Tag: drabble

Characters::Luna and Cooper
Words::600
Trigger Warnings::Arson, murder, child death, gun violence

Luna was sitting on the supply bench, slim legs kicking back and forth as she listened to her dad explain the tasks at hand. She was definitely more interested in her dad’s woodworking than her mother’s cooking and she nodding along, memorizing his every word. 

There was fresh snow on the ground, but the garage was warm and she could smell her momma’s cooking in the house, the scent carried on the breeze. It was one of those days that everything just felt right. 

Until her dad stiffened.

Cooper sniffed at the air, his posture rigid in a way Luna had never seen before. It wasn’t until she was older did she realize what exactly it was that her dad had caught the scent of. 

Gunpowder and the oil used to clean guns.

Cooper had hurried her out of the garage and towards the predetermined escape route before making way to cover the tracks that led to it. They were close enough that he had to be quick about it.

“Just stay low and don’t make a sound, Lu, okay? I’m going to to get your mother and brother,” he had told her, making sure she was hidden before doubling back. 

She did as she was told, the den barely big enough to fit her and Sterling, but it looked like a thicket of brush, it didn’t stand out. She was peeking out, her nose level with the ground with the way it was built. She saw the strange men intercept her dad before he could make it to the house. 

The first gun shot was all the warning Izzie got. Cooper hit the ground, a splash of crimson on the white snow as he clutched at his knee. 

“How many of you are there?” one of the men demanded, his free hand jerking Coop’s head up, bringing his attention back to his home. 

He didn’t answer, a low pained whine escaping him as he struggled, still trying to get to his wife and son. “We’re foxes, we’re harmless,” he choked out, desperation making him sound more like a child than a man.

The hunters sneered at that, one of them taking a shot at the ground next to his legs. “Ain’t no such thing as an innocent monster.”

“The kids, the kids haven’t done anything. Please, please, don’t hurt my kids. Take me, I don’t care, but don’t hurt my kids,” he begged, trying to break the grip the hunter had on his head. 

“Hurt them? What makes you think we’re going hurt them?” one asked, a sickening smile on his lips. 

The one holding him nodded to the others and a strangled scream left the fox’s lips when he realized what they were doing. Cans of gas were spilled around the house, splashed up the sides, soaking the wood before they set his home ablaze, his wife and young son still inside. 

Luna had to cover her mouth against her own scream, silent sobs making her shake violently. The acrid smoke curled against the clear blue sky, her safety turned the same bright colors of the leaves in autumn. 

A sound drew her attention back to her father, the one that had given the signal to burn their home was behind him now, forcing him to watch as the central beam gave with a crack nearly as loud as their guns. 

It wasn’t long after her dad had slumped in defeat did the man put the barrel of the gun against his head and pulled the trigger a final time, leaving the girl an orphan at only fourteen. 

Characters::Cord and Drifter
Word Count::324

“Dammit, Drifter, I ain’t tellin’ your kid that you’re dead. What the fuck kind of question is that?” the demon growled, glaring at the woman sitting calmly at the bar. “It’s bad enough that you dropped that boy on Grayson when you of all people know he can’t take care of himself and now you want to completely ditch out?”

The trickster didn’t move despite the sigh that left her lips as she watched Cord pace. She knew it was a long shot, but she had also known Cord since the 1800′s so she knew how to play him better than most. 

“It is for his own safety and protection, Cordae. I would not ask otherwise,” she stated plainly, dark eyes unreadable. 

He hated when she pulled that sort of shit. She had centuries on him in age and was better at avoiding touch than anyone he had ever met. “Ik, don’t do this to that boy. You pull something like this on him and we ain’t friends anymore.” 

The last bit made her ache a little. Cord was the oldest standing friend she had. Hell, the demon might be the only friend she had left. But, it was for the best and no amount of her real name would persuade her otherwise.

“I have a burial plot purchased, the headstone engraved, all you must do is tell Chayton where it is. He does not need to be involved beyond that.”

