Generation 2, Chapter 3

My head was killing me.. It wasn’t often that I got hangovers, but wow.. Today was bad. It had been almost two weeks since I last saw or talked to Bettie; we had another party last night to celebrate the end of the semester coming, but I didn’t invite anyone special over, I just took it upon myself to have fun before I went home tomorrow for the summer. Bettie had been calling me and texting me ever since our night together, but I never responded to her. “Uugghhhh.. What happened last night?” I ask lazily, still keeping my eyes shut after waking up on the couch without my shirt.. Where the hell did my shirt go?

Dean was sitting on a different couch, chuckling at my words, “Crazy night, that’s what,” he replied and I tilted my head back more and looked to him upside down.

“Did I do anything stupid?” I asked with a light laugh, my voice kind of raspy and I guess that I was yelling a lot last night.

Dean laughed, “When do we not do stupid shit?” He asked with another laugh and I joined him, chuckling weakly and shutting my eyes again. “I’m guessing you’re not going to class today?” He wondered next.

“Hah! Yeah, right.. I’m just going to go to the class tomorrow and going home after.. It’s my last class, anyways.. What time is it?” I asked.

“A little after 2:00pm.. Which reminds me, I gotta get to class, too, today is my last one.. See you later, Jace,” he replied and I stood to my feet quickly but with groggy legs; I think I was still a little drunk.

“Aw, I have to do shit by myself today? I thought you were gunna hang out,” I wondered.

“Well, yeah.. Later, after my class. It’s my last one, I need to pass this final or I’m toast.. See ya,” he answered and I sighed, watching him leave and falling back onto the couch to rest for a little bit longer.

“Good luck on your final!” I called out and I watched out the widow as he gave a single wave but didn’t look back.

I got ready and grabbed my shades, not leaving the house without them since my eyes still hurt from the light of the sun. My head was still pounding as I made my way to a coffee shop in town that I liked, but, it was still closed.. That’s one thing that sucked about living in the college town; everything is run and employed by college students, and half of them never get to work on time, or even make it to work at all.. I sighed angrily when I pulled on the door and it was still locked, looking to my clock on my phone and it was a little passed 2:30pm. I really wanted coffee, and wasn’t in the mood to walk anywhere else since my body still hurt from whatever I did last night, so I sat on the sidewalk and waited for whoever was supposed to open the shop to come and open it already.

It was a little before three when someone finally came to open the shop and I got up from the sidewalk with a sour attitude when it was the gay guy that always hits on me opening; I think his name is Jimmy..? He gave me dreamy eyes as he walked passed me and I followed him in, “A little late, aren’t you?” I said with anger in my tone and he laughed nervously.

“Well, Jason.. How do you expect me to open the shop when I’m just as hungover as you from last night?” He asked with a flirtatious tone and I sigh with frustration. He began making me my favorite coffee without me needing to say anything.

“You were at our party last night?” I asked with little interest in hearing the answer.

Jimmy giggled at my question, “Well, yeah.. We played beer pong together, too, you don’t remember?” He asked with another giggle and I rolled my eyes behind my shades.

“Don’t remember, and don’t care to be reminded,” I replied with an irritated tone, watching as he finished my drink and handed it to me with a smile.

“Well, it was fun, none the less.. Thanks again for having me,” he added and I could tell that he was being bashful.

“Yeah… Don’t even remember you being there, but cool,” I said with a sarcastic grin, taking the coffee and he was too infatuated with looking at me to notice that I didn’t bother to pay for it.

I hung around the coffee shop as I enjoyed my drink; it made me feel a little better and I drank it all in less than ten minutes. After I finished it, I got another text from Bettie, asking where I was and telling me that we needed to have a ‘talk’. I couldn’t help myself as I let out a pathetic chuckle, ignoring her again and placing my phone back in my pocket; I wanted one last fling before I went home, but I didn’t want Bettie. I was done with her, and the sooner she realized it, the better; this was getting to the point where I wish she would just drop off the face of the earth.

I threw out my empty cup and made my way towards the door, stopping when I noticed fiery red hair being picked up in the wind and my redheaded mistress jogged passed the coffee shop; score.. I raced out of the shop, “Hey!” I called out, but she didn’t stop, nor bothering to even look back. I took to my feet again and tried to catch up to her.

I finally caught up to her and she looked to me briefly but kept her pace, “Hey, red,” I said with a sly tone as I ran with her, watching as she rolled her eyes and kept going. “Going for a run, huh?” I asked, watching as she continued to ignore me and I was beginning to get a little frustrated. “Mind stopping for a second?” I asked and I heard her sigh even through her panting from her jog.

She finally stopped when she reached the street, waiting for the walk sign to turn on and she looked to me as she caught her breath, then looked forward again. I wasn’t really used to being ignored, it made me mad a little, but then again I didn’t let it show since I wanted to get to know her. “Hey, I saw you at a party I threw a week or so ago.. I’m Jason Du-”

“Yeah, I know.. Jason Dubois,” she answered for me and I smirked at her already knowing who I was, but then I lost the smirk as I didn’t know how she meant her words.. Her voice was small and feminine, but she was by far the best looking girl I had seen on campus; I was amazed that I had never seen her before.

“Do you have a name, red?” I asked.

“Yeah, Already.. Bored Already..” She answered bluntly and I was a little shocked by her frustrated words.

“Damn, what’s up your ass, sweet thing?” I wondered with a gentle chuckle afterwards.

“Excuse me?” She asked with a short tone, “What’s up my ass is that the notorious man-whore of the school is talking to me, and fucked over my friend.. You might remember her.. Bettie? Do you even remember that name, or do you have to search your endless list of women you’ve fucked to remember?” She asked with a sarcastic tone.

“Whoa, whoa.. There’s no need for bitterness, babe. I haven’t fucked you over, have I? What’s with the hostility?” I asked with a sly tone, a little irritated with her words, but now that I’ve finally seen what she looks like, I don’t care how she talked to me, as long as I at least got a name and number out of this conversation. I couldn’t get over how much I loved her hair, she had intense green eyes to accent it even more, too. 

She turned to me and put on a sarcastic smile, “Oh, I’m sowwy.. Is this the first time you’ve been rejected? ..Must be rough, huh?” She asked and I lost my smirk briefly, realizing this was going to be quite the challenge, but I soon smiled again.

“Come on, babe.. Don’t be like that, you should get to know someone before turning them down so quickly..” I tried to persuade.

“Oh, but I do know you, Jason.. A lot more than you know, babe,” she mocked me slightly, still keeping her smirk and I was getting more and more intrigued by the second the more I looked at her, despite how she was clearly bashing me.

I tried something else, deciding to put on a little more charm than I was used to having to do; it was usually a lot easier than this, but this one was going to be hard, it’s tough to get what you want from someone who’s extremely aware of your reputation around campus; especially when it’s a promiscuous one.. “Just gimme a name and I’ll leave you alone.. Running into someone as pretty as you? I’d hate myself if I went home without your name,” I continued, dipping my head down somewhat nervously; her face never changed and I had expected her to at least blush a little, but she didn’t. She was actually making me nervous when I should be making her feel like that. 

She leaned in a little closer and I raised my brow in curiosity, “You’re going to go home hating yourself then..” She replied and I lost whatever grin, smirk or smile I may have had. “Not as easy as you thought it’d be, huh? ..Sad..” She said with another sarcastic smile, almost as if she felt a little sorry for me. “Bye, Jason,” she finished and turned around, running in the opposite direction. 

Her attitude was as fiery as her hair as I watched it continue to bounce in the wind as she ran, “See ya, Red,” I replied loud enough for her to hear me, but she didn’t bother looking back. Hmm. It made me angry that she talked to me that way, the whole time she talked it was nothing but attitude; as sweet as her voice was, her words were harsh and bitter. Funny thing was I almost wanted to chase after her, but I thought that in order to get on her good side, it’d be better if I just let her go. 

