caught in the crosshairs

// And you, my father, there on the sad height, // Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. // Do not go gentle into that good night. // Rage, rage against the dying of the light. //

[zorrafuego]

“Yes but I can’t see you. What’s so bad about being seen in public with your mami?”

[innocentinox-blog]

“Nothing mami.” Seina blushes. She actually really likes spending time with her mother, she just... liked being alone too.

[fosterskids]

[ Lincoln laughs, nodding. He likes this new girl, she seemed like the type of person who knew how to just sit in silence with someone else and enjoy it. That’s the type of person Lincoln was. ]

[innocentinox-blog]

[ Seina smiles slightly. She likes this water witch, he seems... steady. And not like someone who would randomly decide to touch Seina without her permission. And that, is a good quality in a friend for her right now. ]

[thealchemistfire]

[ Quill just keeps ranting as he leads her, not checking back to see if she’s following. ]

   "Yeah man, I mean it’s quiet and comfy and the kids don’t give a shit about it so…“

[ He smiles at her as he stops in front of the closet, yanking it open for her. ]

[innocentinox-blog]

[ Seina smiles at him, clinging her book too her chest. ]

     “Thank you Quill. I... appreciate it.”

[lacharani]

Once they’re outside, Kizzy stares at her for a good long minute before sighing. “Seina, your mother is worried sick and you know your father is fairing worse.” She gestures for her to follow her to the car. “It’s been nearly thirty years, and we have all missed you.”

[innocentinox-blog]

Seina follows her aunt, wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeves. “I’m sorry... I...” She sniffles. “I couldn’t go home.” But... she doesn’t want to explain, can’t explain. But... “Is papa really doing worse?” Worry taints her words as she speaks.

[innocentinox-blog]

   Seina doesn’t pull away, clinging to her sister and starting to bawl. Tears running down her cheeks and body shaking. 

   “But I care. I care Veda. I… I almost killed ya. I hurt ya and then Callum… Then he looked at me an I could’na take it…. Ya were dyin’ and I could’nae even check to make sure you were ok. And… And…” Her babbling finally just devolves into wordless whines, as if the fox part of her was trying to help explain what Seina couldn’t anymore. Fingers tangled in her sister’s shirt, she tries to hold herself up off the floor with just that support. But her knees are giving out underneath her and her body is shaking and her eyes are so full of tears that she can’t see at all.

[chasingnormalcy]

Veda doesn’t let her fall, not this time. Catching her against her body, she holds her as tight as she possibly can. Her little sister’s whines resonate with the fox hidden in Veda’s body. “Mi hermanita,” she murmurs, fingers sinking into Seina’s messy thick mop of hair.

It had been hell, the first few years without Seina. Then she had gone numb, resigning herself to the fact that she would have to live without her. It didn’t have to be that way, Seina could have come home, and Veda is still so livid with her. But she wouldn’t let that get in the way of relishing the feeling of her baby sister safe in her arms. “I could never hate you.”

[chasingnormalcy]

“I don’t care!”

She has more tears in her eyes than Seina does at this point, and not only do they blur her vision but they make her nose so stuffed that she’s forgetting how to breathe. “I don’t care!” she repeats, holding her face tighter. “You are my sister, and no matter what you do to me I won’t fucking care.”

Her kisses are frenzied, all over Seina’s face until her lips are aching. Fingers sinking into her thick hair, keeping her close. She feels like she’ll never let her go again. Keep her trapped here where Veda can hardly tell whose tears belong to who.

[innocentinox-blog]

   Seina doesn’t pull away, clinging to her sister and starting to bawl. Tears running down her cheeks and body shaking. 

   “But I care. I care Veda. I... I almost killed ya. I hurt ya and then Callum... Then he looked at me an I could’na take it.... Ya were dyin’ and I could’nae even check to make sure you were ok. And... And...” Her babbling finally just devolves into wordless whines, as if the fox part of her was trying to help explain what Seina couldn’t anymore. Fingers tangled in her sister’s shirt, she tries to hold herself up off the floor with just that support. But her knees are giving out underneath her and her body is shaking and her eyes are so full of tears that she can’t see at all.

[chasingnormalcy]

Veda scoffs, turning away from her sister in anger. “No ya don’t get to do this Seina.” She paces the room, trying to resist the urge to something fucking dramatic. Like kick over the stand holding the lamp beside the couch, which she just did. When she turns back to face Seina, anger contorts her entire expression.

“Ya are a spoiled little bitch, ya know that?” she seethes as she comes closer, finger raised. “Spoiled and selfish, and goddamn infuriating. Ya don’t get to run away and cause Mum all this goddamn stress, then come back and play the fuckin’ victim!” And this wasn’t anything new because Seina was the baby, so much younger than she and Paolo. So much weaker and gentler and softer inside and out. Veda fucking hated her with every fiber of her being, and not because of any of that. But because how the fuck could she protect someone like that?

When she’s close enough that it seems she might snap, Veda grabs Seina by the face and pulls her close. Their foreheads are pressed tightly together, Veda passing her breath into Seina like she’s on life support. “Don’t ya ever,” her voice sounds scratchy like wool. “Ever do that again. Do you understand me?”

[innocentinox-blog]

   Seina jumps when the lamp crashes to the ground, looking down at the floor and trying to calm her wildly beating heart. The way Scarlet showed her. Her hands find the bottom of her shirt, messing with it to ground herself like Lincoln suggested. All these little things she learned while she was away, that she never would have learned otherwise. So maybe... maybe part of her is glad she left, glad to go somewhere away from a family that cared almost too much. And so she lets Veda’s words wash over her, just... absorbing them.

