I was requested to create another chapter for this oneshot. You can thank my darling Oswin and her love for dark, mysterious fics for this one. Hope it did the trick, Ozzie. Enjoy!
Chapter 2:
(Three years ago...)
"Come on Daddy! Let's go play!" A little girl said. Her animated personality and actions depicting her age to be about nine or ten. Long, silky brown hair bounced and swayed as she ran through the forest. Olive skin tone enhancing her green eyes. Her father and his companions following a short distance behind. All wearing fake expressions of warmth and kindness.
"Hold on, sweetheart. We gotta set up camp first." Her father, a tall muscular man of about 40 said. His black hair was short cropped to his head, face worn and held a permanent, uncaring frown on his face. A small amount of pepper and salt stubble on his chin.
"'Mazing she still calls you that, Jim. Considering what went down not six months ago." One of the man's companions said quietly. He was a middle-aged blonde, though the appearance of his skin made him look a lot older.
"Shut up, Thomas. You don't know anything about that besides the shit I was willing to tell ya."
Thomas only shrugged. "Just sayin', Hoss."
The father glowered, his eyes like daggers. The other companions wisely stayed silent through the whole ordeal. Not wanting to get on anyone's bad side. Namely, Jim's.
"Don't talk about that now." Jim said after a long moment of silence between them, feeling the need to address his friend even though conversation had obviously dropped. "I came up here to get away from that crazy, shit-filled life. Not to go an' revisit it. What happened, happened. I can't go back and fix the damn past. Jeanette wasn't happy. So we did what we thought was best."
Again, Thomas only nodded. "I know."
(~_~)
By nightfall the group had made a small camp near a cliff edge. The tents were up and a warm fire was going. Meat was roasting over the open flame. The strong smell waving up into the air. The young girl was running around the fire, dancing and laughing to her own imagination. The rest of the group were in the background. Talking quietly among themselves.
"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" A dark-headed man asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Jim took a drag on his cig before responding. "I was figuring maybe we try to get to the top of the mountain. Pack up right at the break of dawn."
"It should be an easy hike then. Considering we only got another few miles to go." The dark-headed one said.
Jim nodded, crushing the bud into the ground with his boot. "Once we reach the top, we can set up the ol' cabin. Then we go for a celebratory hunt."
The boys whooped at that. "There ain't no rangers out this time of year, so we'll have some easy pickins'." Thomas said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
"Daddy! Look at me!" The little girl shouted, her small legs running faster and faster around the glowing hot fire.
"Alex, sweetie, please be careful." Her father warned, honest concern seeping into his eyes.
"Watch how fast I can go!" Alex chuckled, running until she was dangerously close to the fire. The tall flames lapping at her shirt each time she went by. Her father was about to scold her when the inevitable happened.
The young girl lost her balance, falling face first into the fire. A terrible squeal filling the air. Her father screamed, dashing over to her in two strides. His companions panicking, doing everything they can to douse the fire. The father managed to pull his daughter a safe distance away. He rolled her over, gasping at the graphic sight of his daughter's face.
Her once beautiful bright skin was burned to a crisp. All her hair either burnt or singed off. The whole right side of her face was was gone, revealing nothing but charred bone. Her eyelids were gone, her right eye a bubbling, hissing ball in it's socket. Nose and mouth were burned beyond repair. Blood coated his hands as he felt for a pulse. Shaking when he noticed her right ear was missing as well. A small glowing ember still burning into her skin.
The stench was awful. Jim had to cover his mouth, gagging as the scene in front of him took hold. His companions were still freaking out, shouting over each other about what they should do. Jim looked between what once was his daughter and his comrades. He went to his tent, grabbing his gun.
Thomas, noticing what Jim was holding, went pale. "What the fuck are you doing, Jim?" He demanded, grabbing hold of the bigger man's arm. It didn't slow his pace.
"Getting rid of this." He gritted out, cocking his pistol.
"Jim! No! Get a fucking grip man! This isn't the right thing to do!" Another one of his companion's shouted at him. Scared and anxious about what was about to unfold.
Jim whirled around to face the face. Anger consuming him from head to toe. "She's already gone, dammit! There's nothing any of us can do! She's going to die!" The man roared.
"No she won't!" The dark-headed man retaliated. "Look, we can get some help out here, Jim. Don't do this!"
Jim, his face red from anger, faced his still daughter. Smoke trailing up to the sky from her fried body. Her hand started to twitch slightly. Her melted eye rolling around unseeingly. Jim could hear the faintest of breathes leave his daughter. Quickly picking up pace as consciousness came back to the young girl. As well as the accompanied pain.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, pulling the trigger a moment later.
The rest of the group screamed in denial at what he'd just done. Some collapsing to the ground in anguishing disbelief. Others were sobbing, not knowing what to do, nor how to handle such a blow...
/* * * * */
Kitt shot up, screaming. Gasping. Fighting to catch his breath. His heart felt as thought it were trying to claw its way out of his chest. Sweat beaded his forehead. His body trembling from the sheer amount of terror he just experienced.
"Hey, Kitt, can you hear me bud?" His brother's soft voice suddenly drifted through the thick cloud of fear and despair. His terrified eyes quickly locking on to his brother's. Safety started to overtake the fear growing steadily in his chest when he clung to his brother like a life line.
"You're ok. Everything's alright. It's ok..." Karr kept up the steady, comforting mantra as he held the younger close. Rubbing comforting circles on Kitt's back. The younger buried in Karr's chest, his mind still filling with flashbacks and images from the bizarre and horrifying dream.
"I think I know what happened now." He sniffled, not making a move to pull away.
Karr frowned. "Whatcha mean?"
"The dream I had. It was the same girl I saw. There was an accident. Her dad killed her."
Karr held him tighter when he felt the younger's trembling pick up volume. "Take it easy, kiddo. Everything's gonna be ok. I promise."
Kitt just sniffled. Trying to get his reeling mind to listen to him, listen to the fact that none of the flashbacks were real. He closed his eyes. His only anchor being the strong heartbeat of Karr's heart.
