A storm greeted them as they neared the aquarium. Cars were leaving the parking lot in droves, but that actually made Taylor relieved. 

The fewer the people, the less likely someone will notice. 

He took a spot close to the entrance, then grabbed one crutch from the back after getting out. When he walked around the front of the car, Caleb was already there waiting for him, his clean hair rustling in the breeze. The jacket rustled, too, making Taylor stare for a few moments. 

I can't believe he's really dead. 

Caleb turned his attention to him, his bright eyes meeting his own before he turned toward the massive building before them and pointed. 

"Alright, alright. Let's get going," he said as he took Caleb's hand, holding him back from stepping right in front of a car that was driving too quickly in the parking lot. 

After looking both ways, they made it across and up to the ticket window. He tried to release Caleb's hand in order to get his wallet out of his back pocket, but the guy didn't seem interested in letting it go. 

"I need my wallet to pay so we can go inside," he whispered a few feet away from the window, hoping that the worker behind it couldn't hear him. 

Blinking, Caleb looked down at their entwined hands, then reached over with his free one and took the wallet out of Taylor's pants. After a few slow glances up at the entry fee sign, he took out the two twenties they would need, then reached back over to put the wallet away. It took a bit more effort since he didn't have the best coordination, but he eventually managed it. 

I guess that works. 

He let Caleb pay for them, then stepped inside after the wraith held open the door for him. 

"Thank you." 

The inside of the building was even bigger than it seemed from the outside. Some people milled about, but as the sound of thunder rumbled loudly from the growing storm outside, the lobby area got more and more deserted. 

Perfect. 

"What would you like to look at first?" he asked as he smiled at Caleb. He slowly closed his mouth as he realized that the guy actually seemed to be struggling to handle the situation. He was nearly pressed right up against Taylor's side, his hand still holding his own tightly. 

Looking around, Taylor pursed his lips  and nudged Caleb with his shoulder. 

"Let's go over here first," he said quietly as he gently tugged Caleb forward. 

The wraith wouldn't move at first, but after a few moments he began taking awkward steps in the direction he was being guided. 

"There you go. Don't worry, I'm here with you. This trip is all for you. I want you to be able to enjoy yourself, so if you get too stressed out or want to stop and just sit somewhere quiet for a while, we can definitely do that." 

Taylor made sure to keep his steps slow as he lead them toward a small dark hallway with a sign above it that read Australian Reef. 

There was darkness for several seconds as they moved, but soon the walls along either side began to be dotted with different kinds of creatures. Taylor figured that Caleb would start gravitating towards a certain tank, but when the wraith just stuck to him like glue, looking behind them every few moments before turning his attention to the hall beyond them, Taylor realized that he was definitely not able to focus on the displays. 

I know that he was excited to go here, but maybe there are just too many people still? 

"Caleb?" 

It took Caleb nearly a minute before he finally let his eyes lift to Taylor's. 

He's... scared? 

He hadn't really expected to see much emotion in them, since the excitement earlier had been the first real emotion he'd been able to pull from the young man, but there was no mistaking the fear in his widening eyes. 

Oh wait. Shit, his eyes. I can't let them get too wide or people will start to pay attention to him. 

"Hey, Kay, look here," he said, gently guiding him toward a warmly lit display that had many medium sized fish swimming around. They were all brightly rainbow colored, and when Taylor read the sign out loud, he realized why. 

"Parrot fish." 

He nodded toward the glass and offered Caleb a reassuring smile. 

"These guys are super cool."

Caleb was at least looking at the fish off and on, but Taylor could still see his worry as his eyes looked about slowly. 

"Don't worry. I promise that I'll take care of you. No one here can hurt you, Caleb," Taylor said reassuringly as he squeezed the guy's hand. 

"You really like fish. Do you know anything cool about these guys?" 

There was actually a group of plaques with information about the four displays in their corridor area a few feet away, but he wanted to find a way to get Caleb to relax and start enjoying himself. Plus, he was kind of hoping that he'd be able to talk again. 

Taylor waited patiently as Caleb's lips began to move, but no sound came out. 

He's paying attention to them, though. He's even following the bigger one with his eyes now. 

