THE REJECTED PILLAR

CHAPTER 3 A STRANGER IN OUR MIDST

"Oh! Hi Kelvin." said Charles pointedly,

Kelvin was standing in the doorway to the living room, wearing a pair of Charles's pants. They were too short and a t-shirt. His hair was still wet from the shower. He had shaved. He looked better now that he wasn't dirty, but he still looked unpredictable, like he might run at any second. His eyes scanned around the room, like he was checking for the exit if he needed it.

Bobby looked embarrassed. Kelvin heard everything he said! "Hey," he said. "I didn't mean to be harsh" He drifted off.

I bounded up from the couch. "My mom's making pizza," I said. "You hungry?" I took Kelvin's arm and led him into the dining room.

I gestured to a seat at the table. It had been set with paper plates and napkins. There was a steaming pot of hot chocolate in the centre of the table and a group of mugs.

Kelvin stared at the table. "Look, I should go," he said. "I really shouldn't--"

"Sit down," I interrupted him.

He hesitated for another second, but then he sat.

I smiled at him. "Everything's will be fine. You'll see. You want some hot chocolate?"

"Okay," said Kelvin.

I poured two mugs full of hot chocolate and handed one to Kelvin. I took the other one and sat down across the table from him.

"So, um, Bobby is your boyfriend?" asked Kelvin.

"Yeah," I said.

"And he thinks I'm a criminal?" Kelvin said sadly

I rolled my eyes. "He'll come around. Don't worry about it."

"I-I'm not," said Kelvin. "You know. A criminal?" His eyes nervously searched the room again.

Does he think something was going to jump out and get him at any second?

"It's okay," I said. "It's safe here."

Kelvin put down his hot chocolate. "No," he said. "It's not."

At that moment, my mother swept into the room, carrying a pizza. Using her amazing mothering skills, she slid the pot holder off her hand and set the pizza on top of it in one liquid movement, all without burning herself.

"Kelvin, you're out of the shower." She said with abroad smile. Kelvin nodded.

My mother looked at him. "Charles's clothes are a little too small for you, but he's the biggest of the boys we've got in the house. We'll have to see if Noah left anything in the closet. I think Noah's about your size." Noah was one of my adopted brothers.

"This is really fine," said Kelvin. "Thank you."

"Oh, please," said my mother. "Anyone who found you would have done the same thing."

She turned to me. "Bella, there is another pizza on the counter. “Can you bring it into the dining room for me?"

I nodded and went into the kitchen, listening as my mother called. "Boys! Pizza!"

By the time I got back into the dining room with the second pizza, the first one had already been divided between the boys at the table. Mom and I took a piece of pizza from the second pie in a civilized fashion. I sat down and looked across the table at Kelvin. There were two pieces of pizza on his plate, but he was just staring at them.

"Don't you like pizza?" I asked him.

He gazed around the table, watching the other guys put pizza into their mouths and tease each other.

"I've just never..."he trailed off. I love pizza." And he smiled.

It looked kind of like he wasn't used to smiling. It was a tentative smile. It flashed across his face for a second, lighting him up. Then it was gone. And he dug into the pizza. My dad came home around then, and my mom took him into the living room to explain the situation. Bobby decided to leave. So finally, all the pizza was gone, and we sat around the table: my parents, Charles, the guys, Kelvin, and me.

"So, Kelvin," said my dad "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

Everyone at the table gazed at Kelvin expectantly.

Kelvin looked at my dad. "I tried to tell Bella that I don't think it's safe for your family to take me in"

"Why?" He asked inquisitively

"Because the people after me would do anything to kill me even if it means wiping a town out of existence"

We were all in silence as we thought about the impact of Kelvin's statement. The people after him were ready to wipe out a whole town just to kill him.

Who the hell is he? My mother wrinkled her brow in concern. "Like terrorists?" she asked Kelvin.

Kelvin shook his head. "Like Freemasons," he said. "But with guns."

"Freemasons?" I asked. My jaw dropped. I had read a lot on this stuff. I thought it was very interesting. I had read my copy of The Da Vinci Code so many times it was falling apart.

Freemasons are just like the Illuminati. A very powerful group of Satanists controlling the world. It sounds stupid but there are a lot of conspiracies about the topic.

"Why do they want you?" I asked, wide-eyed.

"They're crazy," he said. He looked at my father again. "Like I said, I don't want to put your family in danger."

"We should go to the authorities," said my dad.

"No," said Kelvin. "Trust me. The police can't do anything about this. They wouldn't stand a chance."

"You can't expect us just to let you go back out there," said my mother.

"Where are your parents?" asked my dad.

"Dead," said Kelvin. "I guess. I never knew them. The people who are chasing me killed the man who raised me. That's when I started running. It was...I don't know, maybe four months ago."

"And you've been on the run ever since?" asked my mother. "That's horrible. Kelvin, you have to stay with us." She turned to my dad. "Daniel, we can't let him leave."

My dad considered. "Listen, son, if you are in trouble with the law, you can tell us. We can help."

"They are actually pretty good about that stuff," said Natalie.

"I'm not in trouble with the law," said Kelvin. "I swear."

I believed him.

"Why are these people after you?" asked my father.

"They think I am something I'm not," said Kelvin. "It's complicated. It's not important."

"I just don't know, "I can't really believe that there are some group of extremely powerful Satanist people that have total control over --" my dad said

"Dad," I interrupted, "do I have to go and get a dollar bill and point out all the Masonic imagery on it again?"

"No, Bella, that's okay," said my dad. He considered. "Well, Kelvin, you're not going anywhere tonight. You'll sleep here. Tomorrow, we'll talk more. We can get this sorted out."