I walked to the middle of the campus, not knowing what to do with myself since I had slept through my class today, but I had tomorrow to make up for it. I did my homework, so who cares.. Wait, did I? ..Shit, now I have that to look forward to rushing to get it done so I don’t fail tomorrow. First Bettie won’t leave me the hell alone, then Red turns me down, and now I forget to do the homework that I needed to do.. It doesn’t even matter if I pass the final with a 100%, my homework grade wouldn’t be enough to pass me if I don’t turn this in.. Maybe I could get Auturo to do it for me?

My head starts to get light and dizzy, so I walk over to a chess table and take a quick seat. I must’ve dozed off for an hour or so, because the next thing I knew I opened my eyes and the sun was setting. I rubbed my fingers over my shut eyes under my shades, waking myself up and I felt a lot less hungover now that I apparently took a random nap. I look at my phone and it’s just before 6:00pm; I had a few texts from Bettie, no surprise there, and also one from a girl I knew in a sorority, inviting me over for a party she was throwing. Fuck it.. Auturo can do my homework, I’ll even throw him a few bucks.

“Jason!” I heard a voice that I was not pleased to hear, looking sluggishly to my left a little and seeing Bettie walking up to me.. Jesus, what is with this girl..? I’ve had a few clingers before, but never this annoying. “Jason, is your phone working? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for weeks it seems.. The end of the semester is already here, where have you been?” She wondered as she walked up to me and my eyes hurt for how hard I rolled them back. Why..? Why now? I was hoping to avoid her until I was miles away on my way home..

I sighed heavily and she placed her backpack down, “Are you alright? You look drained,” she said in a sweet tone. Is she really this stupid to not realize I was completely ignoring her?

“I’m fine, yeah.. Just, hungover a little..” I reply with little care and she grows concerned.

“Oh, maybe you should go home and lie down? I can make you some soup or something?” She wondered and almost wanted to laugh in her face for how pathetic this was. 

“No, I’m fine.. I was actually just going somewhere,” I answered, trying to ditch her again.

“Oh, where are you going? Did you get invited to Joanne’s party?” She wondered and I hesitated, realizing that Joanne must have invited her too and there was no getting out of this.. She wasn’t going to let up.

“..Uhh, yeah.. She did, I was just.. Going to drop by.. For a few minutes maybe,” I replied and I watched as she smiled.

“I was going to go, too! Let’s just walk together, I feel like we haven’t talked in forever, anyways,” she added, continuing her smile and all I wanted to do was knock her out and throw her into the bushes to get her away from me, it would at least give me an hour or two head start to get out of this situation. 

“Ooohhh… Yeeaahh.. Great idea..” I say with a fake smile, my tone obvious that I hated the idea, but she was too oblivious to notice. 

She grabbed her backpack and threw it over her shoulder, looking to me and removing my shades for me and I flinched slightly when she did this, “Take those off, silly. It’s getting dark out,” she said with a giggle and I gave a fake chuckle, trying to take them from her but she kept them. “I can just carry them for you in my backpack if you want? They won’t get broken, I promise,” she said with another giggle and the moment she finished zipping up her backpack, I let out a heavy sigh.. I’m never getting those back now..

We got to Joanne’s and all I wanted to do was drink again, heavily. Anything, I didn’t care.. Beer, vodka, rum, whatever I could find to forget this horrible day. The entire walk to the party, Bettie was nervous and fidgety, wanting to hold my hand, my arm, around my waist, anything, but the bored and tired look on the face the whole walk there probably wasn’t helping; thank God.. She talked and talked, just like back at my party and I swear I couldn’t repeat to you anything that she had told me.

Bettie was the one that constantly offered to get up and get us drinks, seemingly not wanting to give me the chance to wander off since we were at a sorority and I was pretty sure I was 1 of about 6 guys there.. But, I was getting pretty buzzed like I had wanted, so I didn’t complain too much, let alone say one fuckin’ word since we had gotten there..

I looked at my phone during one of Bettie’s endless conversations and noticed we had been there for two hours already.. Jesus, how did I sit there for that long? I interrupted Bettie and made up a lie, “Oh man.. Sorry, Bettie.. But Dean just texted me and it doesn’t look like he passed.. I’m gunna go call him, I’ll be right back,” I say with a fake smile and she nods. Finally some peace.. I had noticed that not a lot of people had been going outside, so that was the first place I chose to escape to. Maybe there was a gate that I could slip through and go home.

I made my way outside and noticed a bright light, realizing there was a huge bonfire going and it only had one person there enjoying it, my little redhead. Well, this night doesn’t have to end too bad.. Maybe she’ll actually tell me her name this time.. The closer I got, the more nervous I grew; I hoped she would give me the time of day that I wanted earlier to talk to her.

“Well.. Is Little Miss Red stalking me after blowing me off earlier?” I begin, watching as she looked over and gave me a flirtatious smile; this is already looking good.

“Jason Dubois,” she began in a fake french accent and it made me float the rest of the way to her, “Funny seeing you here.. If I’m not mistaken, I believe you are the one following me?” She replied and I could tell she was just as buzzed as I was, or more.

“You going to tell me your name yet?” I asked, keeping my expression blank and genuinely curious.

She gave me a peculiar look, as if trying to read me but having difficulty. “No, you’ll just laugh, it’s childish,” she replied, shrugging and looking towards the fire.

“Childish? How can a name be childish?” I wondered, more curious now than I had been all day.

“Because..” She sighed, looking to me and giggling, “It’s from.. A Disney movie..” She continued, keeping her smile and looking to the fire again, acting as if talking to me was a nuisance. 

“What’s it from? Which one?” I asked, waiting for her to at least give me a clue. I loved how the fire illuminated her already fiery red hair, I couldn’t stop looking at it.

She sighed, not eager to answer me but she let out a chuckle and looked to me, “The girlfriend.. Of ‘Bambi’,” she finally answered and I raised a brow.

“Umm.. Vixey?” I guessed and she let out a laugh.

“No! ..That’s from ‘The Fox and the Hound’.. ‘Bambi’? The deer story?” She pointed out as if I was stupid for not knowing.

“OH! ..Faline?” I wondered, watching as she covered her face bashfully and nodded, laughing at her own name and I snickered, “That’s cute.. It’s not childish, it fits you..” I continued, flirting with her, but I meant my words; she was adorable and her name fit her well.

“I shouldn’t even be talking to you, Bettie would be pissed..” She said with a nervous laugh, “Who’d you come with, anyone?” She wondered, looking to the fire and her body was swaying gently, realizing she wasn’t drunk, but around the same coherency as me. 

I couldn’t help myself, I wanted to comb my fingers through her hair and I wanted to touch her skin, taste her lips. I slipped my hand forward, caressing her cheek without caring if she pushed it away, but to my surprise, she didn’t. I completely ignored her question, not wanting to tell her that I had brought Bettie even after her just saying that Bettie would be pissed at her.. Man, I reeeeaaallly hope Bettie doesn’t decide to come out and ruin this for me. “You have nice eyes, green are my favorite, actually. It’s my favorite color,” I continued to try and coax her into letting me in, letting me get to know her, since for once in my life I actually cared about making sure to get her name before anything else happened. Why did I even care at all? Tomorrow, I would have successfully made it through 3 or the 4 years of my college experience without muttering the word ‘girlfriend’ at all..

“Oh, really?” She asked sarcastically, “Just so happens that blue is my favorite.. You’re not wearing contacts, are you?” She asked with a teasing tone and I snickered.

“Nope, all me,” I answered, hearing her let out a smitten giggle and I could tell she enjoyed looking at my eyes almost as much as I loved looking at hers.

I took a couple steps closer to Faline and she surprisingly welcomed my hands around her waist, “You know, you really are beautiful, it’s amazing how I’ve never noticed you around campus before or I would’ve definitely made an effort to know you sooner,” I continued my flirting, watching her red lips as they smiled at my words. 

