"Hey guys..." John swallowed thickly, stepping lightly towards the girls, "Listen... I know we'll be heading out soon to... well before we go back to the states to take care of things for you, Herc and Lydia had their baby. Do you guys have it in you to go visit?"
heraclesstvalentine
The girls nodded, though neither one moved toward him. Em absently rubbed Susan’s back while Susan was quietly hiccuping from her last round of tears. When she had first heard the news, Susan had fully shifted to her wolf form, but she hadn’t done anything besides lie down on the floor and howl. About an hour ago, she had finally shifted back into her human form only to burst into a fresh bout of tears.
All the while, her two goldfinches had kept her company. Even now one perched on each shoulder. Susan reached up and stroked the feathers of the brighter one, glad to have their presence. Talia had been sticking closer to Em. She was still skittish around Susan’s wolf form even though she knew it was Susan. The wolf form smelled different. It reminded Talia of when the white wolf had attacked Em and herself.
“We missed Heracles’s birthday,” Em murmured suddenly. “And- wasn’t it Adrien’s birthday or somebody else’s recently, too?”
Susan nodded. Anything but their mom was a topic she was interested in right now. “M-m-mayb-be w-w-w-we c-can g-get thhhem-m something frrrrom h-hom-m-me.”
Not that she considered the US home anymore, but it was easier to say than “US” or “America” or “United States.”
Em smiled gently and kissed Susan’s forehead. “That’s a great idea,” she murmured. “For some reason I see Heracles liking some silly little curio.”
Susan couldn’t help but snort. Curio. Of course Em would bring up that word. For someone who said she hated school and to an extent reading, her big sister knew a lot of random words.
“P-plllease d-don’t tell Her-rac-clllles ab-b-bout w-what ha-happened,” Susan begged. “W-we don’t w-want to spoil his b-big d-day.”
Em nodded, though she thought of something else and repressed the urge to say it in front of her little sister. That would be a question she’d save for Adrien. After all, he’d be the one to tell her whether or not she’d be allowed to ride with her mom before she passed on. Or didn’t. Em really hoped her mother wasn’t an Undecided, but if she had any last things she wanted to get off her chest, Em wanted to be there. Maybe it’d help the woman go in peace. She didn’t know why she was so concerned about her mother.
She hated her mother. How many times had she hoped the woman would die? More than she could count. But she never put any real force behind those thoughts because she knew Susan would be devastated at the loss of their mother. Sandra and Susan had truly been very close to each other. It was such a starkly different relationship between the two of them and Sandra and her other daughters. It was like she was a completely different person with Susan. But then again, wasn’t everyone else? Em sure was, though now that Susan was growing older and the Magi were taking care of them, Em had felt less of a need to shield Susan from her darkness.
But she knew that her sadness wasn’t because Susan was sad. She truly mourned her mother’s passing. She wondered if Sandra had stuck to it and completed that intervention she signed up for. She wondered if Sandra had been working on making herself a better person who could truly take back her children without anyone objecting- or at least gain visitation rights. Susan had always been open to their mother visiting, but it was no secret that Em wanted nothing to do with their mother if she could help it. And yet here she was, heartbroken their mother was dead. Sure, if she wasn’t an Undecided she’d come back again, but that would be as someone else. Hopefully a better someone else. And who knew? Maybe she’d find her husband somewhere out there, too. Maybe they’d have a chance to be happy this time around.
Em had gotten used to wearing the ring. It made day-to-day tasks easier, and she’d never slept so well in her life. She didn’t take it off, not even to wash her hands or take a shower. But when she’d gotten paint on it, she had to take it off so she could clean it and had forgotten about it before she went to bed.
In the middle of the night, she woke up screaming.
At least, she felt like she was screaming, but considering Susan was still sleeping peacefully beside her, that apparently wasn’t the case. Em snapped her mouth shut and breathed in slowly through her nose. She didn’t have visions. That wasn’t her gifting. Right?
She had to know.
The girl carefully slipped out of bed, creeping to the computer monitor on their desk as stealthily as she could. The girl typed quickly. If she managed to get the number within the next few minutes-
Susan’s cell lit up and buzzed quietly. Her old cell. The phone she hadn’t used since moving here. Without waking up Susan to ask if it was okay for her to pick up, Em snatched the device up and pressed the green phone icon.
“Hello, how may I help you?” she asked as she crept out of the room.
“Hello, this is Officer Casey Hartman looking for Miss Susan Dimmock.”
“This is she,” Em lied, just wanting to get on with it.
“I’m sorry to inform you that your mother was killed in a hit-and-run.”
Em’s breathing hitched, and she ground her teeth to keep from screaming.
“Miss?”
“I’m here.” She swallowed again and sat down heavily on the couch, grateful for Talia’s presence as the dog climbed onto the couch and plopped onto Em’s lap. Still, even the dog’s calming effect couldn’t keep the anger from creeping into Em’s voice. “Did you catch the bastard who did it?”
“He was killed also, Miss. I’m so sor-.”
“DAMMIT!” Em swore, barely managing to cover her mouth with her fist before the word burst from between her lips. She forced down a few more breaths and apologized softly. “We’re in Ireland- my sister and I, we’re- we’re staying with family so you don’t have to worry about that part of it. We’ll try to be there as soon as possible. I dunno who else would identify the body. She didn’t have many friends.”
That sounded awful.
“She worked a lot. She was a single mom, and-”
“Honey, I understand this is really overwhelming right now. It’s late there, right? Try and get some sleep, and the adults can sort it out in the morning.”
“Yeah,” Em rasped, nodding. “Sounds good.”
“You take care of yourself.” And with that, the police woman hung up. Em let Susan’s cell drop onto the couch so she could snuggle Talia better.
“If I didn’t know Jane, I’d hate Death,” she grumbled, pressing her face into Talia’s fur. By the time that John got up to make his morning coffee, Em was passed out on the couch, her eyes puffy and swollen.
heraclesstvalentine since it’s relevant to John ‘n’ stuff.
Em is totally the kind of person who would learn to summon flame, then engulf themselves in flame (making sure they won’t actually get burned) and sing, “This girl is on fiyaaaaaaaa!”
