Chapter 20: Him

Hello dear readers.

I have, once again, three reviews in my inbox. Again I would like to thank the same people. And I would like to ask...why isn't anyone else reviewing? I adore knowing that this is a favourite story, but why? I love knowing that someone has alerted it, but why? I want to know how to improve; I want to get ideas, feedback!

I also want to know if I should re-update the chapters again, you know, for typing corrections. Get back to me on that!

Sorry for up-dating for the third day in a row. I won't have time to update for the next week and a bit, so I wanted to get this out of my system. The ideas keep chugging out of my head.

My cat has a strange nose.

Okay, anyways- I own nothing.

Today, the chapter is rather special. I know you've been askin' for this one...in your minds.

Enjoy

RECAP

I kinda wanted to recap differently- you know they met Beast Boy in the last chapter, you know he has three identities. You know the evil man has Mas' wife, and all the people he killed (including Wally and Jinx) and they're crazy...but maybe you've forgotten...mad-man has the kids.

Here's a recap on names and ages.

Cole Stone- 10 months
Kobe Stone- 3 years
Chalin Grayson- 6 years
Litany Grayson- 7 years
Tiana Stone- 7 years
Fawn West- 10 years
Cheyne West- 10 years
Jasby Grayson- 11 years
Braybrey Grayson- 11 years
Jadaelle Grayson- 12 years.

Kaitia Grayson- Not specified, though Richard missed her birthday.-let's make her 13 years old. Virgil Stone- 14 years

Onwards steed...

Nightwing sat in his motel room once more. He was upset that Garfield had left with such haste, and he was also disappointed in the fact that he was a bad actor. In his mind, he wasn't bad at anything. He was incredible at work, always completely on the ball, always doing everything perfectly, and on task. He had ideal timing, and remembered colleges and information about them effortlessly. He was a wonderful socialiser, he lived a grand lifestyle. Richard Grayson made an impressive amount of money too, and had many friends. He was a faultless guy, in his own opinion. He sighed and tried to think of at least one bad thing about himself. He couldn't find a flaw- he wasn't going bald, he had first-class eyesight and was in excellent shape.

His phone buzzed for the umpteenth time in his jean's pocket. He smiled, knowing that his work phone, held only work matters. He was at comfort when busy. He flicked open the faithful mobile-phone, and checked his messages. He had twelve, and a few missed calls. It wasn't bad for twenty minutes since checking his phone.

He scrolled through the messages, and then found himself digging through old emails. He was searching for an important document that he had put off. "That's my only blemish." He stated, beaming to himself. His search dragged on, into the recycling bin of his email. He searched for a few minutes, before coming across an email, that he vaguely remembered reading; from his wife.

Dearest Richard,

When will you be returning home? The children are missing you greatly, and hope to see you soon...as do I. I have enclosed a photograph of the children, so you know what they ahev accomplished in the past five months.

That's how it's started, in his wife's words exactly. He smiled at her error in typing 'have'. He would never have made such a silly mistake. He carried on reading. His children's accomplishments were pretty big, but still disappointment chewed at him. They always seemed to be doing something just that little bit wrong;

Jadaelle is currently taking her grade six piano exam, I shall tell you her results when we recive them. The examiner was very impressed that a twelve year old could be so gifted on that specific instrument.

Richard sighed, unimpressed. "5 months ago, she was grade 5. Grade six exam, in five months. That's pretty slow. She used to speed through those exams...shame. All the money I'm paying for tutors too. Kory told me Jada practised every day...shouldn't she should have finished everything by now?" He made a mental note to call Jadaelle's music instructor as soon as all the problems everyone was having came to pass. He looked onto the next child;

Jasby has completed primary school, he will be starting secondary school in a week, and hopes that you shall be there to lead him into the gates of Greyshade Shore Boys Boarding Academy. Becuase of his behavioral problems in first education, me and my friends have decided that a scrict Catholic Military Academy shall do him good, however he will come home on numerous occasions. He told me, and this made me cry...and should upset you too, that he is going to be JUST like you.

Richard just shook his head. His son Jasby was a 'lost cause'. He couldn't care less that his son wanted to be a foreign (successful) diplomat either. He had no idea why Kory had told him this. He also had no idea why she had not discussed schooling with her own husband. But, either way, he carried on, pointing out flaws in his children, and laughing at his wife's simple spelling mistakes.

Braybrey. He has just achieved perfect scorer on his test results, meaning he gets a scholorship into either Brookwald College or Woodmill academy. May I remind you that these are two of the best schools in the area?

