Banshee: Here's chapter 2~!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and the plot.
Chapter Two: Arrival
We arrived, our packed bags in hand, at the place where we'd be staying for the weekend.
It was a lakeside cabin that my family rented out every year for the annual reunion. The front porch was built directly over the lake, and you could jump right off of it and hit water. The cabin itself was big, and could fit at least twenty people, maybe even more.
As soon as we appeared, my mother, who was already there, ran out into the yard and embraced me.
"Sweetheart~!" She greeted. "So glad you and your friends could make it!"
"I wouldn't miss my family reunion, Mom." I said.
"Hello, dear." Dad said, hugging me. He turned to my fiancé, and his eyes hardened. "Hello Axel.."
Axel gulped. "Uh… Hello, Mr. Hale…"
"I expect the best behavior from you, boy." Dad warned. "Mother and Father are very particular, and even though my wife and I approve of your marriage, they might not. So I warn you… don't do anything you might regret."
"Yes Sir.." Axel said, nodding.
"Good. Now that that's out of the way…" He smiled and patted Axel on the shoulder. "Welcome~!"
My parents turned around and walked away, and Axel exhaled his held breath.
"Your dad is scary…" He said.
"You think he's bad?" I said. "Grandma's even worse.."
"Wonderful…"
A car drove up, and I recognized the car as my grandfather's. He drove one of those old-style cars, and he has been driving it since he bought it when he was younger. He took good care of it, and you never would have guessed that it was around for over thirty years.
My grandmother was the first out of the car.
Grandma is a petit old woman, easily dwarfed by her husband (and any man over 4'11''), with pure white hair tied back in a neat bun. She dressed elegantly, with a nice hat, and a long coat over a dress that went from her neck all the way down to her ankles, and heeled boots. Her face had a few wrinkles, and her cheeks sagged a little, her pouty lower lip and her beady eyes earning her the nickname "Bulldog." She is known as Sophie "The Bulldog" Williams, and when she got married her last name got changed to "The Bulldog" Hale.
As far as personality goes, she's hardheaded, stubborn, and she has an explosive temper, and trust me, you do not want to be on the business end of her cane. Maybe I got my anger problems from her…
"Nicole~!" She greeted, her heavy English accent ringing clear. "Come 'ere an' give your old grandma a hug!"
I gave Grandma a hug, and she noticed my friends.
"Who are these fine-lookin' blokes?" She asked.
"These are my friends. And this," I put my arm around Axel's shoulder. "is Axel; my fiancé."
"Your fiancé, eh? Now you listen 'ere you red'eaded devil, you." She raised her cane to him threateningly. "You hurt my granddaughter, an' I'll make you wish you never been born! I may be old, but I still have lots o' fight left in me!"
"What in the bloody hell is with all the yelling?" Grandpa exclaimed as he approached us. He smiled when he saw me, and caught me in a hug. "Sweet'eart!"
Grandpa dressed snappy, with a nice suit and one of those "old man" caps, and wore the medals he earned from his service in the war on the front of his suit jacket. He had a semi-wrinkly face, and wore square glasses that sat low on his nose. Like Grandma, he had a cane. During the war, he got shot in the leg, and it gave him a permanent limp, and he has been using a cane to help him walk ever since.
He's a laid-back old man, but his time in the war has made him jumpy, and anything that sounds even remotely like a gunshot causes him to run for cover.
"Grandpa!"
"It seems like donkey's years since I last saw you. Look how much you've grown, love."
"Grandpa, this is Axel; my fiancé."
"Fiancé, eh?"
"Oh, no… here we go again…" Axel groaned.
"I have only one thing to say to you, young man. You'd better take good care o' my precious little granddaughter, or, you mark my words, I'll bury you. I was in World War II, you know. I blew the treads of a German tank using nothing but sticks of dynamite and makeshift glue, and I took down at least a hundred Nazis before I got sent home with a purple heart…"
"Every time he talks about that bloody war, the number of Nazis he killed goes up.." Grandma grumbled as she rolled her eyes.
"… and after all that, dealing with a little Nancy boy like you will be a doddle. Do I make myself clear, boy?"
"Uh… Yes, Sir…"
"Right then! At ease."
Grandpa saluted him and he marched away with Grandma close behind.
"Your dad's parents are fucking scary.." He said after my grandparents were out of earshot. "I hope your mom's parents are less… intimidating.."
