Chapter 9
Disclaimer:.
"How dare she." Cass hissed between her teeth as two pit bulls sat at her feet, tails wagging, "The nerve of that bitch, who the hell does she think she is trying to tell me I'm not a mother to my children," "You were put away for fifteen years." "I didn't ask the peanut gallery." She hissed making everyone cringe, "Soon, soon enough she'll know not to piss me off, won't she babies?" she asked as the dogs barked in unison at her, "You have the temper of an angry lion that missed it's morning meal, sister." "Oh, I've missed my morning meal all right, sink my teeth so far into her flesh it'll be the most gruesome thing ever to happen." Adam shook his head in disbelief while Lucas stood next to him, "Is she going to kill Ciara, dad?" he asked in a whisper as Adam looked at his son, "I'm afraid so." "Will she kill my foster parents?" "No, Luke, she won't, she has no problem with Alyssa and Dick since they willingly gave you over. Plus she knows better than to mess with both of them." He answered as he noticed his wife's green eyes looking him dead in the face, he stopped noticing her locked jaw. Lucas slinked behind his father, not saying another word, he saw his mother's aura glowing red hot like flames, he knew she was angry, and he did not want to mess with her when she was since she had scared him quite a few times.
The dogs at her feet turned to growl at Adam sensing their masters displeasure with him, "Care to say anything else?" she asked as he shook his head at her, "Good. We will lay low for the time being, I'm afraid I've drawn too much attention," "You think? OW!" "Shut up!" Cass hissed at the other shadowed figure standing in the back, "I'll give it until Christmas time, that's when we make our moves." Adam and Lucas looked at her then at each other not saying a word.
Terry hauled the bag up the stairs to Jeanette's house, inhaled then exhaled before knocking on the door, which was opened by Ciara, "Terry! Come on in." she said as he rose an eyebrow at her, "I was just dropping Jeanette's stuff off, I don't have to come in." he said as she gave him a look, he walked into the apartment to see Colby sitting in front of the TV. One look around and he noticed that it was safe enough to step in, he looked to the only closed door, realizing it was Jeanette's room, "You can go in and give it to her," Colby said not taking his eyes off the TV, Terry cautiously made his way to the door, giving a light knock, "Come in." Terry opened the door to the dark room noticing Jeanette sitting up on the laptop, "You can leave them over by the dresser." She said pointing to the tall wooden dresser sitting in the corner. Terry walked over to the dresser putting the bag down, he turned to look at her, but noticed she was still preoccupied with whatever she was doing on the laptop, he put his hands in his pockets walking by the bed when he noticed in a blink of an eye the door shut in front of him, he turned his head towards the bed seeing Jeanette had her hand pressed against it. The two stayed silent for a minute until Jeanette closed her laptop, looking at him, "Yes?" he asked, "Why did you leave without saying bye to me?" she asked while Terry gave a sigh, "Your dad asked me to leave, where he doesn't already like me, I decided to do so." "Neither of my parents like you," Jeanette said, "my real dad doesn't mind you, I suppose. He's not like the rest. Ciara and my mom had a blow out about you, Ciara basically told her to screw off and let me do me." "Oh good so now I won't have a manic psycho chasing after me all the time." "I never said she would stop chasing after you, I just said Ciara told her off, besides you should be used to manic psychos chasing after you." Jeanette said with a smirk as Terry gave one back, "I just wish I could stay with you and Bruce." "You know that's not safe, especially with your mother running around like the lunatic she is." "I know." Terry noticed the frown on Jeanette's face, he gently grabbed her chin, "You're safer here, I promise you'll see more of me, when I'm not doing the old man's errands." Jeanette smiled slightly, "I would hope so, and I'd be upset if you didn't come see me." Terry kissed her forehead, "I have to go, I'll come by later." Jeanette nodded as he opened the door and walked out closing the door behind him.
Terry sighed slightly seeing Ciara washing dishes, Colby still had not moved from his spot on the couch, he tried to sneak by, but Ciara looked from the corner of her eye, "Terry," he froze, "Yes?" "You are more than welcome to come by on Christmas Eve, we are having a small get together, and I am sure Jeanette would enjoy your company." She said still washing the dishes, Terry looked over at Colby who seemed to mumble to himself, "I'd have to talk to Bruce, but if I can, I will." Ciara nodded as Terry walked over to the door. The teen hesitated for a moment, put his hand on the knob, turning it, and walked out of the door to the apartment, he had no idea why he stopped, but something told him that something was about to happen, and he didn't like the feel of it.
