A/N: I finally managed to finish this chapter (Sorry for the late update), after a lot of writers block and coffee. I had a friend edit this one and personally I don't think it's that great but it is literally the best I can do. I CAN NOT think of any other way to word this chapter. So as usual reviews are greatly appreciated. One thing that my friend did mention, is to delete the SWAG and YOLO paragraph, you'll know what I'm talking about as soon as you get there. She said it was way too cheesy, and I can kind of see her point on that, but I've decided to keep it in for you guys. I want to know your opinions on it; it does serve its purpose to represent sinful nature in teens nowadays, kind of if that makes sense... So again PLEASE REVIEW and enjoy! P.S- I will be bringing Alexis back maybe in chapter 7 if not 6, I did not forget her!
Chapter 5: Truth at Long Last (Athena)
"Hey Charlie? Do you want to talk about it?" I stood outside my brother's room trying to get him to come out, talk or do something. He hasn't come out since the police left our house; he was taking Maria's death hard. I'm not saying that he shouldn't or that it isn't natural; all I am saying is that most people would've stopped moping around by now. I mean, Maria was like a mom to me, and yes I loved her and her passing has been hard on me, but I've come to realize that no amount of crying will bring her back from the dead. We skipped school today to plan her funeral arrangements; that's the least I could do for her.
"I don't think Charlie wants to talk to you." Jason's voice sounded behind me.
"Yeah, you can say that again." I muttered back. Even Jason was taking this better than him, and he was only eleven (almost twelve) years old, whereas Charlie was eighteen.
"Is he still in there?" I jumped at the deep timbre of his voice, and I quickly spun around coming face to face with Father.
"Umm yes, so it seems." I answered timidly without making eye contact. Father never spoke to me unless he couldn't help it. He never cared about any of us really, but he especially didn't' care for me, because I was a girl.
"Charles!" Father hollered, pounding his heavy fist on the oak door. "Charles! You've got three seconds before I kick this door down! One!... Two!... Thr-."
Just as Father raised his foot off of the floor ready to take the door down, it creaked open slowly, and Charlie's face appeared from behind. "Yes Father, what is it?" he said, his voice clearly hinting his exasperation.
Pushing the door open, he flung Charlie to the floor, none to gently.
"What the hell was that for?!" Charlie yelled from the ground, obviously pissed off.
"For not being a man! Do you know how you made me look in front of those cops? Huh? Do you?" seething with anger, Father continued "You made this Company, my company look weak!" he spat. "I want to see you in my office in ten minutes, all of you." He added, turning around to glare at Jason and me. I could feel Jason wrap his arms around my legs in fear. Father turned around briskly with an air of finality about him, and promptly stomped out of the room.
Charlie was still sitting on the floor rubbing the spot on the back of his head where he had hit it when he fell. "What?" he said rather forcefully, glaring at the both of us, as if what had just happened were our faults.
"Nothing. I just think you shouldn't try to piss Father off, that's all." He glared at me; his eyes were cold with fury.
"How can you just stand there and talk to me as if Maria didn't just die several hours ago?" he hissed. "Didn't she mean something to you?! She was the mother we never had, and you…" his voice trailed off as he grit his teeth in frustration. "…you disgust me." Having said that he pushed past me and stormed into the hallway.
I was about to follow him when Jason pulled me back and shook his head. "Just give him some time to calm down." I nodded silently, knowing that he was right.
Ten minutes later, the three of us gathered in Father's office just as he had instructed us. I glanced at Charlie, who still stubbornly refused to meet my gaze. Father had his back turned to us as he gazed outside of his window; in his hand was a bottle of Corona beer. If he heard us come in, he showed no sign.
After a moment of silence, Father finally sighed and spoke up. "Charles, please have a seat." He turned to face us and gestured to the one empty seat in front of his ornate desk. The tone of his voice suggested that he was here for business, and that for him, not sitting wasn't an option.
Charlie sat down, his face expressionless and cold, no doubt skeptical of Father's unusual politeness. Father was a big, broad, intimidating man, with a taste for power and alcohol. He was not the kind of man to usually resort to politeness. His head was cropped with light brown hair and his above his lips was a thick mustache. Father always wore a dark grey pinstriped business suit with a black tie. When the man wasn't drinking, he was puffing on Russian cigars. At first he only did so for recreation or when he threw giant house parties, but ever since Tripp's death he had been drinking and smoking on a daily basis.
"Umm, Grandfather…" Jason's voice came out as a squeak as his whole body trembled with terror. "If it's Charlie you need to speak to, shouldn't Athena and I step outside?" what he really wanted to ask was: Why are we here, and can we leave now?
"Why Grandson, I thought you'd understand!" Father chortled. He reached forward and ruffled the boy's hair, only to have him flinch and grab hold of me even tighter. I could feel the blood circulation in my arm come to a halt. "You see, I just merely want a word with our young Charles here, and I thought you two would serve as witnesses to our little conversation." Jason jerked his head stiffly up and down, signaling his understanding of the situation so far.