Our friends went inside to help themselves to the refreshments.
Ten minutes after Grandma and Grandpa arrived, I saw my aunt Stacie's car pull in. I knew Nana and Grampy were with her because Grampy couldn't drive due to his bad eye, and Nana refused to drive, so she drove them from place to place.
"Oh! Aunt Stacie, Nana and Grampy are here!"
My aunt Stacie came out first, and took her infant son Jesse out of his car seat. My aunt is the youngest child out of the five that her parents had, and was only in her twenties. She had Grampy's dark hair, and she kept it straight. Her face was young and vibrant, but she had faint dark circles under her eyes, courtesy of her newborn baby.
She is a sweet woman, handles stress very well, and has an extraordinary amount of patience. She would have to be patient to deal with Grampy and his bagpipes.
I greeted her, and my new cousin Jesse, and helped my Nana out of the car.
Nana looks like your typical sweet old lady, and Grampy a sweet old man. Like Grandma, Nana keeps her hair in a neat bun, and both her and her husband's faces have few wrinkles. She has a beauty mark under her right eye. She wears a simple white blouse and skirt, and also wears one of her homemade scarves around her neck. Unlike Grandma, she walks without a cane.
"Is that you, Nicole?" Said Nana, speaking with her heavy Scottish accent. Her eyesight was bad, so she walked up to my fiancé instead of me and hugged him. "Oh my, you've gotten taller, haven't ya? Strange… yer chest has gotten flat…"
"Nana, I'm over here." I said. "Do you have your glasses on?"
"Oh, no, I don't. Thanks fer remindin' me, dear." She took her glasses out of her pocket and put them on. They were like those thick Coke bottle glasses; the kind of glasses you get made fun of for in school. "Ah! There ya are."
She hugged me and I asked, "Where's Grampy?"
"Oh, that lazy old eejit's gettin' outta the car now." She grumbled. "I hope ya weren't expectin' a peaceful weekend, 'cuz he brought those accursed bagpipes with him."
"Oh boy…" I sighed, as Grampy got out of the car.
He was wearing his typical attire; a simple white shirt and his kilt, with knee-high socks and black shoes.
"Hello Grampy." I greeted.
"What?" He said. "What was that, lassie?"
"I said 'Hello.'" I repeated my greeting in a louder voice.
"Oh! Hello, Nicole."
"Grampy, did you forget to put in your hearing aids again?" I asked.
"Did I ferget ta give puddin' to the cheering maids?"
Nana smacked him in the head. "She asked ya if ya fergot to put in yer hearin' aids, ya eejit!"
"Oh.. Why, yes, it seems I have…"
"Nana, Grampy, I want you to meet my fiancé, Axel." I said, pulling my fiancé close.
"Meet yer what?"'
"Her fiancé!"
"Oh! O'course. What's his name again?"
"Axel." I said.
"Paxil?"
"No, Axel."
"Excel?"
"In the name of the wee man, put yer damn hearin' aids in afore ya drive us all mad!"
"All right…" Grampy took a small box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing two hearing aids. He put them in and adjusted the sound, and said, "What were ya sayin' lass?"
"This is Axel, my fiancé."
"Fiancé?"
Axel braced himself for more threats.
"Nice to meet ya laddie." He greeted in a friendly manner. "It's nice ta see me granddaughter finally settled down an' got herself a man. You better take good care o' her, ya hear?"
With that, Grampy waddled towards the house, and I went with him to make sure he didn't fall on his way inside. Axel turned to follow, but Nana grabbed his arm.
"Now you listen here." She ordered, pointing a finger at him. "That little girl is me life, and if ya do anythin' ta hurt her, ye'll get yir heid in yir hauns an yir lugs ti pley wi; in other words, ye'll be in big trouble, ya got that?"
Axel nodded. "Yes ma'am."
Nana patted him on the shoulder. "Good. Now let's go inside afore everyone starts worryin'."
"There you are." I said as Axel walked in. "What happened? You're all pale."
"Hm? Oh, it's nothing babe. I'm fine." He assured.
…
- An Hour Later -
…
I heard a dog yapping, and I groaned.
Marge was here…
"Oh no…" I groaned.
I looked out the window, and saw a plump woman step out of her cream-colored Mercedes Benz, recognizing her as my rich bitch of an aunt.
