Chapter 4
Alice did not wake up happy. From the moment Michelle scooped her out of the basinet, dodging a monstrous, glaring orange cat, she was screaming or squirming and sometimes both at once. Surly her daughters had not been this particular. Michelle carried the screeching child down the stairs, the quietly growling cat at her heels the whole way.
Three empty mugs sat on the table, long since cold and surrounded by sheets on sheets of paper, more than what she'd had on her flash drive. Waverly was everything Gus had said she was. Michelle's stomach swooped but she pushed aside the guilt. Not now. The cabinets and fridge were sparsely stocked, mostly alcohol and takeout utensils but finally she found the bottles and formula in the far corner.
It was incredibly difficult to make said bottle with a cat weaving through her legs and a squawling baby trying her level best to get as far from her as possible. Michelle nudged the cat away with her boot but each time it came back, yowling and batting at her feet.
"Are you trying to make me drop her?" Michelle finally shouted, startling both Alice and the feline into silence.
The cat stared back at Michelle with a gaze that made her uncomfortable with how close to human it was but, with one last look, it sauntered slowly over to the table and jumped up, curling over the research and sitting down amid the mugs, keeping its eyes fixed on Alice.
"Even the fucking cat is against me," Michelle muttered, turning back to the bottle and glancing down just in time to see Alice's face screw up into another pitiful wail.
"No no, baby Alice, I'm so sorry." But the damage was done and the baby continued to scream. This was not how she wanted to get to know her grandchild at all.
"I met him only once. I was twelve," Ruth began, still chained to the chair but no longer facing down three guns, "He and my mother wrote one another fairly often. He was checking on my progress I suppose. We met down in Illinois, I think. He was able to sneak away from Wyatt with the help of his wives."
"They didn't mind helping him sneak out to visit his kid that he had with another woman?" Waverly asked, thinking back to Constance, Widow-Mercedes and Widow-Beth. Somehow none of them struck her as the understanding type.
"They were polygamists, they were used to sharing one man? Or, I don't know, they knew she was probably stronger than all their kids combined?" Jeremy piped up, having finally pulled Dolls fingers from over his mouth.
"Jeremy," Dolls barked but the demon shook her head.
"No, he's actually not wrong. I was more powerful than their kids. Wanted to know
about it in advance. They were monstrous then anyway, according to mother," Ruth responded, looking at Waverly and seeming to actually enjoy telling her their story.
"You have no idea," Nicole muttered, "Met all but one and let me tell you. Monster is pretty much spot on."
"I heard stories. But then around the '50's, they disappeared," her eyes shifted to Dolls, "Your people, I suppose."
Dolls gave her his usual, expressionless look, "No idea what you're talking about."
"Please," Ruth snorted, "I can always spot a lawman," and then with a quick look at Nicole, "Or woman. No offense intended just. Obviously different branches,"
Nicole looked a little miffed but completely unsure how to react to this, suddenly, cordial demon. It was more disconcerting than getting the red eyes or the growl. But this, acting like a real person? It raised the hairs on the back of her neck.
"Yeah, we get it, they both look hot in tight black," Wynonna sniped, ignoring the pleased short from Dolls and the obvious twitch in Henry, "What does this have to do with Demon Daddy."
Everyone around her retched, including Ruth.
"God, Wynonna!"
"Never again, Wy."
"NO. EW. WHY?"
"Earp, what the fuck?"
Wynonna rolled her eyes, "Oh my god, shut up, I realized it was bad as soon as I said it."
Ruth gave one last theatrical shudder before continuing, "As I was saying, he came to see us in Illinois. Mother took us to a carnival. I was so excited. Mother wouldn't ever tell me much about him but I'd made up this incredible fantasy of who he could be, that he might stay," Ruth got a far away look in her eyes, "He changed his face in order to fit in. I didn't know it until later. I just thought he was very handsome and seemed like he wanted to be there with us. It was almost like having a real family." Wynonna felt her heart tug at the wistful voice that seemed all too familiar to her.
"My friend from school, Marietta, she met us there part way through the day, and stayed with us through the circus show and walked home with us. She was the tiny thing for twelve, all spindly and freckles and blonde, but a kinder soul there never was. She used to take any deformed baby chickens other folks had, or ones with broken legs, and she'd nurse them to health or give them a warm, safe place to pass on."
"Who did this kid think she was, Snow White?" Wynonna cut in and Waverly whacked her arm.
"Wynonna."
Wynonna rolled her eyes but Ruth barely seemed to take notice, too wrapped up in the memory, "Anyway, we walked her home and then went home ourselves. My father even stayed for a cup of tea with mother once I'd gone to bed.