“Jason Dubois..” She repeated again, shaking her head at herself; most likely in disbelief since I could tell on her face earlier that she probably would’ve never let me get this close if she were more attentive and less drunk, “I’m beginning to see why it’s rather easy for you to get girls,” she said softly and gave a light chuckled after, “I know you’ve been with a lot of girls, but how many women have you been with?” She wondered with a smug grin, and I was slightly confused by her words, but soon figured out that she was insulting me again, and saying all of my past lays weren’t mature, let alone very experienced. Was she hinting that she was better than them all, an actual woman instead of a childish girl?

“Hm.. I don’t know.. Why? Did you wanna be the first?” I asked back with a sly grin and she laughed.

“I don’t think you could handle it,” she replied, still keeping her smug grin and I chuckled; she was difficult to read, and by how she treated me earlier, I still wasn’t sure if she was making fun of me or actually flirting back.

I leaned in more, taking her last statement as a challenge, and I accepted it. “Why don’t you let me take you back to my place and we can test that theory?” I whisper gently into her ear and she lets out a gentle giggle as if we were going to get into trouble. Her hair smelled like lilies and I wouldn’t mind doing it right here and now outside, maybe against the house, the fence, right here in front of the fire, but I couldn’t risk Bettie catching us or I’d lose my chance with Faline. She pulled away from me and her eyes gave me a once over, as if contemplating my suggestion and she looked around, seeing a gate in the fence and she took my hand, quickly dragging me behind her and we slipped out of the party together, leaving Bettie and everyone else behind to wonder where we had gone.

We got back to my place in record time and the first thing that happened was unexpected, at least to me. Faline grabbed me before I could make the first move and removed the blue button up I was wearing quicker than I could even comprehend and her lips crashed into mine. She was an insanely Great Kisser and I found myself taking my time with her lips as she began undressing me and also herself since I was still too distracted by our kiss. As much as I barely ever talked when it came to stuff like this with girls, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was going to see her after the summer when I got back to college for my last year, I wanted to know if I’d see her again, and I already hoped I would. “What do we do after this?” I asked in between kisses.

“What are you.. Talking about?” She asked in return, “You’re already thinking of after when we haven’t even done anything yet?” She asked with a cocky tone, distracting me a little with another deep kiss.

We stumbled over to the bed with eyes shut and lips still locked, trying not to trip over our clothes on the floor and I tried to continue without coming off as if I was bored with her; I didn’t like the question she had asked me back and I wanted to let her know I wasn’t trying to rush this at all. “I mean.. I don’t know what you know about me..” She kissed me once more as if she didn’t care I was even talking, “You don’t have to leave right away,” I continued, “If you don’t want..” I finished and she stopped the kiss briefly, looking at me and chuckling.

“Relax.. And shut up,” she said with a smile and I was completely thrown off by her words, reminding me of when I was with Bettie and I had told her practically the same thing since she kept trying to talk. I was a little uncomfortable with our roles being switched; I was the one that should be telling her what to do and where to go and when, but as she kissed me again after telling me to shut up, I simply accepted it and stopped talking like she demanded.

Faline and I stayed up for hours it seemed and she even let me keep the lights on. My phone had been going off like crazy the whole time and it was probably Bettie wondering why I had ditched her, but not once did it ever distract me from what I was currently occupying myself with; which was her friend. There wasn’t a position that we couldn’t think of doing and I swear there were even a couple times where we defied gravity; she was a huge ball of sexy and fun all rolled into one and I don’t think I had ever had a better time in that room, let alone throughout all of college in general. The one thing I enjoyed the most throughout all of our fun was that she always had a smirk or a smile of some kind, which only made me feel amazing, like I was doing everything right and I made a promise to myself that this would not be the last time I saw her.

I could barely catch my breath, my heart was pounding so fast, my legs were shaking and my hair stuck to my face from the perspiration I had worked up for however long we were doing that for. We both collapsed on my bed and both let out a simultaneous heave of a satisfied sigh, neither of us being able to handle more if we tried and Faline was asleep within minutes. Both of us were exhausted, buzzed, and as I looked over to Faline already asleep, I couldn’t help but let out a triumphant sigh. From her being there for so long, my entire room smelled of her and I found myself taking in the deepest breaths I have all night, looking over to Faline briefly again and smirking slightly. Maybe I’ll invite her to come back to my home with me for a few days or something when we wake up; I didn’t like that tomorrow was my last day anymore and I wanted to see her over the summer even.. I don’t know if I could handle anyone else besides her, I’d get bored too easily.. Especially now after experiencing something as fun as that. The only other girl to make me feel like this was Lana who lived back in Bridgeport.. I wonder what she would say if I brought Faline home with me..

Generation 2, Chapter 2

The next day, I go for another jog around noon; the guys and I want to throw a party tonight, which means it’s my job to go out and find ladies to invite. Dean and Sabastian sometimes help me, but Dean usually says the wrong thing to scare them off and it’s up to Sabastian and I to mend things. But, today, I’m on my own. 

Last night was a little rough for me, I couldn’t stop thinking about my mother and what Hitomi said; I hate this time of year just because I knew I had to go home and see my sisters. Luckily no one in the frat house has ever witnessed me upset about my mother, they would only make fun of me since I get so emotional over the situation and I always break down into tears. A lot of nights are hard for me, actually; this party is just what I need to get my mind off of home and back on the campus and school.

I run into Sara, a Senior that’s about to graduate and I know that Dean always talks about how hot she is, so I decided to invite her. Sara’s also a well respected rebel throughout the campus, she has the most interesting artwork spread about the town; it’s the kind of thing where you know it’s her, but no one talks about her doing it, because her artwork is really good, and no one wants her to get caught by the cops. She says she might make it, but she might have other plans. She’s one girl that’s kind of hard for me to sway her mind, maybe it’s because she doesn’t cater to younger men.. Hmm.

And what luck do I have today? Running into the adorable Bettie, sitting in the grass on her laptop. Samantha wouldn’t like it if I talked to her, let alone invited her to the party.. But, I don’t really care, this is the face time I’ve been waiting for.

I begin to walk up and I know she notices me, but isn’t looking up. Soon enough, she rises to her feet in a hurry and puts away her laptop into her bag, “Hey, beautiful,” I begin, putting on a coy grin and she’s already blushing; this is going to be easy.

“Hey, Jason, I was just.. Getting ready to go to class, I’m running late, actually,” she says quietly and I stop her.

“Come onn, what’s the rush, huh? If you leave now I won’t be able to invite you to my party tonight,” I begin, making her notice that I’m looking at her lips and collar bone in a wanting manner, biting my bottom lip slightly.

Bettie continues to blush as I continue to smile at her, “Oh, um.. Yeah, maybe, but.. I have a lot of studying to do,” she answers and it’s time for phase two of the persuasion. 

I remove my shades and her smile fades as she stares into the sapphire eyes my mother gave me and her cheeks turn red, “Come on, it’ll be fun. Wouldn’t be a party without you..” I begin to persuade and I put my hand on her hip to coax her more. “My night could be complete if someone as pretty as you showed up,” I said in a flirtatious tone and she touches my arm that’s holding her waist. Damn, Samantha would be pissed if she saw me doing this.. I kind of hope she does, that way I can just have Bettie now and Sam would be out of the picture.

She’s at a loss for words when I begin to play with a strand of her hair, “Uh..” She let’s out quietly, watching me twirl her hair in my fingers and an alarm on her phone goes off, coming out of her trance and she looks to her phone, “Oh no, I’m late! Umm.. I gotta go, but I’ll, um.. Try to make it,” she says with a stutter in her tone and grabs up her backpack and runs off.

“See you tonight,” I say to myself as I watch her run to her class, grinning victoriously as I then put my shades back on and continue my run.

I had a few minutes before my next class, so I stop by to see Dean in his class before I go. I decided to go today since the only way to pay for the beer tonight was if Auturo bought it, so I agreed to go to class if he would provide it. I have plenty of money I got when my parents died that I couldn’t use until I was 18, but I kept it for myself back home as I only ‘got by’ here at college.

“Hey, I invited Sara, she said she might come tonight,” I begin and a few students look at me when I disturb the class, but don’t bother saying anything to me. Dean stands and joins me in a short conversation as others try to study.

