SWNOVELS Chapter 71: I don’t want to!
Everyone turned towards her; she looked just as shocked as they all did.
“Or feisty pants can shoot him.” Damon said. Kane looked up at her, then back at his chest.
“You….you shot me!” He said, his eyes were glazed over as he looked stunned at her.
“I-I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I couldn’t leave you like that, it wasn’t fair.” She said, he nodded his head, letting that sink in.
“It’s ok baby! I’m not mad.” He was calm as he sat in the chair looking at her. Damon, Johnny and Kenneth all exchanged looks amongst themselves.
“You’re not mad?” Damon asked,
“No, I was mad, I’m not mad anymore.” Kane answered,
“So you’re not gonna kill us?” Damon asked, taking a step away from him.
“No, if my little mate hadn’t shot me I was going to. I was just deciding how I was going to kill Kenneth, you should thank her.” He looked at all of them.
“Thank you!” They all said in unison.
“What now?” She asked,
“Ask him a question that one of us would know the answer to.” Johnny said,
“Like what? The first person he kissed?” She asked, looking at Johnny.
“Yeah, I know the answer to that.” Damon said, with a shrug
“Me too!” Johnny agreed,
“Kane!” She said getting his attention.
“Yes baby!” He looked at her,
“Who was the first person you kissed?” She asked. He was quiet for a second.
“Becky Muldoon!” He answered,
“What? You kissed rabid Becky the biter? When?” Johnny asked, rather shocked by the answer. Even Damon looked shocked.
“In the third grade. She wrote me a note saying to meet her under the slide. So I did. She told me she loved me and that she would do anything for me. Then she kissed me, it didn’t feel right so I pushed her off and said she wasn’t mine and would never be. Then she bit me. I told everyone she had rabies.” Her mouth fell open as she listened to him describe his first kiss.
“You started that rumour?” Damon asked,
“Yeah! My dad found out and brought me to her house and made me apologize to her. She told everyone she got Alpha’s son to say sorry. The next day at school, I told her my dad made me apologize, I wasn’t really sorry and she probably did have rabies.” Kane replied, nodding his head.
“That wasn’t very nice,” she said to him.
“No, it wasn’t. But she bit me and that wasn’t nice either.” Kane agreed then countered.
“She was known as rabid Becky the biter for years” Johnny said to her.
“Is he telling the truth?” She asked Johnny,
“I think he is!” Johnny answered,
“You’re not going to have a lot of time, the doctor said he should have been sedated for days, he was up after 5 hours, so ask your questions fast.” Kenneth said, she nodded her head.
“Kane!” Damon said, drawing his attention. When Kane looked at him he proceeded.
“Feisty pants is going to ask you some questions, ok?”
“Yeah! I can answer questions” Kane nodded,
“Good now focus on feisty pants.” Johnny said pointing at her. Kane followed his finger and focused his attention on her.
“We’ll leave and give you some privacy” Kenneth said, they were all trying to hide their laughter at this situation. When the door shut behind them she looked at Kane.
“Are you ok?” She asked,
“Yeah! I’m good. You ok?” He asked, she shook her head.
“What’s wrong baby? Tell me and I’ll fix it. Does somebody need to die? I’ll kill them! I’ll kill them all!” He looked at her,
“Do you love me?” She asked,
“With everything I have and more and more each day. There’s no me without you. You’re my always and forever.” He answered,
“Did you ever think about rejecting me?” This was a big one for her, but not the biggest question she wanted to ask, that would come.
“Yes! I thought the Goddess made a mistake. You were belligerent, fiery and temperamental, and completely unaffected by me and that was confusing. You were scared and I could smell it, but you stood your ground and poked me, right here.” He said pointing to his chest where she poked him. “I was shocked you could even reach that high! You’re so tiny. You set off electric shocks through my body, I couldn’t help but think what you’d be like in bed. You’re fucking amazing by the way, I don’t know how you get your hips to move like that, but I’m glad they can” Her cheekes darkened with his last comment.
