BY THE WAY, YOU’RE SCREWED w/@DhestroyLegacy
Wrath:
Tonight was going to be a long night. Not only did I have a full schedule to begin with, we had squeezed this Brian O’Neal kid in near the beginning of it. I was still unsure of how that conversation was going to go. I guess it would depend on how much he had already learned about his great-grandsire, and what he was going to be satisfied with. How much information was he looking for? The meeting could go in so many directions. I wasn’t sure I was ready for some of them, but we would see when he got here.
Caroh had fit Brian in somewhat early on it the evening, due to the fact that our early was his late. So, V had directed one of the doggen to pick him up in one of the blackened out towncars. Yes, he had found his way here once, but no need for him to remember that if we didn’t need him to. I had directed V to only tell Brian what was necessary to get him to agree to meet with us. Seeing as V had wiped him, I wasn’t sure what he was aware of at this point, and didn’t want V to give him any more information than was needed to get him in that car. He would find answers to his questions once he arrived.
Once again, I made sure that V was present with me. It had actually been V’s night for rotation, but a slight adjustment to the schedule and V was switched to be at the Audience House with me. Any other night, he would have fought tooth and nail to be out on rotation, as opposed to being here, at the Audience House. But, knowing that Brian was coming in tonight, he wanted to be here. He was just as thrown by the whole discovery as I was, and as much as this was going to be an answer session for Brian, we had questions for Brian, as well.
Brian: I was surprised to the black car outside of my home. I told them to leave, but whomever was driving insisted I had an appointment somewhere. Why the fuck couldn't I remember? Shaking my head, I grabbed my phone, and my jacket. I also grabbed my gun, if I'm going to an unknown location, I was going to fuck someone up and take them down with me. I put the muzzle down the back of my pants, and pulled my shirt over it. Putting on my Jacket, I walked over to my niece and kissed the top of her head and left a note for my sister. No need to even try talking to her, I was a fucking ghost.
Wrath:
The night started off with a couple looking for a blessing on their youngs’ mating. A mating that the young in question did not want. Thankfully, both young involved were at the appointment and could stand up to oppose the mating. Had they not been there, or submitted forms in advance, I might have had to grant match. There had definitely still been some people that were not thrilled with the fact that I had won the vote and obtained the throne. This pair of parents were among them, and they made it blatantly clear what they thought. V abruptly reminded them of their stature in the court, and they less than graciously left. The young thanked me emphatically.
Checking with V on the time, I knew it was close to time. I had one more appointment before Brian would be here, a couple that had been mated 250 years ago and were looking for my blessing on it. At the time of their mating, there was no one sitting on the throne to bless their union. They figured seeing as this would be their 250th anniversary, and a king sat on the throne, what better time. Beth would love this shit! I called for Micah to bring them in.
Brian: I chilled in the back of the car, my fingers twitching, I honestly couldn't remember a damn thing and it was eating away in my gut. Something was wrong, that's what my cop instinct told me. As we slowed at a red light, I looked out in the night. The windows were tinted black, but I was still able to see. Rolling my neck, my fingers itched. I leaned up, and asked if we could make a quick stop. They said sure, and stopped me at a gas station. I promised I'd behave and bought a pack of cigs, and popped one in between my lips and smoked the whole damn thing before crushing it on my jeans. Feeling a bit more calm. I slid back, and off we went to see the wonderful wizard of assholes. Swallowing, I put one behind my ear as the car stopped.
Entering the building, I seen eyes widen in shock before a doggen darted into the back. Quirking a brow, I ignored the reaction as I studied the surroundings by me before putting a smoke to my lips, not lighting, yet.
Micah was at the front again, tonight. He had been read in on the whole Brian sitch. It was evident that the King and V didn’t want anyone else to know about this guy until they were able to square things away. It wouldn’t go over well if someone like Marissa was to find out about him before Wrath and V were able to research all the details. So, a small staff of doggen, as well as Caroh at the front desk and Micah standing guard, were there for the night. Caroh and Micah had both already seen Brian, so there wasn’t a concern of them talking. They had both been told the seriousness of the situation.