“Nice goin’! Did you get anyone else?” He asks, excited about the possible turn out already and I nod.

“Yeah. Melissa, Ashley, Jessica, and Bettie,” I accentuated the last name and I watch as his eyebrows raise in surprise, and also from being impressed.

“Bettie’s coming?”

“Yup, she will be, and more than once,” I said with a devious grin and I lift my shades to give him a quick wink before walking passed him and I went to leave the room, hearing Dean laughing behind me at my insinuation.

I go to class and I scope out the room, noticing a lot of guys around that would only dream of coming to this party. My still shaded eyes continue to look around and I notice a girl in the room who was kind of cute, but she’s already sleeping. I chuckle under my breath, remembering her from the last few classes I randomly attended and she was always sleeping; I had no idea why. To me it wouldn’t seem like she could exactly be the ‘life of the party’, so I end up deciding not to invite her.

Soon a bombshell walks in, Tonya. She would be someone I would love to invite, she was the most popular girl on campus, but she wasn’t exactly the brightest in the bunch. Her body was awesome, and every guy would love to spend just five minutes with her, but she was dating someone of a higher stature that even I was.. Inviting her would probably insult her, not to mention we’d probably hear from her boyfriend and he wasn’t someone that many could fair well against. I’d fight him, I could care less what happened, but I don’t think Auturo, Dean or Sabastian would stand a chance..

I notice out of the corner of my eye that Tonya looks to me for a few seconds, smirks and looks back forward, unbeknownst to her that I was watching her do it the entire time. That was, interesting, and intriguing, but I still won’t invite her to the party; I’ll continue my search after class..

After class, I invited some more people and went home and got the dining room ready by moving all the chairs and table out of the way, then set up the beer pong table. The other guys must still be in class, so I get the house ready by myself and even answer the door for the keg guy; Auturo left me money for the kegs only after I left for class so I wouldn’t take it beforehand, he’s such a tweak. I set up all the kegs around the house and even some in the back yard, it was almost time for the party and I wanted everything to be ready for whenever Bettie showed up.

I showered and got ready, put the final touches on the place and started the music. It was time for the party and I helped myself to a few cups from the keg as I waited for people to arrive. Bettie was my goal tonight and I hoped that Samantha wouldn’t drop by for a surprise visit, wanting to know why she wasn’t invited but her sister was. The last thing I wanted was sister drama, but I thought Bettie was cute enough to be worth whatever fights could become of all this. I’d be done with Bettie after I had got what I wanted, anyways..

People started to arrive and Dean and I wanted to play beer pong; he had beat me last time and I wanted to win, while he wanted to keep his triumphant title. When I showered earlier before the party, I must’ve stood in the water for ten minutes, not doing a thing as I continued to think about going back home in two weeks.. I wanted to get juiced tonight, and I also wanted to bury my sorrows away; Bettie would help with that.

“So you really think Sara might come?” Dean asked as I tried to focus on making a cup.

“I don’t know, whenever I invite her she always gives me the same answer and she’s showed up about half of the times that I had invited her. There’s always a possibility,” I replied, throwing the ball and missing the cup, “Ahh, damn..”

Dean went next and he made his cup, me letting out a sigh in aggravation and he only smiled happily. “When do you think she’ll show?” He asked next and I rolled my eyes.

“Man, I don’t know.. Just walk around and get your mind off of it, let her show when she wants,” I pressed and he sighed, deciding to calm his worry and continue to focus on our game.

“Ever thought about bringing me back with ya?” He asked and I raised my brow.

“What, like, back home with me? Why would I do that?” I asked sarcastically.

“I dunno, I think it might be fun since you make it seem like all of your friends are here. Might be nice to have someone around that you know other than your sisters.. I wouldn’t mind helpin’ you through that rough time a’yers you’ll have when you visit your folks, too,” he answered and I hesitated before I took my shot.

“Why are you talking like this? Like you care?” I asked with a sarcastic smile.

“Hey man, just a thought,” he added and I rolled my eyes, throwing the ball and making it this time.

“Hey Jason, hey Dean,” Melissa came into the room and Dean sighed in frustration at the shot I made.

“Hey, Lissa, there’s kegs everywhere, help yourelf, lovely,” I answered her with a suave grin and she couldn’t hold back a wide smile, nodding and making her way out of the room again.

“See? How d’ya do that shit? Make ‘um all.. Floaty and fuzzy inside. I feel like I just eventually piss them off,” Dean said with a sigh and I laughed.

“It’s an art, man.. Practice makes perfect, I guess,” I replied, cocking my eyebrows and he sighed, rolling his eyes and chuckling at my response.

I see Dean look towards the door and he smiles, “I think your lady just arrived, she brought a friend, too,” he says with an interested brow.

I smile at his words, glad that she had showed up, but a little bothered that she brought a friend. I always hated when the girls I wanted brought friends.. It either meant that they didn’t feel comfortable where they were, or they were unsure about getting with me; always wanting the friend to tell them what to do, and it sometimes resulted in me not getting them in bed. But, I kept my grin regardless, I just hoped her friend wasn’t hotter than Bettie or else I might just have to change my decision about who I want. 

Dean and I stopped our game and we went to the doorway of the living room, watching as Bettie danced a little with her friend. As we watched them dance nonchalantly, I couldn’t help that my eyes went to her friend and the vibrant red hair she had. Hmm.. It wouldn’t be a first for me to invite a girl and then end up with her friend by the end of the night, but after working on getting Bettie alone for so long, and with the chance right in front of me, I hesitated as I watched the body of her red-headed friend.

“Well, go over there.. I’m gunna go walk around and see if Sara’s here yet,” Dean said in a whisper even though the music was loud enough to cloud our conversation from any eavesdroppers. Dean pats my shoulder and walks towards the kitchen to go outside and I wait for my chance, waiting for her friend to leave her to get a drink or use the bathroom before going over to Bettie. 

Bettie’s friend eventually leaves her side to go get a drink and I never really manage to get a look at her face, but I take this opportunity to go and say ‘hi’ before her friend is there to intervene or hover over our conversation. We chat for a little bit and I get to know her a little better. Apparently her and her sister don’t even talk anymore due to a fallout that happened between the family. She goes into some detail about it, but I barely hear a word of it as I watch her mouth and lips move when she’s talking. Every now and then, I’ll politely nod and give a gentle chuckle whenever I see her smile or laugh after something she says, but for me it’s in one ear out the other as I space out while eyeing her body every now and then. I noticed Bettie look to someone passed my shoulder and I assume her friend is on her way back over, so I leave her and tell her I’ll see her later; I want to have a little more fun and more beer before I handle this fragile little flower.

I see Dean and I smile, cocking my eyebrows triumphantly and he smiles back, “All went well, I’m sure?” He asks and I nod.

“Oh, of course.. Who do you think you’re talking to?” I asked sarcastically with a show-off grin and he laughs, “Come on, help me with a keg stand,” I request and he agrees, walking with me outside.

We walk outside and I noticed the same long haired red-head that came with Bettie, wondering now who had Bettie been looking at for me to feel like I should leave her when the red head was here outside.. Hmm. My eyes soon traveled down her exposed legs, but Dean soon hit my back to knock me out of my spacing, both of us then walking over to the keg and he assisted me as I drank for about fifteen to twenty seconds.

After the keg stand, he pulled at my arm and looked to his right, noticing someone and I could tell he was nervous. I looked over slightly and noticed Sara had decided to show up and I smiled at Dean, “Hey, this is what you’ve been waiting for, go say hi,” I encourage and she walks towards the keg we were just at.

“Well yeah, but, what do I say, what would you say?” He asks in a panic and I chuckle.

“I don’t know, I just tell them the truth.. ‘Hey, you’re pretty, blah blah blah,’ you know.. Stuff that girls like to hear. It’s not as difficult as you’re making it seem,” I reply and he sighs. 

“What’r you gunna do?” He asks and I shrug, looking over my shoulder at the red head and back to Dean.