“Why didn’t you reject me?” She asked,
“The ride home, I thought about it, and Johnny yelled at me. He yells at me a lot, I kinda deserve it though. But he told me I was scared of you. You were stuck in my head. I went for a run to get you out of there, but Ky brought me back to you. I saw you in the clearing, drawing butterflies in your book watching the butterfly come into this world. When it did, your face lit up and you smiled. It took my breath away, from that moment I wanted to be the reason you smiled like that. I haven’t been doing a very good job of it, I’m sorry.” A touch of sadness laced his words, and her heart constricted at the look upon his face.
“Do you think I’m worthless or weak or pathetic?” She didn’t want to ask the question, but she wanted the answer.
“NO! Never, I have never thought of you like that. You are bold and brave and fierce. You are the strongest of us all. I don’t know anybody that could have survived even half of what you did. I wish you could see that, I wish you could see you how I see you, it hurts me that you can’t. I wish you could see how special you are, how amazing. It angers me that someone made you feel less than what you are,” he hated the fact that someone made her believe she was worthless. He’s worked so hard to prove to her that she truly was deserving of everything she missed out on and in the blink of an eye it was wiped away by a cruel, vile bitch. Someone she thought was a friend, someone that made her question every relationship she built since she met them all. His anger boiled inside of him, she could see it in his rigid posture, his hands clenching the arm rests of the chair he was sitting on. His fingers digging into the fabric. He was furious with what Lacey did, it took every ounce of control he had in him to not kill her the second he saw her, in the room. It took everything to hold Ky back, he wanted vengeance he was screaming for it. His mate was wronged and blood needed to be shed.
“You belong here, you belong with me. I’ll remind you every day, how special you are, how amazing, how much happiness you bring to my life. Every day for the rest of our lives, how deserving you are, how much value you have. No one will ever make you feel like that again.” he spoke, his voice low laced with the anger he felt towards Lacey.
“Kane!” her voice drawing his attention, when he looked at her his features softened and the darkness she saw in his eyes cleared.
“Why do you call me little mouse if you don’t think I’m weak?” She asked, looking at him.
“Mice are not weak. They are very brave. They have to be, they are one of the smallest creatures in a world full of big predators. They have no one to look out for them, if they want to eat, or survive, they have to do it all on their own and that reminds me of you. You’re one of the world’s smallest, beautiful creatures surrounded by predators and you survived for years with no one looking out for you. You did it all on your own, I am proud to call you my mate.” The devotion and pride in his voice was unmistakable.
“Then that bitch stole it from me with her lies. I should have snapped her neck the second I stepped into the office and saw what she did to you. I wanted to, I still want to, the only reason I didn’t and she’s still alive is because she carries Johnny’s baby. She won’t touch you again, she won’t come anywhere near you again, I’ll kill her before she does.” Kane’s voice turned dark once more. “It killed me to have to treat you that way, but I needed her to think she won. I knew, I knew immediately that you did nothing wrong, I just wanted to hold you, tell you everything was fine that I wasn’t mad at you, but I had to make her think that I was mad at you. I knew you would shoulder the burden of it all and take the blame, I knew you would think you deserved what she said to you, but you don’t, you don’t deserve it” he smashed his fist through the coffee table as his anger got the better of him and just stared at it.
“Can we tell Johnny you did that? He’ll yell at me again. I break a lot of shit, I really do!” He asked, his voice returning to normal.
“We can try but I don’t think he’ll believe me.” Her eyes were wide as she stared at the table. He stood up and he sat beside her on the couch.
“If you don’t want me to call you little mouse anymore, I won’t. I like little mouse, but if you don’t like it, I won’t call you that.” Reaching up she caressed his cheek. He leaned into her touch, welcoming it, using it to calm himself. Placing his hands on either side of her hips he pulled her onto his lap. She squeaked when he gave her bottom a squeeze.
