Good morning Whale Pit!! Okay, so it may not be morning where you are, but what can ya do? I would like to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter: Crowofdawn; XV Dragon; Daydreamer9; Shocklance; Cartoonlover; Nightroad; Nemrut; SortaSpyder; ThePink1; Lost Prince; Nisa; ZestyChicken; InvaderSpyder; Darev; Nerd4eva; and Wolfgurl. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Here's a shout-out to Lord of Darkness...thanks for your PM's, my friend.
Again I thank my editor, Visigoth29527, for his tireless work on my behalf. Thank you again.
Now without further ado, may I present:
Chapter 6
Anna Lair watched Irma's four friends walk away down the street. Finally she closed the front door and sat down on the couch. Burying her face in her hands, she lost herself in her thoughts. What was she doing? How could she possibly have agreed to lock up her daughter like a criminal? Not that she had really been consulted, but still...
She had to talk to Irma alone, without Tom present. He was much too volatile right now for Anna's tastes, and she didn't think Irma would open up to him readily. But maybe if her mother pleaded and cajoled...
Anna walked to the stairs and paused on the bottom step. Was she making the right choice? What if Irma spurned her out of sheer anger? Could she handle it if her daughter rejected her again? You're nothing but a fraud, trying to replace my real mother. You could never be what she was...you'll always be just a step-mother. Those words haunted the middle-aged woman, and she wasn't sure her heart could take another round.
Still, no matter what Irma thought, that child meant the world to Anna. Even if she was not her biological child, she loved her like a daughter.
And Anna refused to sit by and watch that daughter destroy herself through grief and rage.
With renewed determination, Mrs. Lair climbed the stairs and turned down the hall towards Irma's bedroom. She knocked softly.
"Irma? Irma can I please come in?"
Receiving no response, Anna knocked louder.
"Irma, sweetie, please let me come in. I just want to talk to you."
Again, she received no response. Taking a deep breath, the woman inserted the key into the new lock and turned it slowly.
"Irma, I'm coming in now."
Slowly, Anna turned the doorknob and opened the door. The bedroom was still a mess, but there was no sign of Irma. Her headphones lay in the middle of the bed and Anna found herself drawn to them. Cocking her head slightly, the woman strode through the piles of clothing on the floor and approached the bed. Gingerly she picked up the headphones and slipped them on. Almost afraid of what she would hear, Anna flipped the switch on Irma's stereo.
And immediately wished she hadn't.
Strains of the most awful noise filled her ears and immediately caused Anna's head to ache. Quickly she turned off the stereo and threw down the headphones. How could anyone call that music, much less find enjoyment from it? Anna had never heard anything more forceful or offensive in her life.
Her concern growing for her daughter, the woman turned her attention to the bathroom. Of course Irma would be in the tub; she only spent all her free time in there. Or so it seemed anyway. Anna wondered what it was about the bathtub that fascinated her daughter so.
Mrs. Lair again fought her way through the piles on the floor and gently knocked on the bathroom door.
"Irma, are you in there?"
Anna heard a startled splash behind the door, confirming her earlier suspicions.
"Please, sweetheart, I just want to talk."
"Go away."
"Irma we need to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you."
"Then perhaps you'll agree to listen."
Irma was trapped. What could she do except maybe bury her head in the water? Still, maybe it would be worth listening. Her mother didn't sound angry, and almost seemed to be pleading. Perhaps she was here to render an apology.
"What do you want?" Irma reluctantly responded.
Anna breathed a small sigh of relief. "Baby, I'm sorry I slapped you; I had no right to do that."
Irma furrowed her brow and clenched her teeth. Her mother was, indeed, apologizing, and now that she had, Irma couldn't help feeling she had deserved to be hit. She had said some terrible things to her mother that she felt she would never have said under normal circumstances. Somehow, Irma thought that deserved a little retaliation.
"Yes you did; I was being a jerk. You had every right to slap me. I deserved it."