“I’m just gunna welcome Bettie’s friend to the party,” I say with a sly tone, Dean shaking his head but smiling at my eagerness to talk to another girl other than Bettie already..

As I looked to the red head, the fire from the pit the same color as her hair, my mind went blank and I started to feel like a creep for just starring at the back of her head. Her hair looked as soft as my mother’s was, yet instead of naturally being straight, it had a slight wave to it and it hung off her shoulders effortlessly; I wanted to touch it more than I had wanted to touch Bettie’s earlier. 

As I make my way towards the red head, I can feel my heart begin to race slightly and just as I was about to say something, I hear Bettie calling my name from behind me and I stop, sour-faced and all and I now wanted nothing to do with Bettie since she had ruined my chance at getting to know the red head.. My anger grew and I hesitated, but soon turned around and my expression was blank, then quickly giving a fake smile to Bettie and she walked up to me. Bettie started to talk with me and I then noticed her smile at the red head as she passed us by, going back into the house and I watched my opportunity melt in failure before my eyes. Bettie doesn’t know what kind of punishment she’s in for now.

Bettie was suddenly surprised by me taking hold of her in the middle of her talking and pressing my lips to hers to shut her up, though without her knowing that I hated her talking, so much. As much as I looked forward to the chase of Bettie before, this wasn’t that kind of game anymore. Without her knowing that I wanted to talk to her friend more than her, I toyed with her, kissing her deeply and making her seem like she was the only girl at the party that I wanted. I didn’t feel sorry as she hummed in her tone for me to stop the kiss, but I didn’t; no one, no woman, could tell me what to do and I kissed her regardless of her contesting humming, though she eventually accepted it and returned the kiss within seconds.

I can read girls like picture books and after I finally released her from the kiss outside, it was obvious that she wanted me, even if her expression told me she wasn’t fully convinced yet. I took her hand, leading her without a word and I was annoyed by her slightly dragging her feet when I went towards the door to the house. She kept saying my name, along with a few ‘uhh’s and ‘umm’s when I pulled her into the house and then into my room. As soon as I shut my door behind us, I removed my shirt and I watched her eyes widen, “Um.. Jason.. I..” She began but I stopped her words with another kiss as I untied the strings of her dress behind her.

“Stop talking,” I demanded softly with a sweet tone and she held her tongue like a scolded puppy as I ran my hands up the outside of her thighs to raise her dress over her head and get rid of it. Finally, the Bettie I’ve been wanting and working over Sam for for an entire week has finally paid off. 

Without her saying a word, but me somewhat knowing her timid and hesitant personality, I turn the lights off in my room before removing the rest of her clothes and she let’s me like I thought she would. It wasn’t long before I was over her on the bed and getting exactly what I invited her over for. I was going to take my time with her, make this last a few hours, but she was being punished for intervening when I wanted to talk to the red head; I’d have my way with her and tell her leave soon.

This was the last time I was ever going to have contact with Bettie, I’ll avoid her with ease like I do every other girl. Though, I have to admit, with how many girls there are walking around campus that I’ve slept with, it’s getting a little harder to avoid them all. I wonder when Samantha is going to find out about this? Bettie doesn’t notice through her moaning and shut eyes, but I can’t help but chuckle at the thought of her cussing me out whenever she does find out, and I even wonder if I could coax her in to bed one last time after she’s done yelling at me.. I’ve never done something like that before. Maybe it’s time to look for an even bigger thrill than just simply going after different girls every time. ..I’ll let things brew with Bettie for a few days before I try to find Samantha.

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PS. The girl sleeping in Jason’s class is supposed to be a random Sim-self of me. I made her a while ago and she ended up being in one of his classes. lol Also, I changed Jason’s eyes to look a little more real, they’re still the sapphire blue, though, of course.

Generation 2, Chapter 1

I sat on my bed in my room at the frat house, my absent mind completely forgetting that Samantha was over and hadn’t left yet as she gathered her clothes from the floor. Her presence was known when she cleared her throat sarcastically as she stood behind me, but I didn’t bother to look over at her.

“Hello? Earth to Jason! Are you going to call me later?” She wondered and I rolled my eyes without her knowing.

“Yeah, yeah,” I replied casually, stretching my tired body and Samantha sighed heavily behind me.

“That was real convincing, Jason,” she said sarcastically and I quickly grew angered.

“Get off my ass, I said I would. Don’t you have class or something?” I asked with an irritated tone, already annoyed with her nagging and wanting her to leave.

Samantha grabbed up the rest of her clothes quickly and made her way out of my room, “You’re such an ass!” She insulted before shutting my door harder than I would’ve liked her to.

It’s been years since the explosion at the house. The explosion consumed my parents room, Hitomi’s, and also Anya and Julia’s room that they shared. The fire spread rapidly, eventually taking my room as well and the firemen managed to finally extinguish the flames before the fire spread across the grass to Arnica’s barn. I never saw Archor again after that day..

Hitomi ended up marrying John and is a pretty well known Composer, although she’s been taking a break from that to take care of their daughter, Helena. Anya has a boyfriend, but nothing serious so far; another doctor that works with her at the hospital and she’s on her way to becoming a successful surgeon. Julia has no idea what she’s doing with her life; she doesn’t have a boyfriend and is always on the search for jobs. I feel a little sorry for how shitty her life seems to be. Julia and I took our parents death the hardest, while Hitomi and Anya, though still mourning their death as well, live successful lives and manage to get by seemingly without a struggle.. I’m a Junior in college, trying to get my Business degree and I’m surprised I’ve made it this far.. My grades are always bad and I’m always surprised when I get my report cards back telling me that I passed to the next grade; I barely make it by every time. 

Running clears my mind a little, helps me forget things and helps me calm down whenever I’m feeling stressed or angered; which is quite often, if I’m honest.. I don’t exactly have the best temper management. The worst days I have are when I think of my mother. When they investigated what caused the explosion, I overheard the firemen talking to Hitomi while Anya, Julia and I sat in the back of an ambulance. He told her that the oven was leaking gas, and something in the living room triggered everything to ignite. The more and more I thought about what he had said; I remembered when Hitomi and I were rushing out of the house to see Archor with Anya and Julia, I smelled something strange, and when I forced myself to remember more, I could’ve swore we had passed a candle holder with lit candles.. My mother would’ve never been so careless about something as serious as leaving candles burning, let alone leaving the stove on.. The firemen said that it looked like someone did it on purpose. From that moment on, I was convinced my father was behind it all, and I knew in my gut that he tried to kill himself and take us all with him.. Why? I still have no clue..

Even though I skipped class, the University seemed rather empty today; no one walking around, no study groups sitting in the grass, no hacky-sack sessions that I occasionally would join in on while on my runs.. Nothing. It was kind of nice. The silence was rare and soothing, it made my run more enjoyable. I was getting to be rather popular within the campus; some people found out about what happened to my parents and rumors spread, and I was even a little famous because of my mother and how well known she was for her paintings. My phone was filled with almost all girls, the only guys in my contacts were the guys from my frat house and a few friends around the campus; the ones around campus weren’t really friends, though, I mostly used them to get discounts on things and get into bars easier than everyone else. Right now I’m seeing Samantha, but only so I can get at her younger sister, Bettie; she was the cuter one.

My frat house threw the best parties by far. We would only invite over a few cool dudes we knew and the rest would be ladies; it was normal for the ratio to be one guy to every three girls. Getting into fights was nothing new, either, although a lot of guys tried to steer clear of us. We sometimes had party-crashers that would find their way into our parties and they needed to be dealt with, especially whenever it came down to them talking to the girls we invited over. I guess we were the most rebellious frat house out of all of them, but still the most known; and sometimes feared. 

When I got back from my run, I noticed Dean at the table on his laptop, probably looking at porn instead of studying like he should be doing judging by the stupid grin on his face; his grades were surprisingly worse than mine. He had almost the same personality as me, though less successful when it came to hitting on girls. I think he had a self-esteem issue.