She loved to flaunt the fact that she was rich, wearing her best clothes, jewelry, shoes and other accessories to every occasion. Her hair was done up in elegant curls, with tear-shaped diamond earrings hanging from her droopy ears. The coat she was wearing was pure fur, and she showcased her newest alligator bag proudly. Her nose was high in the air.
Her daughter Marissa was pretty much the same way, but her hair was died blonde instead of our family's common hair color of brown, and it was long and wavy. She carried her white Pomeranian, whom she had dubbed "Sissy," in her arms.
I was glad Grampy brought the bagpipes.
As annoying as those things were, it was still better than that overgrown rat's constant yapping.
When they walked inside, Butch - our German Shepherd - growled at the sight of Sissy, who snarled and snapped in his general direction. She put her dog down and she ran over to Butch and snarled at him, to which my dog responded with a huff and pushed her aside with his back paw. Sissy refused to give up and came back, and Butch repeated the action and continued pushing her across the floor until he got tired of it and left the room.
"Hello cousin." Marissa greeted unenthusiastically when she saw me, saying the word 'cousin' with a disdainful tone.
"Marissa, hi~!" I said with mock excitement. "That dog of yours is still around, huh? I figured it would have been caught in a mouse trap by now."
"Oh ha, ha, you're so funny…" She said sarcastically. "Out of my way, poor person. I have to go pick out my room. I think I'll take the one on the second floor, with the perfect view of the lake.."
"Okay, number one, I'm not poor; I'm middle class. Number two, you can't have that room."
"And why the hell not?" Marissa demanded.
"Because my fiancé and I already took it." I said.
She looked at me like I sprouted an extra head. "You have a fiancé?"
As if on cue, I felt a finger tap my shoulder and I turned around to see Axel, who had a dissatisfied look on his face.
"Uuh, babe? Do you have a minute?" He asked. He pointed to his leg, where Sissy's jaws were latched onto his pant leg. "This little rat latched itself onto my leg, and it's not letting go… Could you please get it off me before I torch it?"
Sensing his irritation, I grabbed Sissy by the scruff of her neck and pried her jaws apart with my free hand, retracting my hand quickly before she snapped at me. She continued snarling and snapping as I held her in the air by her neck.
"That better?" I asked.
"Much." He said. "Thanks."
I handed Sissy to Marissa. "Here's your rat. Please, do us all a big favor and keep it in your fucking purse where it belongs."
Marissa gasped, offended that I compared her 'precious little cupcake' to a dirty, disease-ridden rat. "Sissy is not a rat! She's a Pomeranian!"
"Sorry, but any dog that's smaller than a Basset Hound is a rat."
She let out a huff and stormed away, cradling her precious little dog like a helpless infant. Sissy continued to snarl at me, but I paid her no mind.
"That your cousin?" Axel asked.
"Yes…" I grumbled.
"I can see why you hate her."
About twenty minutes after Marge showed up, Linda's car pulled into the driveway.
Linda was the oldest, and it showed. Her hair was slightly graying, and she kept it neat and tidy. Everything about her was neat and tidy… and it was annoying.
Next to Linda was a young man, my cousin Jasper, who looked far from happy. He had dark skin, and his black hair was styled back, which was different from the way he preferred to have it; messy, which was the way his boyfriend liked it - no, excuse me, I meant to say 'friend' because his stupid mother is supposed to believe that he's straight or else "Hello straight camp!" Cue eye roll.
Speaking of 'friend,' Jasper's boyfriend Sean was there too. Sean is your typical attractive young man, with dark hair and light skin, and "eyes like emeralds," as Jasper says. He is tall and well-built, and all in all a very nice guy.
"Jasper~!" I greeted, tackling him when he walked in the door.
"Nikki, darling~!" Jasper mused, hugging me back.
We always greeted each other like this.
"How's my favorite cousin?" He asked.
"Just peachy." I said. "How's my favorite cousin?"
"I'm still living with that horrid woman." He said, the 'horrid woman' referring to his mother. "How do you think I've been doing? Terrible, as usual, that's what!"
"Aren't you saving up so you and Sean can get a place of your own?" I asked.
"Trust me darling, we're trying." He said. "But it's hard to earn a decent amount of money these days."
"Don't worry, Jasper. It sucks that you have to wait this long, but it just makes it that much sweeter when the day finally comes." I assured, patting him on the shoulder. "And when it does, you can tell your mother 'Fuck you, I'm outta here!' and give her the bird. Oh, and don't forget to rub in the fact that you're gay when you do that."
