OK, so the author's note is in the next chapter for reasons stated at the end of next chapter. Lots of stuff actually got switched around in this fic because all of a sudden it decided it wanted to have a plot.

Anthony Zacchara does not belong to me. I wouldn't want the creeper anyway. He's from General Hospital.

Chapter 4

Grandfather's Keeper

He hates him, really. His great-grandfather. It had all started on his 19th birthday, shortly after Dorothy left.

"So your hateful mother told you you shouldn't marry the pretty Alveriola girl?" The old man was tinkering with some sort of rodent suspended in some sort of nasty orange gluey stuff.

"Yes, and I have already told you I agree with her, granddad. What's wrong with Zelda? She's endowed, and her endowedments are extremely powerful."

"Alveriola can draw things and they HAPPEN, Manfred! Her family is also extremely rich." Ezekiel had repeated this for the umpteenth time, and was beginning to sound a bit impatient with his great-grandson. But for the first time he decided to take a shot at Zelda, too.

"Zelda, on the other hand, is a cowardly, soft, meddling, ugly, bloody little tramp!"

That had hurt, Manfred admitted. He knew Zelda was none of those things. He needed some way out of this family.

That day he was helping the magician experiment with various methods of torture. Ever since Zelda had left Bloor's because Ezekiel was a sadist, every little thing the old man did turned his stomach. Once upon a time, Manfred believed these were just means to an end.

Then his younger brother discovered his endowedment. Everyone assumed Manfred was an only child, that the closest thing he had to brothers were Asa, Josh, and Dagbert. Gerard Bloor had apparently been living in a little underground chamber for ten years. After his mother left that same year, there had been no one left to protect him, and since he showed no sign of an endowedment, Harold gave Matron the OK to build the cell and lock the boy in it.

"The boy! He's escaped! LUCRETIA, HOW DID THE BOY ESCAPE? HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

"An unexpected endowedment, it would seem, Zeke." The old man stroked his chin.

"Interesting…very interesting…the plants, you say? Just like my Hilda…"

Manfred had forgotten about Gerard completely, but seeing him for the first time in ten years was a bit harrowing nonetheless. The sixteen-year-old had overgrown black hair that partially covered his face. His eyes were a deep purple, not the black Manfred's were but still an extremely dark violet. He shared many of the facial features Manfred had; only they were even thinner due to lack of good nutrition. To be honest, that brought up a good point. Manfred questioned how Gerard hadn't died…as far as he knew, Gerard was never fed. He was even skinnier and wirier than his older brother, and he seemed to shuffle instead of walk with a confident stride. His clothes hung off of him…wait a minute, how the hell did he have clothes that fit? These questions swirled through Manfred's head as he was given the unpleasant task of shoving the clever kid back into his cold, dark room after he escaped.

"He's really quite stupid thinking he can run away like that. Manfred, I want you to take your brother and put him back in the dung hole he came from."

"Yes, granddad."

He was still as much a sadist as his great-grandfather.

Except it wasn't a cold, dark room anymore. Gerard's room actually had a light bulb. And that wasn't all.

It was filled with several different kinds of plants and flowers. Newspaper clippings and vinyl records and CDs were strewn about the room.

"How did you get these?" Manfred was finally impressed with his younger brother.

"This isn't the first time I've escaped, you know. I've been able to do this for a few months now. This is just the first time I've got caught. Plus, there's Angeli-"He shut his mouth.

"Angeli? Angelina. Angelina Pike?"

"Yeah, Asa's sister. Lina's been sneaking me music and keeping me very good company. If it hadn't been for her I would have never learned to read or write or speak English well. She's my wife." Manfred snorted.

"And I suppose this Venus Fly Trap performed the ceremony." Gerard gave his brother an angry, exasperated look.

"We like to pretend. We're really the only ones that ever cared about the other, you know. Now, aren't you leaving?" The boy had a tart attitude now. Gerard was beginning to grow on him.

He only had a few weeks to know him before he died.

That was the beginning of Manfred's defection. Gerard's death represented everything that Ezekiel was: the sadistic means to a sadistic, selfish end. His brother had done absolutely nothing wrong…

Except try to run.

Ezekiel absolutely could not lose control of his powerful children. He was like a mob boss, really.

"Manfred, hand me that poker. We're going to surprise a meddling little girl."

Manfred does it because he's afraid Ezekiel will kill him like he killed Gerard. And Ezekiel blasts at Olivia Vertigo and narrowly misses. The schoolchildren scurry.

"Blast it, Manfred!" He throws the poker across the room, where it makes a hole in the wall. Manfred shakes now, angry at Ezekiel for almost killing a child, angry at himself for helping…oh, God, what if the blast had hit Olivia…no one would have cared…the Bloors owned the city.

This is what war feels like. A war perpetuated by a selfish old man with no heart.

But Manfred will continue to "Yes, sir" and "No, sir" until someone even closer to him than Gerard gets hurt.

Zelda.

He would not let that happen. So he prepares his speech for the city's Anthony Zacchara, playing the role of Johnny Zacchara. Jesus he needs to stop watching those American TV soap dramas with Zelda all the time.

"Granddad, I have to tell you something." There was no going back now. Absolutely nothing would stop him…

…except…

The play-back of the hypnotism of Lyell Bone and the play-back of Gerard's death clouded his mind and he knew he had to go back, at least until he inadvertently did something that kicked him out of the family.

He couldn't be Johnny to Zelda's Lulu.

"What's that you had to say, Manfred?"

"Nothing, granddad. Nothing at all."

Not yet. Tomorrow he would continue to take care of his elderly great-grandfather. Tomorrow he would push the stupid little wheelchair around wherever Ezekiel wanted to go. Tomorrow he would experiment on mockingbirds. Tomorrow he would help Ezekiel kill children.

Because it's a family thing, and he has to take care of whatever family he has left.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

So. Plot. There it is. The real, deeper meaning of Manfred started to keep his little pseudo-family safe. This was supposed to be chapter 5.