-Christmas Eve-
"I don't know what it is, Bruce," Terry said adjusting his tie for the tenth time in the mirror, "but I just get this feeling something bad is about to happen." "I wouldn't let your guard down," Bruce said from behind him, "especially when your sixth sense is telling you something is about to happen." "It's been wrong before," Terry said finally finished adjusting the tie, "but it's also been spot on as well." He said walking over to the windowsill grabbing his black blazer, "Dressed up enough for you?" Bruce let out a chuckle, "I'll let your friend decide." Terry rolled his eyes, "Wish me luck, I'm sure I'll need it." He said walking out the front door of the mansion.
Jeanette sat on the couch while the adults stood in the corner, all holding glasses or bottles in their hands, the four of them whispering with their heads together about something or other, and Jeanette was bored. Ciara and Jeanette had a long argument about dressing up, Jeanette hated dressing up, and Ciara always won by default since she was the one who complained all the time about how she "looked amazing" in dresses, or, "don't you want to look good for your friends?" The only problem about the last statement was, Jeanette did not have many friends, but she did for the soul purpose that she knew Terry was being forced to dress up as well. The teen let out a long sigh before she heard a knock at the door, "I'll get it!" she said springing to her feet, making the adults turn to look at her, Jeanette opened the door to see Terry standing there, she beamed as he blinked, "Wow." Was all he said before walking in the door, "See, Jeanette, I told you that you look amazing in dresses." Ciara said putting down her glass walking over to Terry to give him a hug, "I'm so glad you could make it, and you look so handsome." Terry gave her a small smile, "Thank you, Bruce lent it to me," he said noticing Dick Grayson standing in the corner, "I knew I recognized that suite." He said smirking walking over clapping his hand on Terry's shoulder, "How is the old man?" "He's good." Terry answered as he eyes wandered over to a red head in a silver dress, "Oh, that's right, you've never met my wife," Dick said motioning her over, "this is Alyssa, Alyssa, this is Terry." Alyssa gave him a small smile, "Nice to meet you." Terry nodded to her before Jeanette popped up beside him grabbing his arm trying to pull him away from the adults. Terry stumbled after her into the bedroom, "Jeanette, I don't want that door closed!" Colby said from the kitchen as Jeanette mumbled to herself leaving the door open, "Hi!" she said with a smile as Terry blinked at her, "Why are you so cheery?" "Because you're here," she said as Terry gave her a small smile, "what's wrong?" she asked noticing that it wasn't a genuine smile, "I just have a bad feeling, and it's not going away." He said sitting on her bed, she sat next to him, which was when he realized she was wearing a black dress with silver heels, "You do look nice, by the way." He said noticing her green eyes looked distraught, "You don't want to be here, do you?" she asked as he shook his head, "It's not that, I don't know what it is, I have this giant pit in my stomach, and no matter how hard I try to focus on something else, it creeps up, and becomes unsettling." "You can leave," Jeanette said looking at her bed, "Do you want me to?" he asked as she shook her head 'no', "Then I won't leave, I know the adults feel it too, I noticed it on their faces when I walked in, it was a sign of relief. They know something is up, I'm not sure what, however." The two teens fell quiet as Dick poked his head into the room, "Lunch is ready." He said as they stood up and followed him out.
