Eli: I will wait a moment to accepted all the "about times.".............
Okay, here's the cute little chap! Enjoy!
-December 23-
It was the last day of school. Every child who believed in Santa (or just wanted presents) were tryine despretely to be good. A dentention could stop you from achieving that XBOX 3 you were waiting for.
One minute was left before absolute freedom. The children all sat identically with feet under the desks and hands clasped together resting peacefully on the desk tops. They silently counted down with the second hand. Five.....Four.....Three.....Two..... They took in deep breathes.
Riiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggggg!
And they flew out of their seats faster than the teachers could mutter "Happy Holidays."
Only one child was not gleefully skipping home to his parents, ready to celebrate the holidays with presents, staying up late, and trees. Most likely because he would NOT be celebrating all these things. They were foreign to him. This child was, of course, Dominic Carver.
He had a vacation of training and Irons. He wouldn't even be allowed to fulfill his "stalking duites". Irons forbade it. Dominic was worried that Irons had found out that he spent the time inside playing with Bethany and Jamie. But if he had, he wasn't showing it. He sighed and kicked the snow infront of him. He was going to.......
POW!
Dominic rubbed the back of his head where the snow ball had hit him. He turned around and Bethany was smirking.
"Your reflexs suck."
"Lucky shot."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Dominic. Here." She handed him a box, which he took cautiously. He carefully opened the top to reveal.......... comics? He looked back down at Bethany.
"What are these for?"
"Christmas. There two Nightwings, three The Darkness, one Ranma 1/2 graphic novel, and five Young Justices." She fidgetted a little before adding sadly "I know my grandfather is going to be a bastard to you all vacation, so I thought to give you something to read to get your mind off of it. It isn't much, but please keep in mind I had to use my own allowance."
Dominic was rendered speachless for a minute before he found his tongue. "Bethany, this is beyond you. I feel ashamed that I didn't get you anything."
"No matter. I'll get enough stuff from my parents and aunts and uncles and cousins to make up for it. But this is the only thing you'll be getting, so don't feel guilty. Dang! My daddy's here. I'll see you."
"See you."
-Later-
The system had been craeted a years ago. It was so much easier this way. Late on christmas eve, all the kids stayed in one house, away from all the presents, which would be stored at another house. Then they would all meet up in the morning. It was hard to manage all six of them, but since the first trial of the system, no child got a peek at the presents.
Sara was trying to settle a big dispute discussion.
"There is no Santa Clause!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Then how come not all of us get presents from him?" Gracie didn't know how to reply to Nicky's question. Her lower lip began to quiver slightly. Sara pleaded for her not to cry and then added.
"You only get presents from Santa Clause if you believe in him. Now, all of you get to sleep before I call your parents. And Bethany and Jamie, before I ground you."
There was a chorus of yeah's and yes's.
The boys slept in Jamie's room and the girl's slept in Bethany's. It took an hour and a half to get everyone cleaned, dressed, and into the proper rooms. Once Ian and Sara had shut the door to the room, the boys quietly turned on the lights and pulled out the squirt guns filled with old coffee. Chris, Nicky, and Jamie silently opened the door. All three held their guns up like James Bond. They crept up slowly to the girl's room, when they suddenly saw a movement in the shadows.
And when it started to move towards then, they yelled out and shot at the figure with their guns. Then, the figure hit the light switch and now all three boys were REALLY terrified. For their stood poor Ian and Sara soaking in the coffee.
Sara was ready to strangle somebody. "All three of you are in ALOT of TROUBLE! I swear I will FUC...."
"Sara." Ian had to stop her. He whispered something to her and she nodded. She glared at the three youngsters and pointed at Jamie before walking back into the bedroom. Ian looked down at the boys.
"Your parents WILL be informed in the morning. And James Connor Nottingham, we will discuss this in the morning. But if you all do not get into that bedroom in three seconds I will let your Aunt Sara come out here to deal with you. One...."
That was all he needed to say. They had shut the door before he could count on. Ian smirked and then was taken back by the grossness of what he had been squirted with.
"I really hate coffee."
The girls giggled after hearing Sara blow up. They all sat on the floor, all looking completely different.
Teresa had on a nightgown which read the word "princess" across it. She had her hair up in a low pony tail. Her nailed were painted with sparkles, which she constantly kept blowing on to dry.
Gracie had on a miscellangelous pair of blue shorts with a orange shirt. Her hair was messy from being up all day and she shuffled around in a pair of knee high socks.