"I woke up in the middle of the night. Father was standing over my bed but he'd taken off his handsome face. He was pale and had cruel eyes and all of his face just seemed… sharp. His hands seemed like claws. He didn't say anything he just beckoned to follow him. And then, in the living room," Ruth stopped short, the far-off look in her eyes hardening.
"He'd gone back, taken Marietta from her home and brought her there. Her arms and legs were tied to a kitchen chair. She was gagged. Her eyes," Ruth shuddered, looking mournful, "I've never seen someone look that afraid."
The barn was dead silent, quiet enough to hear the snow start up again outside. No one dared prod her, not even Wynonna, just waited.
"He had a horrible look on his face and he told me that… that killing her was the next step in advancing my abilities. I'd always known I was different; my senses were stronger, my body was stronger. When I was afraid, I could feel something stirring in the back of my mind but I'd never had a name for it. Mother had never said. Father knew though and he thought it was time I learned. He said it had to be me that killed her. That it had to be someone with whom I'd shared a meal. Mari and I had passed an apple back and forth that very day.
"Marietta looked at me with such betrayal and fear and… like I was something less than human. And I knew I couldn't do it. I told my father as much. He insisted, saying it was my path, this was how things were supposed to happen. 'Why should they have all the power then we are a thousand times stronger than any of them?' I still refused. She was my friend.
"He lost it then, howling like… it was horrifying. He turned on my mother. It looked like he was pulling her limb from limb but he didn't lay a hand on her. I screamed for him to stop but he said she'd corrupted me of my birth right. I made something up, said she'd tried to teach me the old ways. It wasn't a lie but Mother… she may not have been a nice person but she never wished harm on the innocent. Ever.
"I put the blame on myself, said I'd refused to let her teach me," Could demons cry? It looked like her two-toned eyes were filling with tears, "He left her be and she ran from the home. It was just me and him Marietta. He had me around the throat, his nails were like razors, he pressed them against my skin. He said that if I wouldn't kill Marietta, if I wouldn't take the power, he had no use for me. One more chance he said.
"He kept trying to ignite the part of me that was part of him. I could feel it lurking in the back of my mind, screaming to just do it. Take that fragile human and rip her to shreds. But all I could think of was Marietta, how gentle she was with all the little birds and animals she cared for. How she'd taught me to tie my shoes, how we'd sit in meadows making daisy chains, the way her mother and sisters looked at her. It was like she was sunshine that kind of… lit up the darkness, pushed the demon away enough for me to think like myself. As long as I remembered her, I was me."
Wynonna could feel herself getting swept up into the story, eyes filling with tears and she heard Waverly sniffling behind her. She's a demon her head tried to cut in, Demons lie. Another voice that sounded suspiciously like Waverly whispered But she's also an Earp. The other side snorted, Earps lie too dummy.
"I told him I couldn't do it. He sank his nails into my throat and… there was so much blood and his eyes were so cold. 'I should have known you'd be useless. It's the Earp filth in your veins' he said and he threw me down on the floor." Ruth lifted her chin and five long, thin scars, four on one side and the fifth on the other, were pink across her neck. Waverly gasped and Wynonna winced.
"I thought he'd just leave, leave me to die, leave Marietta tied to the chair. He almost did, he was at the door when Marietta whimpered. He froze. He seemed to big all of the sudden, filling the house. Although that could have been the blood loss. Everything was getting rather fuzzy. But I watched, helpless as he turned from the door, and his eyes were glowing red as he crossed the room. The whole house shook. He sliced all the ropes off her and took off the gag. She tried to run for the door but she barely made it a step. He…" Ruth was definitely crying now, though her voice was steady, "He grabbed the top of her head and just… shook her. Picked her up and shook her. I heard her neck break. When she went limp he threw her across the room. She looked like a rag doll. 'Her death might have meant something. Now you just let your friend die.' That was the last thing he said to me before he left. I tried to drag myself over to her but I was losing so much blood and I wouldn't control my body. The darkness was roaring in my ears, enjoying the destruction but looking in her lifeless eyes… She was just gone and I was bleeding out too far away to make sure she wasn't alone. I was sure I was going to die, alone, with my best friend already dead across the room."
No one spoke. There were no words to be said. Not an eye in the barn was dry.