Anna was taken aback. She had been hoping for a modicum of forgiveness, but this was too much.
"Why would you say such a thing?"
Irma thought carefully about her response. Over the past weeks, she had been hurt by everybody, it seemed. In a way, hurting was comforting; it was familiar. Why should her mother not get in on the act? But Irma knew she couldn't tell her mother this; she would only freak out if she knew her daughter kind of liked to hurt. So the girl chose a different tact...one of forgiveness.
"Because I did deserve it. Nothing gives me the right to talk to you and dad like that, no matter how angry or hurt I felt."
Somehow, Irma found that forgiveness was very therapeutic. She had only meant it as a tactic to get her mother to go away faster, but now the girl found she actually liked it.
"I'm sorry for hurting you both," Irma continued. "I just need you to understand where I'm coming from. Why can't you and dad trust me when I tell you there's nothing wrong with me?"
Anna had hardly imagined this conversation taking place through the bathroom door, but she wasn't about to question her good fortune. If Irma was willing to talk, then so was Anna.
"Sweetie, we're trying to trust you; but both of us know there's something wrong. There have been too many signs to believe otherwise. What is it that has you so afraid you refuse to let us help you?"
Irma sighed and buried her head in the water for a moment. What has me so afraid? If only you knew.
"You just won't leave it alone will you," Irma replied, her head breaking the surface. "Alright I'll talk but not through the bathroom door. Give me a few minutes and then we can have a face-to-face?"
Anna's heart nearly leaped with joy. "Sure, sweetheart. Just knock on your door when you're ready."
With that, Anna left the bedroom, closing the door loudly behind her so Irma would know she had gone.
The young Water Guardian stood up in the tub, and sighed. Now what could she do? She had to come up with an excuse for her behavior. She wished she could tell her mother the truth; oh how she wished it. But that could never be. She had to think of something else.
The young girl stepped out of the tub and used her powers to dry herself off. She deliberately did not dry her hair, as that could look suspicious to anyone paying attention. Instead, she took a towel to her auburn locks and ran a comb through the thick tresses. She dressed quickly and stood in the middle of her room, thinking hard.
Her mother was not a stupid woman and certainly wasn't likely to buy just any explanation. Unless she had a little help...
Irma cocked her head and began to form a plan. Yes, it might just work.
With a satisfied nod, the girl crossed her room and knocked softly on her bedroom door. Almost immediately, it opened and Anna stepped through. Closing the door behind her, the kindly woman grabbed her daughter in a hug. Irma wanted nothing more than to run away, but she forced herself to hug the woman back.
"Can we sit down?"
Irma nodded and mother and daughter sat down on the bed. Anna took both of Irma's hands and looked deeply into her daughter's haunted, blue eyes.
"Please tell me what's wrong. I only want to help you; but I can't do that unless you talk to me."
"Mom, I don't mean to be difficult, but I need you to trust me when I say it's just normal teenage stuff. I don't expect you and dad to understand, but I need my privacy and your trust. Just let me deal on my own...please."
"But your grades-"
"I know, I know," Irma said, holding up her hand. "I'll get Taranee to tutor me or something, but I need to handle this on my own."
"Baby, I do trust you," Anna said, squeezing Irma's hands. "But don't you see what this is doing to all of us?"
"Of course I do, but try to understand what it's doing to me. You guys are accusing me of being on drugs, locking me in my room, grounding me. I feel like a criminal and I haven't done anything wrong. I'm just going through a tough time right now, but I haven't done anything wrong. Why are you treating me like the bad guy?"
Anna thought for a moment. From Irma's perspective, she was being trusted unfairly; and perhaps she was a little. Anna believed the lock on her daughter's room was unnecessary, and intended to get Tom to remove it immediately. She also believed her husband should not have searched Irma's room without her permission, but what could be done about that now? The grounding, however, was completely reasonable in the woman's opinion, and she refused to budge on that.