“I also call you little mouse because you squeak. I love your squeaks, they’re like tiny musical notes and bring so much joy to my life. Sometimes I squeeze your ass just to make you squeak, and because I love your ass. It fits perfectly in my hands.” A smile tugged at her lips as he cupped her bottom to prove it to her
“See! Fits perfectly. I love other body parts as well, like your legs, they’re soft and always smooth, your little feet, though they’re little icicles at night, I don’t understand how they get so cold. Your little hands, they’re so tiny and delicate in mine.” He slipped her left hand into his and showed her. “But these delicate little things hold great power, they can make me feel better when I’m upset, and tease and tantalize me till I beg for mercy, relax me when I’m tense, they create the most beautiful works of art, that awe and inspire. They are connected to beautiful arms that I love to have wrapped around me holding me close.” He trailed his fingers up her left arm to her shoulder. He slipped the left side of the adult hospital gown off, then he gently pulled the child one down past her shoulder and continued letting his fingers trail.
“I love your kissable shoulders, they lead to your beautiful neck, to a gorgeous face that rivals the beauty of a goddess. Your ears, how they get red, even the tips, to your mesmerizing cerulean blue eyes with amethyst starbursts that dance when you’re happy, mischievous or causing trouble, your delicate cheekbones. And finally your perfect little mouth. It ignites me, one kiss is never enough, I crave the feeling of these lips everyday on mine, moving with mine, against mine. I would spend all day kissing these lips, they set my soul on fire.” He pressed his lips to hers, he poured everything he had into that kiss, his love, his devotion, his pride. When it broke he held her close to him.
“I can list the other body parts I love,” he offered,
“Nope, that’s ok. I think I got it, you love all of me” she shook her head, trying not to giggle.
“Are you sure? I missed some, they’re kinda important.” She put her hand on his mouth.
“Yup, I’m sure.” She pressed her lips together to stop the laughter from bubbling out. “Did you ever wish I was a werewolf? I mean before we found out I was one” She asked,
“Only when I had to shower in the tiny shower. Whether you are human, werewolf or alien, I love you Dax, and I don’t want you to be anything other than what you are and that is my always and forever mate” He replied, kissing her head.
“You’re not going to leave me are you? I won’t be ok if you leave, I don’t want you to go. You belong here, you do, you really do. I would be lost without you” Kane asked, sadness lacing his voice. She sat in his lap looking at him, she could see the concern in his eyes.
“Are you lying to me?” She asked,
“No, I have never lied to you, I will never lie to you. Enough people have filled your head full of lies, I don’t want to be one of them.” He replied. She wrapped her good arm around his neck and held him closer to her.
“Then I’m not going anywhere” resting her head on his shoulder. He held her tighter against him. “What about the others? Do they think I’m weak?” She asked,
“No, they think you’re strong. Stronger than you should be. Damon’s not your only brother. They all think they’re your brothers, and have all become deathly over protective of you. They’re all angry, because you’re hurting, they don’t like that very much. You’re not just their Luna, as far as they’re concerned, your blood.” Kane answered, “But I’m going to have to watch Lydia around you,” Kane added,
“Why?” She lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him wide eyed.
“Because if I ever kicked her off the property, she would kidnap you, and you’re small enough to fit in a suitcase. And Damon would help her.” He answered,
“Then don’t kick her out!” she said, trying to bite back her laughter.
“That’s a good idea! Seraphine is scared of me, so I don’t know how she feels about you. But she’s pregnant and cries a lot. Kenneth is going to let her wear bunny slippers.” He was just babbling now.
“Wow! He moves quick” she said, putting her head back on his shoulder.
“That’s what Johnny said!” Kane replied. Then he got quiet.
“Kane?” she asked,
“Yes baby!” He looked down at her.
“What’s going to happen to Lacey?” She asked,
“I’m going to break her neck after the baby is born.” He was very matter of fact about it.
“But won’t that hurt Johnny?” She sat up looking at him quite alarmed.
“They no longer have a bond, Johnny said it broke this morning after she broke the art piece he had created for her, and now he doesn’t care what happens to her, but he wants his baby first.” She let that sink in, there would be no talking him out of it in his state right now, but when the time came, maybe she could convince him to just let her go.
“Why did she do it?” She asked, putting her head back on his shoulder.
“I don’t know, do you want me to find out?” He asked, starting to get up. She put her hand on his chest.
“Not right now, right now I just want to stay like this” he wrapped his arms back around her.