They remained there for at least ten minutes before Caleb slowly turned and looked toward the four foot exhibit window behind them. Taylor gladly walked him over to it. Glancing at the sign, he read it aloud again.

"Surgeon fish."  

He grinned as one of them swam up to the glass and stared at Caleb, its mouth opening and closing. To his surprise, Caleb lifted his free hand and pointed at the little fish as he leaned a little closer. 

"That's one of the fish from that movie years ago, Finding Nemo," Taylor said, his words drawing Caleb's attention to him as the wraith straightened. 

He mouthed something else, but again, there was no sound to his words. When Taylor didn't respond, since there was nothing to be heard, Caleb looked past him and started tugging him farther down the hall. They moved from exhibit to exhibit, not missing a single one or skimping on time spent in front of each one. 

Taylor glanced at the information plaques as they went, reciting little facts about each of the different species they were seeing. 

They took a turn into a native animal display area with floor-to-ceiling tanks. The first one had three massive alligators floating near the bottom right up against the glass. Of course, they were both drawn over to it. Taylor knelt down, but managed to hold himself back from reaching over and touching the glass in front of the creature's huge snout. Caleb, however, had no qualms about pressed his fingertips to the glass as he knelt down and leaned forward. 

The white covering that had been over the alligator's eye drew back, revealing a pitch black slit surrounded by bright gold. It stared directly at the wraith and Caleb returned the look. His lips began to move as they remained there, but his words were still silent. 

After a few minutes something caught Taylor's attention, drawing him back to his feet as his head turned toward another exhibit. 

"Oh cool, otters," he said quietly as Caleb got to his own feet and finally looked away from the alligator. 

The otters were a little ways down the hall, darting about in their water as if playing a game that only they knew the rules to. Caleb, however, seemed to want to get in on it right away, because he released his hand and fumbled toward them at an awkward run. He wasn't able to follow their movements very easily, but that definitely didn't deter him from joining in on their fun. 

For the next twenty minutes or so Caleb ran along from one side of the tank to the other as the little marine mammals darted back and forth. He tripped more than a few times, and eventually kicked off his shoes. Taylor was a bit worried about getting in trouble, but when an employee walked by and just chuckled before heading on his way, he sighed with relief. 

If his foot wasn't hurt, he would have joined in, but just seeing Caleb having so much fun drew a smile to Taylor's face. He waited patiently until Caleb tugged his shoes back on and rejoined him, then took his hand again and continued onto the next area. 

As they turned a round corner after seeing a few groups of jellyfish and some octopus on the way, Caleb and Taylor both stared upward. 

"Wow," he whispered as he saw the massive tank before them. It took up an entire wall and was easily hundreds of feet long by at least sixty or seventy feet tall. It's size easily dwarfed any of the exhibits in the hallways they'd been through. 

Why had I never come here before? This is actually really cool. 

He blinked out of his thoughts as Caleb pulled him forward, clearly needing to get closer. Taylor let him pull him along without an ounce of hesitation. He was honestly just as excited to see things even closer. 

Right as they got up to the glass a massive shark swam past, drawing a huge grin to Taylor's face. 

"I know that one. It's definitely a hammerhead. I didn't realize how big they actually were," he said in awe. 

A few moments later, a large school of silver, medium-sized fish darted past them, followed not a second later by a shark with large black stripes along its body. 

"Oh, I think I know that one, too. That's um...—Galeocerdo cuvier," Caleb said as his eyes followed the hunting predator. 

Taylor was confused about what he'd said at first, but after a quick look around, he noticed some name plaques for the species in the tank. 

Oh wow. That was the scientific name for a tiger shark. 

Looking back toward Caleb, he was about to express his admiration for his knowledge... except that there was only a jacket and pair of shoes on the floor beside him. 

Oh shit. 

Taylor spun around quickly, trying to locate the wraith. He checked his pocket when he saw no one else in the massive room. 

The bones are still there. 

Turning around again, Taylor felt his fear rise. 

"Where are you, Caleb?" he asked as he stopped turning, facing the tank. 

Wait a second. 

Stepping closer, his eyes widened at the sight before him. Caleb was standing in the middle of the massive enclosure. His form was faded, but there was no mistaking it. None of the creatures seemed to be bothered by his presence as they swam right up to him, and some, through him. 

