AN ~ Hooray! I think I have done all the editing I need for this chapter, so I figured I could post it now.
Also, major thanks to sandradee27 for the lovely review. It totally made my day. :{D In response to your comment about more Lily/Lizard stuff soon, I'm trying to not rush it, cause I think that it makes it seem pretty unrealistic. But you won't have to wait too much longer. :)
Anyway, on to the next chapter! Weeeee!
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Chapter 7
Both Lex and I seemed to feel at ease around Ruby and though I was determined to not let any of the clan members intimidate me, it was certainly saying something for Lex. I had actually caught him checking his shaggy dark brown locks for gray hairs in a mirror once, when he thought no one was looking. My poor baby brother had kept in fair spirits, thanks to my persistent uplifting remarks, but I could practically see his mind fraying more and more every passing minute.
When it was just Ruby, Lex, and I, though, he actually seemed to enjoy himself a little and dropped his guard enough to stop glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.
After breakfast, we spent some time in the television room. They had one TV, and it was very small, played in black and white, and only had about four channels, but it was nice. It was just so...normal. We watched a courtroom show, which I normally found quite boring, but I enjoyed it immensely. The three of us even had fun watching it to the point of rooting for one side or the other, and shouted at the screen every time the antagonist came on screen.
It was strange that a show depicting other people's troubles was actually a welcome break from reality. We weren't what anyone could call "happy" and were still flooded with emotions from the recent death of our parents, but we weren't sobbing our eyes out, which was nice.
Then Cyst casually walked into the room, the front of his shirt spattered with fresh blood layered over old stains.
The room instantly became silent, save the television, which very quickly became just a static background noise. The smiles that were once on our faces died and I was sure that that little sparkle of light I had seen growing in Lex's eyes had been snuffed out.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my brother almost shrink into the corner of the room, trying to get as far away from the bald, blood drenched man as he could.
Ruby looked a little sad, but remained entirely calm. The only person she ever seemed remotely tense around was her brother, Lizard.
I stayed where I was, and tried to look like I wasn't disconcerted by his presence, but I was certainly panicking on the inside. Had there been another poor, innocent family that had been slaughtered just as brutally as my parents? Just the thought of it broke my heart, but I kept my cool.
Seemingly unaware of the effect his presence had on the three of us, Cyst meandered over to a cabinet in the room and grabbed something then turned to leave just as suddenly as he had come. Before he could exit the room, though, my mouth opened before I could think and I asked, "What's going on?"
The man turned around to face me, unable to turn just his head due to the massive neck brace. He looked as surprised that I had spoken to him as I felt.
There was a long pause in which he appeared to be thinking quite thoroughly about how to answer. Then he spoke, not making eye contact with Lex or I. "Jus'...takin' care o' yer parents..." he said almost cryptically. I felt a bit sick after he answered my stupid question, but I felt like there was more to it than he was letting on.
He glanced up at me with a look that said maybe let out more than he should have, then looked back at his feet, nodded his head what little he could and turned back to the door and swiftly left us to absorb what he meant by 'taking care of our parents.'
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After watching a bit more television, we accepted that we just weren't going to go back to having fun like we were earlier, so we made our way downstairs. Upon reaching the living room, a thought struck my mind.
"Hey, Ruby, how about we play a game?" I inquired with a nudge.
She shrugged her petite shoulders and looked up at me with big eyes. "Wha' yeh wanna play?" she asked, her question directed at both Lex and I. Lex didn't look to be in the mood for playing games, but I didn't care. It was officially my job to keep his mind in a better place.
"How about charades?" I asked, thinking back on all the times Lexis and I had had fun playing charades with our friends. We always came up with the most ridiculous things, like Darth Vader gardening, or a clown riding a lawnmower. Just remembering my friend Shelby trying to act out the latter brought a smirk to my face.
"Ch...charades?" Ruby stuttered, having a difficult time pronouncing the word.
"Yeah, haven't you played that before?" I asked her, surprised she didn't know what it was.
"Nah," she replied, looking like she had let me down, or something.
"That's fine, don't worry about it," I said with a smile. "It's real easy; you choose something you want to act out and then the others try to guess what you have in mind without you saying anything."
She seemed a little apprehensive, at first. After Lex and I had given her a few examples, though, her brown eyes started to sparkle and she seemed more eager to play.
As I was trying to act out a bear in a dress, I was having a bit of trouble acting out the dress part. So I decided to act like I was twirling a dress and spun around. I nearly fell over, however when I caught sight of a blond haired man with soft blue eyes watching me from around a corner.
Time seemed to slow down and our gaze remained locked for what seemed like minutes but was only seconds, before his eyes opened wide and he grimaced and went back behind the corner.