“Ok, me too!” resting his cheek on her head. “I’m getting tired!” he added,
“Maybe you should lie down and go to sleep” she suggested,
“I can’t sleep without you,” he declared, looking at her like a little boy. She was his security blanket, as long as his arms were around her everything was alright.
“Lie down” she instructed as she got off his lap and moved to the bed and grabbed a pillow and a blanket. She placed it under his head and then curled back onto his chest. He threw the blanket over top of them and wrapped his arms around her.
“Go to sleep!” She ordered,
“Ok!” His eyes were already closing as sleep pulled him under.
“How do you think it’s going down there?” Johnny asked, pacing the office. He didn’t understand why he was nervous about this. “Maybe we should go check on them!” This was starting to freak him out.
“They’re fine, she’s gonna ask him questions and he’ll tell her the truth.” Kenneth replied, though he was getting a bit antsy himself.
“Right, he’ll tell her the truth! But what if she doesn’t like the truth? Or what if he says something he shouldn’t?” Johnny said, panic was starting to set.
“Ok, calm down, there’s nothing we can do about it now. We’ll have to deal with it then.” Damon said, he too was starting to panic a little.
“What if she leaves?” They all looked at each other, maybe they didn’t fully think this through.
“I don’t think I would be ok if she left. I just got her in my life, I can’t lose her now.” Damon admitted,
“Me either! A piece of me would be missing if she left.” Johnny agreed,
“She was the reason, both Marco and I wanted to stay here.” Kenneth confessed.
“Why did she do it? Why did Lacey do it?” Damon asked Johnny,
“I don’t know, never asked,” Johnny replied. “Truthfully I was scared to ask her. That’s my child she’s carrying, if I didn’t like her answer Diego would rip her to pieces. I hate playing 1000 ways to die with him too”
“I can respect that, that child is the only reason she’s still breathing.” Kenneth said,
“I almost broke her neck when I saw her snap Dax’s arm in the woods. And I’m pretty sure Marco and Carter would have helped me cover it up.” Damon confessed “I didn’t care that she was pregnant, that’s not what stopped me. I was pretty sure you would have killed me if I killed Lacey, I didn’t want to leave Dax and Lydia alone, that’s what stopped me from doing it.”
“Funny if it was just Lacey I wouldn’t have cared.” Johnny sat in one of the chairs. “When I felt the bond break I was so angry this morning, but not because it broke, because I was scared, I thought Kane would blame me, I blamed me, how was I going to tell him what happened. Kept thinking there was something I did or didn’t do. I felt her pushing away and I fought to keep us together, how was I going to tell him I stopped fighting.” Johnny put his head in his hands.
“Johnny what happened?” Damon asked,
“Told me that I didn’t really love her if I didn’t take her side. I said if she loved me then she wouldn’t make me choose. She said she was making me choose so what does that tell me, then said I was weak and pathetic and a good thing that I wasn’t the Alpha. I had a piece of art created for her and she pushed it over breaking it, as soon as it hit the ground I stopped fighting and I felt it break. I thought I would be upset, or hurt, you’re supposed to feel pain when the bond breaks. I felt relief, for the first time in a long time, I felt relief. Then I got scared, then I got angry.” He kept his head down, but they could hear the hurt in his words.
“Brother I’m sorry.” Damon sat in the chair beside him.
“I wanted to be the one to tell him, not Lacey, and with Dax being in the medical ward and whatever was going on between those two, I knew Lacey wouldn’t go find Kane, so I did, but I chickened out.” Johnny added shaking his head
“Told him she kicked you out instead?” Damon asked,
“It wasn’t a lie, she did kick me out when we got back from Garrison.” Johnny replied,
“But she was in the room with the other girls and she woke up there after we all fell asleep?” Kenneth asked, confused.
“Keeping up appearances. Lacey isn’t stupid, her self preservation kicks in faster than Kane’s anger.” Johnny said, nodding,
“Lydia said when the girls cleaned her up, Lacey sat on the couch playing some game on her phone. The only reason she called Katalina was because she had the number and Jackie threatened to shave her bald.” Damon fought back his laughter. “Lacey mentioned something about being the mate of a Beta, guess she forgot Jackie is as well.”
