I woke to knocking. I blinked and looked around confusedly, wondering where I was, and then I remembered. I woke up for some reason, and when I came in to see if it was all good, Seth was having a nightmare. Pretty convenient timing, eh?
I heard the knocking again and untangled myself from the blankets, then told Vigil to stay with Seth as I stumbled out the room and down the stairs, careful to not wake Seth. I stifled a yawn as I came to the door, and opened it, expecting to see Bear. But it wasn't Bear…
Two people stood in front of me. A man and a woman. And they were both stupidly beautiful… and kinda familiar. The woman had pale blonde, long hair, and hazel eyes. She was only a few inches taller than me, and curvy. The guy was tall, around Jack's height. He had the bluest eyes I had ever seen… other than Sara's. His hair light brown, and combed back. He had an angular face, and I noticed that he had the same nose as Seth. I cocked my head to the side slightly. Damn Seth… he's rubbin' off on me.
"Can I… can I help you?" I asked unsurely. The woman nodded.
"Yes," She said- her was voice light and airy, "We are looking for our children." I raised an eyebrow.
"Right… I'd love to help… what are their names?" I asked, "Maybe I've seen them. I get around… might've talked with 'em or somethin'."
"Sara and Seth." I froze. Uh oh… please tell me that's just a coincidence… I heard footsteps behind me.
"Wire? Why did you leave?" Seth said from behind me. I grimaced and slapped my forehead. I love that kid, I swear I do, but he has the absolute worst timing, I've ever seen. In anyone.
The lady, who I'm assuming, is his mother ran right on into the house, uninvited, and started squeezing the life out of Seth. Kinda rude, coming into the house like that uninvited, but whatever… I glanced at the guy, who was still waiting to be invited in. At least some people have manners…
"You wanna come in?" I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair, "You're welcome to, if you want." The guy nodded and smiled meekly before stepping inside. I shut the door, and turned to watch as Seth was coddled by him mom. I rubbed the back of my neck and shared a look with the guy, who, once again, I'm only guessing, is his dad.
They began whispering to each other about something, and then all the sudden, the lady turns and glares at me like I just kicked her dog or something. I shuffled nervously and looked at Seth for help, but he wasn't really much help… he just gave me an apologetic look and shrugged.
Luckily, or not so luckily, Sara came down the stairs, followed by Junkyard and Vigil. Vigil saw the strangers, and started growling at them, like was going to do something… pfft, what a bunch of bull… Vigil ain't gonna do crap, he's too young… Heh, I appreciate the gesture, though. I clicked my tongue and pointed to my feet. Vigil whined nervously, but ran to my feet, glaring and growling at the two strangers distrustfully. I shushed him and tapped his leg to silence him. I looked back at the guy awkwardly.
"So, uh… you're… Sara and Seth's dad?" I asked. He nodded, and I felt a headache start up. I rubbed my face with my hands and sighed.
"I need some tea…" I mumbled as I stumbled into the kitchen, with Vigil following close behind me. As the water warmed up, I picked up Vigil and let him sit on the counter, and smiled fondly as he nuzzled my side. I rubbed the top of his head.
I sighed. "Why can't things ever just be easy?" Vigil yipped in response, and I smiled as he squirmed and struggled to lick my hand. He jumped up on my chest, with his tail whipping back and forth as he looked up at me with bright eyes. My smile grew and I began tapping his head lightly, and he squirmed as he tried to grab my hand between his teeth. He began growling in that adorably awkward puppy way of his, and I laughed. He took advantage of that and bit my finger, lightly tugging on it as he growled.
I chuckled and picked him up with my other hand and held him to my chest, kissing his nose. "I am so glad I have you," I told him, "Without you, I would've lost what little of my sanity remains." Vigil yipped and licked my chin as I grinned. I set him on the floor when the water-heater clicked, and poured the water into the cup, then tossed a tea bag into it. I didn't really feel like getting the sugar and milk out, so I just put more honey in than I usually do, and put in some powdered creamer. After I finished stirring, I tossed the spoon into the sink and walked back into the living room, with Vigil following behind me like the little fur ball of awesomeness he is.
Jack and Alex came downstairs to join the party, apparently. They were standing by the stairs, looking like they weren't sure if they should be introducing themselves, or kicking the two strangers out. I can dig it, since I was kinda wondering the same thing; especially since Seth and Sara looked so… tense and kinda worried and stuff. I walked over to Alex and Jack.
"Merry Christmas." I mumbled. Jack nodded absently and rubbed the top of my head absently, making sure to keep an eye on the aliens. The lady looked at me and narrowed her eyes, making my stomach churn with unease… Yeah… I don't know why, but I have a feeling that this day is gonna end in pain… Yay...