Anna wanted nothing more than to agree with her daughter, but she also felt she had to support her husband. The proverbial rock and a hard place...
"Sweetie, I agree your father should not have searched your room without asking, but as your parents we have the right to want the best for our daughter. We have the right, the responsibility, to make sure you're not hurting yourself. It would devastate us both if we lost you, and drugs are such a rampant problem among teens these days. You're exhibiting all the classic signs of drug use, and your father and I needed to be sure."
"Then why not just ask me instead of violating my privacy?"
"Would you have told us the truth if you were using? Honestly?"
Irma thought about that. "Probably not."
Anna nodded. "That's right. Still, we should have confronted you first. I'm sorry for that, but can you find it in your heart to forgive us? We had the best of intentions, but perhaps we didn't go about it in the right way."
Irma narrowed her eyes. Forgive such a naked violation of her privacy? Just like that? True, her mother had not actually committed the offense, but still. Here she was begging for forgiveness, when it was truly her father that should be doing such. Her mother she could see forgiving, but her dad? She just didn't know.
Irma wanted things to be normal, like they were before Nerissa had shown up. That bag had changed everything about Irma's life, and now the Guardian suffered every day because of her tortures. Even though the sorceress was dead and couldn't harm her anymore, Irma still experienced nightmares and flashbacks. Quietly, the young girl mourned the loss of her innocence.
"Irma?"
Irma jumped; she had forgotten to answer her mother...and the woman would need an answer.
"I can forgive you because you asked," Irma finally replied. "But dad needs to ask me, too. Locking me up is extreme and I'm upset about it. If he takes this stupid lock off the door, then maybe he and I can talk. I'm his daughter, not some strung-out druggie looking for her next hit. He needs to understand that. If he can't, then I want nothing to do with him."
Anna's soft, blue eyes turned painful. "You can't mean that. He's your father and he's trying to-"
"He's trying to alienate me and make me mad. Well he should be very proud of himself because he succeeded."
"Irma, please, listen to me. He loves you and only wants to protect you. You know he has a short temper at times, but it's only because he's feeling shut out. He needs his daughter more than you'll ever know, and right now he needs you to soften towards him a little. He made a couple of mistakes, but that doesn't mean he doesn't love you."
Irma gritted her teeth. "If he loves me so much then why doesn't he believe me when I tell him I'm not taking drugs?"
"He does believe you, sweetheart."
"No he doesn't. He wants to think I'm using because it fits with his little fantasy. He's a cop and I'm the criminal; he wants me to be using so that he'll be right."
"How could you think that?" Anna asked in horror.
"Because it's true. It's more important than anything for him to be right; even more important than loving his only daughter."
Anna gaped in shock. "Irma, that's not true and you know it. You're just saying this because you're angry."
"You're damn right I'm angry! I've been locked up in my own house; I'm my father's prisoner, and quite frankly I'm a little tired of being held captive!"
Had Anna known the truth, she would have picked up on Irma's slip; but as it was, she merely wrote it off as the ravings of an angry teenager. "Irma, please calm down. I'm sure once he sees what he's truly done-"
"He'll put a second lock on the door in case I manage to pick the first one. My drug-addict friends taught me to do that, you know."
"That's enough, young lady. That's not fair and you know it. Your father does not deserve that kind of disrespect no matter what he's done. Now I don't agree with his methods, but as your father he has every right to want to keep you safe...even from yourself. Deep inside, you know he wants only the best for you, and you know he loves you more than anything in this world. Why do you think he's doing all of this?"
"Because he likes to torture me?"
"Because he wants to protect you. Now I don't know where you got the idea that he has anything but love for you, but you need to lose that idea right now. We both love you so much it's indescribable. Which is why we're hurt when you won't trust us enough to let us help you."