“Except Marco is a neurotic mess, and Alejandro would have no problems burying Lacey.” Kenneth said.
“I’d pay money to see that” Johnny cracked up laughing.
“That’s what I said, Lydia didn’t think it was funny though” Damon choked out, losing his battle with his laughter.
“Did she hit you?” Kenneth howled as he saw Damon nodding.
“Alejandro would bury Lacey?” Damon asked,
“In a heartbeat and you wouldn’t be able to find her.” Kenneth replied, nodding. After seeing their faces Kenneth felt compelled to explain that a little further.
“A few years ago we were attacked by rogues. When it was over, Alejandro took off and started burying them. I had to sedate him to stop him, when he woke up he tried again, and I had to tell him it was all taken care of and Alpha Kane wouldn’t like that he was burying the bodies. We never did find all the ones he did bury. New York is crawling.” Damon could only stare at him wide eyed.
Johnny sat straighter, he felt the tension release from his shoulders and the anger started to drain away.
“’Do you feel that?” Johnny asked. Kenneth and Damon rolled their shoulders.
“That son of a bitch did it!” Damon replied,
“I’m still angry, just not as homicidal.” Kenneth commented,
“I wonder if Marco feels the same way? He really has picked up some bad habits, I don’t ever remember him being that vocal he was always quiet” Johnny asked,
“ I do feel really bad for what I did to Carter and I never feel bad, that boy can take pain like a champ.” Kenneth said,
“Right! Fucking impressive.” Johnny agreed,
“As for Marco, he was usually quiet until he met a pair of brothers a few years back. I don’t know what they said to him, but he became more outspoken.” Kenneth told him
“I have a bad thought!” Damon said, both Kenneth and Johnny looked at him and waited for him to continue. “What if he told her about being a fated soul?”
“Fuck!” Johnny uttered,
“Let’s not over think this, she wants to make sure he isn’t lying about how he feels toward her. She doesn’t know to ask anything about being a fated soul, so she won’t know to ask anything about it.” Kenneth tried to be reassuring. “Unless he babbles something about it.” Then he remembered how many times Marco or Carter just randomly babbled something.
“Well that doesn’t make me feel better” Damon said, Johnny nodded his head in agreement.
“Fuck, I forgot” He stood up and walked over to one of the shelves.
“Forgot what?” Kenneth asked,
“To check for the woman, back in 1999, maybe a week or two before she gave birth.” He replied, flipping through the pages.
“There, an unidentified pregnant woman stepped foot on the territory, she was approached by a sentry, she wanted to see Bruno, but Eliza showed up. She left. Total meeting time 20 mins″ Johnny read the entry log, scrawled in his fathers writing. He flipped through the book farther, maybe she came back, but no there was no mention of her again.
“She never came back,” Johnny said when he closed the book.
“So she was never supposed to be here with us then.” Damon said he fought the disappointment that plagued him. He hoped it wasn’t true and their birth mom tried to give her to Bruno.
“She’s here now!” Damon laughed at that.
“She won’t be for long if we can’t figure out this tragedy, the Blue Moon is approaching.” He said,
“When is that?” Kenneth asked, Johnny shrugged.
“Aug 27!” Damon answered, Johnny went wide eyed.
“What? Am I missing something?” Kenneth asked,
“That’s her birthday!” Johnny answered.
“Of course it is, cause the kid can’t catch a break. Two weeks away and we are nowhere near close to figuring out this tragedy, other than speculation and assumption.” Kenneth said he couldn’t help feeling like he failed.
“You and me both, brother!’ Damon said, looking at him.
“We can’t give up, she is depending on us, so we keep going until we’re out of time.” Johnny said standing up and grabbing the emails off the desk.
“What was in the storage locker?” Damon asked,
“Art, a lot of art, some of the most amazing pieces I’ve ever seen.” Kenneth pulled out his phone and showed him.
“Kane said they rivaled the pieces he saw at Magnus’s warehouse” Johnny said looking up from the emails.