Bethany had on black pants and a grey shirt that had a black dragon on it. the shirt also had the words "Black Dragon Rampant" in bold, black letters. Her hair was undone, which was a miracle to see. and she wore black, fluffy slippers.
The three of them clashed together horribly, but they were oblivious. Besides, the horror story Teresa was telling was much better. It got even better after they all went to bed and Teresa started making scary sounds near Gracie till Bethany begged her to shut up.
It was around two a.m. when Bethany started squirming in her sleep. The dark figure at her window noted that she was getting visions again and quietly slipped inside to make sure she didn't hurt herself.
~ A bloodied up version of her Uncle Jake was in the hands of her father as her mother stopped him from bestowing a final blow that Bethany knew could kill him.
"Hey Nottingham, why don't you pick a fair fight?"
"I've never met a worthy opponent, until I met you. My life is yours for the taking."
"Let him go."
"Before you rescue him, consider this. He betrayed you."
"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around."
"You know less than you think you do."
"Listen, you crazy psycho Galahad. You want to make me happy? Let him go, now."
"I'm committed to your partner's death. The only way to save his life is to end mine."
"That would be your choice, not mine." Sara lifted the blade against him, ready to strike.
The vision changed into two seperate visions. One side, she saw her mother ram the witchblade through her father's stomach. The other half showed her grandfather stabbing her mother through the back. She wittnessed both at the same time and felt tears come to her eyes. She screamed out for it to stop, but she made no noise.~
In the real world, Bethany was not crying, but she was shaking violently. But then she suddenly stopped moving. Dominic was thankful that her nightmares were over. The feeling of greatfullness soon faded though, when he realized that she wasn't breathing. Before panic could seep in enough to make him scream, she then sat straight up, breathing hard.
Dominic stepped back toward her bed and touched her shoulder. She was startled by him, but still made no sound. He cautiously sat on the side of her bed.
"Bethany?" She turned her head and looked at him. She looked so miserable, so scared. It pained him to consider what the witchblade showed her. "What did you see?"
"They were both dead. Killed. My mommy.....and....my...my...."
"Don't worry." He reassured her. "Their both safe and alive."
She shifted a little and nodded. "Dominic, what are you doing here?"
"I have something for you." He gave her a small, wrapped package. "Merry Christmas."
"Dominic, you didn't need...."
"But I wanted to." He looked down at his feet. "You do want it, don't you."
Bethany smirked and opened it up. It was a small statue. A woman with what looked like the witchblade on her wrist. Dominic began to explain.
"She was a woodland goddess. Her name was..."
"Sarin." Her response was immediate.
"Yeah. This king named Gilagamesh fell in love with her. But he ended up having her killed because she brought him to a brink of his sanity."
"Why did he do that?"
"He could never catch her."
"But he did!"
"No he didn't. Why do you say he did?"
"Because I wouldn't be here if he didn't." She smirked again. Dominic shook his head.
"History happens many times, many ways."
"This time, it happened the right way."
"I guess." He glanced at the clock and his eyes widened. "I have to get back. Good night."
"Night."
-Later-
"No! That one is mine!"
"The broken one is yours! This one is mine!"
"Nicholas! Christopher! If I hear another word, I'll take back ALL the toys! Do you understand me?"
"Yes, mommy."
"Yeah, mom." Nicky and Chris sulked on the couch. After receiving a Ps4 and Kindom Hearts 2, they really weren't going to risk it.
Vicky and Jake argued quietly in the hallway, as not to disturb the kids. Gracie watched as her Uncle Gabriel and Aunt Sara spoke to her parents. She came closer to try to hear what they were saying.
"C'mon guys, it's Christmas. Just one day without this." Sara scolded.
"If only for Gracie." Vicky and Jake looked at each other and nodded. Jake kissed Vicky quickly and they went into the other room. Gracie ran up to her daddy.
"Hi daddy. No more yelling?"
"No more yelling." She smiled.
Teresa sat quietly next to the tree. She was fiddling with a candy cane. Things had not been good with her dad for a month. The last time they had spoken, she had used her bad english. She had received no gifts from him, and thought for sure he was still pissed.
Gabriel kneeled behind Teresa quietly. "Hey."
Teresa turned slowly and nodded. "Hi daddy." They didn't speak for a few minutes. Teresa felt very guilty about what she said. Her lower lip quivered and she started to cry.
"Daddy, I'm sorry. I..." She buried her head into his shoulder.
"Shhhhhh. It's okay. I'm not mad. I know your sorry. I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have kept things from you."