Caroh saw Brian the second he stepped inside and immediately greeted him. “Brian, correct?” she questioned as she checked him off the appointment book. “Micah will bring you in, in a moment, if you’d like to take a seat.” She motioned to the set of chairs off to the side, and nodded to someone just down the hall, out of Brian’s site.
Micah caught the nod from his position, just outside the Meeting Room, and patiently waited for the couple inside to come out, all the while keeping his eyes on Caroh for protection. He would be at her side in a flash if needed. A couple of minutes later the doors swung open and an elated couple emerged, hand-in-hand. Micah escorted them back out front and wished them well on their anniversary.
Turning to Brian, he nodded and spoke, “If I search you, am I going to find any weapons on you?”
Brian: Watching everyone scurry around, I against the wall instead of taking a chair. I saw the couple coming out, freezing as they look at me. Quirking a brow, I hear the word, “Human” but everything else was gone. Shaking my head inwardly at the odd word and moved passed them only to come up to the other guy. I reached behind me and pulled out my gun before letting it hang from my finger. “Safety is on, I wasn't planning on shooting myself in the ass.” I smirked, but looked at him seriously, “The gun stays on me, I may be a cop, but I'm not stupid enough to walk into a trap. Other than the gun, I got nothing else on me.” Setting the gun down close to me, I held my arms out for him to search me.
Micah thought to himself, ‘Respect to the guy for not trying to pull a fast one on me, but…’ unfortunately, Micah knew he was going to have to unburden the guy of the gun before letting him in the room with the King. “I’m sorry. I appreciate you being honest and all, but I can’t let you in that room with the gun… and trust me, you want to go in that room. If it makes you feel better, Caroh will lock it up in our safe, but you can’t take it in.” He waited, to see how the guy would react.
Brian: I growled between clench teeth as I stepped into the guy’s personal space. “Anyone jacks that gun, or I get my ass killed, or beat. I will hold you responsible. No, that's not a threat. It's a damn promise.” I hissed before handing him my glock. Normally, I would have walked when someone told me that, but my gut was telling me he was right. I was meant to be here, even if my cop instinct was telling me to tell them to fuck off. Narrowing my eyes, I looked down the hall, as if waiting for something before I shook it off. “We got a deal?”
Without responding, or taking his eyes off of Brian, Micah passed the gun to Caroh. Once Caroh took the gun and was on her way in the other direction, Micah turned on his heel and started walking toward the Meeting Room. “This way.” He had no patience for Brian’s sense of self-worth. He was here at the request of the King. Did he not even understand what that meant?
Stopping at the door, he reached an arm out as if to direct Brian into the room. “The King awaits.” He made sure to emphasize the word ‘King’, in order to remind the guy of who he was here to see. Once Brian was fully inside the room, Micah spoke clearly enough for the King to hear him, “Brian O’Neal, my sire.” and quietly backed out of the room, closing Brian in behind him.
I listened as the kid cautiously moved forward. “Please, have a seat. I’m sure you have questions.”
Brian: The emphasis was not lost on me. However, I didn't know who the hell anyone was. My eyes snap up at the voice, holy shit! My adrenaline snapped and it made me jump back. In front of me, I was staring down two giant fuckers. Swallowing hard, and reached behind me, only to realize my gun was not on me. Mother fucker! Sitting down on the chair.
“Yeah, let’s start with an easy one, who the hell are you? And what the hell do you want with me?”
Wrath:
I could hear the apprehension in Brian’s voice practically before he started speaking. He had absolutely no memories of our last meeting. Good, actually. The less he knew starting off, the better. The last time we met, he had preconceived ideas of who we were. Most of them, I’m sure were incorrect. This time, I could tell him without other ideas clouding up his vision. “Actually, you sought us out, and now that we’ve done a little digging and found out who you are, we have asked you back here so we could give you the answers you seek, as well as answer some of ours.” I paused for a second to let that sink in, but before he could start asking questions, I continued, “I believe you are looking for your great-grands… father? We have some answers for you, about him. Now, we can tell you about his life, who he spent it with, how he lived it, and who he was. However, I will tell you, the more information you want, the further down the proverbial rabbit hole you will go. So, ask yourself this, how much do you really want to know about your great-grandfather? You may find out some truths about yourself, you don’t want to know.” I knew that wasn’t going to make a shit ton of sense to the kid. But, I couldn’t put it more plainly. There were things here, that if the kid dug too deep, he may not want to know. I had found out he was a cop, so I was assuming digging was the kid’s second nature. However, in this situation, he needed a warning.
