Title: Not Completely Empty
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. LXG is © to 20th Century Fox, Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neil. All literary characters belong to the respective authors.
Author's Note: As usual, I have writer's block with my Black Summons story. This is just a pre-LXG short, about Mina and her son, named Quincey. This will be quite short, but I hope this may keep readers of my stories from becoming restless. As a little warning, Quincey is a small child in this, so there will be some cuteness.
It was late at night, but Wilhelmina Harker could not sleep. She was lying down in on one side of her bed, wrapped in the warm blankets, her head resting on a soft pillow. She reached her hand to the other side of the bed, finding it empty. It had been four years since Jonathan, her husband, died; Mina had still been missing him.
The day that Jonathan died still haunted her memory. He was lying down in the same bed Mina now lay in; Jonathan was thin, pale and barely moving. The brain fever he had from when he traveled to Transylvania had returned. Mina had held Jonathan's hand until his last breath. It was painful for Mina to watch her husband's life wither away.
Mina sighed and sat up, tugging at the collar of her nightgown. She knew that it wouldn't do her good if she still grieved about Jonathan's death. In her heart, she knew she had to move on. Jonathan may have died prematurely, but Mina still treasured the memories of her husband.
Rays of dim moon light shone through the window across the bedroom. How much Mina felt comfort in the night, yet sometimes she felt fear. She remembered that one night when she was attacked by an evil terror. Even if the evil was destroyed, she had become a creature of the night.
When she learned what she had become, she was too frightened to tell Jonathan. Mina did not want to let something horrible ruin her marriage, so she kept it a secret. After Jonathan's death, Mina began to regret not telling him the dark truth she hid, but felt that it could have ruined their happiness.
"Mommy..." said a small voice.
In the low light and shadows, Mina could see the small form of her son standing at the door that was slightly ajar. Her son, Quincey, wore a white nightshirt that came down to his bony knees. His hair, auburn like Mina's, was messy from tossing and turning in bed.
"Quincey, what are you doing out of bed?" asked Mina.
"I'm afraid that monsters may get me," he answered. Quincey was only four years old, it was possible that he would have night terrors when going to bed.
"Come here Quincey." The child came into the bedroom and sat on the bed next to Mina. "You just had a bad dream." She stroked his hair to comfort him. "You can sleep by my side, tonight. We can keep each other company."
There was a small smile on the boy's lips. "Thank you Mommy." He slipped under the covers and curled up in the empty side of the bed.
Mina lay back and wrapped an arm around Quincey, lovingly and protectively. The poor boy, he was still a baby when Jonathan died, so Quincey did not really remember his father that well. Quincey had asked about Jonathan several times, Mina could only reply that Jonathan was good man.
She stared down at the round, pale face of her son as he slept. Quincey did not budge, nor made a sound except calm breathing. Mina shut her eyes, knowing that with her son, her life was not completely empty.