Irma opened her mouth to interrupt, but Anna continued. "I understand your need to handle things on your own, but this behavior has become self-destructive. It's like you just don't care anymore, and that scares us. Your emotional state seems almost like a precursor to suicide and we don't want to lose you. Your father's reactions are out of fear...can't you understand that?"
"Now I'm not only a drug addict but suicidal as well? Where does this all end? Why won't you believe me when I tell you it's no big deal? I'll handle it and be back to my old self in no time. Why won't you trust me on this?"
"Because we're afraid for you, Irma. I may only be a step-mother, but I love you as if you were my own. I'm frightened of this new person who seems to have replaced my daughter. Her room is a mess, she spends all her time in the bathtub, and she listens to the most awful music I've ever heard. How do you expect me to..."
Anna cut herself off then and look critically at her daughter. Something had suddenly dawned on her, and she prayed she was wrong.
"What?" Irma asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Irma, has someone been hurting you?"
Oh no, now what? Her mother had just hit the nail on the head, and Irma couldn't see a way out. She needed to stall."
"Hurting me? What do you mean?"
Anna Lair swallowed hard then plunged on. "Irma, I need you to tell me the truth now. Has someone been molesting you?"
Irma actually shrank back as if she had been hit by one of Nerissa's lightning bolts. She answered automatically without thinking.
"What? No! No, that's crazy. Seriously I would kick him in the balls. Do you really think I would keep something like that from you?"
"Yes, if you were ashamed enough, you would. Are you telling me the truth? If you prefer I won't tell your father. It will be between you and me."
"I'm not being molested, mom. No one's ever touched me, or tried anything like that."
"Then what is it? Has someone been hurting you in other ways?"
"Look at me, mom. Do you see any marks on me? Any bruises or welts? Do I limp or look like I'm in pain?"
"Yes, you look like you're in pain. Something behind those beautiful eyes..."
"You're weirding me out, mom. No, nobody is hurting me. You think a cop's kid could be bullied? Please...I'm the bomb. Honestly, I'm more a threat to them than they are to me."
Anna reached out and cupped her daughter's cheek. "Then what is it, baby? What's happening to my girl?"
Time for Plan B. "I'm just stressed out, mom. I haven't been sleeping well, I told you that. Look, I'll ask Taranee to help me with my schoolwork, okay? And I'll stop listening to death metal if it makes you happy. I'll clean my room, but I need my baths. Deal?"
Irma concentrated hard before her mother could answer.
It's a deal and I'll leave you alone now, it's a deal and I'll leave you alone now, it's a deal and I'll leave you alone now.
Anna opened her mouth to speak. "It's a deal and I'll leave you alone now. But you promise me if this gets any bigger..."
"I'll come to you."
"And you and your father will talk tonight?"
Irma sighed. "If we have to."
"Thank you, sweetheart; it means a lot to me."
"Does it mean enough to let me out of my cage?"
"You're still grounded, and I can't let you out without your father's consent. But I will leave the door unlocked. I'm trusting you to do the right thing."
It was a start. "Thanks, mom."
Anna nodded and rose to leave. "Now would a great time to clean your room."
"I will."
"Good girl. Thank you for talking with me...I really appreciate it."
"Thanks for trusting me."
Anna crossed the room and opened the bedroom door.
"Mom?"
Mrs. Lair turned. "Yes?"
Irma paused and looked at the floor. "I...love you."
Anna smiled and moved back towards the bed. She hugged her daughter tightly, this time receiving an embrace of her own.
"I love you too, baby."
--
Tom Lair had been working hard to serve the citizens of Heatherfield all day. Tired and wet, he returned home just after nine PM that evening. As he opened the door, he took off his hat and hung it on the rack near the door. His police jacket followed and he turned to see his wife approaching.
"Welcome home, Tom," Anna said, kissing him lightly.
"Thanks, honey. It's good to be home."
"Busy night?"
"Ugh, the worst. The flooding stranded all kinds of motorists. We had to shut down Main Street for a few hours just so we could pump the water out. Honestly, I've never seen a storm like this. And where did it come from? No rain is predicted for the next week at least."