He smiled at this email extract, but then read on. "Scholarship to Brookwald College or Woodmill Academy?" He made a strange noise, "How stupid, we could have easily gotten him into those schools. He could've done so much better. There are plenty of better schools in America. What a shame." He quickly moved onto the information about his next child,

Litany, may I add, has just acheived top scorer on her soccer team! And has been elected captain of her netball team! And has just passed Grade 5 in ballet! And won a gold medal in Tennis! And badminton! And Swimming Champions league!

Richard grunted, "So much sport, and no time for education! How does she get her homework done?" He lifted his eyebrows, and payed no attention to his wife's typing error. He read on;

Chalin. He has started surfing lessons, Billabee Beach is only an hour away, so I drive him there Thursdays and Sundays.

Mr. Grayson, the always watchful, just sighed. "He always wants something. He always starts something new. No wonder the petrol bill always comes to so much at the end of the month." He almost closed the email after that, but remembered that he had another child. Scrolling down he came across the last piece of information.

Kaitia. Does the date July 9th mean anything to you? Kaitias birthday ring a bell! How late are you! No presant, no card...not even a phone call.

This made Dick pause. Kaitia was thirteen now. She was a teenager. He tried to find something negative about her in the passage. Then he realised something big, "I do have flaws. I'm a terrible father." He cursed at himself for talking badly about his only children, who were all missing. He hung his head low, and took a peek back at the slightly cracked screen of his Lokia. An image of a rather happy family was enlarged. Richard looked up at it, no expression. Three young boy's, and three young girls all smiled into an unseen camera. A tall, pregnant woman also smiled. A sea of red hair filled the image, and blue were the children's eyes. He smiled gently, and took the phone into both hands. A single tear dropped onto the screen, and before Richard knew it, he received another message from a work college...this time he ignored it, and carried on looking at the image of the beautiful, perfect family, who were missing only one thing; A husband, and a father.

Meanwhile, the same children from the somewhat fractured image were sat in a large black room. An unpleasant smell wafted around them- it was mostly of sweat, or unwashed bodies. A small blue door hung on the wall to the north of the six. Strange noises were coming from the other side of it. The group of young crowded together, and paid no attention. They seemed to be holding a plastic cup. Some yellow string was tied to it, and it had a source. It trickled to their far left, and under a red door. On the other side, much less demonic action was going on.

Four children sat and laughed into their own cup. They were talking with the other group, giggling, comparing lives. They seemed awfully aware of who everyone was- referring to each other with pet names. Another string also came from the bottom of both separate cups. The pink thread ran from the red door and large room, all the way to a yellow door, very near to the mysterious blue door. Squeals and conversations were been lead by the master-minds and creators of the talking devices. Fawn and Cheyne.

Although the five hour conversation was pointless, mostly about TV, toys and random games, everyone took part in it. Fawn and Cheyne were referred to by their names, but everyone else seemed to have at least two nicknames. "Jabs! Does your room have ice-cream?" a squeak from the child named Tea-Bag asked. It seemed tolerant, and patient. It belonged to that of a young girl. She waited for a reply, but it came from another, from someone referred to as Lin, "Um...no. How about yours? We have cream cheese and chocolate spread at the moment. He told us were having pizza tonight." This voice was that of a young boy, he sounded very much laid back, and relaxed. Before Tea-Bag had a chance to reply, a very young, stutter got a few words out, "ME WA...WA...NT CHIK...N...NIGGITS!" There was no reply for these words. Tea Bag was heard dropping the communication-device. Everyone waited, worried that he may have found out how they talk to one another.

They waited. And waited. And waited. And after a few minutes, Tea-Bag's cheery voice filled the line again, "Sorry, Koko wanted so Chicken Nuggets. So did I." She giggled, and another voice began speaking, "Annie here, I think we need to turn off the cups. Jada and Bray heard him trying to unlock the door. I think he brought the wrong keys. Gotts to go." The listeners heard nothing from the largest group of children afterwards. Tea-Bag was too afraid to even pick up the cup anymore, and Fawn and Cheyne just waited. They knew they were next.

After around half-an-hour, their predictions came true. They saw the golden-handle of their yellow door rattling; they took deep breaths, and smiled. They watched as the handle rattled for another few minutes. After nothing occurred, the brave Fawn called out, "Do you need any help?" The handle immediately stopped moving, and the door swung open. A figure enveloped in shadows had a crazy smile on its face, "Pepperoni or Margarita?" It asked. The voice belonged to a man, and though it was deep, it also had a strange sweetness to it. Fawn smiled oddly, but Cheyne looked away from the shadowy shape. "Both!" Fawn stated, laughing. The silhouette laughed too, and dropped two pizza boxes to the floor. Cheyne watched as her sister thanked the tall figure. She watched as he stalked out of the room, and watched even after he was long gone. She worried for her sister, who was hungrily devouring her fifth slice of pizza. She saw no side-effects and grabbed a small slice of the margarita. She gasped as her eyes turned blue as her fingers made contact with the food, turning away quickly; she saw her sister was in the same state.

