1.8 Home Pt 2

This chapter is Rated R.  (Slight violence)

Author’s note:  I’ve been feeling a little under the weather lately, and my apologies for how long it took for this chapter to be released.  I’ve been sleeping way too much, and all the motivation I can muster up goes to deciding what movie or show to watch on Netflix, so yeah…Also.  I know this generation is taking forever, but I want to do the best I can at wrapping up all the story lines I have going on, as my goal was to tell a good story first no matter how long it takes. 🙂

Also, I added more links to my Custom Content page, and I hope I haven’t left anything out.  As always, let me know if I’ve missed anything, as I have tons of CC and it can be very hard sometimes remembering where I got them all, especially with the poses as I have about a bazillion of them.  The list should be pretty accurate though! 🙂

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The sound of the wind and rain dulled the sounds of my racing heart as I stared up at the angry sky.  The air between my grandmother and I was thick with tension, like the awkward silence between two new friends.  The question I had yet to answer, echoed in my brain like the rolling thunder above…

“What do you mean?” I said neutrally, keeping my face impassive, finally deciding to answer her question.  I kept my hands folded primly In my lap, even though the tip of my nose itched fiercely.  I ignored the itch and widened my eyes–the look of innocence, like that of a new-born baby.

“Ever since you were a little girl I could tell when you were holding something back from me.  It’s your eyes sweetheart.  They give it away every time.” Meredith smiled at me, reaching towards me and pressing one manicured finger tip against my nose.  “I can tell there is something you’re not telling me.”

I turned away from my grandmother and looked out into the pouring rain, watching little drops of rain hit the porch railing and bounce off into the grass.  I should have known coming here was a mistake.  Did I really expect I could keep all this a secret from the woman who raised me?  When I was a teenager I remember thinking she could have been a member of the FBI, trained to detect liars based on their facial expressions alone.  Maybe I wanted her to find out the truth.  Maybe then some of this crushing weight would be lifted from my shoulders.

“It’s kind of a long story…” I muttered closing my eyes, inhaling the fresh scent of the rain.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Meredith said firmly, taking my hand from my lap and holding it between her hands for warmth.  I could feel the heat from her hands zing up my arm, giving me the courage to open up to her–it wasn’t like I had a choice on the matter anyways.  As the saying goes–‘the truth shall set you free.’  We’ll see about that…

How does one reveal to their grandmother that not only are they on the run from their new boyfriends psycho grandfather, but that they are pregnant as well, it was really too bad that Hallmark didn’t make a card for something like that.  I smiled, bitterly.

“I’m pregnant.” I admitted, removing my hands from her grasp and raising them to my face as I dissolved in tears.  It felt good to finally tell her the truth.  I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.  I truly felt like Atlas, carrying the weight of the world squarely on my shoulders…

“I had a feeling.” Meredith said softly, reaching out and touching my shoulder gently.

“How?” I asked through my tears, everything blending together like watercolor in the rain.

“A mother’s instinct.” Meredith smiled wryly.  “You’ll find out about that one day.”

“That’s not all…” I hiccupped, tears streaming down my face.  “But I don’t want to tell you, I’m so scared…”

“You can tell me anything.” Meredith said, lifting my chin to face her.  She leaned forward, her green eyes staring into mine, intently.  I could trust her.  It would feel good to unload this awful secret.

So I did.  I told her everything.  That was the funny thing about secrets, they couldn’t stay secret for very long….

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Leaning against the doorway to Mika’s room I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him.  He looked so relaxed and peaceful, it had been so long since I seen him like this with his brow relaxed, not furrowed in a frown, his brows drawn together over dark eyes.  He looked sweet.  Peaceful, as he thumbed through one of my old books.

“I never pegged you for a VC Andrews fan.” I cleared my throat, taking a step further into the room.  Mika looked up momentarily startled, dropping the book into his lap.  He smiled up at me, his dark eyes brightened.