“I ain’t doin’ your dirty work and you can get the fuck outta my bar if you’re gonna keep on with that shit,” he snapped, slamming a glass down on the bar and not even wincing when the shards embedded in his hands.

Drifter stood gracefully, her gaze dropping to his hand for a moment before she met his stare. “Harming yourself will not do anyone any favors,” was her parting remark as she left him to clean up both of their messes.

Characters::Rhodes and Evangeline
Word Count::872

He was just passing through, really. The place had stood out like a damn beacon with it’s warding and curiosity had gotten the better of him. What kind of place needed that much heavy magic in the middle of nowhere? 

Passing through the barrier had been…interesting, to say the least. It carried an odd sense of peace and, for the first time in nearly three years, Rhodes relaxed a little. If nothing else, he could hopefully crash for a couple of days before heading out on the road once more. 

The bar itself didn’t look like a whole lot from the outside, but it was almost cozy feeling inside. The man behind the bar didn’t pay him much mind when he ordered a beer and the music was alright. But it was the girl that had caught his eye. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had given him such a predatory look and it would have been unnerving if it wasn’t for the little smirk on her lips.

image

With a slight grin of his own, he saluted with the beer and tried his best not to pay her too much mind. It never did him too well to get his hopes up and she was definitely out of his league. 

It was enough of an invitation for Evangeline and she sauntered over to the bar and turned, pulling herself up to sit on top of it. It was definitely a trait she had picked up from her mother, not that Cord really approved. 

The hound gave her a look, but she ignored Trigger easily. Her attention was fixed firmly on the man trying his hardest not to check her out. Honestly, it was enough to make her laugh.

image

“You’re new.”

“That obvious?” he asked, glancing over at her and raising a brow. “Not sure how many bars let people sit on top of the actual bar though.”

“My mother owns the place, I know all the regular faces. We don’t get a lot of new around here.”

That made a little more sense but it also marked her as completely off limits. If he was looking for a safe place to lie low for a few days, nailing the owner’s kid was the worst way to go about things.

“Rhodes. Just passin’ through, looking for a place to crash for a couple of nights. Places glows like a fucking lighthouse in a storm,” he replied, shrugging before finishing off the bottle in his hand. 

“I think something can be arranged,” she purred, batting her lashes at him before twisting enough to grab a set of keys from the side of the register. “We’ve got apartment style set ups, but I can think of a few more comfortable places to crash.”

Rhodes glanced between the girl sitting on the bar and the man behind it, trying read the vibe. Whomever the guy was, he seemed awfully protective of the girl and he had to figure she was his little sister or something.

“Weird thing to offer a man before telling him your name.” It wasn’t the best response, but it was all he could think to say in the moment. 

Her laugh was like wind chimes, melodious and higher in pitch than he had been expecting. But it suited her. 

“Evangeline. Mostly go by Eva,” she introduced, leaning in just a little bit closer. 

Her perfume made him crinkle his nose, the scent of rose and vetiver was nice, but the chemical scent wasn’t. She smelled off underneath that too and he couldn’t place what it was and he wasn’t sure it was polite to actually ask.

“Eva. Why the hell do you live in a bar?” 

“Because my mother owns it and runs the whole property as a sort of supernatural sanctuary. Didn’t really get a lot of say in it.” She toyed with the keys in her hand, wondering if he was going to decide to take her up on either of the offers laid out before him.

He nodded, the warding making a lot more sense now. “Do you make it a point to hit on people passing through?”

“Only the cute ones,” she shot back quickly, giving him a rather appraising look. He was definitely one of the better looking ones she had come across, but the most she done with anyone was a little kissing before they figured out what her parents were. That tended to scare most people off, she supposed.

Rhodes snorted at that, a genuine smile touching on his lips. “Haven’t slept proper in nearly two weeks, not sure you’ve got the best definition of cute.” 

“You pull it off.” Eva paused before slipping off the bar top and holding a couple of keys up. “But if you’re telling me you look better after a good night’s sleep, I’d love to see that and save the trying to hit on you for after.”