That was sarcasm, if you didn't catch it…
Very soon, I got tired of standing around awkwardly, and of referring to Seth and Sara's parents as 'that guy' and 'that lady', or just 'them'. So I walked forward, turning often to make sure that Jack and Alex wouldn't disappear behind me, and introduced myself when it seemed like they were all done talking.
"Hello…" I said meekly, wiggling my fingers in an awkward wave, "I'm uh… I'm Wire… Sara and Seth's friend." The lady shot me a familiarly piercing glare, and I flinched. The guy tried to give me an assuring smile, I think, but it came out as more of a grimace. He walked over to me and held out his hand for me to shake, which I did.
"I am Martin," He told me before pointing back to the lady, "That is my… wife, Lydia." I noticed that he had kinda said wife like it left a bad taste in his mouth, but I didn't really push on the issue… it's not that important. He let go of my hand and I nodded.
"Right… It's… it's nice to meet you guys," I said before glancing back at Alex and Jack, jerking my head towards the alien family, telling them to move their asses and get over here. They walked over and introduced themselves, and as they did that, I noticed that the lady, Lydia, kept looking at me like… like I was some stray animal on the street.
By the way, I could never understand why people look at strays like they do… They've gone through shit, and people look at them like they're trash, and even go as far as to kicking them and throwing stones. It's stupid… they've got enough problems, just barely scraping by; they probably don't appreciate shit being thrown at them…
Right, shit, off topic… Agh, what time is it? I looked at the clock, and my shoulders sunk down, and I bit back a groan. Four o'clock in the morning… Who in the hell gets up at four AM, on Christmas morning?
Well… I did, actually, when I was younger, before dad died, but still! Four! In! The! Morning! Would it have killed them to wait at least one more hour?
I was brought out of my thoughts by Lydia calling my name. I looked at her.
"Yeah, what's up?" I asked. She stood up and started walking towards me.
"I understand that you are my son's… significant other…?" She asked. I nodded in confirmation, and she continued, "I would very much like to be able to speak with you." I paused a moment to size her up before responding. I could probably take her if she went nuts and tried to attack me…
I nodded, ignoring Seth's warning look. "Yeah, sure... we could talk, if you wanna. When?"
"Right now, if that's not too much to ask…" She said, "Alone." I paused to stare at her suspiciously, but nodded. I walked over and opened the door that led to the Piano room. There were three different chairs in it, not counting the piano bench. It would work… I gestured into it, and Lydia and Martin walked in. I looked back at Seth, who was shaking his head vigorously, motioning for me to come to him, but I shook my head. I'm not gonna leave his parents in there… that would be rude. And besides…
What's the worst that could happen?
I shut the door and looked around the room. Lydia and Martin were chilling in the chairs, though Martin looked a little worried. There were papers… everywhere. I made a face and picked up some of them, putting the up on the piano.
"Sorry about the mess," I apologized as I briefly looked through some of the papers, "No one other than me really comes in here, so I never really worry about picking up all the papers, ya know?"
"It is fine… did you write this?" I looked up and saw Martin reading through one of the papers, "It's good…" I felt my cheeks burn and I grimaced as I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Yeah… everything on all the papers, I wrote 'em… I write more lyrics than I know what to do with." I said sheepishly. He looked at it for a little bit more before handing it to me. I tossed it onto the small pile that sat on top of my piano. I sat onto the piano bench and sighed. "So… what did you want to know?" Lydia spoke up first.
"How did you two meet?" She asked. I briefly considered lying, as I wondered what to say. But… nah, I'm not gonna lie… I'll just leave out all the… really bad bits.
"How we met…" I mumbled under my breath. Could she have picked a worse question? "Well… Seth and Sara were in a taxi, and I ran in. I uh… I wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere, so I stayed with them, and then we got to the… I think they said it was an outpost; Jack and I followed them in, and things just… kinda went from there." Lydia and Martin exchanged a look, and then turned back to me. I felt worry churn in my stomach, but forced it down and kept a straight face. I got this…
"Do you care about our son?" Martin asked. I raised my eyebrows and smiled, shaking my head to myself as I chuckled quietly.
"Well, yeah… of course I do. Not just him, but Sara too," I said with a wry smile, "I wouldn't have gone and infiltrated a top secret government base, and got used as a punching bag by an alien assassin if I didn't, ya dig?" Martin gave a small smile.
"Are you educated?"
Uh oh… uh… I think… I think it would be best if I did a little white lie on this one… See, when I got forced into the Steel Guns, the stupid fucking little gang, I was also forced to give up on school. Recently, I've been catching up on school work. I'm currently nearing the end of the eighth grade level. I should be around the tenth to eleventh grade level. So, I'm not too far behind. I'm learning pretty damn quickly, and I'm doin' pretty good, if I do say so myself.
