Post by Jack Lupus on Jun 26, 2007 4:22:50 GMT -5
Cassandra is twelve and it’s dark. The house is quiet, but not the good kind. Not the everyone is sleeping quiet; it’s the kind of enforced quiet when you’re not supposed to know someone’s up. There are footsteps on the stairs and then a dark figure in the doorway.
“You see this?” Daddy points at her and she tries to shrink away, to become invisible. “That’s my little girl, my only child. She’s twelve. Cassie, say hi.” Cass doesn’t know who he’s talking to, who she’s supposed to be greeting.
“Boss,” The man who brought her, Derek, shifts nervously. “What’re you…”
“Would I hurt my own kid?” Daddy grins and Derek licks his lips, nodding. “Peanut, don’t be rude. Say hello to our guest.”
“Hi.” Her voice is small and timid and she knows instantly that her daddy is disappointed in her. She can smell him now, the man her daddy’s talking to. He smells like fear and gunpowder. Daddy waves at Derek over his shoulder.
“Keep her quiet but don’t leave the room. She has to find out eventually.” Derek looks down at her and there’s pity in his eyes.
“You come in here, on my turf, on my property, in my house loaded up with silver bullets, going after my family? What exactly did you think you were doing?”
“F**k you.” The hunter’s voice is slurred, like he’s talking through broken teeth.
“Watch your mouth, there’s a lady present. Why do you hunt?”
“You bastards killed my family.”
“Who? Someone specifically in this room?”
“No.” He pauses as if unsure. “You know what I meant. You ‘wolves, you’re murderers.”
“Collectively?” Daddy scoffs and cracks his knuckles. “Are you proposing my daughter is a murderer? My wife?” Someone turned on the light and she can see him now, can see every cut, every bruise, his arm bent at a wrong angle. Daddy hits him and she whimpers, trying to hide her face against Derek’s arm but he pulls away from her.
“You disgust me. Making a whole race pay for the sins of an individual. I never harmed you, mine never touched yours.” Daddy bends down to eye level with the hunter and smiles, a showing of teeth. “Now, if you had messed with my pack, I would’ve had to kill you.”
“But you came after my family,” Daddy straightens, adjusts his tie. “And for that, your death won’t be enough.”
Cassandra wakes up with a start, sobbing and panting and clutching at the sheets as the scene replays in her head. It takes her a moment to remember that they’re going to Virginia to see Jack, that they’re spending the night in the kind of hotel where the sheets glow neon under a black light, that Xander’s next to her and the rest of the pack is nearby.
“You see this?” Daddy points at her and she tries to shrink away, to become invisible. “That’s my little girl, my only child. She’s twelve. Cassie, say hi.” Cass doesn’t know who he’s talking to, who she’s supposed to be greeting.
“Boss,” The man who brought her, Derek, shifts nervously. “What’re you…”
“Would I hurt my own kid?” Daddy grins and Derek licks his lips, nodding. “Peanut, don’t be rude. Say hello to our guest.”
“Hi.” Her voice is small and timid and she knows instantly that her daddy is disappointed in her. She can smell him now, the man her daddy’s talking to. He smells like fear and gunpowder. Daddy waves at Derek over his shoulder.
“Keep her quiet but don’t leave the room. She has to find out eventually.” Derek looks down at her and there’s pity in his eyes.
“You come in here, on my turf, on my property, in my house loaded up with silver bullets, going after my family? What exactly did you think you were doing?”
“F**k you.” The hunter’s voice is slurred, like he’s talking through broken teeth.
“Watch your mouth, there’s a lady present. Why do you hunt?”
“You bastards killed my family.”
“Who? Someone specifically in this room?”
“No.” He pauses as if unsure. “You know what I meant. You ‘wolves, you’re murderers.”
“Collectively?” Daddy scoffs and cracks his knuckles. “Are you proposing my daughter is a murderer? My wife?” Someone turned on the light and she can see him now, can see every cut, every bruise, his arm bent at a wrong angle. Daddy hits him and she whimpers, trying to hide her face against Derek’s arm but he pulls away from her.
“You disgust me. Making a whole race pay for the sins of an individual. I never harmed you, mine never touched yours.” Daddy bends down to eye level with the hunter and smiles, a showing of teeth. “Now, if you had messed with my pack, I would’ve had to kill you.”
“But you came after my family,” Daddy straightens, adjusts his tie. “And for that, your death won’t be enough.”
Cassandra wakes up with a start, sobbing and panting and clutching at the sheets as the scene replays in her head. It takes her a moment to remember that they’re going to Virginia to see Jack, that they’re spending the night in the kind of hotel where the sheets glow neon under a black light, that Xander’s next to her and the rest of the pack is nearby.