Brian: Sitting up straight, I listened to his words. I been here before? When? Why couldn't I remember? Bowing my head, I ran my fingers through my hair and tugged gently. It was a habit I had picked up whenever I got stressed out. Sighing softly, I looked up at the guy. “Why…” I was cut short at the mention of my great-grandfather. My eyes widen, sitting closer to the edge. “You knew him?” The warning was grave, basically, I could end up six feet under, but honestly? I could care less. Besides, although these fuckers were huge, I felt...odd sort of hope. Licking my lips, my mind was made. I did what no one else could, I found his other life. “Tell me, I don't care if you end up killing me, just please. Tell me.”
Wrath:
I knew this kid was going to want it all. However, I was only giving him as much as he asked for. I found it interesting though, that he was willing to die for information. What good could it possibly do for him to know, two minutes before dying? No matter. The kid wanted answers, I had them. “Your great-grandfather was an honorable man. I know you have had your doubts about that, but let me assure you, if he had known about your grandfather’s existence, your life would be extremely different. He would have been a part of his life, as well as your father’s, and yours. He lived life hard, and he loved hard. He was fierce with protecting and loving his family. He was a cop, just like you, and later a warrior, protecting a race. To us, he was family. From what I’ve learned about you, he’d have been proud of who you’ve become. Don’t get me wrong, he had his faults, but they were far outweighed by his good points.” How much more to tell him, without blowing the kids mind. That was about my limit, without the kid actually digging for more. The kid would have to ask some pointed questions to get more than that. “How long have you been searching for him? And by the way, don’t be so quick to die for answers. They won’t do you any good in the Fade.”
Brian: Listening to his words, my heart ached in my chest. It sounded like he had a good life, a strong one. Swallowing back emotion, it took me awhile to get what he was saying. It was mind boggling, it was odd. Shaking off the sense of dread before looking at him. “I just needed to know what happened, now I can put my dad at peace. That's why this information is worth my death. WillI tell him where he was, no. That would be up to you guys. Myself? Been looking for information about him for fifteen years. My great-grandfather's friend died looking for him, grandfather was killed trying to find him, got caught in a crossfire, my dad hates him because he thought he abandoned us for another family. Wouldn't you want to put those restless spirits, souls, whatever you want to call them, to rest? To be at peace?” I shrugged, “If I can do that, then it's worth it if you send me to a pine box afterwards.”
Wrath:
Listening to Brian’s story about his family, I could see how the events could have unfolded that way. “Trust me, if he had known about your grandfather, he would have been there for every moment. There would never have been any question that his heart was with you all. But none of that is any reason for us to put you in a pine box.” I got the implication. I knew how humans buried their deceased. “I am only trying to help you make peace with the… “ I tried to come up with a way to get my point across with the weight I intended, but came up short. “Unfortunate misunderstanding.”
Waving a hand, I motioned to V to show Brian the folder of pictures we brought. I had asked V to make sure none of them gave away anything about us, as a race, or our locations. But, I wanted Brian to be able to see that his great-grandfather had lived a happy life. I also made sure none of them had either V or myself in them. Having pictures of Cop looking as young as he did, next to us, also looking young, would definitely freak this kid out. After I heard a shuffle of paperwork being passed, I spoke up. “We brought some pictures of your great-grandfather that we thought you might like to see.” I gave him a minute to peruse through them and let everything he has heard and seen sink in.