"Sort of… I'm working to get a high school diploma." Technically, it's not a lie… I am trying to get one... I'm just… some years late, is all…
"Would you do anything for my son?" Lydia pressed. I raised an eyebrow. That's a… an oddly worded question, eh? Almost suspicious, if I do say so myself. But whatever man. They are aliens, I guess… I blew a stray strand of hair away from my face and leaned back against the piano, rubbing my neck.
"Odd question, but whatever… Well… I… I would like to think I would." I said slowly. Martin raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean, 'you would like to think' you would?" He asked. I shrugged and stared up at the ceiling.
"Well…" I explained slowly, "I can't see the future, so I can only guess what I'd do in certain situations. I can't know what I'm gonna do, until something happens and I do it." Lydia stared at me for a few seconds before nodding and standing up.
"I'm going to do it." Martin kind of freaked out.
"What? Lydia, love, what if it hurts her? Seth would not be happy!" I blinked, looking between the two of them.
"What…?" I asked confusedly, and a bit worriedly. I was ignored…
"Nonsense! She's just a human. I highly doubt she would even know I'm there, much less be able to fight it." My eyes widened.
"I'm sorry, but WHAT?" I asked exasperatedly. I stood up as Lydia walked closer, tapped my head once and then backed up, instead of hitting me like I had expected. I relaxed and looked at her confusedly. What the hell is goin' on?
"I highly advise against this…" Martin warned. Lydia ignored him, and I suddenly felt… something. I don't know how to explain it, not really, but I'll give it my best shot…
It kinda felt like something was crawling around in my head, pushing and tugging at my brain. Kinda like a headache, but not. It didn't really hurt, but it felt… wrong. It was something that shouldn't have been there. So, I shook my head vigorously and tried to dispel it as I clutched my head… Remember how I said it didn't hurt? Well, it didn't. Truly.
At least… it didn't hurt until I tried to get rid of it. Then it hurt. It hurt like a bitch.
But that wasn't the worst bit of it. At first, it was just pain. Lots of pain. As in, every bit of pain I've ever felt in my entire life…
I should explain better, I think. It was like, every time I've ever hurt myself, from the tiniest paper cut, from the time I got stabbed in the leg yesterday, to the time I got stabbed in the back by a tree, thanks to an alien assassin. I was reliving every moment of pain I'd ever had, all at the same time.
It sucked. A lot. But I didn't scream. I don't know how I managed it, but I did.
Then, I started seeing flashes of stuff I really didn't want to see. My dad taking his last breath, little Jason falling lifelessly to the ground as blood poured from his chest, Sara and Seth being dragged away like they were dead. It wasn't a good time… and the pain? It grew… a lot. I dropped down on my knees and whimpered.
By then, I was damn well sure I didn't want to let that thing poking around in my mind through, and I sure as hell didn't want to scream either. I began chanting to myself inside my head.
I will not give in. I will not scream. I will not give in. I will not scream. I will not give in. I will not-
Despite that, I gave in. Pretty damn quickly too. And you know what made it worse? Not only did I give in, but I also screamed. It was a loud, raw, and pain-filled scream. I didn't even try to stop it. And everyone in the house heard it.
So, I had screamed. I was in excruciating pain. Not only that, but I was also being forced to see every bad thing I had ever seen in my life, everything I didn't want to see, forced to relive every moment of regret, of hopelessness, of every time I felt like killing myself, every time I had to stand idly by as someone suffered and begged for help and received nothing. I was down on the ground, just barely able to keep from curling into a little ball and sobbing like a little bitch. It was not my idea of an enjoyable time…
And then Seth did his… alien-phase-thingy through the wall. Then Jack busted down the door. Jack, Alex, and I had no idea what was going on, or what had happened to me, but Sara and Seth must've, because they were glaring at Lydia and yelling stuff at her. I'm not sure what they were saying… my ears were ringing too loud, but Martin was holding Lydia, and I'm pretty sure she was sobbing. I could barely even bring myself to care… I felt like dying. I was reminded of just how horrible humanity could be. It sucked. I'm sorry, I know I've been saying that things suck for a while now, but I really can't think of a better word for how it was.
Seth had gotten on his knees and pulled me to his chest, and said something. Not sure what, though, because at that moment, all of the sudden it felt like my entire body was on fire, and then it just… stopped. Images and memories ran through my head. And, then all the pain, all the sorrow, and hate I had felt just moments ago, was replaced with something else…
I saw a lot of things, and heard. My dad and I dad buying ice cream, way back before I stopped trying in school. Playing with Jason, pretending to be an airplane while Jason sat on my shoulders and was the pilot. Playing Poker with Sara, Seth, and Junkyard. Every snow fall; every good feeling. Every moment of pride, and confidence, and just being happy, in that naïve, little-kid way. Seeing all the good, almost made it alright, having to see all the things I've worked so hard to erase from memory… almost.