It couldn’t help to look at the place at least, and he stood and dug out his wallet, unsure of just how much a beer cost here.

“Don’t worry about paying,” she interjected, fingers skimming his wrist as she nodded at the bar tender and led him out of the bar. 

Characters::Chance
Word Count::392

Chance was pacing, his control threadier than usual. Not that he had much control these days anyway. Sera was nearly completely unresponsive, of course his brother would have snitched already, and, worse, it meant his father would have leverage to actually override his mother’s protection. He had definitely overstepped this time. So much so that he actually let them find his beloved Seraphine. Maybe it would be enough to keep them from coming after him.

Frustrated, he switched on his computer and pulled up the cameras he had hidden around his mother’s house, rewinding them a few hours so he could watch her move around the house. He had been careful about where he put them, avoiding places that could cause him to see things he didn’t want to see, but the main areas of the house were all monitored. 

A growl passed his lips when he saw his father arrive and he flipped the sound on, wondering what exactly the piece of shit had needed to say to his mother. He wasn’t really all that surprised that Tassos was trying to talk her into stepping aside, a smug little smirk on his lips as he listened. He believed in his mother, believed that she had meant it all those years ago when she promised that no one would ever take him away from her.

But the expression didn’t last long, not when he saw her resolve beginning to falter. The more his father spoke, the angrier he grew and he really reached his breaking point when she caved.

The computer shattered against the wall and he hadn’t even realized he had moved. How could she do this? How could she betray him? She had promised! 

Snatching up his coat, he made for the door, the wheels beginning to turn in his head. He didn’t have a lot of time left, not if she was rescinding her protection. He needed to make sure no one would discover his youngest child and that the plan he had been training the boy for was still perfectly set in his mind. He needed to make sure all of the pieces were in place before the noose tightened. 

He’d let them take him, sure, but not without dragging his mother down to the Underworld with him one way or another. She would pay for betraying him.

Characters::Tass and Britt
Word Count::891

He should have called ahead, Tass knew that much, but this wasn’t exactly a visit he had been looking forward to. Everything was in chaos, but she was shutting basically everyone out. He had tried to in touch with her in the weeks leading up things finally hit the fan, but she ignored his texts, declined his calls, and generally pretended not to get any messages. 

Still, he didn’t knock right away, choosing instead to pace along the porch. He figured she knew he was there already, he had seen that damned zombie bird of hers when he got there. Truth be told, the bird sort of freaked him out a little. 

The door opened before he could decide, Britt standing there with a look he had only seen on her face once before. This was not going to end well.

“Britt.” 

He had no idea where to go with this, dark eyes looking for anything in posture that might give him a clue of how to get her to finally agree.

“Do not say it, Tassos. The answer is no.” 

She had promised Chance when he was younger that no one would take him away from her. She couldn’t break her word, not like that. There had to be something, some detail she had been missing. Something had to have set her son off for him to do all of this. 

But even Az had tried telling her she needed to let him go before he dragged them all down with him. 

“Brittia, you have to see reason here! You should have let me deal with this when he started killing women that look like you. Look what he did to your daughter. To my son. Do you really think he’s going to just stop?” he countered, tossing his hands in the air before stepping forward to touch her shoulders. 

The moment he touched her, Britt was shoving at him, but he was physically stronger. 

“He was doing fine! Something set him off, he wouldn’t do any of this without a reason!” she argued back, hating the way his grip tightened when she tried to shove him off. 

“Fine? You call torturing and killing women that look like you fine?” He couldn’t have heard her correctly. There was just no way. Especially when he knew that she had personally cleaned up a few of his kills. “How can you even look at him knowing what he’s doing, Britt?”

“Because he’s my baby!” It was honestly that simple to her. How could he not see that no matter what Chance had done, she was still his mother? She still loved him and it was her job to protect him. 

“And Sera? What does that make her?” It was a cruel remark, he knew, but he was trying to get through to her in any way that he could.

Of course, he regretted that remark the moment her expression crumbled, the absolute heartbreak laid bare before him. 

“Britt..I didn’t..” Tass shook his head, knowing he might have stepped over a line.

