never free (never me)
a/n: for dragon - happy birthday!
"Save America from witches!"
She does not realize it until it is too late, but this message strikes close to home, too close for comfort. Mary Lou is trying to save Credence from himself.
It is too late.
Years upon years of hatred have chipped and chipped away at Credence, finally leaving him as cracked and broken as a window in a building closed and long forgotten.
Like him. In a way.
If anyone has ever shown Credence any true love or affection, he does not remember it. He has Modesty, though, and that helps, but she cannot completely close the hole within him, cannot fix what is so badly damaged.
No one truly can. No matter what is done to try to repair Credence, there will always be jagged edges and pieces that no longer fit.
He thinks, when he meets a man who makes promises Credence cannot refuse, that he has found solace at last. That he can find the tools to mend what needs it.
For the one and only time in his life, he feels needed.
As things outside his troubled home begin to look up, life within becomes a downward spiral.
He means only to offer his belt, to take his punishment like the good boy he knows his adoptive mother wishes he would be. Like he wishes he could be.
He does not intend to leave his tormentor dead on the floor with the marks of his feared ability marring her face, though when the deed is done, he cannot say he truly minds.
Perhaps now he may walk as a free man at last.
"What use have I for you, unworthy squib?"
"You possess only fledgling powers that will never grow."
Words. harmful words that seize Credence, left to remove himself from their grip before they can squeeze the life from him.
It is too late.
The force within has awoken, not to be subdued until it is through with its tantrum.
Credence has no control over it anymore. All he can do is be pulled into the black depths of his explosion.