"Will do. And who is that spicy little quesadilla?" Jasper asked when he noticed Axel sneaking a brownie from the snack table. "Is that your fiancé?"
"Yup. That's Axel." I proclaimed.
"Ooh, nice job~." He congratulated me, nudging me with his elbow and winking suggestively. "He is fine with a capital 'F.' If he wasn't already engaged to you, and if I didn't have Sean, I'd be all over that. Tell me, have you two… done the dirty-dirty?"
"W-Wha-?" I sputtered. "I'm not telling you that!"
"We've known each other for years, and we've talked about some twisted stuff. Let's not forget the time I gave you that little…" Jasper leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "banana demonstration."
I blushed.
Before you ask, when we got into sexual education at school, they barely discussed contraception because it was the "Don't have sex 'cuz you'll get pregnant and die" kind of Sex Ed. They mentioned condoms, but they didn't say how they were applied. So I asked Jasper. He demonstrated by putting a condom on a banana. I was thirteen when this happened, mind you. He also gave a few more demonstrations about… a-ahem, other things, but I'd prefer not to talk about it…
"Okay…" I admitted. "You have a point."
"So, tell me, don't keep me in suspense! Have you two started having sex yet?"
"… Yes…" I admitted, blushing.
Jasper clapped his hands together excitedly. "It finally happened! My little baby cousin finally became a woman~!"
"Keep it down, or I'll turn you into a woman." I growled.
"Okay, enough talk, now introduce me to your sexy-fine fiancé." He said, nudging me towards the redhead's location.
"What am I going to do with you, Jasper?" I sighed.
We walked over to Axel, who was helping himself to a generous portion of wine, and I tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey babe." He greeted.
"Hi honey." I greeted back.
"Hello gorgeous~!" Jasper greeted in a sing-song voice.
"Is that Jasper?" Axel asked.
"Yes." I said. "This is Jasper."
I introduced them. "Jasper, this is my fiancé, Axel."
"Nice to meet you, Jasper."
"Like wise." Jasper said, as he and Axel shook hands. "Ooh, such strong hands~. I bet he puts these to good use in the bedroom, doesn't he Nikki?"
"Oh hell yeah." Axel bragged as I blushed. "When I'm done with her, she's a trembling puddle of goo."
My blush darkened a few shades, and I smacked Axel's arm.
"A-Axel!" I stuttered as he gave me his trademark smirk.
"Oh, if only both of us weren't taken…" Jasper sighed. "But you can't change fate. Nikki is your soul mate, and Sean is mine. Ah, romance~… Speaking of soul mate, I need to find Sean. We need to pick our room. Cao, darlings~!"
As he sauntered away, Axel leaned towards me and whispered, "You weren't kidding when you said he was gay…"
"Remember what you saw, because that's what he's really like." I whispered back. "When he's around his mother, he's one miserable son-of-a-bitch."
"I can imagine…" Axel remarked.
…
- That Night -
…
So far, everyone except my uncle Jacob (who wouldn't be able to get here until tomorrow), had arrived at the lake house, and my fiance had met pretty much all of them. Everyone had a good opinion of him, and my friends, except for Marge and Linda who never had a good opinion on anybody except themselves.
Like I told Marissa, Axel and I had chosen the room on the second floor. It had a small balcony, and it had a beautiful view of the lake. Axel was never the mushy, lovey-dovey type of guy, but he sat out there with me when the sunset came around because it would 'shut me up,' as he said, and, believe it or not, he does like to cuddle.
"What a day… I must have gotten at least a hundred death threats…" Axel groaned as he sat down on the bed.
"They're just protective, that's all." I said. "They don't know you like I do, so, naturally, they don't trust you yet. Once you earn their trust, they'll treat you like you're their own blood."
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and gave him a kiss, which he eagerly accepted.
"I hope so." He said as he pulled away.
We got into bed, and Axel pulled the covers over us. Like he always does, he pulled me close so my back was flush against his chest, his face buried in the back of my neck.
"G'night my vanilla-scented, sexy lady."
I smiled faintly, and shook my head. "Night, you stupid idiot."
"Hey, Nikki.." Axel said after a few minutes. "You still awake? The night's still young, you know. Maybe a little hanky-panky will tire us out, huh? I'm good for a few rounds…"
A loud 'smack' echoed through the room.
"Ugh… Pervert."
…
…