Britt stopped trying to push him away, her body sagging a little as she fought back the tears threatening to consume her. “How did it get so bad? What did I do wrong to make him like this?”

It had to be her fault. She had killed someone when she was pregnant with the twins, had come home coated in blood and shaking. Az had been the one to help her get cleaned up and calm her down, but she had to figure it had left some sort of stain on Chance especially. There was just too much of that darkness in him because of her. 

“You didn’t make him like this. Look at your other kids. The twins…they just…there’s just something not right with them. Like my mother. They’re not going to change, Britt, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stop them from hurting anyone else.” His tone was softer now, more coaxing than demanding. She was at her breaking point and he knew it wouldn’t take much to push her over that last little line.

“But how can I let go? I swore to protect him, Tass.”

“Then protect him from himself. What do you think is going to end up happening if he pisses someone else off? Someone not close to any of us? They might do worse to him, they might go after you. You’ve got to let him go to protect him and everyone else. You already agreed to Oona, what’s so different about him?”

The tears spilled over as she finally looked up at him, one of the few people she had ever truly loved. “Oona would hurt me if it weren’t for him. Chance would never let anything happen to me,” she finally answered, certain in at least that.

“But he is hurting you. Maybe not physically, but he’s going to break you too.”

He was right and, for a moment, she absolutely hated him for it.

“I can’t have any part of this, Tass. I can’t do it. I can’t be there when you take him away,” she finally agreed, breaking down into tears as the words left her mouth. 

It was only his arms around her that kept her upright as he promised her she didn’t have to be involved beyond agreeing. 

Characters::Chance and Britt
Word count::658

@mythsandmonsters

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

@mythsandmonsters

image

“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.

image

“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.”

Characters::Sapphira
Word count::258

Her feet dangled off of the edge of the building, her gaze lifted to the sky. It wasn’t exactly the smartest idea she had ever had, but she didn’t really see any other choice. One slim leg was bent, her knee pulled to her chest as she sighed heavily. How was she supposed to do this? How had her brothers managed it?

Sapphira touched the circlet around her neck, the metal warm beneath her fingers. 

A glorified collar. Nothing more than a pet, she thought to herself bitterly. 

Her grip on the damn thing tightened until it went from warm to hot enough to rip from her skin. She didn’t care if it left a burn mark or cut her, she needed the damn thing off. 

The moment she dropped it, pain ripped through her body, sigils glimmering against the skin of her vessel, binding her to it for the time being. It wouldn’t be forever, she knew that, it was just a pain response, her true form aching and trying to protect itself. 

When the black spots cleared from her vision, she was glad to see she had fallen backwards and not forwards. Explaining to mortals how she had survived falling from the top of a skyscraper was not exactly her idea of fun. 

Stumbling, Saph got to her feet and tried to shake off the lingering sensations, the loudness in her head quiet for the first time in her existence. 

Finally, she was free. 

Or as close to it as she was ever going to get. 

Characters::Tass and Britt
Word Count:: 702

@mythsandmonsters

The last time Tassos had seen her, she had been comatose, hooked up to more wires and machines than he could handle. Her stomach had been a mess of stitches, a machine doing all of her breathing for her. They weren’t sure she was going to make it, even with the mix of magic and up to date medical equipment. 

It had been enough to make him hate himself. He should have pushed harder or dealt with the twins himself, but he had been too afraid that she would hate him. After all, Brittia had clung to the hopes of them changing far longer than anyone else and that had nearly been her downfall. 

He hesitated, hand poised to knock, but he couldn’t bring himself to just follow through the motion for several long moments. What was he even supposed to say in this situation?

Finally, Tassos rapped on the door, three sharp sounds that made him wince. He wasn’t expecting this reunion to go over all that well, not when even Lyri could barely be around for more than twenty minutes.

The sound had Britt frowning hard. No one she knew actually knocked, except maybe Ash and she highly doubted he was stopping by. Those encounters usually resulted in arguments over her necromancy. Not that she minded, really, he was a decent enough person and he had helped out when she was hurt. She couldn’t say that about most people outside of her family and, even then, not everyone in her family was all that great either.