"My mother came back a bit later. I don't remember very well. She went to get a witch in town she knew. She saved me but Marietta… there was nothing to be done. It took me almost a week to be well enough to stay conscious. By then, Mother and the witch had taken Marietta and left her in a field near her family's home, close to the edge so she'd be found. The whole town attended the funeral. Except Mother and I. We packed our home and moved back across the border," Ruth seemed to come back to present, chained in the barn and meeting great-great-great relatives. Wynonna ducked her head and turned her back on Ruth, trying to discretely wipe the tears from her eyes. Waverly had tears still coursing down her cheeks and Nicole was mopping at her cheeks in vain. With a deep breath, Wynonna turned back.
"So you want him dead too."
Ruth nodded, "There's a darkness in me. I can control it most of the time but if I'm caught off guard or in danger it just… takes over. You all saw it when you first brought me here. The memories of Marietta get me through the times that aren't life or death but…there's something not human about this one, and my brain just reacted." She nodded over at Dolls.
"Yeah, we know. Haven't really had time to talk about it," Waverly responded.
"Not the time, Wave," Dolls murmured back, but gently.
"Right, sorry."
"I want to kill the darkness in me. And he is the root of that darkness. He must be stopped."
"Why show up now, though?" Wynonna asked, "He's been locked in that old mine for decades."
"The seals. I thought they would stay intact and he would be imprisoned forever. But I underestimated his wives and their…devotion. When the final seal broke and he woke, I knew. He cannot be released onto this world. Especially," Ruth cocked her head to the side, "not when you have a little one like that around."
They all froze.
"What're you-What are you talking about?" Wynonna stuttered, nostrils flaring and her fingers tightening around Peacemaker.
"Come now, I've heard her yelling inside the house since those two," she nodded over toward Waverly and Nicole, "Came in."
"What do you mean?" Waverly jumped in, clenching her teeth a bit.
Ruth rolled her eyes, "The baby. The angry little girl inside."
No one moved a muscle, not daring to meet one another's eyes. Waverly's fingers crept forward to catch the tails of Wynonna's coat and Doc looked as if he was about to explode from the inside out. Ruth looked at each of them in turn, seeing the hesitation.
"I am not my father," she bit out, "I'm here because I would like quite the opposite of what he wants to happen to that child."
It was a watershed moment. They could trust her or not. They could take her at her word and believe the Earp was stronger than the Clootie. All eyes slowly dragged over to Wynonna, waiting to follow her lead however this was going.
There were a tense few moments of silence but finally, Wynonna sighed and nodded, tucking the gun into her boot. She rubbed the back of her neck and glanced back in the direction of the house.
"Who-"
"Michelle."
Wynonna snorted, "Screaming makes sense."
"Whose child is she?" Ruth asked, settling back into her chair.
Doc nodded proudly.
"Who else but the heir's?" Wynonna joked.
Ruth let out an impressed laugh, "An Earp and a Holliday. Together again. I shudder to think about her teenage years."
Nicole muttered, "Oh god. I hadn't even thought."
"So, what was your big plan in all of this? Just show up at the mine, try to, I dunno, crush him with a rock or-"Wynonna motioned to Dolls and Doc to stand down. They followed her order, somewhat warily, still watching Ruth like a hawk.
"Honestly, I hadn't really gotten that far," Ruth shrugged the chains off and flexed her wrists, "I thought I'd just, you know, wing it once I got here."
"Oh dear God, she really is an Earp," Dolls muttered, dodging Wynonna's punch to his arm.
"Well we've been spending all of our energy focusing on finding you but… I guess since you're here now we can move forward with how the hell do we kill an unkillable demon?" Wynonna offered Ruth her hand, "I'm risking a lot here. A lot. If you double cross me. If you hurt anyone of my family," She gestured around to the rest of the barn, "There isn't a tomb or a curse or witch that can keep you safe from me."
Ruth met her gaze, two toned eyes less terrifying than they had been at the outset. Slowly, she reached up and took Wynonna's hand, using it to pull herself up before shaking firmly.
"I understand. It won't come to that. I appreciate what you're risking. But we want the same thing. My father cannot be allowed to continue. If he is released-"
"Terrible gruesome death, we know," Nicole cut in, holstering her gun finally and wrapping an arm around Waverly's shoulders, "Nothing really new."
Ruth looked over them all with an appraisingly; A stoic, not-quite man, a 130 year old cowboy, a small, nervous boy who smelled of chemicals and excitement and two warrior women, all looking to the fearless heir to lead them through.
"I will do whatever it takes. Whatever it takes for us to destroy my father."
Wynonna tried to hide a smirk, "That's what this team does best. Take shitty odds and turn them into a win."
Ruth grinned back, "Excellent. I've been alone for far too long. Some teamwork will do me good. Now, when do I get to meet my tiny cousin?"