Auturo was in the kitchen, looking at the books on the shelf and he stopped his browsing to look at me and give me a sarcastic stare.

“You skipped class again today, didn’t you?” He asked and I rolled my eyes, though he couldn’t see behind my sunglasses. Out of the four of us that lived at the frat house, Auturo seemed the most out of place, but I liked his attitude and he was smart, so whenever I needed him to help me with school, he would help me. He was a dick about it, about a lot of things, actually, but it impressed me that he was able to focus so well on his schooling and he even brought home chicks that I never thought he could get. He just seemed to fit in here.

“Shut up, today’s class wasn’t even important,” I replied with an irritated tone.

“You know that’s why you fail sometimes.. Your attendance matters for some classes, in this case, this one matters. But, you missed it. Again,” he continued to knock me and I continued to grow annoyed. 

“Don’t piss him off, Auturo, he hasn’t got laid in almost 9 hours so he’s testy,” Dean teased in his smooth southern accent and I lightened my mood a little, Dean and I chuckling and Auturo only grew more weary.

“I’m just looking out for you, you shouldn’t miss this class again. Try to remember to go. Finals are in two weeks and if you miss this class two more times, you’re going to fail and you won’t pass this year,” Auturo warned and I rolled my eyes once more, though Auturo now could tell I did from the rest of my faces expression, “Fine, don’t listen to the straight A student,” he finished.

I smiled and patted his shoulder as I walked to the fridge to get something to eat, “Well, thanks for looking out for me, I think I’ll be okay though. The teacher has the hots for me anyways, she wouldn’t fail me after all the attention I’ve been giving her,” I replied with a smile, walking to the microwave and heating up my meal.

Auturo sighed in annoyance, “Ugh.. I don’t even want to know what you mean by that,” he replied and I laughed once more, Dean laughing as well before going upstairs.

“Where’s Sabastian?” I asked, wondering where the fourth member of our pack was.

“I don’t know, probably in class, like you should’ve been today,” Auturo pressed on and left the kitchen. I sighed once more and grew irritated quickly, but he was already out of the room before I could bicker with him anymore. 

I ate my meal alone, my mind going absent as I blindly ate my food only to refuel myself even though I didn’t even have an appetite. 

I took a shower after my meal, brushing my teeth, gussying up and trying to look presentable as I contemplated going out to the bars tonight. I stood there fixing my hair and trying to make it lay how I like it; how I know the girls like it. I tried to remember this morning, thinking of what Samantha asked me to do, but the longer I tried to think about it, the less I cared to figure it out and I shrugged it off, deciding to completely wipe her from my mind.

The more I looked at myself in the mirror, the more I resented myself. My brown hair is one thing that I hated the most and I had even broken a few mirrors in the house when looking into them, my mind forcing me to think of my father and sometimes getting so upset that I lash out and punch the mirror. The only thing that I liked about myself was my eyes, I was thankful to have received the best part about my mother’s many perfect features. She had always been so beautiful, even as she aged, and she always had this angelic glow about her. It amazes me to think back to when I was as a child; the mere sight of my father enraged me, but whenever I looked at my mother, it was always a complete mood change and she made me happy again. 

I don’t have any pictures of my mother, no pictures of the family at all were salvaged from the fire. The only thing that we kept was all of my mother’s favorite paintings that were stored in the barn; I brought a few to my frat house to decorate with, but I leave my favorites and the rest of them at my house back at home in the city. It pained me to look at them sometimes, but it also made me tranquil; my mother always painted such beautiful, colorful things that anyone could stare at for hours without getting bored. She could project such powerful emotions in her paintings, all of them different and unique in their own way. I noticed that Sabastian had finally gotten around to framing them for me like I had asked, which made me smirk slightly since they looked even better now.

My mind went blank as I starred at her paintings, but my phone started to ring, wondering if it was Samantha calling to yell at me for something stupid, but I was surprised to see that Hitomi was calling me. I let it ring a few times while trying to think of why she would be calling me. I sighed and my insides twisted a little, knowing now what she was calling for and I answered it after about six rings.

“Yeah?” I answered.

“Wow, nice greeting, asshole..” She began and I rolled my eyes.

“Wha’d you call for?” I asked.

“Wow, no ‘hey, how are you, haven’t seen you in almost a year?’ ” She asked in an irritated tone and I only grew less amused.

“Hitomi, come on, you do this every time you call this time of year..”

“Then why’d you ask why I called?”

I sighed in frustration and didn’t answer, soon hearing Hitomi sigh as well on her end before continuing.

“It’s the anniversary of their deaths soon.. You know we always go to their graves together,” she finally answered and I stood there for a moment, thinking about what she just said and I hated visiting our parents graves with my sisters; I liked to go alone..

“Yeah.. I know. I don’t know if I’ll make it on the day, though.. I have finals coming up in two weeks, too..”

“You always have finals around this time and you always give me an excuse! I’m not stupid, Jason, your finals are over a few days before the anniversary. Just say you’ll be there, okay?” She pleaded and I sighed heavily, “Please, Jason? It would be really great to see you,” she continued and I hesitated for a few more long seconds.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I replied.

“God, Jason, you can be a real jerk sometimes.. Mom would be really disappointed,” she added and hung up on me, my heart sinking into my chest and Hitomi always knew how to get under my skin and get me to do what she wanted..

After collecting myself and getting rid of thoughts about my mother, I left my room and came out to Dean playing pool by himself in the living room.

“Aye! Come on now, join me,” he said in his twang. I wanted to go out, but then again I didn’t feel like it anymore after my phone call with Hitomi. 

“Yeah, why not,” I replied with a grin.

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” He replied happily and started a new game for us.

“You ready for finals?” Dean asked and I chuckled.

“Hah! Hardly.. I’ll just get Auturo to give me the answers from his finals before I take mine, we have a lot of the same classes,” I replied and he laughed.

“Yeah, that was kinda my plan too,” he teased and laughed softly, “So who was that sweet lil’ number that left your room this mornin’? Samantha?” He asked. I could tell he was thinking dirty thoughts about her, seeing as she stormed out of my room half naked this morning and everyone probably got a good look. I didn’t care in the slightest that he was thinking about her like that, though, I didn’t care about her.

“Yeah, Sam still.. Getting to her sister is harder than I thought. She never invites me over so I can maybe chat with her a little, and we don’t have any classes together so it’s hard to get any face time,” I replied and he chuckled.

“Bettie’s goin’ to be hard to get regardless.. You could count how many guys she’s been with using one hand,” he answered and I cocked my brow.

“The chase is what makes it all worth it, my friend,” I added and we laughed together.

“I’ll still never understand how you can keep track of all them girls. At least ten a day try to get your attention and you’re able to juggle it all, makin’ it look so easy all the damn time,” Dean complained a little and I snickered.

“Not all of us can be gifted when it comes to the art of romancing,” I replied matter of factly, Dean’s face getting slightly sour but he couldn’t help but shrug, agreeing with me slightly, “Feel free to go after Sam if you want,” I offered and he looked intrigued, but soon shrugged that off, too.

“Nah, I don’t want your sloppy seconds, man. Maybe I’ll just go for the untainted-by-Jason Bettie,” he threatened with a grin and I grew angered instantly.

“Back off! I got dibs, I’ve been working on this forever it seems and I won’t let you ruin it.. Not like you even could, anyways,” I reply with a warning tone.

“Hey, now, I was just messin’, you don’t have to be a jerk. You know I wouldn’t butt in,” Dean paused, “Not unless she came on to me first,” he continued and I let out a genuine laugh.

“Hah! Yeah, like she would ever do that..” I teased back and Dean grew irritated.

“‘The hell’s that supposed to mean?” He asked with a short tone and I chuckled.

“Calm doowwnn, I’m just messin’,” I repeated his words back to him and he kept his frown, moving on then to a more sensitive subject.

“Well.. There’s always one of them three sisters a’yers, I for one have noticed the way that lovely little Julia looks at me.. And Anya? Phew!” He teased and my blood began to boil, giving him a death stare before I took my shot.

