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.
“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.”
“Wow, for a moment there, you almost convinced me. Really. I mean, if you care that much about the aftermath, why didn’t you give enough of a damn before the fact? ‘Cause let’s be real here for a moment, Azrael has been doing your job of being a dad a whole lot better than you have, and that’s saying something considering how much he fucked up too.”
It was a cruel comment, but that was no surprise coming from Chance’s son, and whether Teddy knew he was being cruel or not was another matter, but it didn’t change the fact there was some element of truth to it with regards to Azrael’s role in the whole mess.
“The way I see it, you don’t get to play judge, jury and executioner when you didn’t do a damn thing to stop it in the first place, and besides, my dad might have his faults, but at least he’s been there for me my whole life, and he and my mom have been doing great that whole time.”
“I tried but your grandmother wouldn’t allow anyone to touch the twins.” It was Chance more than Oona, really. Chance and her had been close when the boy had been just a child. “He went after Boo before any of us knew what he was capable of. I told her then that he needed to be dealt with. But she thought she could reason with him, get him to agree that family was off limits. But it didn’t stop him. Nothing stops him for long.”
He tried not to wince about the comment involving Azrael. He had tried to be around for the twins when they were growing up, had taken them often enough, but Chance only ever wanted to be around his mother and Oona followed his lead. It had made it hard, the added pain of knowing Britt wasn’t coming back to him again didn’t help either.
Tass’s hands clenched at his sides, the kid beginning to get under his skin. “You’re too damn much like him to understand,” he growled, not understanding why no one in the family seemed to be stepping in to keep the past from repeating itself.
“I know, but I don’t particularly mind that.” Not that he was opposed to being around Konis’ family but he didn’t mind her not wanting him there either. He was content to follow her lead, even if it meant moving at a glacial pace.
“Either you come or I make you come. Those are your options.” She was wearing the same expression she wore the day she smacked Epiales in the head with a frying pan, the one that said no was not an option.
reblog to add +10 haunting power to your ghost when you die
i aint risking being a weak ass ghost
Reblog for a +2 to visibility to cats when nothing else can see you
I want cats see me when i will a ghost
“What’s a little ritual sacrifice between friends?” she asked, the bright smile on her lips making it hard to believe she was talking about killing someone for their heart. “It’s just business, you know?”
Ya girl is here. WHO WANTS TO DO ALL OF THE THINGS?????
ofviolentdeath 