I couldn't see him anymore, but I could only imagine the awkward look on his face at having been caught showing any interest in our childish game. When I initially caught sight of him, he actually looked peaceful. The way the corners of his lips were upturned ever so slightly, he seemed to be enjoying the lighthearted silliness of the game. But that scowl after he noticed I had seen him...maybe he just didn't want me thinking that he was interested in what we were doing.
"Don' worry, he spies on people all th' time, jus' cause he knows he good at it," Ruby said, reassuringly.
"I wasn' spy'in on yeh dumb asses, yeh jus' stop gigglin' so damn loud, an' I won' have ta come an beat yer asses!" Lizard shouted angrily from the other room.
Ruby rolled her eyes. "If yeh not spyin' then why yeh hidin' an' listenin' wha' we sayin'?"
There was a long pause, in which I had to smother a smirk. He was most certainly busted, and he knew it.
"Well- well it ain't mah fault yer all so damn loud! Bet even Ma coul' hear yer annoyin' ass voices from all th' way upstairs. Dumb shits..."
Just then, Mama yelled from the TV room upstairs, "Lizard? 'S tha' yeh yellin' downstairs? I don' care wha' yer bitchin' 'bout, jus' shut th' hell up!"
I couldn't help it this time. I snorted and Ruby and Lex began snickering shortly after me. The angry stomping of dusty boots and muttered curses could be heard all the way out the back door.
No sooner had Lizard left the house, than Papa entered though the front door with two familiar suitcases in his arms. One belonged to me and the other was Lex's.
"I believe these 'r yers," he said simply, setting them down by me.
"Oh yes, thank you," I replied, a little surprised that he had gone all the way to the wreckage to get these for us.
"Well, no sense in just leavin' 'em in th' crater." He shrugged as if it were no big deal.
"What crater?" Lex asked quietly.
"Where we keep th' cars. Can' jus' leave 'em on th' road, now, can we? People won' come if they see a bunch o' crashed cars sittin' 'round." Papa ran his bony fingers over the top on his head and through his mess of black and gray hair.
Lexis nodded numbly and then looked down to scrutinize his worn shoes.
I thanked Papa again and took our suitcases up to our room. I sorted through my clothes, eager to get something less...filthy on. A frown grew on my face as I started to realize the clothes I had brought. They certainly weren't what I'd wear in a place where I was in very serious danger of being taken as a prisoner by the other clan. Just the idea of it made me start to feel sick.
I knew that I was protected here, but if in any case I were to get into the hands of Hades' clan...I shuddered at the thought. Then again, I suppose that any female found out here was in danger of being violated in the worst ways. I just didn't want to make the chances of that any greater than they need to be.
When I was planning my outfits for this trip, I prepared only for warm weather, of course, but did I really have to bring so many low cut tops and short shorts and skirts? It all seemed so normal back home, but seeing it all in a new light, I was going to need to seriously reconsider my wardrobe choices when I got back home. Maybe mom really was right all along…
Eventually, I decided on a small black bodice that was laced up the front and showed only a little of my midriff and a pair of black shorts decorated with patches of my favorite cartoon characters, band names, and symbols. I closed the door, as uncomfortable as ever that our door was the only one in the house that didn't have a lock, and changed into the new clothes and I felt ten times better. The showers felt heavenly, but getting back into the same grimy clothes afterward had always made the whole thing seem like a waste.
I figured now was as good a time as any to tend to my many cuts and scratches. I headed down the hall to where the bathroom was and reapplied antiseptic to all the major wounds.
I was surprised that with the limited supplies here, we were doing pretty well. My cuts were all nice and clean and even Lex's broken fingers were healing up pretty quickly.
After deciding I was sufficiently sanitized, I exited the bathroom only to promptly collide with Pluto. He, being comparable to a brick wall, knocked me right over and I fell on my ass with a sharp thud.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I said quickly, hoping he would be just as kind as he seemed to be. He was.
"S'rry, Lily," he boomed, looking quite concerned and bending over to put me upright again. Once I was back on my feet, he brushed me off and smiled apologetically.
"No, it's, uh, it's fine," I told him, smiling. "So did you ever catch that butterfly?"
He looked a little confused for a moment, before catching what I was referring to. "No. No catch. Jus' look."
"Oh, why's that?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"Don' wan'...hurt it," he said slowly as if he were telling me something very important that I should remember.
I stood there with my mouth slightly agape, watching this giant mutant before me with utmost amazement. He truly valued life. I didn't know how or why, but he did and it was incredible. I knew he had the ability to become quite a killing machine from the stories Ruby had told me- but I really couldn't believe it.
I shook my head, snapping out of my thoughts and smiled and patted him on the shoulder as I started to head back off to where Lex and Ruby were sitting downstairs. But as I was walking, my brain turned back on and I couldn't help but start to realize that maybe these mutants were a little more human than I've given them credit for. They may not be terribly intelligent, but they're not dumb. That will be an important fact to remember while planning our escape…