Dean then held his hand up and acted as if it was Julia, “Oh, Dean, you’re so cute! I wanna do all the things in the world to you!” He continued in a girly voice, then began making kissing noises as he kissed the ‘mouth’ he made with his hand. 

“Dude.. Shut the fuck up before I beat the living shit out of you,” I threatened, only needing to do it once and Dean soon got the picture, securing his hands around his pool stick again and deciding that it was best not to continue on.. He just saved himself a world of hurt; had he mentioned Hitomi as well, knowing that she was married and even had a kid, I would’ve really lost it.

“So.. What r’ya gunna do after your finals?” Dean changed the subject, though it was just another thing I didn’t want to talk about. 

“Going back home for a little bit probably.. Maybe for the summer, I’m not sure how long yet,” I replied, taking my shot and missing my chance to make the orange ball in. I sighed heavily after I missed; I was usually really good at this, but my mind was a little distracted at the moment as I dreaded the thought of going home.

“You don’t seem all that excited. How long has it been since you’ve seen your sisters, anyhow?” He wondered and I pondered for a moment. 

“I don’t know.. I haven’t seen Anya since I started college.. Haven’t seen Julia in two years, and I saw Hitomi last year. A lot has changed, with me and all of them too.”

“Why do ya go home every summer? Why don’t you just chill here since you make it seem like you dread goin’ there every time?” Dean suggested.

I sighed, waiting for Dean to take his turn, “It’s.. Kind of a tradition for us all to visit my parent’s graves on the anniversary of their deaths.. I usually try to avoid them and visit my parents alone, though,” I reluctantly replied, knowing he would only pry more if I avoided the question.

“Oh, I’m sorry, man.. Must be rough,” Dean said with an uneasy tone and I shrugged, acting like I didn’t care about going there.

“Eh, it’s whatever.. Only gotta do it once a year, so it’s not that big of a deal,” I replied with little care and he shrugged, believing my lie and my mind began to wander. I miss my mother so much.. The pain I feel whenever I thought about her is hard to endure, especially now knowing she was murdered by my father.. I hope she didn’t feel anything, I hoped and preyed that she was fast asleep, unable to comprehend even for a second what was happening to her as she was engulfed in the flames..

I manage to last until our game is over to hold my composure and as soon as Dean wins, I excuse myself to my room where I bury my face in my pillows to help hide my pathetic, gentle sobs as thoughts of my mother refuse to leave my mind for the rest of the night. Even after all these years, it’s still difficult for me to move on.

Generation 1, Chapter 18, Finale

Attention: Ehhh, sorry for the sudden change in the writing. I think I’m going to go to first person now. I don’t know why I start off stories in third, I always end up regretting it.. I thought this last chapter would be better in first, too. Plus, a little heads up; this chapter might be, well, depressing. Read on only if you want to, and it’s probably the longest chapter I’ve written so far.

Also, a little more than half way into getting the screenshots, Julia aged up *rolls eyes*, so she’ll becomes a teen in this chapter, though I don’t really advertise it in the story. Hitomi aged up, too, she’s now a YA but she still looks the same, only taller. Thanks for reading!

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Sadie was in the kitchen, venturing around and trying to figure out what to make me for breakfast. The kids had all gone to school before I came downstairs, unable to face them.. Thoughts that I never could imagine would cross my mind; I had been thinking for an entire week ever since Sadie had confessed to me about taking Jason to a psychiatrist and I was not pleased with what she told me. I was the farthest from pleased. It made me angry. I hated that she had gone behind my back, but as I thought about it more, she was just trying to keep me from thinking about losing my best friend; the best friend that I killed with little to no mercy. What was worse is that ever since I had told Sadie that I would ‘deal with it,’ I still was unable to think of anything so far that I thought would make Jason more accepting at the thought of me. I love him.. I think I do.. As much as a father could love his own son, but I was beginning to resent him simply because he wouldn’t accept me; he was terrified of me and I knew Jason didn’t know why, but I could see it in his eyes every time I looked at him. Oh, how I hated to look at him.

“I fed the kids before they went to school, do you want me to make you anything? Are you hungry?’ Sadie asked me while in the kitchen, hearing her clanging around dishes and pans trying to put something together.

“No, I’m alright,” I replied, returning my attention to the television that I wasn’t even really paying any attention to.

“Alright, I’ll just make something for me. Let me know when you get hungry though, okay?” She asked with a motherly tone and I didn’t reply.

Sadie’s talking to me as I space out, not listening to her and also not listening or watching the television. My eyelids grow heavy and I soon see darkness, my thoughts consuming me and I began to cringe at what was brought to my mind. My family, my babies, my wife; things I never thought I would have and want so much, yet I couldn’t help in thinking that I would be better off without them, and them without me. I was young and stupid, I didn’t know what had come over me and I changed my entire life in the blink of an eye the moment Sadie came to my door, three months pregnant with Hitomi. I hadn’t realized it then, and not really now, even. I tell her I love her, yet for some reason I feel as if someone like me isn’t capable of doing that, making me wonder if how I feel about her is even love at all, but more of a protective nature for the mother of my children. I’m possessive; Jason knows it, too, always questioning me and almost competing with me for Sadie’s attention. Even though he’s my own child, I feel as if he’s stepping too much into my territory, and he knows it; and enjoys it. 

I hadn’t even noticed Sadie sit next to me after her meal, I must’ve been sitting there with my eyes shut for a while; how long had she been talking with no response from me? 

“What?” I asked, hoping she would repeat whatever she had just said to me and I watched her sigh.

“Marrick? Are you alright? I asked you like, 4 times already?” Sadie said with slight disappointment but I didn’t feel the normal guilt I usually would at the sign of her feeling sad.

“Sorry, I was just.. Thinking,” I reply and she shrugs it off, repeating whatever she had asked me for the fifth time.

“What do you want to get Hitomi for her graduation present? She’s done amazing her entire school career, she’s so smart and she really worked hard. I think we should get her something really special,” Sadie continued and I eventually nodded.

“Sure, I’ll think of something,” I answered, realizing that not only had I become more possessive, but I was a control freak and Jason always liked to throw that in my face, as well.

Sadie was pleased with my answer as she looked to me and smiled, once again just like numerous times before, letting me handle it. She knew not to fight me, we had been married for over 17 years and I had no idea why I treated her like she was a pet instead of a person; my wife. But, I couldn’t help but feel like she acted like one most of the time.

“I love you,” I hear her say just above a whisper and I look to her, seeing and believing the look in her eyes and I smirked. I had to admit, for as long as this relationship has lasted, I couldn’t have been more pleased with who I decided to let into my fucked up life. Though, at the same time, I regretted being with someone like her; she was too good for me and she deserved better, much better. I didn’t reply, swinging my right hand over her torso and grasping her hip, bringing her into a kiss that I was sure she wasn’t able to handle. She moaned gently against my lips and I realized it had been a while since we actually had any alone time without needing to do chores or errands when not tending to the kids. 

Thoughts began to flow through my head once more, ones that made me regret all of this. How could I have been so stupid? I kept having more children, hoping for girls so I would never pass on the Dubois’ cursed trait, but I never realized that any son that Hitomi, Anya and Julia may have in the future could very well pass it on to them, skipping a generation.. Stupid, stupid, stupid! ..Now, with three girls who had the ability to cause the gene to continue, and also getting so deep in this to actually having a son myself.. What have I done? I wanted no children, none, for this very reason, to protect anyone who would get involved with this family and I hated that I only made more and more problems for myself without even realizing it. I had to do something about this.. Hitomi was going off to college soon and same with Anya, not to mention Julia was close to being in high school and I didn’t want to risk one of them getting into anything serious with someone or even for them to have any accidents; I couldn’t handle it, I’d turn over in my grave if I knew this family was going to continue on passed me or my own children..

The day went on and I only worried more, thinking harder now than before as Sadie made dinner and I sat at the table with my children, looking to each of their faces and hating knowing that they remind me every day on how far I really had gone into all of this. I hated it. This isn’t what I wanted at all and now, look where I am. The conversation’s the kids had never caught my attention or made me feel like I needed to give feedback, their voices foggy as I continued to resent them the longer I sat there.