   But then Veda’s touching her and it takes every single fiber of Seina’s being to not jerk away from the contact. The last time she’d touched Veda, she’d almost killed her. That was... all she could think about, her sister on the floor and Callum’s face when he realized who caused it to happen.

   “Why are ya touchin’ me? Veda... I almost killed ya the last time ya... the last time ya did.” Her fake accent has been abandoned completely now, lost in the face of family again. Her voice goes almost silent when she speaks again. “I almost killed you...”

[vulpesburning]

Paolo blinked away sleep, as if his sister had poured a bucket of cold water on him. Standing up, eyes still blurred with sleep, he tripped over things strewn across the floor. Standing up as if nothing had happened, he walked through the door and without saying anything, he wrapped Seina into a tight hug.

“I know I’m squishing you. That’s the point. You’re not going anywhere. I deserve at least a three minute hug. Solid three minutes.”

[innocentinox-blog]

   Seina tries to squirm away until her brother starts speaking, and then makes a little whining sound. It does feel nice to be in her older brother’s arms again, no matter how worried she might be about hurting him.

   “Why aren’t you mad at me?” Her voice is small and quiet, face buried in her brother’s stinky shirt.

[innocentinox-blog]

“Paolo? Are you in here?”      Seina stands in the doorway, part of her hoping that her brother isn’t inside.

[dazedandbrave]

   "Oh the lady in charge?       Just to keep Lissie alive.“

[innocentinox-blog]

     “It’s a war, between some witches and a group called The Council. They’ve been in charge for a long time, but lately they’ve been going too far and killing witches who don’t have good control over their powers. Witches like me.”

[tessathompsen]

[chasingnormalcy]

It’s not like how she expects, it’s not that the anger in her belly fades. But it transforms. Becomes bigger and greater because Seina is the typical little sister right now. The one in the wrong and yet Veda is the one that feels compelled to beg forgiveness.

     "Why?“

That’s all she wants to know, why did Seina continue to run. They’d searched high and low. Used magic to let her know they were thinking of her. Yet she gave them nothing, no indication of whether she was alive or dead.

[innocentinox-blog]

Seina shakes her head at first unable to speak as the tears well up in her eyes. She fights them back as best she can but they still come.

    “I didn’t deserve to come home.”

Her accent slips a little, certain words coming out with the new and some with the old. And along with the words, come the tears. She presses herself against the wall, still not looking up at Veda.

    “This was a bad idea.”

She wants to run again, to hide from her mistakes, and from her family’s anger and judgement.

[chasingnormalcy]

When at first she heard the news, Veda didn’t believe it. Because why the hell would her sweet baby sister hide right under their aunt’s nose, without letting her know? Didn’t the bitch have some decency left in her bones? Veda held tight to the edges of the coffee table, staring at the door Seina was bound to walk through any moment now.

[innocentinox-blog]

Seina finally works up the courage to push open the door and enter the room. Her eyes never leave the floor, and she hovers in the doorway like a frightened little lamb that might bolt at the slightest little sound. If someone had asked Seina if she was ready to see her sister, her family, she would have said no.

[innocentinox-blog]

It’s been... a decade since she saw her sister. Sometimes it feels like longer. The... The last time Seina saw Veda, was that night she almost killed her. To say that she’s nervous, would be a gross understatement. She feels like her entire body is vibrating.          What would she say?               How is she going to react?

[chasingnormalcy]

[ Out of patience, Callum reaches to grab the phone from Seina and when she jerks away, something in his mind clicks. He stares at her, wide eyed; she did this. ]

     "Seina…“

[ He moves his body to shield Veda from her view, obviously considering her a threat. ]

[innocentinox-blog]

[ His instant protective stance only makes her sob harder, her entire body shaking. The phone falls from her hand and clatters to the floor, her mother’s voice coming from it like an echo. ]

     “I’m sorry.”

[ and then she’s up off the floor, scrambling back and out of the room. Running away from all the problems she caused with just one touch. ]

[smokingholster]

     Scarlet looks between the two of them with a sure smile. Sophia would fit in here, she was positive of this fact. A house full of misfits, hijinks, and love. That’s what Sophia needed, and that’s what Scarlet could provide. Winking at the girls, she backs into the hallway.      ”Dinner is in an hour girls, don’t be late.”

[innocentinox-blog]

      Seina turns, looking back at Scarlet. "Thank you." She means it. She means it so very much. She understands just how great of a gift this woman was giving to her.

      Turning back to her new roommates, she gives both of them a half smile before moving to sit down on the empty bed, setting her bag beside her. She worries her hands in front of her for a moment before looking back up at them. "So.. Umm... What's it like here?"

[lacharani]

     Kizzy stares after the boy who just left; Quill Tendoy. She knew far too much about his case, and knew that the Council had a pretty high bounty on his head. But he was no wolf, the girlfriend was and she didn’t kill anyone either. Sometimes it happened that way, the Council blames you for things you’ve never even dreamt of doing. That wasn’t relevant to Kizzy’s case; she slew her demons.

     ”Let’s go, Seina,” she says firmly, ignoring the looks her friends gave her.

[innocentinox-blog]

   Seina wipes at her tears with her sleeves, trying to make it so that she can at least see to follow her Tia. "I'm sorry..." She turns, waiting for Kizzy to turn and start walking so that she can get through the doorway. Her eyes' don't meet Kizzy, firmly staring at her feet. Going home is the absolute last thing she wants to be doing right now.