“Wow!” Was all Damon could say, he didn’t know a crap ton about art but those were amazing. “He’s got a thing for angels”
“We think that might be how he sees her” Kenneth said,
“So these would be symbolic or something?” Damon asked, scrolling through the photos.
“Angels often represent innocence and purity. They can also represent intelligence and strength. Some people believe angels are sent by god as a gift to humans to help guide them” Kenneth replied,
“So he’s a religious nut? That’s fanfuckingtastic!” Damon gave back his phone,
“Not necessarily, but he might think she was a gift given to him.” Kenneth responded.
“These emails are frustrating. They make no sense whatsoever, it’s like the pages are mixed up” Johnny complained,
“We need a break, look at them with a fresh set of eyes. I’m heading to the medical ward to see if he’s turned into a 4 year old yet” Damon said getting up, they both just looked at him and watched him walk to the door.
“Damon, what the fuck?”Johnny said holding his hands up,
“You’re telling me you don’t want to see Kane act like he’s 4 years old” Damon asked as a grin spread across his face. Johnny looked at Kenneth then he was on his feet too.
“I totally want to see him act like a 4 year old” Kenneth was right behind him, he didn’t want to miss this either.
Back in the medical ward they moved quickly to her room, they could hear them arguing through the door.
“Why did you do that?” she asked,
“Because I don’t want it tied up” he said,
“It needs to be tied up” she replied,
“I don’t want it tied up” he repeated,
“People are going to see” she said,
“They don’t have to look” he stated,
“You could just tie it up and they can’t look” she said,
“I don’t want it tied up so they better not look” He huffed back. They heard movement on the other side of the door. Johnny was trying so hard not to burst out laughing.
“Why are you wearing that?” They heard him ask,
“If you tied up the back of the gown, I wouldn’t have to” she stated simply,
“I don’t want to!” He repeated,
“Then I have to wear this, because you’re not allowed to pop everyone’s eyes out.” They were all losing their battle on the other side listening to them.
“Sounds like it’s going well,” Kenneth remarked. Damon knocked on the door trying to fight his laughter, but the grin on his face was a dead give away when Dax opened the door.
“How’s it going?” He asked, she could see all of them trying to control themselves.
“He’s grumpy!” She stated,
“I’m not grumpy” Kane said,
“He’s combative!” She restated,
“I’m not combative” Kane argued,
“He’s argumentative!” She looked at him,
“I’m not argumentative!” He fired back,
“Telling me you’re not argumentative, while arguing with me is not selling your case” she said,
“I’m not arguing!” He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
“You’re pretty!” He was about to protest, but sat there trying to figure out what she just did.
“That’s cheating!” He grumbled.
“Now he’s pouting!” She turned back to the others.
“I’m not pouting!” He said,
“Sulking!” She rephrased,
“I’m not sulking!” He grumbled,
“Brooding!” She said,
“I’m not brooding!” He argued,
“You’re pretty!” She repeated,
“Stop cheating!” He huffed again, they all broke out laughing at what was going on.
“Now they’re laughing at me!” He grumbled,
“If you weren’t acting like a child they wouldn’t be laughing” she replied,
“I’m not acting like a child” he fired back,
“You’re not acting like an adult either” she said,
“Am so!” He huffed, looking away from them all. Kane’s face was getting red with how upset he was getting by this. The boys just laughed harder at him. Dax invited them in and when she saw Johnny she gave him a big hug apologizing for how things turned out. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling the immediate pull to family and comfort in her embrace.
“Hey, hey! That is my mate. Don’t you get any funny ideas” Kane growled,
“Just say ok!” She whispered to Johnny, he grinned down at her still with his arms around her.
“Ok!” Johnny said.
“He said the same thing to the doctor when he came in,” she explained when she saw the grinning faces of the others.
“Did you guys need something or did you just come to laugh at him?” She asked, they could hear him grumbling behind them about being laughed at.