"Must be one of those freak things," Anna shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess. Did Chris get home alright?"
"Yes, he's already in bed."
"And Irma?"
"She's in her room, where she's been all day."
Tom grunted. "Good."
"Tom, we need to take that silly lock off her door. It just makes her hate us."
Tom looked pensive. He had been thinking about his daughter all day, and he had to admit he might have overreacted a little. Grounding her was one thing, but locking her up? What had he been thinking?
"I agree," he sighed. "I don't know what came over me, Anna. I was just so angry and..."
"And scared," Anna finished. "She's your only daughter and you're afraid you're losing her."
"You know me so well."
"Just talk to her, Tom. She loves you, and if you keep your temper, she might even forget she's mad at you."
The sergeant nodded and started for the stairs. With one bracing look to his wife, he slowly climbed the stairs and turned down the hall towards Irma's bedroom.
Reaching the door, he knocked softly.
"Honey? Can I come in?"
Irma stiffened. She had been dreading this all day. But hey, at least her room was clean.
"Come in," Irma finally answered.
Tom wasn't at all surprised to find the door unlocked. He knew Anna hadn't supported his idea to lock up their daughter. He opened the door and strode slowly inside. Closing the door behind him, he stood still and looked around the room.
"It looks nice in here, honey. I'm proud of you for cleaning up."
"Thanks," Irma mumbled, staring at the floor.
Tom crossed the room in two long strides and took Irma's hand. Carefully they sat down on the bed and he began to speak.
"Irma, sweetheart, I love you. I'm sorry for treating you so poorly, but you scared me to death. Your behavior is so strange lately...it's just not you. I may have gone about it the wrong way, but I think I had every right to assume drug use."
"Yeah, you did go about the wrong way. You should have just asked me before searching my room without a warrant."
"I know, baby, I know. I'm sorry for that, but if you had come to us sooner-"
"You still would have thought I was using." Irma held up her hand when her father opened his mouth to reply. "But...I understand where you were coming from, I guess. I've had some time to think today, and I realize I'm upset with you...but I'm not mad anymore."
Tom Lair said nothing, but waited for his daughter to continue.
"I need you to trust me when I say I can handle things on my own. Sometimes I need my privacy, and having my parents in my face all the time gets really old. I'm not on drugs, I'm not being molested, I'm not being bullied. I'm just trying to figure some things out, that's all. I'll figure them out, on my own, and then I'll be back to normal. Just give me a chance to prove I can handle it."
"But you haven't been handling whatever it is. Your grades have dropped and you're in danger of flunking out. Is that what you want?"
"Of course not, but like I told mom earlier today, I'll get Taranee to help me or something. Look, I'll try harder and I'll pull my grades up. I'm not gonna flunk out, but I need you and mom to stop hounding me about it all the time."
"We hound you because we want you to succeed. You need a good education, and good grades, in order to make it in this world. You can do and be anything you want, but only if you have the grades to do it. I want you to have options when you get to college, not just a string of regrets."
"College is a long way off, dad. I've still got a few months to pull my grades up, and if I hit my midterms, then everything will be okay. Please, can't you trust me to get it done?"
"Irma, baby, I do trust you; I'm just worried and scared for you. It's not just your grades...it's your attitude. They way you treated you us this morning...it's unacceptable, young lady. You had no right to talk to your mother that way, and no right to scream at me the way you did."
"Okay, I accept that, but what gives you the right to paw through my things the way you did? My bedroom is my private haven, and now it feels violated. How could you do that to me?"
Tom cast his eyes around the room, looking for the right words. "I regret my actions, but I can't take them back. All I can do is ask your forgiveness for a senile old man. I thought I was doing what was best for you. Drug use is serious and I've seen it destroy lives. I could not, in good conscience, sit back and let something like that happen to my daughter. I realize I should have confronted you before I took the measures I did, but what can I do about it now except ask your forgiveness?"
