayden on the spot. The pink on his face immediately turned to red, and he started stuttering just like he always did when he was in the spotlight. “Busted!” Henry yelped, trying to take me down again.

“Cut that out!” I scolded, shoving him to the soft ground.

“I’m going to take you down.” He chuckled, coming in hot once more.

“You’re too predictable.” I sighed, sending him to the floor for a 3^rd time “This isn’t like when we were kids. No one here can take me down.” I bragged.

“I beg to differ.” I heard a familiar voice growl. I turned to see Eli standing in the backdoor. Even though he said he was, I have to admit I’m shocked he actually came. Tension filled the air, as he stepped out and joined us. I couldn’t tell if it was because they were scared of him, or because of what I had experienced last night, but there’s no denying it was there.

“Yeah? Okay.” I challenged, trying to beat out the awkward feeling.

Henry climbed off the trampoline, and looked over at him “Alright, let’s see what the hockey player can do.”

Eli made his way over, and climbed up onto the bouncy flooring. He immediately got his balance and moved around with ease. “What?” he poked, seeing the slight surprise in my face “I’m on skates more than I’m on my feet, you honestly thought I would have trouble with coordination?”

I shrugged not knowing how to respond. As I met his cold blue eyes I couldn’t help but get flashbacks of last night. The tension seemed to rise the more I thought about it. I did my best to shake off the negative thoughts. I mean I’ve tried my best to see the best in Eli these past few weeks…but after seeing what he’s capable of…that won’t exactly be easy. I know I tried to tease him on the way home yesterday, but there was just something about the way he acted…something evil.

“You think too much.” He complained, snapping me out of my trance “We gonna do this.”

“I mean you can try.” I let out; flashing confidence “It’s not going to end well.”

He rolled his eyes, and tried to move in on me, but I side stepped him. “You can do better than that.” I antagonized.

“I just did.” He dared, reaching out for my ankle.

I picked up my foot before he could grab a hold of it, and shifted away. I couldn’t help but giggle at his attempt “Good try, but you’re not gonna catch me.”

He made a move once again, but this time forced me towards his feet instead of his hands. He lifted a leg and tripped me down to the ground before I could get away. “Gotcha ya you little bastard”

“Oh so we’re fighting dirty?” I giggled, trying to get back to my feet.

Eli pounced over, and shoved me back onto my back “That wasn’t dirty, you just got outsmarted.”

I reached around Eli, pulled him down and rolled us onto his back. “Outsmarted like that?”

He lifted his knee and caught me in the stomach, then used his upper body to throw me off of him. I couldn’t help but let out an involuntary ohhh as his knees hit my stomach “How’s that for dirty?” he teased, getting back up to his feet.

“Alright alright” I sighed, trying to catch my breath “So were doing this then?” I jokingly taunted, forgetting all about the tension I had just been worried about.

“Sure” he agreed, fighting off a smile “Let’s see what it’s really like to go against static.”

I closed my eyes, and let my fighting skill rise to the surface. I bounced around a bit, before finally making a move. Eli was better than any other friend I’ve gone against, but he still didn’t know the right moves to do as I worked against him. Goofing around with him was actually really easy, and fun. For once I actually felt let I was meeting the real Eli. Even with all the progress we’ve made…I’ve never seen this side of him. Laughing, smiling and joking around…it was refreshing. Finally I tapped Henry in to have his try against Eli.

“Hey” Ivy nudged, in an almost whisper “I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but I’m not sure Jayden fully liked you and Eli’s chemistry.”

“Chemistry?” I repeated “It’s not like that, we’re just friends.” I looked over and saw Jayden standing nearby “What exactly did you say to him?”

“Nothing” she shrugged “but it was pretty obvious when we were talking that he was distracted by you two.”

I rolled my eyes and walked over to him. “What’s up J? You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“It’s nothing.” He lightly pouted.

“Nothing’s always something.” I nudged

He shifted his weight from left to right “It’s just…how long until you and Eli actually do form something.”

“What?” I hesitated, a little put off by what his question.

“You two just goof around so naturally, you were both laughing and joking around…it’s only a matter of time.” He pouted, trying to hide how upset he was.

I couldn’t help but giggle at how he was acting “You get jealous so easy. Watch this.” I looked over to the trampoline where Henry and Eli were wrestling. “Eli we’re best friends right?” I called out

“Fuck off” he replied, shoving Henry aside.

“See” I laughed, turning back to Jayden. “He doesn’t even register us as friends, nothing’s going to happen between us, trust me.”

“You even know what he’s gonna say next.” Jayden mumbled, still beating himself up.

“You’re so stubborn. Do you know how cute I find you right now?” I encouraged “I would hold onto you right now and not let go if I could…”

“But you can’t.” Jayden finished.

“Nope, and that’s okay. You’re still my guy J, stop overthinking it, you’re only torturing yourself.” I supported with a friendly smile. Relief finally started to overtake his sadness. I picked up a nearby Frisbee and told him to go long. Jayden was just as unathletic as he claimed to be. Eventually Ivy joined in to help him, but that didn’t exactly work too well either. I made sure to keep joking around, and laughing the whole time to show him I wasn’t taking it seriously anyway.

Finally Perry opened the sliding door “Lunch is served!” he called out, as if it was a big formal event.

We all filed in one by one, exhausted from running around in the cold weather. Eating lunch was weird; it was like everything was firing on all cylinders. We all goofed around and teased one another so flawlessly. Eli looked and acted as though he was fitting right in.

As Perry handed me my daily protein shake I saw Jayden shoot me an odd look. “What is that?”

“Steroids!” Henry jumped in before I could say anything.

I shot him a death stare and took a sip “Creatine.” I corrected “It’s for muscle growth.”

"So basically steroids.” Henry argued

“Is that healthy?” Jayden prodded with a little concern.

“I wouldn’t take it.” Eli muttered

“Hey last I saw there’s no science to say it’s unhealthy. Besides it’s all natural, your body produces it…I just don’t produce enough of it.” I said with a smile that looked as though I actually enjoyed drinking the sludge.

“According to who? A Dr, or your dad?” Ivy grumbled

“Alright, lunch is over, me and Eli have to get to work.” I declared, shutting down the conversation to stop Jayden from growing even more worried “Go watch tv in the theater or something, it’ll only take us like 15 minutes.”

Eli got out the paperwork as the rest of the group scattered. I saw Ivy start a conversation with Jayden to distract him as they walked. “That kid’s got it bad for you.” Eli grunted, passing me a paper.

I rolled my eyes and looked down “Yeah? How would you know?”

“It’s obvious. The way he can’t go 5 seconds without looking at you…the concern in his face anytime something happens to you.” Eli shook his head “Kids caught feelings.”

“Alright onto the first question.” I pushed, trying to change the question.

“You realize what this means right?” he continued

“So what about hockey….” I tried speaking over him.

“You’re gonna have to fight a lot tougher if you want to keep him safe.” Eli finished, silencing me “You really want to keep him safe and happy? Either never talk to him again…or win, win, then win some more, and do it all with a smile on your face and a “What can I do for you next sir.” Attitude”

Suddenly I felt the tension I had worked so hard to dissipate return to the air. I can’t possibly push Jayden away can I?