"You wanted us here, so here we are, what do you want with us Edward?" came Charlie's voice sharp as a blade.
"Now, now, Charles. Is that any way to speak to your elders?" Father wagged his index finger in Charlie's face as he took a swig of his beer. "As long as you are to speak to me, you shall address me as either Father, or Sir. Can you do that for me?"
"I guess so, Sir." He said it with such loathing in his voice that he couldn't help but ball his fists at the same time. Father was not acting like himself at all. Something was definitely up.
"Wonderful." was Father's reply as he folded his hands in front of him on his desk. "Would you like a drink?" he said motioning towards his refrigerator full of Corona and a bottle of Jack Daniel's on his counter.
"I'm eighteen." growled Charlie. "And if you cared anything for your own children you would've known that."
That seemed to be the answer Father was expecting and looking for. "Ah yes, that. Charles, I hope you can forgive me one day, but I am getting old. So naturally I forget things. You can agree with that can you not?" when Charlie did not reply he continued. "And since I am getting old, and you are of age, I will need someone to take over this company for me one day." He let his voice hang, hoping what he was saying would sink in.
Charlie scoffed "Father, I did not know you were getting that old. And I seem remember telling you countless times that I don't want the Company. My answer has not changed since the last time you asked me, and nor will it."
Father hung his head in feigned disappointment sighing he responded "I thought you'd say that. Charles; might I ask why?"
This startled Charlie. For a moment his expression betrayed him, but he quickly reverted back to being stoic as ever. It did not go unnoticed. "Father, let's not insult each other's intelligence." At that moment I wanted to stop him, he was taking a dangerous path; I wanted to pull him back before it was too late. Before he did something he would end up regretting. "I know for a fact, that you know all too well why I refuse to become the next CEO."
"Charles, Charles, Charles." Father said laughing softly. "How many times do I have to remind you that there are no such thing as curses?"
"And how many times do I have to remind you not to insult my intelligence? Give it up Edward. The curse is real; you can stop lying to us like you have been all these years. All these deaths in the family can't possibly be coincidental. How long did you think you could keep this from us? You're a far cry from being a father, you know that? No father would keep this from his own children, which is just further proof that you're no father at all. You're a demon."
The next few moments were a blur. I remembered hearing the sound of glass shatter and being knocked back onto the floor, and a scream of pain split through the air as Charlie was flung out of the chair out onto the floor next to me. His hands covered his right eye as blood gushed out from underneath his fingers.
In horror I tore my gaze my away from him to look at Father. He was holding the shattered end of the Corona bottle, which was what he must've struck Charlie with. I turned back to Charlie who was still on the floor moaning in agony, as Jason unsuccessfully tried to aid him.
"I told you to address me as either Sir or Father." He growled, all signs of friendliness leaving him. "You know, it didn't have to end this way Charles. I gave you a choice, but no. You threw that chance away. Since the cat's out of the bag we might as well get down to business."
"WAIT!" I yelled, I was tired of being ignored, tired of being just a girl, no I was going to stand up to that monster, like I should have done years ago. "What do you mean the cat's out of the bag?"
Father narrowed his eyes at me as if trying to read my mind before responding. "Wait a minute. You guys really don't know do you? I see now, Charles was only being metaphorical. He had no idea the whole time he was right." He then threw back his head and let out a stream of laughter. The sound was cold and ominous and sent shivers trailing down my spine. I just wanted disappear, but I promised myself that this time I would stand my ground.
"What's going on here? What are you talking about?"
"Well since we've now ventured so far into the lion's den, we might as well find out what horrors lie within. Athena, sit." It wasn't a question. So I sat. "Let me tell you a story. It all begins with the first Winchester of this family, yes I am referring to William. I'm pretty sure you all know the legend of the Winchester house and what happened to poor Sarah…" he looked me straight in the eyes; I noticed how his were bloodshot from drinking alcohol.
Suddenly the lights in the room flickered and died, the door to the office slammed shut all of its own accord, the curtains to the windows drew themselves together, and the fireplace roared to life all by itself. My heart was thudding so hard in my chest I could hear it loud and clear. What sorcery was this? Father acted as if nothing happened, like this was almost as normal as calling one's friends…
Father's voice became dangerously quiet and he continued the recount of our history in a voice that was barely audible. "The legends are true Athena, but to think that the three of you would have discovered it all on your own is quite an impressive feat. I made sure that trunk would never see the light of day, and yet somehow you three managed to dig it back up." He pulled a cigar from his breast pocket and lit it. After a long drag, he resumed "But that doesn't matter, you already know. I tried my best to make sure you guys never believed in curses, and it worked for a while, that was until, Maria's death."
"No. You're wrong." I managed to choke out, despite the rising fear I felt.