Back in the black room the red haired group of six ate in silence. They also had pizza, and a strange feeling. As if, they were about to lose something. Whether it was their appetite, a friend or another link to remembering who they were, they had no idea, but a strange feeling in their stomachs was beginning to turn back. Litany shook herself out of the state she had found herself in, and ran to the cup-phone- which she had dubbed Grayson for a reason unknown to her. She whispered into it, calmly, and as quietly as she could get while still been heard, "Tiana, are your there?" Nobody answered her, so she tried louder, "Tea-Bag?" She asked. She was met by a silent line, and a slight push out of the way, her brother, nick-named Bray, grabbed the small cup from her. "Don't sis. It's not safe. Little Annie was unsure why her brother had acted in that way, but she got up, away from the phone, and started chewing on her uneaten pizza crusts- wondering exactly what wasn't safe about calling her friend up.

In the room belonging to the red door, four children had already finished their meals. The only girl, known to everyone as Tea-Bag, was playing with some Barbies, far away from the cup-phone. She looked around the happy room, and glanced at the time. It was 6:07 PM, according to her capable seven year old mind. She didn't give it another thought, and carried on undressing the dolls, and creating new fashions for them. Her brother, christened by the children as Koko, sat watching cartoons. He laughed and clapped every so often. As if he was programmed to do so. Every five minutes a little giggle would shoot out of his mouth, he would sneeze and then carry on watching.

There was a large crib in the room also, though the children did not seem to be paying attention to it. Inside laid a laughing child. Younger than a year old, he sat up and played with something invisible in front of him. His body kept at an upright angle by an oddly shaped shadow behind him. He had milk on his face, and pieces of pizza laid around him. Without taking his eyes off the source of his joy, he slowly bent down, and chewed on a crust. His big brown eyes and frizzy hair seemed to gleam, and his ears and head moved, as if he was listening and watching a very interesting conversation.

In the darkest part of the room laid a body. It was under a cover of shadows, but the person seemed to be paying no attention. He had a full-pizza box on his stomach, which he was also ignoring. Big bags rested under his eyes. He was watching nothing, a lost gaze imprinted on his face. He blinked twice, suddenly noticing the dark mass above him.

Tiana ran to his side, and frowned, it seemed too big for a normal child. He looked away, but she pestered him, "Are you not hungry Virg?" She was an innocent child, but 'Virg' shook in fear at her voice, "Take a bite of the pizza, Virg...for me?" She giggled slightly, and carried on when he made no effort to answer, "Just one small bite, for your lickle sister?" Virg shut his eyes, waiting for the girl to leave him be, "Eat." Tea-Bag snarled. Virg sat up in haste, and slapped the girl away from him. She smiled, and went back to her dolls, as if nothing had happened. Virgil looked up at the dark edging towards him, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" he screamed. "I CAN'T MOVE ANYWAYS! JUST LEAVE!" The mass stopped, as if it were alive, and gave the impression that it was considering what he had said. The boy was about to shout again, but the darkness disappeared. He breathed a sigh of relief, and tried to remember where he was. Who he was. He edged slightly out of the bed, and searched his pockets. A small object, a phone, popped out with his hand. He looked at it. There were seven messages. Two were from Dad. He raised his eye-brows. "Who's dad?" He asked himself. He shrugged, he only knew him. Without a second thought, he switched off the contraption and placed it back into his pocket. He lay back down in his bed, and watched as a dark mass crept over him.

This carried on for the next eight hours. Tiana would play, Kobe would watch and do his routine, Cole would laugh endlessly, and every few minutes, after the mass had left Virgil, after Tiana had tried to beg him to eat, he would edge out of bed, take out his phone, see he had seven messages, and ask himself again who dad was. They were trapped in a constant cycle. It seemed he wasn't home at the moment, it always happened when he wasn't home.

Dun. Dun. DAHHHHH!

Yeah. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I wrote this. Let's hope I get more reviews...even if there full of constructive criticism?

Thanks for reading.

Have some awesome holidays! Wishing you all of the best for the coming year!

Soph

p.s Starfires baby(?) is due soon. I have the names, now I just need you guys to tell me when you want the birth to be! Yay!