Still, Tassos had been the last person she had expected to see on her doorstep. Her jaw clenched as she stared at him, any words he might have spoken falling on deaf ears before she was punching him in the face.

The force was enough to have him stumbling backwards, blood beginning to drip from his nose as he tried to keep himself from falling over.

“What the hell was that for?!”

“You know what that was for, Tassos. You can fuck right back off to Narnia or Middle Earth or wherever the fucking you’ve been for the last, gee, I don’t know, decades,” the blonde snapped, arms crossed as she leaned in her doorway. 

That hurt more than the punch and he hung his head, the bleeding slowing to a stop after only a few moments. He had always healed fast, even by their standards.

“Britt…I’m sorry,” he mumbled, unsure of what else to say.

“You’re sorry? For what, Tass? Ditching out while I was trying not to die? Or being the one to push on me giving up on the twins in the first place? Our son wouldn’t have done this,” she lifted her shirt, forcing the scars that littered her lower abdomen into view, “to me if he hadn’t felt like I had betrayed him. Do you know that I can’t physically carry any kids anymore? That the only reason my youngest exists is because Lyri was my surrogate? No, you fucking don’t, because you ran like a godsdamn coward while the rest of us had to clean up the messes.”

“I know! I know, okay? I know I messed up, Britt. I know I’m a coward! I’m reminded every time Lyri refuses to even let me touch her hand. I’m reminded every time our granddaughter smirks at me before flipping me off. I know I left when you needed me the most because I couldn’t handle it! I’ve never been as strong as you. I was scared and I didn’t know how to handle it,” he exclaimed, tossing his hands up in the air. It was better than giving into the threat of tears making his eyes burn.

“Messed up is an understatement, Tassos. I don’t even want to look at you right now.” 

The pain as still too raw, the sense of abandonment too deep for her to be able to handle properly yet. 

“Just leave, Tassos. I can’t deal with this yet.”

The words were punctuated by the door being shut in his face and he knew better than to push his luck. 

“I am sorry,” he mumbled before making his way back to his father’s to hide.

Character::Robert and Adilynn.

Fair warning, Robert is a fucking creep and very manipulative.

His body was pressed against hers from behind, his hands cupping hers. Adilynn couldn’t help but tremble a little, nervous and anxious between what he was asking and the sheer proximity. 

“Focus,” Robert murmured, his breath hot on her neck as he guided her hands to encase the small seed. 

The girl didn’t answer, not vocally, as she closed her eyes and tried to do as he said. She had been doing this with smaller plants for months now, the nosebleeds and headaches had stopped, and now he wanted to push her limits again. 

“I’m just trying to help you grow.”

The words of the guy she had met at the shop came back to her, about how most witches draw energy from around them and not from within the way Robbie made her do. He said it was less tasking, but she wasn’t sure what to believe. 

She let out a long and shaky breath, pulling energy from her core and feeding it into the maple seed. 

When the roots began to sprout, Robert moved her hands again, forcing her to pick up the seed, his lips mapping the side of her neck as he felt her power continue to mount. 

A small green stalk began to break free from the hard shell, the roots tangling around both of their hands and crawling along their wrists. Still, Adi didn’t open her eyes. It was hard to ignore his lips on her skin, but she knew he always got a little excited when he was getting her to push past her limits. 

It wasn’t long before her head began to ache. It was short bursts at first before growing into something sharper and she could taste copper in her mouth. 

With a pained whimper, her hands sagged, the power beginning to recede, the sapling still encased in her palms. Robert was the only thing keeping her upright.

When she stopped, Robert was gentle to move the sapling, keeping from damaging the roots. He would give her a little recovery time before making her continue with the tree. 

For now, however, he was turning her in his arms and pressing her against the table, his lips pressed hard to her. It didn’t matter to him that the spell had left her weak and exhausted, he delighted in having her like this. 

The taste of blood on her lips only made it that much better for him.