The lunch was eaten in silence, unease, and tension filled the room, Ciara and Alyssa were sitting close to each other, whispering, Dick and Colby didn't say a word to anyone, but kept looking over at their wives every once in a while. Jeanette kept her leg touching Terry's leg, who would rub his foot against hers to keep her calm, "Well, this certainly has been a quiet evening," Dick said finally cutting the silence in half, "lunch is delicious as always, Ciara." Ciara gave him a small smile, "Thank you, I try, Jeanette you haven't touched your food." She said as the teen looked at her, "I'm not hungry." She said causing Alyssa and Colby to look at each other, "Do you want something else to eat?" Ciara asked as Jeanette shook her head 'no', "Jeanette, you need to eat with your med-" "I said, I'm not hungry." Jeanette snapped cutting her off. Colby looked at Jeanette who tensed up under his gaze before looking back down at her food, "May I be excused?" she asked, "No, you may not, you need to eat something, your mother has been cooking since 6AM." Colby said sternly, Jeanette muttered under breath, "If you're going to be a spoiled brat, you can make yourself something else to eat, Jeanette." "Colby, please!" Ciara said stress in her eyes, "No, enough is enough, you have a choice to make Jeanette," Ciara buried her face in her hands, "you can either stay under my roof and eat what your mother makes you, or you can get out, and live on the streets with your real mother, father, and brother. The choice is yours." Colby said his voice rising as he spoke. Tears welled up in Jeanette's eyes as she looked at Colby, his grey eyes locked on her green eyes, she looked down at her plate grabbing her fork, tears still in her eyes as she took a bite of her food, "Colby," Colby looked at Dick who shook his head at him, "you're real brave for keeping her here, don't do what Alyssa and I did. I regret turning Lucas over to them, do not take your hostility out on their teenaged daughter, she hasn't done anything wrong." Ciara had tears running down her face looking at Colby whose eyes never left Dick's glance, he then looked at Jeanette who hadn't made a peep since, "I need to take a walk." Colby said standing up walking to the door, grabbed the jacket by it, and walked out of the apartment.
Dick sighed standing up, making Alyssa look at him, "I'm going to go with him, you four stay here." He said following after Colby, Ciara's make-up ran down her face as she stood picking up the plates, Alyssa rose to help her. Jeanette and Terry sat at the table finishing eating before Jeanette stood up to bring her plate to Ciara, who handed her a few pills, Jeanette looked at her, took a glass of water, and swallowed them with a grimace on her face, "Thank you," Jeanette muttered before walking back into her bedroom closing the door behind her, "It's been like this ever since she came back," Ciara said as Alyssa looked at her, "Who?" "Cass, Jeanette has been acting more like her mother every day; she and Colby have butted heads all week, before she used to be his little girl." "I'm sure it's just stress, Ciara, when I heard Cass broke out of jail, Dick, Lucas, and I took off to the safe house until she hunted us down, quite literally, plus Lucas already knew his mother was back. Before that he was sneaking off to go visit Harley, but, there was not stopping that, I don't like dealing with Harley." "No one does." Ciara said scrubbing the dishes as Terry stood placing his plate on the sink, "Thank you for having me over," he said while Ciara gave him a slight smile, "You're quite welcome, once the boys come back, we will be having dessert, if they come back." She said with a sigh. Terry walked into Jeanette's room to see she was watching the TV, he quietly closed the door, crawling into the bed next to her, she rested her head on his shoulder, and both slipped into a silent nap.
Terry jerked awake suddenly hearing a loud crash, Jeanette sat up to look at the clock that read 7:00, "What was that!?" she asked causing Terry to hush her; he heard yelling on the other side of the door, "Terry?" "Sh!" he said opening the door slightly; he saw Dick and Alyssa standing in front of Ciara, who was cradling Colby in her arms, tears streaming down her face, both Adam and Cass standing in front of Dick and Alyssa, Cass was armed with a hand gun, while Adam looked jacked up. Terry quickly closed the door, his face stark white, Jeanette looked at him confused, "What is it!?" she asked terror in her voice, "We need to get you out of here." Terry said causing Jeanette's look of confusion turn into one of fear, "Terry! What's going on!?" Terry jumped off the bed going to the window, he looked out of it, he realized that the jump was too far down to make a safe landing, he turned around to see Jeanette now an inch from his face, "What is going on, Terry!" "Jeanette, not right-" BANG! Terry grabbed Jeanette off the bed as she screamed; he quickly placed a hand over her mouth dragging her into the closet. Jeanette shook head to toe in fear, Terry kept his hand firmly placed over her mouth so no noise escaped, the door to the bedroom opened, Terry got a glimpse of Dick and Alyssa both being held back, Ciara was now on her feet, tears still streaming down her face, and Colby was limp on the ground, "DAD!" Jeanette screamed as Terry grabbed her quickly regaining hold of her while the figure in the room spun towards the closet, "Please, Jeanette, be quiet." He hissed in her ear as she struggled to get free.
