“You should have some higher standards. Murder’s not a great spot to draw the line.”
Genesis merely smirked before shrugging. Dating awful people was just what she did. “Works for me.”
Day: November 12, 2018
Characters::Chance and Britt
Word count::658
He had been in a panic since his grandmother had locked him in the damn cage, his hands raw from beating against the bars. Of course the damned thing was spelled to keep him from shadow traveling, a fact that only pissed him off more.
“I want to see my mother!” he screamed for what felt like the six hundredth time, his throat sore from overuse. He never spoke this much, not if he could help it.
But no one answered. His grandmother was refusing to give him even an inch, so he waited until he heard a door somewhere in the house to scream again, demanding to see the one person that actually mattered in the grand scheme of his life.
The relief he felt when the basement door opened and he saw a familiar figure bathed in light was nearly palpable and he watched with rapt and silent attention as she finally hurried down the steps.
“Chance what the hell have you gotten yourself into?” she scolded, her gaze roaming over him frantically to make sure he was okay. It had been nearly a week since she had been permitted to see him. They had been waiting to see if Boo was going to be able to be stabilized and saved first.
His hands slid between the bars, reaching for her much the same way he had done as a toddler. She was the only thing that made the silence in his head feel tolerable.
“I don’t know,” he confessed, trying to figure out her emotions so he knew how to respond. He was terrible at it, but he tried for her.
“Baby, you can’t go hurting family. I know they’re not your blood so it’s harder for you to see Boo and Cass as family, but they are family. Family is off limits,” she explained, trying to stress the point as she cross the room and took his hands.
He looked so pitiful in that cage that it broke her heart a little. She knew what he had done was beyond awful, but he was still hers to protect.
“No family, okay? I don’t want to see you back in this cage, Chance. Please, don’t go after anymore family.”
Chance clung to Britt’s hands, his breathing shallow and rapid as he nodded, the idea of being alone in this cage again enough to trigger at least some emotional response.
He didn’t like being alone.
“Say it, Chance.”
“No family. No going after family,” he repeated, his tone quiet despite the evident panic.
With a soft sigh, some of the tension she was carrying loosened and she dug out the key her mother gave her to unlock the cage. He wasn’t allowed out just yet, but she was permitted in.
Chance made for the door, but Britt stepped in front of him before closing the door and locking herself inside with him.
“This is just a visitation baby. They got Boo stable, but until he’s able to come home, you have to stay here. It’s only fair,” she explained, hating it so much.
His face crumbled, a slight tremor beginning in his hands. He didn’t want to stay down here, alone in the silence.
Carefully, she pulled him into her arms, trying to soothe his fears as best as she could. “I’m sorry baby, but this is out of my hands. It’s the only compromise I could get.”
“Compromise?” He pulled back enough to look at her, studying her with eyes that nearly mirrored her own.
“They wanted to take you to the Underworld. I wouldn’t let them. I won’t let them take you away from me, okay?” she promised, one hand cupping his cheek. “No one is going to take you from me.”
The boy nodded, her words reassuring in a way he couldn’t put his finger on. Stepping forward, he dropped his head onto her shoulder and breathed in her scent.
“I’m sorry, mother.”
Character::Tass and Britt
Word Count::438
“Britt, we have got to deal with this. Chance nearly killed Boo. And last month, he put that kid from school in the hospital. He’s getting out of hand,” he sighed, sitting back and looking far older than he felt. He hadn’t slept in days, his worry over his grandson eating away at him.
Tassos had known there was something off about his son since the kid had been about 3 or 4 and had wandered into a crime scene because he wanted to “play” in the blood. But Brittia had told him it was fine, that Chance just took more after the keres side and even she had had issues with her bloodlust at his age.
It had helped a little at the time, but not so much anymore.
“I know what he did, Tass, you don’t need to remind me,” she snapped as she raked her fingers through her hair. He was still locked in a cage in her mother’s basement, screaming to see her and not anyone else. But Ava wouldn’t let her see him, not yet. And that hurt too.
“We’re dealing with it. I’m dealing with it. I can get him to listen.” If nothing else, Brittia believed that down to her core. If anyone could reason with him, it would be her.
“Britt…”
“Don’t. Do not sit here and try to tell me how we should handle this. How I should handle this. You’ve barely been around him since he was seven, Tass. I can get him under control.”
That hurt and it showed in the way Tass’s shoulders slumped. She was right, but he wasn’t going to say it. He couldn’t stand to admit it to himself much less anyone else.
“If whatever you try doesn’t work, I will take care of things, Britt. I swear to Khaos,” he warned, trying to sound firm but the words came across more hopeless.
Her gaze hardened and she crossed her arms, glaring down at him for a moment.
“Do not threaten me when it comes to my son, Tassos. That is not a fight you want to start.”
“He’s our son! Both of ours!” he snapped back, standing and facing her fully.
“Not in his eyes and you know it.”
He went to open his mouth, to argue, but she made a gesture with her hand to stop him. The last thing he had ever wanted was to fight with her, not when he still loved her as much as he loved Lyri.
“Just go, Tass. Before we both do or say something we’ll really regret because I am done having this conversation.”
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