"C-Caleb, someone might come and see you in there," Taylor whispered before checking over his shoulder. 

He couldn't deny that the guy looked like he was having a blast, even without the ability to show much emotion. A large school of light brown fish circled him as he lifted his arms toward them, possibly even brushing against a few, since two darted away as soon as they got close to his fingers. 

I'm terrified that you might give yourself away, but also insanely jealous right now. 

"Hello, sir. Would you like a quick tour? We don't have many guests because of the storm so I've been walking around offering assistance if you'd like to learn more about our collection," a young woman dressed in an khaki employee uniform asked. 

You have terrible timing. 

He wanted to look over his shoulder to see if Caleb was still in the middle of the tank, but he didn't dare draw attention to him... or the jacket at his feet that covered the pair of shoes beneath them. 

"Uh, yeah, sure," he said as the woman began walking toward a different hallway, an excited smile on her face. 

Taylor stole a quick glance toward the tank, but didn't wait around as he hurried after the woman. He was just about to turn the corner to enter the hall when the floor beneath him began to vibrate. 

What the...? 

It only took him a moment to connect what was going on as the shaking started to become more noticeable. 

Oh man. This is definitely not the place for this. 

He quickly turned around to see Caleb standing near the glass, but on the wrong side. Not wanting to waste time, since he figured that there would be employees running about soon to make sure that all the guests and tanks were fine, he limped over to Caleb as quickly as he could. 

"Kay, I need you to walk through there and get your jacket and shoes back on, please," he begged as he glanced over his shoulder for a second. 

When he looked back at the wraith, he was standing directly in front of him, his bare toes up against his own tennis shoes. 

"Oh, thank god," he sighed out as he carefully leaned down and picked up Caleb's jacket. 

Thankfully, the guy pulled it on, then slipped his feet into his shoes without any issue. 

"Are you two alright?" 

The employee that had tried to lead him away was back. Taylor quickly grabbed hold of Caleb's hand and squeezed as he took a step forward, putting himself slightly in front of him. 

"We're both fine. Go ahead and check on the other guests," he said with a reassuring smile. 

The woman nodded and hurried along, allowing Taylor to sigh out a stressed breath. 

"Are you okay, Caleb?" Taylor asked as he turned toward him. He was just opening his mouth to speak again when he suddenly closed it. Caleb had leaned forward while he'd been turning to face him and was now pressing his forehead against Taylor's neck as his arms hugged him around his middle. 

A bit confused, he returned the hug with one arm. 

"It's okay. I promise I wouldn't just leave you here," he whispered against the guy's hair as he rubbed his back with his free hand. 

He expected some sort of response, but when Caleb just leaned against him a bit more, he tilted his head and leaned down as much as he could without making the guy fall. 

He's having trouble keeping his eyes open? 

 Taylor carefully lowered his body as he looked up at Caleb. 

"I need you to wrap your arms around my neck, hun. I can carry you outside and we can head home," he said as the wraith slowly did what he was told. 

It clearly took some effort, but as soon as he was ready, Taylor wrapped his free arm beneath the guy's backside and easily lifted his minimal weight. Thankfully, Caleb wrapped his legs around his waist, too, making it that much easier to carry him while still using the one crutch he'd needed to bring. 

"We haven't gotten through some of it but we can definitely come back again. You seem to have had your fill for now," he said as he began walking back toward the exit. 

While their day definitely hadn't exactly gone as planned, he couldn't help but feel great. Caleb had clearly enjoyed himself, and even though he wasn't much of an animal person himself, he actually had a good time, too. 

Looking sideways at Caleb's mess of hair near his shoulder, Taylor smiled and stepped out into the muggy afternoon air. 

"I'll definitely bring you back here again," he said as he carefully hefted Caleb's body up a bit, then started walking toward his car through the light rain. 

"Maybe we can even bring your big brother." 

He was still a bit afraid of Nikolai, but he had no doubt that the guy would have preferred to have gone with his little brother today. 

Maybe if I can figure out a way to let him out of the house... after we get a handle on his temper. Don't need him getting Adon in trouble with that baseball bat.  

It was something to think about for a later date... much later.