Brian: Sitting back, I narrowed my eyes. Something wasn't right here. What he was saying, was true. I understood that, but something was...off. An earlier statement rung inside my head. “You may find some things out about yourself,’ then him telling me that I wasn't going down in a pine box for wanting to give peace to my family, then why make that innuendo? Snapping out of those thoughts, I caught the last part of his statement before sitting up. Unfortunate misunderstandings, that's one way to accurately describe this cluster fuck. A folder was slammed in front of me, and eagerly I opened it. Scanning each photo, each one held emotion. Whether it was love, lust, happiness, joy. Something about them was off though, and that's when I came across my grandfather holding a child, a girl. “I...I’m a nephew?” Well, I guess that shouldn't be a surprise, although it stung deep in my chest. I never did look up as I continued to look through them, the girl was growing up, but...Butch never changed. His appearance never got older. Now, I wasn't one to believe in the supernatural, not personally anyway. I was more thinking of them being myths that people created out of boredom, or as something that happened aeons ago. Something twisted as I looked up, “What are you?”
Wrath:
A nephew? What fucking pictures did V put in that envelope? I raised my wraparounds with my thumb and forefinger as I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “No. Your great-grandfather had no young. He had many in his life, but none were of his own blood.” Dropping the shades back on my nose, I looked back up. Shit! What had I said that would have led him to that question? I thought back, hard, on everything I had said. Nothing. There was nothing I could come up with that would have steered him in that direction. That meant someone fucked up and put something in that envelope that didn’t make sense to the kid. I diverted away from the question. “However, you do have more family than you know about.”
Brian: I compiled the photos in front of him, pointing to each one, watching one of the guys pale slightly. “Someone put photos of the child growing up, everyone is tight lip smile, but their lips are sealed. I’m a detective, not an idiot.” I knew he avoided my question, and would avoid. That statement had me halting. What? “I know most of the O’Neal kids, and you said that he didn't have kids, how could I have more family?” Were they lying to me? Did he have a kid? I sat down, rubbing my temples. I seen the goatee guy leaning over, but I couldn't hear what was said, but by the guy's face, I knew it wasn't good.
Wrath:
The sound of shuffling photos hit my ears and I waited, knowing that V would explain. “Fuck!” came the muffled response from V off to my right. As he leaned down to my ear, he whispered an explanation that several of the photos happened to have Nalla, Bitty, and LW in the background, growing up. I shook my head thinking, ‘First off, I’m going to kill the idiot that put the photos together, but more importantly, I’m going to beat the fuck out of V for not looking through them more thoroughly.’
Once again, I ignored the basic question. How to explain to a human that you, yourself aren’t? Most won’t believe, and I wasn’t sure I had the patience for the whole ‘Fucky you, you are!’ argument. "You have family on your great-grandfather’s side… behind him in your family tree. I am one of those relatives, as is my son and one of my… associates. It’s distant, but blood, all the same.”
Brian: I noticed, that once again, he ignored my question again, fine. As the saying goes, the less you say, the more that's revealed. Or something like that. I almost fell backward at his words, he was a relative of mine? Grabbing the desk to keep me up right, I stared at the black wraparounds, “Say what now? You telling me you are my….distant cousin or some shit?” Honestly, I didn't know what to think as I stood up and began to pace. Shit....”Wait…” I stopped and stared at him, “Does that mean I'm related to grease ball behind you?” I was flipped off at that, but I shrugged.
Wrath:
Not knowing this kid from Adam, I had no understanding of how he would take any more information. However, we couldn’t let him go with only half of it. If he left now, he might be satisfied in knowing what he found out about his great-grandsire, but he would be back, and I couldn’t have him coming back and forth, drawing attention to our world. However, if we wiped him again and let him go, he would surely be back. Maybe not in a few days, or even a few weeks, but he would be back. This was going to have to be an all or nothing deal.
“I have an offer for you. If you would like to learn more, I can arrange for you to meet the rest of the family. But, you would have to come tonight and be ready to spend a few days with us. Should you chose not to, you will likely never get the chance again.” I paused for a second before adding. “I will warn you, this is the proverbial rabbit hole.”