“We were just going back over the emails and they were giving us a headache and we needed a break.” Johnny explained,
“Hopefully we’ll go back to them in a little bit with a fresh set of eyes” Kenneth added,
“Maybe I could take a look, I haven’t seen them yet.” She offered,
“Are you sure? They might be upsetting” Damon asked,
“I’ll be ok” she said
“I don’t think we’re going to get much help out of him right now” Kenneth said motioning towards Kane,
“I’m helpful!” Kane sounded downright upset that he was just called unhelpful.
“We’ll be there in a minute,” she said, ushering them into the hall.
“I’m helpful,” he said again, more mournful when she closed the door.
“I know, you’re very helpful” she said, she straddled his lap and he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck.
“And you can show me how helpful you are by tying up the back of the gown. Before you not argue with me, I know you don’t want to, you can untie it when we get back down here” she added, she could feel him debating on what he wanted to do but he finally agreed to tie up the back of the gown.
“I’m untying it the second we get back in this room, you said I could” he stated very clearly,
“Ok” she got off his lap and turned around. He grazed her bottom as he started to tie up her gown.
“Thank you for being helpful” she said trying to hide her grin,
“You’re welcome” he said,
“Are you ready to go? We’ll stop by the kitchen and get you a snack as well.” she asked, holding out her hand for him to take.
“Yeah, I could eat, I’m starving.” Taking her hand they walked out of the room.
After a pit stop to the kitchen to get him a snack like she promised, they entered the office. They were still laughing at him.
“You convinced him to tie the back of the gown I see” Johnny asked laughing,
“They’re making fun of me!” He grumbled to her,
“Just ignore them and eat your snack” she said pointing towards the desk, he went and sat down grumbling the whole way. They kept their smiles covered as she walked towards the whiteboard to see what they had. While they were waiting on her they erased anything that had to do with being a fated soul, the Blue Moon and the third trial.
“Ok, Magnus is connected to Carl, but you think the question mark is connected to White, how are they connected?” She asked,
“Son maybe!” Damon answered, she nodded
“But you think that question mark is the boy in the photo, why?” She asked another question, Damon showed her a family photo of the boy holding her hand when she was one, again she just nodded.
“So White could be his dad, but there is no photo of another male, unless he’s the one taking the photos, someone had to take them” she was talking out loud to herself.
“This photo has a funny shadow in it,” Kane said from the desk holding up a photo. She walked over to the desk and looked at it, sure enough there was a shadow of someone coming from the front of the picture. Judging by the size and shape of the shadow it looked to be male.
“See, I’m helpful,” Kane added, glaring at Kenneth. Johnny had to turn away to stop from laughing.
“Very helpful!” She praised him,
“Thank you baby” the childish grin on his face had them all laughing again.
“So why is he only taking the photos and not in any of them? Maybe he’s not the dad, maybe he’s an uncle, or a family friend, does Carl have any other family?” She asked, Johnny went to the original background check he performed on him when this whole thing started.
“He has a sister,” Johnny said, showing her the file.
“You think that might be White?” Damon asked, she taped the photo to the board and wrote White with a question mark beside it.
So Mr. Shadow, is what to Carl? I don’t know, yet! Psycho boy knows who he is? Yes! Not gonna taunt a psycho! No, that would be stupid! They’re crazy not stupid! Right! Is he related to the question mark? I don’t think so! That’s a lot of nut jobs in one family! It is! Who’s the woman? The sister! The wheels in her head turned as she looked at the photo. Why would they exclude somebody from the photo and not the gathering? Family photo, family photo, family photo, family….full family, full family photo.
“That’s a fucked up family!” She finally said,
“Excuse me!” Johnny looked at her wide eyed
“They all know each other in some way” She wasn’t really talking to anybody, but they were all listening
“How’s that?” Damon asked,
“Why would you be excluded from a family photo?” She asked, they all shrugged their shoulders.
“Because you’re not family. Brother, wife, son, daughter.” she pointed to the group on the left.
“Sister with her son,” she pointed to the woman and child on the right, then she pointed to the shadow, but stopped when something caught her eye. What is that? Another shadow!
“Who are you?” She pointed at something else in the photo.
“Who’s who?” Now they were really confused, they have been going over these photos since they recovered them from Magnus’s warehouse and she pointed out things they didn’t even see.