“Well I guess you learned something new about me then.” Mika laughed, picking up my old, dog-eared copy of ‘Flowers in the Attic’ and setting it on the end table beside him.  “What a messed up book.  Makes me feel much better about my own life.  How could you read something so demented?” He questioned, giving me one of his trademark sideways grins.  “That book made my family look like a bunch of saints, and that’s really saying something!”

He sat up on the bed and scooted over, patting the bedspread beside him.  I sat next to him wordlessly, leaning forward with my elbows on my thighs.

“I told her everything.” I said finally, picking at a loose string on the bedspread.  Unsure of how to begin this conversation, I just jumped right in with both feet.

“Oh?” Mika replied, holding his breath for one long second before blowing it out, his bangs lifting then resting gently on his brow.  “How did it go?  I haven’t heard any screaming, or dishes being thrown, and she hasn’t confronted me with a shotgun yet.” Mika said grabbing my hand and raising it to his lips, grinning softly.

“She took it better than I expected.  I expected her to break down, to yell and scream, and tell her I was throwing my entire life away.  I should have given her more credit than that.” I said sadly, feeling guilty for always assuming the worst of every situation.  “She likes you, Mika.  She sees the good in you just like I do.  Is she concerned, oh god yes.  I had to convince her to not call The Department of Homeland Security.” I exaggerated, laughing lightly, pinching the bridge of my nose to stem away the oncoming headache.  “I told her that we would stay for a while, and figure something out.  Tell me that’s ok.” I looked into Mika’s eyes pleadingly.

As exciting as it sounded running off with Mika to some exotic location, I just couldn’t do it.  I wasn’t that selfish girl anymore, that would be willing to leave her family behind.  No, the new Madeline was a fighter, and I would go down swinging until the very end…

“Madeline, it would kill me if something happened to your family.  I should have never involved you in this.  I should have left and never came back.  You would be better off if I wasn’t so selfish.” I watched him berate himself, and I hated to see him do that to himself.

“Stop!” I commanded.  “Don’t say shit like that Mika.  We’ll figure this out!  Maybe involving the police is the right thing to do.  Can you at least think about that for a little bit before you out right dismiss it.  They aren’t all corrupt Mika.  We aren’t in North Port anymore.” I stared into his eyes, begging for him to understand.

“You don’t think I know that, Madeline?  You don’t think I’ve thought of that every second of every waking hour?  I wish it was so easy as to just go to the cops, let them figure it out.  They’ll protect us…  It’s not that easy, I wish it was. God do I wish it was that easy.” He stared into my eyes intently, his dark eyes burning into mine.   “What about the people who work for my Grandfather?  He can give out the order to hunt us down from anywhere, even behind bars.  We’ll never be safe.”  He shook his head stubbornly gazing at the wall with guarded expression.

“So that’s it then?  We bury our heads in the sand and run?  Where are we going to go?  What are we going to do for money?  Is that the kind of life you want for our baby, to always be looking over our shoulders?  I don’t want to run anymore.  If there is anything I’ve learned is that family sticks together, and I can’t leave mine.” I looked up at him stubbornly, tears streaming down my face.

There was a knock on the bedroom door.  “We’ll talk about this later.” I whispered, standing, and wiping the tears from my eyes.  “Come in.” I was proud that my voice didn’t waver.

“Madeline, I just picked up a gift basket for our new neighbors across the street.  I thought you and I could go over there together and welcome them to the neighborhood.”  Meredith said, giving me a concerned look with a slightly raised brow.  She could obviously sence the animosity in the air between Mika and I, and it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to tell that I had been crying.

“Sure, that sounds good.  Looks like the rain is letting up.” I said jumping to my feet.  I loved Mika, but right now, I needed some space, and I was pretty sure that he felt the same way as I did.

“Everything ok back there? Meredith asked, as I followed her out into the front yard, the ground soft and spongy from the rain beneath my feet.

“Just a difference of opinion.” I muttered staring down at the grass that glistened with the remnants of the rain.

“I really think you should go to the police.” Meredith stated as she crossed the street.

I walked ahead, and looked back over my shoulder, and said nothing.