Brian: Sitting back, I stayed quiet, lost in thought. I had what I needed, the proof of his life, where he was, and how things came to be, however it didn't feel like I accomplished anything. Stuck in the same damn rut, being cursed at. All because of a decision none of us made. I scraped my hand through my hair, ‘proverbial rabbit hole’ he says. I wanted to snicker at the reference, but didn't. According to this big guy, I was family. His family. I couldn't help looking back through the tears of my life in thought, was this what Butch was looking for? Sitting up, I grabbed the photos again, and looked through them, by the looks of it, he found what he was looking for, was I going to? Something in me vibrated at the idea of it, another part warned me at the ominous warning. Once I make this decision, there was no going back. Part of me wondered why I was about to say what I was going to say, until my niece’s face popped in my head.
“I come along, my family gets left alone?” I asked, “And I put my dad at peace. As I said before, and Mr. Broody there can come if he wish to prove that I didn't break my word, not a word of this gets mentioned.”
Was I asking a lot, yep. Did I expect him to okay anything? Nope. A small sliver of me hoped he would though.
Wrath:
Letting out a heavy sigh, this kid was going to be the death of me. “Don’t worry about your family. They are in no danger. We have no intention of hurting them, or you, for that matter. However, you can put your father’s mind at peace /after/. You come with us tonight, give us a few days, then you can go back to him and put his mind at ease, then.” I couldn’t tell the kid that I couldn’t have him leave, knowing what he did. I wanted him to know it all before making a decision about the rest of his family and life. As it was, if he agreed, we were going to have to keep him here tonight, I was going to have to cancel my appointments for the night, and then I was going to have to go back to the manse and let everyone know what was happening. If he decided against it, we would have to wipe him again and send him home. That might even require moving the Audience House, and I did not want to do that. I sat back and waited, trying not to show how much I had riding on his decision.
Brian: I sat for what felt the longest time in my life. Turning everything over in my head. Everything just, overtook me, and had everything in me split between two parts. One was getting up and running as far as I could, or the other....taking this guy up on his offer. Learning more about him, about my...distant family. God, that was the hardest part to wrap my mind around. Rubbing my face, before rubbing my palm over my jean clad thigh, I lifted my head, looked at him, and answered, hoping like a mother fucker I wasn't going to regret this shit.
“May God forgive me, but yeah. I'll go with you.” I said, my eyes flickered on the other guy, and thought I saw a bit of relief on his face, and that amped my heart rate even more, what the fuck did I just agree to?
Wrath:
A wave of relief washed over me, as all concerns about finding another property for the Audience House. There were so many things to consider… the whole race knew of this property now, switching it would be a nightmare! Not to mention, which property would work, and how would I make sure that people didn’t come to this one and think it was no more… But, that whole idea got a stay of execution for the time being, at least until we gave the kid a chance to meet everyone and decide which road he was going to take.
“Perfect. V and I need to make a few preparations at the house before you come by. So, we will go ahead of you and Micah can bring you over in a couple hours. Make yourself comfortable until then. Micah can bring you to a room to sleep for a bit if you’d like. If not, there is a kitchen. The staff will be happy to make you anything you’d like.” I grabbed the phone on my desk and dialed the front desk. “Caroh, can you move my appointments for the next three days? Yes, including tonight. Tell them all I’m sorry. Something important has come up, and send Micah back in, please.”
Micah wasted no time in making his way back into the meeting room. “Micah, make our friend comfortable. We will be calling for him in a bit. Until then, make sure he wants for nothing.” Turning back to the kid, “We’ll see you in a few.” And then Micah escorted the kid out.
I picked the phone back up and called back to Caroh, “Caroh, make sure Micah and the kid don’t leave the house until I call for them. Then one of the doggen is to escort them both straight to the manse, no diversions of any kind.”
“Yes, sire,” she replied.
“And call ahead to the manse. I want every one of the Brothers, and the shellans in my office when I get there.” I added.
“Yes, sire. Anything else?” She questioned.
“That will be all. Thank you, Caroh.”
“Of course, Sire,” she replied and hung up the phone.
Turning to V, I commented, “Well, this is going to be a long night.”
All I got was a grunt in return.
#BTWYoureScrewed #ISBDBRP
