John aimed the hammer at the man who had raised him, the pipe shattered on the ground, the all-prideful fedora that his father had treasured so much trampled to the ground.
"John?" His father said in a strained voice, and John knew, despite the black eyes that did not reflect light and the shaking house of demonic power, it was his father speaking, and not the demon.
John raised his hammer, tears in his eyes, his glasses cracked and foggy. He had to do this. He had to. He closed his eyes, and brought the hammer down.
"I love you, son." And there was a sickening crunch, and it was all over.
"Another nightmare?" A soothing, feminine voice asked as John woke up, panting, his shirt drenched with cold sweat despite the chill air of autumn flowing through the open window. He looked to his right to see a gleaming eye in the darkness, and heard some ruffling. A slender girl with an eyepatch hugged him, patted his back. "Shoosh. It's ok. It's just another bad dream."
"Yeah… just a bad dream." John sat up, and so did Vriska, who continued to attempt to comfort him as John covered his face with his hands.
"It's not your fault, John." Vriska continued, patting his back. "I'll just get some water. We can go out and have some fresh air." John looked at Vriska, her long, ruffled hair tied to a ponytail, her eyepatch covering half of her face, supposedly from a horrifying experience with fire. She almost never took it off, and the time she did, John regretted asking for it. Not because he thought it ugly, but he knew, with the pained expression on Vriska's face, he brought up painful memories just as painful as his.
John stood as Vriska left to the kitchen, heading to a dining room, pulling the curtains a bit to the side to see the sun just about to break.
A few more rustling, and John swiftly turned, his hand curled to a fist, only see the grond getting close. A flurry of hair, and… was that a sausage?
"You've got rusty, John." He heard as he saw, out of the corner of his eyes, Vriska rushing to view.
"It's ok. It's ok. It's my sister." John twisted a bit to see his elder sister, Jade Harley, the buck-tooth still there. Five months apart, and yet she threw him like a ragged doll. Jade knelt beside him, giving him a hand on standing up.
"Oh. So this is…" Vriska did a gesture of hand passing between two. "I'll just leave now. You know. Have some family bonding." The way Vriska's eye gleamed made it seem as if she knew more than she ought to, and it did unnerve Jade a bit. The way she made a little whine like a frightened dog. Winking, Vriska disappeared, and John and Jade waited for the door to slam. It took a few minutes, probably, and silence made it seem longer, but John opened his mouth first.
"Where were you? You could have at least called." John turned to Jade, looking at her. They were about the same height, the sky blue meeting the piercing green.
"You know. Hunting." Jade rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "And I came here to ask for he-"
"Jade. No. I don't want to do that." John turned away, covering his eyes, the dream, no, memory flashing again in his head.
"John. It's Rose."
John paused a bit. "Rose? What does this one have to do with Rose?"
"She disappeared." Jade tapped her boots onto the floor, the tapping noise amplified by the silence that struck. She's waiting for more questions. John thought. More questions. Startling up my curiosity.
"OK. How did she disappear? As far as I know, she can be off to a convention hunting for some… whatever cursed artifact thing she is into." Rose didn't know anything as far as he knew. She was deeply into occult, and the fake ones. Ghosts, demon summoning… and though he knew that Rose would one day actually strike the spot, he didn't know when. And it surely wasn't now. It couldn't be now.
"It's not even summoning, John. She didn't even do a ritual. Roxy's in…a catatonic state. And it's just kidnapping." Jade leaned against the wall. "Sulfur everywhere. Signs of break-in. I'm actually surprised Roxy is alive."
John bit his lips, pacing a bit in thought. "And you are sure that…"
"I know where to track. But as I said, I need your help." Jade shrugged. "So are you in?" Jade extended her hand as if to offer a handshake.
"Only if I get to drive Bec."
"Fuck no."