“I need a flashlight” she said, they all just stood there and looked at her.
“I need a flashlight” she repeated with more force
“Yeah I’ll go get one” Johnny ran out of the office. When he came back, she was positioning Kenneth and Damon. They just looked at him and shrugged. She tried to shine the light on them, but she was too short, she had Johnny do it, but something wasn’t right.
“What are you looking at darling?” Johnny asked as he shone the light on Damon and Kenneth’s backs.
“The shadows” she answered,
“The shadows?” Damon asked,
“Nope, not two men, on your knees Damon” he dropped to his knees and she looked at their shadows on the floor then at the shadows she saw in the picture,
“Closer, switch places with Kenneth” they did, still not quite right.
“Kenneth back to your feet Johnny on your knees, Kane come be the sun Damon look at the photo bottom right corner” they all moved into position.
“Holy shit! She’s right there’s another shadow there.” Damon said.
“Back for taller, forward for shorter” she said to him.
“Johnny has to move forward. Little bit more. Stop” Damon directed as she positioned them.
“Kenneth has to move back, one step, half a step. Stop” Damon said.
“The second shadow’s a boy” She said, moving back towards the photo on the board. “They weren’t invited, they crashed the gathering” she circled the bottom right corner of the picture.
“This is White and question mark, they weren’t supposed to be there. Carl and Magnus, both aren’t smiling because they’re grumpy, they’re not smiling because they’re angry,” She said.
“She’s smarter than all of you” Kane said standing behind them,
“You’re not helpful” Damon fired at him,
“I am so, I was the sun” Kane shot back,
“Then she’s smarter than you too” Johnny said getting to his feet,
“Boys! That’s enough” she pushed Kane back towards his seat
“Can we go back to the room now, I don’t want to be here anymore” Kane said looking at her,
“Soon! We still need to be helpful” She said,
“Was he like this when he was 4?” Kenneth asked, Johnny and Damon looked at each other.
“Actually, I think he was, if he didn’t want to do something, then he made sure everybody knew. Don’t get me wrong, he still did it because he had to, everybody just knew he didn’t want to.” Damon replied.
“Do you remember when he tried to bury his si….Lacey?” Damon asked,
“Oh yeah, that was funny” Johnny said chuckling,
“You tried to bury Lacey?” She asked looking at him,
“Nobody asked me if I wanted a sister, and they wouldn’t put her back,” Kane said, looking at them all.
“So you tried to bury her?” She asked,
“Well first he tried to give her away a couple times, then he tried to bury her.” Johnny explained,
“I wanted a brother!” Kane defended himself,
“Do you remember what you said to your dad when he told you you can’t bury her?” Damon asked grinning,
“That’s bullshit, take her back and make her a boy then” Kane replied,
“What did your dad say?” Johnny asked,
“It doesn’t work like that son, and you can’t say that word.” Kane huffed,
“And what did you say?” Damon asked,
“That’s bullshit you and Edward say it all the time” Kenneth broke out laughing, he couldn’t control himself anymore.
“Then what happened?” Johnny inquired,
“Martina started calling everybody on their language, don’t look at me like that, I was 4.” Kane huffed.
It was the next comment that had them all dropping their jaws.
“I bet now everybody wishes I buried her!” Kane said, rubbing his eyes,
“Brother, my moral compass doesn’t point north, but you can’t say that,” Damon said, Kane grumbled something. Shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his eyes again.
“Someone’s getting grumpy and needs a nap” Johnny teased,
“I’m not grumpy and I don’t need a nap” He argued, rubbing his eyes again.
“I’ll take the emails to go, I’ll call you if I find anything” she said as Johnny handed her all the emails.
“Hey, feisty pants, good to have you back” Damon said on their way out.
“Don’t fucking bark, if you can’t fucking bite, right?” She said, causing him to laugh and nod.
“I don’t need a nap, I’m not tired” He was protesting as she pulled him out the door.
“But I’m tired” She said,
“Oh! Ok baby, we’ll get you back to the ward and you can have a nap.” She could hear them laughing as she closed the door behind her.