"It's okay daddy. I'm still really sorry. I guess I didn't deserve a present."
"Funny. I thought you did." He brought out a present from behind his back. "Merry Christmas, Teresa."
She smiled and ripped it open. Then she really smiled. "Tomb Raider!" She hugged him. "Thank you, daddy. I love you."
At that, Gabriel almost had tears in his eyes. "Your very welcome."
Jamie cautiously started toward his mother. She was still mad at the little coffee incident. "Uh, mommy?"
"Hmm?" He handed her a package. It was messily wrapped and Sara eyed it with caution.
"What is it?"
"Its for you. Open it." She untied the ribbon and slwoly opened the wrapping paper. Inside was a messily knitted green blanket.
"It's for you. Beth said green was your favorite color, and Aunt vicky taught me how to put it together. I hid it in my room for a week. Do you like it, mommy?"
She looked down and slowly smiled. "I love it. Thank you Jamie."
Bethany smirked at Jamie when he sat down next to her. "Girly girl." She whispered. Jamie frowned.
"Am not."
"Are too, girly girl."
"Bethany!" She turned slightly and the smirk left her face and went to Jamie's. "Busted." He mouthed.
"Yes, daddy?"
"What have I told you about....about....." He stared at the statue in her hands.
"What, daddy?"
"Beth, where did you get that statue?"
"Dominic gave it to me. Why?" She was really confused. Ian motioned for Sara and Gabe to come over.
"Are you two seeing what I am seeing?" He asked them. Gabe nodded as Sara's eyes narrowed and then flew open with shock. She turned to Gabe and Ian.
"Is that Sarin?"
"Uh huh." Bethany answered. "Or at least that's what Dominic told me."
She looked up at the adults. "Mommy? Daddy? Uncle Gabriel? Why are you all staring?"
Ian shook his head and took Sarin from Bethany's hands.
"Hey!" She complained. "That's mine, daddy!"
"I know, darling, but it is also very valuable." She got up and followed him.
"Very valuable? Is it worth more than fifty dollers?"
"Yes, Bethany. It is worth ALOT more than fifty dollers. Why don't we leave it here with Uncle Gabriel's artifacts for safe keeping?"
"I'll take good care of it, Bethany."
"Okay. But promise you won't sell it."
"Promise."
Coming Attractions:
The Year of 11
-December 23-
It was the last day of school. Every child who believed in Santa (or just wanted presents) were tryine despretely to be good. A dentention could stop you from achieving that XBOX 3 you were waiting for.
One minute was left before absolute freedom. The children all sat identically with feet under the desks and hands clasped together resting peacefully on the desk tops. They silently counted down with the second hand. Five.....Four.....Three.....Two..... They took in deep breathes.
Riiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggggg!
And they flew out of their seats faster than the teachers could mutter "Happy Holidays."
Only one child was not gleefully skipping home to his parents, ready to celebrate the holidays with presents, staying up late, and trees. Most likely because he would NOT be celebrating all these things. They were foreign to him. This child was, of course, Dominic Carver.
He had a vacation of training and Irons. He wouldn't even be allowed to fulfill his "stalking duites". Irons forbade it. Dominic was worried that Irons had found out that he spent the time inside playing with Bethany and Jamie. But if he had, he wasn't showing it. He sighed and kicked the snow infront of him. He was going to.......
POW!
Dominic rubbed the back of his head where the snow ball had hit him. He turned around and Bethany was smirking.
"Your reflexs suck."
"Lucky shot."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Dominic. Here." She handed him a box, which he took cautiously. He carefully opened the top to reveal.......... comics? He looked back down at Bethany.
"What are these for?"
"Christmas. There two Nightwings, three The Darkness, one Ranma 1/2 graphic novel, and five Young Justices." She fidgetted a little before adding sadly "I know my grandfather is going to be a bastard to you all vacation, so I thought to give you something to read to get your mind off of it. It isn't much, but please keep in mind I had to use my own allowance."
Dominic was rendered speachless for a minute before he found his tongue. "Bethany, this is beyond you. I feel ashamed that I didn't get you anything."
"No matter. I'll get enough stuff from my parents and aunts and uncles and cousins to make up for it. But this is the only thing you'll be getting, so don't feel guilty. Dang! My daddy's here. I'll see you."
"See you."
-Later-
The system had been craeted a years ago. It was so much easier this way. Late on christmas eve, all the kids stayed in one house, away from all the presents, which would be stored at another house. Then they would all meet up in the morning. It was hard to manage all six of them, but since the first trial of the system, no child got a peek at the presents.