Irma didn't answer immediately. She could see her father truly did regret his actions, but that didn't mean she wasn't upset about them. Before she could reply, however, Tom Lair threw his arms to his sides.
"I throw myself on the mercy of the court, Your Honor. I beg for a stay of execution."
A few weeks ago, Irma would have giggled. This wasn't the first time her father had thrown himself on the mercy of the court. It used to make her laugh, but now her damaged mind only flashed a vision of Nerissa throwing herself on the mercy of the Council of Candracar. Had they taken a course of justice instead of mercy...
Irma shook herself and forced a small courtesy laugh. "Knock it off...you look like a goof."
Tom put his arms down and gazed fondly at his daughter. "Irma, I love you; I love you so much I can't put it into words. I would never let anyone hurt you. I know you can take care of yourself, but let a father protect his daughter, okay?"
Irma wanted to cry. A few weeks ago she would have believed those words. Now they just echoed hollowly in her head. She had been hurt badly by someone...someone her father would never know. In fact she would have been killed if not for the powers of Candracar. She shuddered as she remembered how close she had come to being tortured to death.
But Irma could no more tell her father that than she could pretend it hadn't happened. So instead she told him what he wanted to hear.
"I know you wouldn't, dad. You're a good father, but I need you to trust that I can handle things on my own. Please, let me do it."
Tom looked long and hard at his daughter. On the one hand, she was so young and he wanted to keep her from whatever was causing her nightmares. On the other, his daughter was extremely independent and needed her privacy. How to balance her need for trust and his need to protect? Finally, he decided her needs were greater than his...for now.
"Alright, baby, I'm going to trust you...for now. But if this gets any bigger, I'm gonna be all up in your face again. Deal?"
It was the best deal she was going to get, so Irma smiled slightly. "Deal."
"We'll see about getting that lock removed on Monday, shall we?"
"I would like that, dad. Thanks."
Tom nodded and cuffed his daughter gently on the chin. "You're my girl and I love you. Never forget that."
Irma nodded and playfully punched her father's shoulder. "I love you, too."
The big sergeant smiled and rose to leave. "Get some sleep, kiddo."
"I will. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Tom Lair closed the door behind him.
Irma sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was suddenly experiencing a bad headache. She rose from the bed and padded to the bathroom. She grabbed some aspirin and swallowed them with no water. After all, what use did the Water Guardian have for that?
Returning to her bed, she shut off her lamp, and pulled the covers up to her chin. It didn't take her long to fall asleep.
Or to dream...
Will was hanging by her fingertips over a very high ledge. Frost was gleefully stepping on her left hand with his huge boot. With a cry, Will's hand fell off the ledge. She screamed for help as the fingers on her right hand began to go numb.
Frost's booted foot came down on those fingers. Will had just resigned herself to her fate, when Frost suddenly flew over the edge, howling pitifully. Will looked up to see her savior. Irma leaned down and pulled the frightened redhead to safety.
"Irma, you saved my life. Thank you."
"All in a day's work," Irma saluted.
Will giggled.
"Will can I ask you something?"
"Sure, anything."
"Why did you put me through the Joining?"
"Excuse me?" Will said slowly.
"You knew it would screw me up for the rest of my life, yet you did it anyway. How could you make that kind of decision for me?"
"Irma...I don't know how to answer that."
"I think the Heart chose badly when it chose you. In fact you don't deserve to hold it, if you can so callously condemn your friends to a life of torture."
"Irma, stop this. You're not-"
"In my right mind? You're damn right about that. But there's something I can do to save everyone else from your corruption."
With that, Irma pushed Will over the ledge. The Keeper screamed as she plunged to her death. Irma watched her former friend fall...and smiled.
--
And there's Chapter 6. Look for an intervention in the next chapter...maybe. I don't know, we'll see how it goes. LOL. Thanks again for reading. Cheers!!