It was like having the ultimate mood swing. It was just like Boom! You're in excruciating pain! Bam! Depression and self-hate! Pow! Everything that's ever made you happy! And then Whoosh! Now you're angry! It might not have affected me as much, if I had ever actually had a mood swing before… but still… I handled it pretty decently. I think I did, anyways. I wasn't crying or anything, I didn't feel emotionally exhausted…
… Okay, to be honest, I lied. I was exhausted. Only… not emotionally exhausted… it was more like physically exhausted. My senses were kinda wacked up. I could hear decently enough though, I could hear Jack yelling at Martin and Lydia, but I quickly zoned that out and tried my best to ignore the quickly growing fury in my stomach. Vigil was whimpering from somewhere besides me, but when I opened my eyes, I didn't see anything. Just black.
"… I can't see… Am I blind? I am, aren't I? I'm freaking blind… balls." I mumbled into Seth's shoulder. He began rubbing my back soothingly.
"No, no, you are not blind," Seth assured me, "It is just a… a side effect. Your sight will come back to you soon. I shrugged and nuzzled the crook of his neck.
"So what happened to me anyways?" I asked. Agh… I need a nap.
"Our mother," Sara answered, "She has the ability to gain access to… everything. Every memory, every thought, and every emotion you've ever experienced…" Woah…
"That's… not cool… But I still kinda wanna learn how to do that," I said, before pausing, "Well… actually, now that I think about it… Nah… That's a huge invasion of privacy… I wanna be able to fly. Can anyone on your planet do that?" I heard Sara giggle quietly.
"No, unfortunately not." I frowned.
"Aw… damn. That sucks…" I sat up and opened my eyes, only to yelp and shut them again, and then bury my face back into the crook of Seth's neck.
"Ah, ow, ow, bright, fffff-"Seth chuckled quietly as I groaned to myself, "I think I can see again. Agh… freaking bright lights and-and, shit!" I grumbled curses under my breath, and tried opening my eyes again. It still hurt… but it wasn't quite as bad as before. It was bearable, at least… and I could work with it. I rubbed my eyes under my glasses, and noticed that there was water on my hands. I was crying…
Fuck. Naw.
I stood up, rather shakily, despite the protests from Sara and Seth, and then turned to Jack. He was still yelling at Lydia and Martin. And I just can't have that… if anyone's going to do the yelling, it's gonna be me.
"Jack… Jack… JACK!" I yelled, making him pause and look at me, "I love you man, but shut up. Because as of now; I… am… talking." He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no sound came out. I walked over and stood in front of Lydia, who was still shaking like a leaf and sobbing.
"Lydia. Look at me." I said with a deathly calmness, and only when she looked at me with a tear-stained face, did I continue, "You listen here, and you listen good. Never do that again… I am not a very patient or forgiving person… The only reason you're not in a bloody pulp right now, is because you're Sara and Seth's mother." I paused to take a shaky breath before continuing.
"It took me years to forget some of the things you brought to mind. Fucking years. And you made all that effort and time go to waste. All of it… Even seeing all the good things again, that I've long since forgotten, didn't make it worth it. You will never do this again. Do I make myself clear?" When she didn't answer, I scowled and leaned closer. Martin tensed up.
"Do I make myself clear?"
She nodded weakly, and I grunted. I stalked out of the room and outside in the back porch to relieve some of my anger. There's a punching bag there, and I figured it would be better to punch that than some someone's face…
Why do all moms seem to have a huge problem with me, and wanna start shit? I mean, for fuck's sake! I must have done something terrible in a past life or something!
Author's Note-
This one seems kinda... crappy to me :/ I can't figure out what it is... I just... I don't like it.
But, whatever, I guess. I can always go back and rewrite it, when I stop being so lazy. Speaking of laziness, I am so sorry I've been leaving you guys in the dirt D: I have had the basic idea for this chapter in my head for a while now, but I never stopped and wrote it out. I could have been done with this three days ago, if I had wanted to be. But I didn't... and I have a good reason as to why...
Assassin's Creed: Revelations. That game is just so FFFFFf- Agh... it is amazing. It's not Skyrim, of course, but still... it is BAD-ASS. I highly recommend it.
Anywho, tell me if I made any mistakes, as always, and a thank you to all the people who read my little... monstrosity. I appreciate all of you. Fo' shizzle.
If you sneezed while reading this, bless you. Peace off and bless your face.
, BlueAsh666