Sara was trying to settle a big dispute discussion.
"There is no Santa Clause!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Then how come not all of us get presents from him?" Gracie didn't know how to reply to Nicky's question. Her lower lip began to quiver slightly. Sara pleaded for her not to cry and then added.
"You only get presents from Santa Clause if you believe in him. Now, all of you get to sleep before I call your parents. And Bethany and Jamie, before I ground you."
There was a chorus of yeah's and yes's.
The boys slept in Jamie's room and the girl's slept in Bethany's. It took an hour and a half to get everyone cleaned, dressed, and into the proper rooms. Once Ian and Sara had shut the door to the room, the boys quietly turned on the lights and pulled out the squirt guns filled with old coffee. Chris, Nicky, and Jamie silently opened the door. All three held their guns up like James Bond. They crept up slowly to the girl's room, when they suddenly saw a movement in the shadows.
And when it started to move towards then, they yelled out and shot at the figure with their guns. Then, the figure hit the light switch and now all three boys were REALLY terrified. For their stood poor Ian and Sara soaking in the coffee.
Sara was ready to strangle somebody. "All three of you are in ALOT of TROUBLE! I swear I will FUC...."
"Sara." Ian had to stop her. He whispered something to her and she nodded. She glared at the three youngsters and pointed at Jamie before walking back into the bedroom. Ian looked down at the boys.
"Your parents WILL be informed in the morning. And James Connor Nottingham, we will discuss this in the morning. But if you all do not get into that bedroom in three seconds I will let your Aunt Sara come out here to deal with you. One...."
That was all he needed to say. They had shut the door before he could count on. Ian smirked and then was taken back by the grossness of what he had been squirted with.
"I really hate coffee."
The girls giggled after hearing Sara blow up. They all sat on the floor, all looking completely different.
Teresa had on a nightgown which read the word "princess" across it. She had her hair up in a low pony tail. Her nailed were painted with sparkles, which she constantly kept blowing on to dry.
Gracie had on a miscellangelous pair of blue shorts with a orange shirt. Her hair was messy from being up all day and she shuffled around in a pair of knee high socks.
Bethany had on black pants and a grey shirt that had a black dragon on it. the shirt also had the words "Black Dragon Rampant" in bold, black letters. Her hair was undone, which was a miracle to see. and she wore black, fluffy slippers.
The three of them clashed together horribly, but they were oblivious. Besides, the horror story Teresa was telling was much better. It got even better after they all went to bed and Teresa started making scary sounds near Gracie till Bethany begged her to shut up.
It was around two a.m. when Bethany started squirming in her sleep. The dark figure at her window noted that she was getting visions again and quietly slipped inside to make sure she didn't hurt herself.
~ A bloodied up version of her Uncle Jake was in the hands of her father as her mother stopped him from bestowing a final blow that Bethany knew could kill him.
"Hey Nottingham, why don't you pick a fair fight?"
"I've never met a worthy opponent, until I met you. My life is yours for the taking."
"Let him go."
"Before you rescue him, consider this. He betrayed you."
"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around."
"You know less than you think you do."
"Listen, you crazy psycho Galahad. You want to make me happy? Let him go, now."
"I'm committed to your partner's death. The only way to save his life is to end mine."
"That would be your choice, not mine." Sara lifted the blade against him, ready to strike.
The vision changed into two seperate visions. One side, she saw her mother ram the witchblade through her father's stomach. The other half showed her grandfather stabbing her mother through the back. She wittnessed both at the same time and felt tears come to her eyes. She screamed out for it to stop, but she made no noise.~
In the real world, Bethany was not crying, but she was shaking violently. But then she suddenly stopped moving. Dominic was thankful that her nightmares were over. The feeling of greatfullness soon faded though, when he realized that she wasn't breathing. Before panic could seep in enough to make him scream, she then sat straight up, breathing hard.
Dominic stepped back toward her bed and touched her shoulder. She was startled by him, but still made no sound. He cautiously sat on the side of her bed.
"Bethany?" She turned her head and looked at him. She looked so miserable, so scared. It pained him to consider what the witchblade showed her. "What did you see?"
"They were both dead. Killed. My mommy.....and....my...my...."
"Don't worry." He reassured her. "Their both safe and alive."
She shifted a little and nodded. "Dominic, what are you doing here?"
"I have something for you." He gave her a small, wrapped package. "Merry Christmas."
"Dominic, you didn't need...."