"Wrong am I? About what, may I ask?"
"We never believed in that curse. At least not really, we just thought that we as a family had it bad when it came to luck. Charlie's just superstitious, that's all. That's why he never wanted the job, not because the really thought that there really was a curse! We wouldn't have known until you just told us! And I'm still not entirely buying it!"
Father thought about this for a second; I watched him mull over his thoughts as the firelight danced across his face. Ignoring me he stood up and walked around the desk to face Charlie where he lay on the ground still clutching at his bleeding eye. "Do you know why I'm alive today?"
"Because you're a self centered bastard that cares for no one else besides himself?!" Charlie spat at him. He finally took his hands away from his face, and I could see that the Corona bottle had cut a gash starting from a little above his eyebrow down to his jaw line. Thankfully the blood had stopped oozing, which was strange for a cut that deep. His eyelid had been sliced in half from the jagged edge of the glass, so that what used to be one flap was now two. Although I wasn't sure if his eye was left unscathed, not with it shut like that. He must've been in so much pain, but he showed no signs of having felt the incision.
An amused smile played upon Father's lips. "No, Charles. I'm alive today because I made a pact with the devil. Notice how the curse killed off every one of our family members but me? Or at least everyone that has been the CEO."
WHAT HAS THIS MAN BEEN SMOKING?! (Besides his Russian cigars.) I thought to myself. Has he gone nuts? Maybe the alcohol was really getting to him. Then again, there was that creepy light flickering thing going on.
"Why am I not surprised?" retorted Charlie through gritted teeth. "So, what was this so-called-pact you have going on? Care to tell us? Or are you just going to lie to us like you have been for the past sixteen or so years?"
Father smirked, and there was an evil glint in his eye. "You see, when you are someone as important as me you can't afford to die, especially when you least expect it. So I needed a way out of this curse, and that's when I found the perfect escape route. One night, about a year before Tripp was born, he paid me a visit. That's right, he called himself Lucifer. He appeared right in this very office. He told me that he understood my troubles and that he could offer me a hand in assistance, but at a price. I was only twenty-five then and my parents were dead not to mention everyone before them died horrible deaths as well. I was afraid, because I knew then that I would be next."
"It was a shame you didn't." muttered Charlie, Father disregarded him.
"Lucifer sympathized with me; he told me that I didn't deserve to suffer a fate caused by my forebears so he offered me a way out."
"Lemme guess, you sold your soul. Come on we've a heard some semblance of this story. Sell your soul, blah blah blah, and later Lucifer comes back to claim it. Yeah we've all heard it."
"No, he said that he could take this curse off of my shoulders under one condition, that I either sell my soul to him, or serve him in life and allow him to have whatever he needed from me as long as it was not my soul or my fortune." This situation was getting crazier and crazier by the minute. I had no idea what the hell was going on, and Charlie was just playing along, acting like all this crap actually exists! That idiot is so gullible! He's swallowing this whole story Father made up!
"You are so going to Hell." Jason spoke up for the first time, the fear that was on his face only moments ago had melted away and was now replaced nothing but cold fury. He balled his fists, ready for a fight. Oh great. Now him too?! No, curses and all this demon/Devil stuff DOES NOT EXIST!
"Actually Grandson, I am sorry to disappoint you, I will not be going to Hell. For I have served Lucifer therefore I get a scoot free."
"Actually Edward yes you will." A new voice echoed throughout the whole room. There was no sense in direction as to where it came from. It seemed to come from… well… everywhere…
I spun around; glancing all over the room to see where the voice was coming from but there was no one in here besides us. Father looked nervous for some reason, though I had an idea as to what he was nervous about. Suddenly the fire from the grate sprang to life. The inferno formed a stream in midair as it collided violently with the shadows in the room, which had somehow become solid.
Just when I thought that I would get burnt to a crisp from the flames, the tongues of fire died down revealing the form of a… boy? Okay, I take that back, he wasn't a boy; he looked as if he was still in his crazy college years, so I guess he counts as a man. The man looked to be about twenty-one, but he seemed much older.
The newcomer wore a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses, a white t-shirt that said "YOLO" on the front and "SWAG" on the back; a pair black skinny jeans, and Vans skate shoes. He was what society would label as physically attractive, and he was, especially with his dirty blonde hair and Grecian profile. In spite of all that I noticed he had a cruel smile and an evil look in his eyes that seeped out through his sunglasses.
"Long time no see Edward." He greeted Father casually. "How long has it been?" he said scrunching his face up as if trying hard to remember. "Eighteen years?" Father instantly paled.
The man then turned to us as if noticing our presence for the first time. "I see you've got a couple of new additions to the family since the last time I visited." He said eyeing Charlie and me. "Well then, I better introduce myself, after all who said we can't be civil here?" He took a dramatic bow and continued "I am Lucifer, the fallen archangel of Hell, or better known as Satan, and I am your father."