“When Melissa disappeared, the detective assigned to her case was a blessing.  You can trust him.  Can you at least think about it?”

“I’ll take it under advisement.” I muttered, my head throbbing.  This had already been discussed to death, and I didn’t feel like getting into it again.

The house across the street has always given me the creeps.  When I was little, the neighborhood kids all said it was haunted.  The old lady who had lived there was rumored to suck the souls out of trespassers, leaving nothing but an empty husk behind.  I wasn’t that frightened child anymore, jumping at shadows, afraid of the boogeyman, yet I couldn’t get past the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

“This place looks deserted.  Are you sure someone really bought this dump?” I asked, following my grandmother up the porch steps which creaked and groaned under our weight, and peered into the window.

“That’s rude.” My grandmother scolded me.  “This place isn’t a dump, it’s a beautiful old place that just needs a little TLC.”  She knocked on the door, which swung open on rusty hinges.

“If you say so.” I muttered, leaning against the rough wooden siding.

“Hello?” My grandmother called out, pushing open the door further and disappearing inside.

“What are you doing?” I hissed, wincing as the door shut behind me, the sound seemed to echo throughout the empty house.  “See empty.  Are you happy?” I asked, looking around wildly, the feeling unease growing with every echoing step.

“Well then they wont mind if I take a little look around then.” Meredith smiled at me, ever the busy body.

“This is a bad idea.  This house gives me the creeps.” I announced, rubbing my arms briskly.  Even though it was the end of summer, the house was cool and damp, and musty smelling from years of neglect and abandonment.

“This place is huge.” Meredith said, her tone was awestruck.  “Look at the crown molding, and the antique light fixtures.”

“Yeah, they’re beautiful.  Can we go now?” I rolled my eyes.  Getting arrested for trespassing wasn’t very high up on my list of things I wanted to do today.  I wanted to go home, and crawl into a nice hot bath, and then curl up in my bed and do some much needed soul searching.  Was that too much to ask?

“Haven’t you always wanted a house like this?” Meredith smiled, running a finger down the fireplace mantle, no doubt checking for dust bunnies.

“No, not really.  This place smells like mothballs.” I frowned, edging towards the door.  “Just leave the gift basket, and let’s get going before you get arrested.  I swear, if the cops show up I’m totally saying this was all your idea.”

“Madeline, you’re so dramatic.” Meredith laughed lightly.

“And your nosey.” I stated, crossing my arms across my chest tightly.

Meredith set the gift basket on the fireplace mantle, and turned towards me.  “Alright, we can go now.” She smiled.

“About time.” I breathed, reaching for the doorknob, eager to get out of this creepy, musty, dark ancient house, and into the bright and comforting sunshine.

Before I could turn the door nob, I froze, the tiny hairs on the back of my neck standing at attention.  I heard footsteps quickly approaching us from behind, and before I could open my mouth to issue a warning, I felt something crack against the side of my head.  My vision wavered, and as I went down to my knees, I raised a hand to touch my head.  My fingers coming back wet, the blood glistening almost black on my pale hands.

With my cheek stuck to the floor in a rapidly coagulating pool of my own blood, I closed my eyes, gagging from the pain, and from the scent of my own blood.  My grandmother! I thought, panic surged through my stomach, making my vision dim.  I reached out to feel for her, praying that she was ok.  Instead, my hand rested upon a shoe.  A man’s shoe, my fingers wet with my own blood slipping off the expensive leather loafer.  I swept my gaze up the leg, encased in an expensive looking suit, before resting upon a strange, yet slightly familiar looking face.

“This is a little harsh for trespassing.” I choked out, my eyes closing from the pain as a tear trickled down my cheek intermingling with the blood that pooled beneath my cheek.  “I take it you don’t like the gift basket?” I sighed, my vision growing dimmer.  “Why didn’t you just say so?” I murmured, and then passed out.

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Tags: MadelineDrake, MeredithDrake, MikaDimarzo

• March 7, 2014
• Generation 1
• 42 Comments