"But I wanted to." He looked down at his feet. "You do want it, don't you."
Bethany smirked and opened it up. It was a small statue. A woman with what looked like the witchblade on her wrist. Dominic began to explain.
"She was a woodland goddess. Her name was..."
"Sarin." Her response was immediate.
"Yeah. This king named Gilagamesh fell in love with her. But he ended up having her killed because she brought him to a brink of his sanity."
"Why did he do that?"
"He could never catch her."
"But he did!"
"No he didn't. Why do you say he did?"
"Because I wouldn't be here if he didn't." She smirked again. Dominic shook his head.
"History happens many times, many ways."
"This time, it happened the right way."
"I guess." He glanced at the clock and his eyes widened. "I have to get back. Good night."
"Night."
-Later-
"No! That one is mine!"
"The broken one is yours! This one is mine!"
"Nicholas! Christopher! If I hear another word, I'll take back ALL the toys! Do you understand me?"
"Yes, mommy."
"Yeah, mom." Nicky and Chris sulked on the couch. After receiving a Ps4 and Kindom Hearts 2, they really weren't going to risk it.
Vicky and Jake argued quietly in the hallway, as not to disturb the kids. Gracie watched as her Uncle Gabriel and Aunt Sara spoke to her parents. She came closer to try to hear what they were saying.
"C'mon guys, it's Christmas. Just one day without this." Sara scolded.
"If only for Gracie." Vicky and Jake looked at each other and nodded. Jake kissed Vicky quickly and they went into the other room. Gracie ran up to her daddy.
"Hi daddy. No more yelling?"
"No more yelling." She smiled.
Teresa sat quietly next to the tree. She was fiddling with a candy cane. Things had not been good with her dad for a month. The last time they had spoken, she had used her bad english. She had received no gifts from him, and thought for sure he was still pissed.
Gabriel kneeled behind Teresa quietly. "Hey."
Teresa turned slowly and nodded. "Hi daddy." They didn't speak for a few minutes. Teresa felt very guilty about what she said. Her lower lip quivered and she started to cry.
"Daddy, I'm sorry. I..." She buried her head into his shoulder.
"Shhhhhh. It's okay. I'm not mad. I know your sorry. I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have kept things from you."
"It's okay daddy. I'm still really sorry. I guess I didn't deserve a present."
"Funny. I thought you did." He brought out a present from behind his back. "Merry Christmas, Teresa."
She smiled and ripped it open. Then she really smiled. "Tomb Raider!" She hugged him. "Thank you, daddy. I love you."
At that, Gabriel almost had tears in his eyes. "Your very welcome."
Jamie cautiously started toward his mother. She was still mad at the little coffee incident. "Uh, mommy?"
"Hmm?" He handed her a package. It was messily wrapped and Sara eyed it with caution.
"What is it?"
"Its for you. Open it." She untied the ribbon and slwoly opened the wrapping paper. Inside was a messily knitted green blanket.
"It's for you. Beth said green was your favorite color, and Aunt vicky taught me how to put it together. I hid it in my room for a week. Do you like it, mommy?"
She looked down and slowly smiled. "I love it. Thank you Jamie."
Bethany smirked at Jamie when he sat down next to her. "Girly girl." She whispered. Jamie frowned.
"Am not."
"Are too, girly girl."
"Bethany!" She turned slightly and the smirk left her face and went to Jamie's. "Busted." He mouthed.
"Yes, daddy?"
"What have I told you about....about....." He stared at the statue in her hands.
"What, daddy?"
"Beth, where did you get that statue?"
"Dominic gave it to me. Why?" She was really confused. Ian motioned for Sara and Gabe to come over.
"Are you two seeing what I am seeing?" He asked them. Gabe nodded as Sara's eyes narrowed and then flew open with shock. She turned to Gabe and Ian.
"Is that Sarin?"
"Uh huh." Bethany answered. "Or at least that's what Dominic told me."
She looked up at the adults. "Mommy? Daddy? Uncle Gabriel? Why are you all staring?"
Ian shook his head and took Sarin from Bethany's hands.
"Hey!" She complained. "That's mine, daddy!"
"I know, darling, but it is also very valuable." She got up and followed him.
"Very valuable? Is it worth more than fifty dollers?"
"Yes, Bethany. It is worth ALOT more than fifty dollers. Why don't we leave it here with Uncle Gabriel's artifacts for safe keeping?"
"I'll take good care of it, Bethany."
"Okay. But promise you won't sell it."
"Promise."
Coming Attractions:
The Year of 11