@mythsandmonsters @thewitchandtheangels

The little girl was far too thin, her blonde hair a tangled, matted mess. Her clothing looked like it hadn’t been changed in days on top of it all. But it was the bruises she was rubbing on her arms that caught Jeff’s attention. Someone had grabbed that little girl’s arm hard enough to leave a near perfect handprint, the deep purple shocking against her pale skin. She couldn’t have been more than two or three. 

He was tempted then, but when the child turned, the bruising and swelling on her face was clear as the blue sky above. Someone had punched that baby in the face and it was taking every bit of control he had not to strike then.

Instead, Jeff waited. He followed the family home, not realizing just what he was walking into until night had fallen completely. 

Getting inside wasn’t hard, the doors were left unlocked, and he was silent as he crept around and disconnected the phone lines and hid the cell phones. The house was trashed, the stench overwhelming, and he couldn’t believe no one had gotten that little girl out of there sooner.

He came up behind what he was assumed was the father and bashed him over the head with the first blunt object he could find, making sure it wouldn’t scream as he made his way to the bedroom. It was the cleanest room he had come across so far and the woman was startled by his appearance. 

She went to scream, but he was on her in a flash, hitting her hard enough to shatter her jaw. Unlike with Ollie, there was no part of him holding back as he beat the woman’s face into a bloody pulp. By the time she had stopped breathing, there was nothing that could be used to identify her facial features.

He wiped at his face, smearing blood across it. It looked like a grotesque mask, but he didn’t care. He didn’t even realize there was an audience until he went for the door to finish off the father. 

Carrie stood in the same clothes from early, terror clear in her pale green eyes. One had burst blood vessels and it made something inside of Jeff stir. 

He raised a single finger to his lips before slipping back into the living room and merely snapping her father’s neck. Of course, the amount of force he used made it so that it was just flesh and tendons holding his head on, but that was hardly the point.

He felt calmer when he made his way back to where he left the child and he knelt, holding one blood coated hand out to her. 

The child hesitated, lower lip trembling as she looked at the strange man. “You were at the store,” she finally squeaked, rocking herself back and forth. She winced when she spoke. “You waved.”

Jeff nodded, the first hint of a smile touching on his lips. “I’m going to take you away. Somewhere safe.”

Safe. That was a word she wasn’t familiar with. “What ‘bout bubby?”

He frowned, terribly confused. “Who’s bubby?”

She took his hand and marched him to the other end of the house and opened a door before pointing at a crib under the window. “Bubby. He come too?”

“Jesus fuck,” he muttered, making his way to the bed and seeing an unbathed, silent infant staring up at him. The baby had been left alone all day and it didn’t look as if anyone had checked on him other than the toddler.

“Yeah, he comes too,” was all Jeff had to say as he lifted the baby from the disgusting bed and leaned down to pick the little girl up. 

He never once thought to call ahead before just appearing in Ollie’s room, covered in blood and carrying two small children.

“We have kids now.”