Jeanette bit down on his hand, hard, causing him to let her go, she bolted out of the closet skidding to a halt over her foster father, quickly clinging to him when she felt the barrel of a gun push at the back of her head, "GET AWAY FORM ME!" she screamed grabbing the barrel and pushing it backward causing the carrier to stumble back, her eyes pitch black, Jeanette's eyes fell on her mother, who smirked at her, "What's the matter, Laurie?" Cass said noticing her daughter's muscles tense from rage, "Stay away from my family." Jeanette hissed through gritted teeth, "What family? You mean the ones who wanted to get rid of you once you hit fifteen?" "Don't you listen to her!" Ciara yelled from her spot tears still falling, "You're MY baby and I'd never give you up!" "I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE!" Cass yelled glaring at Ciara, "You had the choice years ago, Cassata Ann! You made the decision to run around causing mayhem and KILL YOUR OWN CHILDREN!" Cass strolled over to Ciara and back handed her across the face, "Listen here, bitch." "No, you listen! You touch MY daughter you'll have hell to pay!" Cass went to open her mouth when Adam threw Terry down in front of her, "Look who I found." Adam said diverting Cass's attention, "I knew I smelt a rat." She said scrunching her face up, "Weren't you told to stay away?" "You don't count as a parent." Terry hissed as Cass fumed, "Show respect, brat, you don't know who you're dealing with." Terry glared at her. The two held glares for a while before Cass turned her attention back to Jeanette who was still over the barely breathing form of her foster father, Jeanette had her head rested on his shoulder, shaking from rage, "Jeanette," Colby whispered in her ear, "Daddy?" she whispered back, choking on tears, "I love you, and I'm sorry for yelling at you." "It's ok," she said tears falling down her face, "I'm sorry too, daddy, I'm sorry for causing trouble as a kid, I'm sorry for being so rotten." Colby turned his head slightly as yelling resumed in the room, Jeanette pushed her cheek to his lips, "You'll always be my baby." He said in her ear before closing his eyes and exhaling, "Dad?" Jeanette whispered sitting up shaking him lightly, "Daddy?!" she said louder before getting grabbed off of him by Dick, "DADDY!" Jeanette yelled as Ciara collapsed next to Colby tears streaming down her face, "DAD!" Jeanette yelled again breaking free before Terry grabbed her, "Enough!" Terry said as she fought to get away, "Jeanette, enough!" "DADDY!" "Jeanette!" Terry said grabbing her shoulders tears in his eyes, "Stop, he's gone." Jeanette screamed falling to her knees, Terry still holding her, she shook violently soaking the shirt he had on with her tears, he kissed her head, while nails dug into his back.
Dick and Alyssa were trying, with no luck, to pull Ciara away from her deceased husband's body, "Ciara, please," Terry heard Dick whisper to her, "he's gone, please, let him go." Ciara clung tighter, "Are you happy now?" Terry heard Alyssa's voice crack, "You killed one of your best friends, are you satisfied!?" Terry felt Jeanette rip away from him and before anyone could react the fifteen year old and her mother were on the floor fighting with each other, "JEANETTE!" Dick yelled as the girl grabbed her mother's gun whipping her over the head with it. Terry rushed over grabbing her under her arms, yanking her back, "LET ME GO!" she screamed as Terry pinned her against the wall, "Enough!" "I'LL KILL HER I SWEAR!" "Good luck trying!" Terry heard the taunt from behind him, Jeanette pushed forward, but he pushed her back, "STOP!" Terry looked into Jeanette's black eyes, resting his forehead on hers, "Stop, you're better than her, you're better than this." He whispered to her, noticing that she had stopped struggling, "I promise, she'll get her time, I'll make sure of it." Jeanette calmed down, slowly lowering her arms, Terry's hands still around her wrists in case she decided to go after her again. Terry heard a few more words exchanged before the door shut, Jeanette's pulse was still pounding, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against his body, she buried her face into his shoulder tears still falling from her eyes, "I hate her," Jeanette mumbled, "I know." Terry said running his hand through her hair, "Merry Chirstmas to me." she said through tears.
TBC…