Day: March 3, 2018

mythsandmonsters:

“What?”

It was a lot to take in, and none of it was easy to hear, especially the last part since there was more or less only one way that could happen and he knew that Isaac would have never consciously or willingly done something like that.

Parker wondered what other terrible news she was about to spring on him and that disoriented, nauseous feeling from earlier returned as he stared at her in confusion and horror.

She took a deep breath, trying to brace herself for however he might react to everything she had to tell him. She figured it might be best to go off of where Jeff started the story, but it wouldn’t answer all the questions he was going to have.

“Jeff started tracking the kids when he found one for sale online. They were selling him as a puppy, but the ad was coded for hunters. Jeff specializes in killing hunters, I didn’t ask why. He didn’t know how bad it was until he found Quinn and took him to his aunt. That’s who’s house we’re at. Her and her husband have been taking care of him. He was kept with Isaac until they broke Isaac completely and had to look elsewhere for making more hybrids. There are five of Quinn’s that Jeff managed to find. Those ones are the least broken because of how young they are.”

“The other kids are Arcadia, she’s the one that is usually with your brother, Bailey, and Sable. But, Sable was hurt pretty bad when she was found, so she has a lot of mobility issues. She did her best to protect two of the younger kids and they weren’t hurt because of her.”

She paused before getting into the explanation of Vaughn, not really wanting to tell Parker any of that. “As for your brother, his father is…he’s the head of that hunting family. It’s a miracle your brother was even born because they didn’t stop her from shifting during the pregnancy. He was the only pup to survive it. She didn’t make it long after he was born, baby, I’m so sorry.”

mythsandmonsters:

Now he’d calmed down enough, he noticed this time when Anya mentioned he had a brother, a look of confusion crossing his expression since he’d been told that his mom was likely killed shortly after hunters caught up to her and he knew she hadn’t been pregnant at any time before then other than with him.

She was quiet, trying to think of the best way to break things to him. “I don’t know all of the details but you have a half brother named Vaughn. The hunters that had her were worst than the usual ones you could possibly run into. Jeff, one of the people that brought us here, is the one that found him in forced pit fights.” Her words were slow and gentle, trying to ease him into things as best as she could.

“He’s usually with one of your uncle Isaac’s daughters. But, before you meet your cousins, you have to know that they’re not exactly like us. They’re…I don’t know how to put this one delicately and I’m sorry, but they’re all part domestic dog except for the oldest boy, Quinn.”

mythsandmonsters:

He’d pretty much stopped crying entirely now and he’d sort of gotten to the point of not wanting to really talk about it anymore. What was done was done and there wasn’t anything else he could do except just accept it and get on with things, so he’d throw his energy into that instead of wallowing in how it made him feel, which never ended well because he tended to seek out self-destructive means of coping when he hit bottom.

“So what happens now?” he asked finally, already guessing that it would at least be a long time before they went back home, if at all.

“Now you get to reconnect with your uncle and meet your cousins and little brother. And keep me irritated for life because nowhere is home without you, kiddo.”

She kept playing with hair and readjusting the blankets, her nervousness over the entire situation evident. It was the only time she ever really fidgeted and she knew he knew that but she couldn’t seem to make herself stop.

mythsandmonsters:

“You could have just told me,” he countered, sounding exhausted. He wasn’t trying to make her feel bad at all, but having time to get used to the idea before he got there might have softened his reaction to it.

“You didn’t have to keep it all a big secret. I would have been okay with that.”

“I’m sorry. I was just so excited for you to get to see your uncle again and I thought it would be a good surprise. I fucked up and I’m sorry, kiddo.”

She felt awful that it had backfired so badly and he had reacted the way he had. The last thing Anya had wanted to do was upset her pup.

mythsandmonsters:

“I know,” he mumbled, hiccuping a little as he let her cocoon him in blankets.

He wasn’t mad at her for how she’d gone about the whole thing. It would have been difficult for him to process either way. It was just the shock that had really done him in more than anything, especially with how little time he’d actually had to prepare for it.

“This is why I wanted you to be here. Because Isaac’s here and you have cousins, baby. Cousins that you might fit in with better than your age mates back home,” she explained, desperate for him to believe she really did have his best interests at heart. 

mythsandmonsters:

Crying helped unblock all the emotions that had jammed themselves together in the last hour, eventually starting to let Parker process everything. He was still upset that his parents couldn’t be brought back, but having his uncle back was better than nothing at all, even if he still didn’t understand how the fuck it was even possible.

Eventually, he cried himself out to the point where only little sniffles were left, his eyes puffy and red, but he mostly had himself back together enough to function again.

Anya relaxed when he finally began to settle, nuzzling at him sweetly as she wrapped him up in the blankets. At least the scents on those would be familiar to him and she was trying so hard to make him feel better.

“I didn’t mean for this to upset you, pup,” she apologized, feeling more than a little awful over it.

mythsandmonsters:

Her answer had him bursting into tears, just that’s briefest flash of hope dashed and snatched away from him despite him already half expecting that would be the case. He wasn’t even paying attention anymore when she explained the possibility of reincarnation or that he had a sibling, the grief he’d spent the last two decades trying to survive rearing its ugly head again for now.

Anya held him while he sobbed, doing her best to soothe him and trying not to become too distressed herself. She had never been great at handling things when he got to this point and no amount of time had managed to make that any better. 

“I’m so sorry, baby.”

mythsandmonsters:

Isaac took this as a cue to leave the room for a while to let Parker calm down some so Anya could help him understand better.

By now, Parker was curled up with his knees pulled up to his chest, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes as he rocked slightly, whimpering from the stress as he tried to pick through what he was being told and make sense of it.

It took a little bit longer before he began to try to break through the mental lock it had caused, but all that had done was throw up more questions, one in particular that he needed to be answered before anything else.

“If Uncle Isaac can come back, then that means Mom and Dad can too, right?” he asked, barely managing to control himself enough to choke the words out.

“Right?”

His question absolutely broke her heart and she wrapped around him as best as she could. She knew it was coming and she tried her hardest to get answers for him, but Brittia hadn’t been able to get in contact with their spirits. 

“Baby…I tried. I really did, but she couldn’t find their spirits. They crossed over, Parker and that means they found peace. They knew you were safe and loved and taken care of so they were able to get that. But that doesn’t mean you won’t meet them in a different way some day, okay? Layla, the girl that brought you here for me, she’s died a few times and come back as new people, so it does happen, okay?”

It killed her to have to break his heart, but she didn’t want him to hold on to some false hope either. 

“There is someone else you need to meet here though. You have a brother, sweetie. Well, half brother. His name’s Vaughn.”