Julia’s voice was flowing through my ears, though my eyes remained on Jason as I stared at him, surprisingly without him noticing. How was I going to do this? How was I going to set everything right? My eyes soon went back to Sadie, still preparing the food and watching her at the stove, watching as the burner caught fire after a few clicks. The flames popped up, lighting the burner and she began heating the pan she was using to prepare the food and it was as if I was mesmerized by the blue and orange flames.

“Dad, what do you think?” Julia asked me and I looked to her briefly

“What?” I ask her to repeat it.

“Daaaad! You weren’t even listening,” she whines gently and I smirk with slight guilt.

“Sorry, baby girl. I’m listening now,” I assure her and she smiles but I contiune then to look at Sadie as Julia repeats what she asked me and I still don’t hear it.

“Jeez, Dad, at least pretend you care,”  Hitomi added after Julia’s second attempt to get my opinion on something, snapping out of my trance once again and Anya took the initiative to give her little sister the attention she wanted.

“I think it’s awesome you wanna have a big sleepover with your friends, it would be a lot of fun. Hitomi and I can give you girl’s make overs, paint our nails.. It’ll be awesome,” Anya said with a smile and I soon nodded in agreement, Julia finally noticing that I was finally paying attention now and she smiled with joy at my approval. 

“Anything you want,” I added and she only smiled more, giggling with joy.

Sadie finishes preparing the meal and brings plates for everyone, giving everyone a share of the meal, feeding me first, the children, then feeds herself last. I watch as Sadie doesn’t sit at the table right away, going over to her preparation area and cleaning it up so she didn’t have to do it later. “Sadie, come sit,” I told her and she looked over her shoulder at me with an apologetic smirk.

“I know, I know, but I don’t want anything to stay out too long, it’s so much easier to clean when you get all of the fresh crud off first,” she replied, continuing to rinse and scrub the dishes in the sink and I wasn’t pleased that she wasn’t joining us. For all I knew, and them, this could be our last meal together, should I decide to go through with anything tonight.

It isn’t until everyone else is finished with their meal when Sadie finally joins us all at the table and there’s guilt on her face when she looks to me, taking in my unwelcoming stare and I feel as if I scolded her without even saying or doing anything. She doesn’t look at me for the rest of the time that she eats.

“Hey, do you mind if I go to my friends house tonight? I promise to be back before 11:00pm,” Hitomi grabs my attention. Just by her tone of voice and use of words, I knew she was going to try and sneak over to John’s house and that was the last thing I wanted her to do. She noticed the disapproval in my expression and soon fidgeted within her seat, “Pleeeaaassee?”

“What are you going to be doing? You seem rather excited to go there,” I point out her not-so-subtle way of hiding the truth of where she really was going and she sighed lightly.

“We’re just.. Going to be studying, really.. I have finals in two weeks and I want to be ready,” she continued to lie and it only made me more dissappointed in her; I raised her better than that. But, before I could contest to it, someone else did.

“Yeah, make out finals,” Jason mutters under his breath before following Anya and Julia out of the kitchen and Hitomi’s face turns red.

“Shut up, you little shit!” Hitomi called back and I gave her another displeased expression, not liking her language at the table. 

“Hitomi..” I scolded softly and she sighed.

“Fine, whatever, I’ll just stay at home I guess.. Study here,” Hitomi caved in, realizing her lie wasn’t working out in her favor and giving it up.

We all sat within the living room, watching television together and I listened to their small conversations while watching the show, all of them giving their own little piece of feedback about the program and I could care less about any of it. As I watched my family enjoy themselves and each other’s presence, I couldn’t help but feel left out; it didn’t bother me, I wanted to be alone anyhow, and it felt like I was. 

“Alright, it’s 10:00pm, go and get ready for bed. You’ve all got school tomorrow,” Sadie said in a loving tone and the kids all groaned, but fulfilled her request and Sadie shut the television off.

Sadie and I always said goodnight to the kids before they went to bed, Anya coming up to us first and I welcomed her into my arms, “How about you and mom go clothes shopping soon? You’ll need new things when you go off to college, too. Maybe a laptop, as well,” I said with a smile and Anya’s face lit up, giving me the reaction that I’d hoped for.

“Eeeee! Yay! Awesome, thank you! Can we go this weekend?” She asked excitedly and I looked to Sadie who smiled and nodded.

“Yup, let’s go this weekend,” Sadie confirmed and Anya let out another excited.. Noise, squee, or however you want to describe it. We all exchanged ‘i love you’s’ and she raced upstairs, happy as could be.

Julia walked up to us and she had a shy smile; I knew she wanted something, too. “Tell you what, how about when your mom and Anya are out shopping, we can go fishing. My little angler hasn’t been to the lake in a while,” I offered and she lit up instantly.

“Yeah, yeah! You need to teach me how to bait the worm properly again, mine always gets nibbled at and eaten!” She complained and I nodded.

“I’ll teach you a lot of things, anything you want,” I continued and she only grew more excited, hugging Sadie and I and exchanging ‘i love you’s’ again. 

Hitomi walked up next and she already had a grin on her face, expecting the same treatment that we had given Anya and Julia and it was Hitomi that I would probably hurt the most. “I’m off to college reeeeeaaally soon.. Got amazing grades my entire school careeeeeeeerr,” Hitomi eggs on, hoping her treat would be something deserved rather than just flat out given; wanting to one up her siblings, I suppose.

“Car?” I reply simply and her smile fades instantly, not believing what I said and she stands there in shock.

“You’re j-joking, right!?” She asked hurriedly and I smirked, shaking my head ‘no’ and her jaw dropped.

“What? You’re right. You worked hard, you deserve it, plus you need to get around when you’re at college, don’t you?” I asked and her smile went from ear to ear.

“Oh, my god! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” She repeated and threw her arms around both of us, hugging us tightly and we exchanged more ‘i love you’s’.

“What do you want, sweetheart? I don’t want you to be left out,” Sadie cooed sweetly and Jason smirked, shrugging his shoulders.

“Anything you want,” I added and he didn’t bother to look at me.

“I don’t care, I don’t really need anything,” he replied and Sadie and I sighed, looking to one another and trying to think of something for him. “Well..” Jason began again, catching our attention and eager to hear his request. “C-Can I get a puppy? I mean.. It might help a little.. With what I, you know.. See?” He asked, looking to Sadie as if only asking her and she smiles, looking to me and waiting for my approval. 

Sadie watches as I nod and she smiles wider, looking to Jason, “Sure, we can do that. I wouldn’t mind a dog, either,” Sadie agreed and Jason smiled.

I knelt down and thought I would try something, holding out my arms and my expression was weak, trying for the last time for my son to give me a chance to show him that I care about him, even if he doesn’t think so. Well, maybe not care, but his constant resentment and cold shoulders were getting on my last nerve. “Just one, that’s all I ask, I won’t ever ask you for another one,” I tell him and he hesitates. “Why do you do this? Why do you shut me out, hate me?” I asked, wanting to know exactly what he thought of me. 

“Why are you doing this?” He asks in return and I’m not sure what he’s referring to.

“What?”

“This.. This being nice and giving us things. It’s like your apologizing for something you did or are going to do, or leaving or something..” Wow, we’re too alike and he knows better than I thought to the point that it almost makes me sick. Jason answered me angrily but I knew then that he cared for me, he just never chose to show it. He was worried about me leaving, or finding myself in trouble. I was slightly warmed by this and I no longer needed the hug; this was just fine.

I rose back to my feet and stood straight, looking down to him and his expression was eager to hear my answer, “I’m not going anywhere, bud. And I didn’t do anything. I guess my concern for your guys’ well-being might come off as strict sometimes, but it’s because I care,” wow, I was a good liar, “I’ll try to back off more on it, but you have to stop walking around like you can’t stand me or no puppy,” I made a deal with him and his expression grew irritated, not liking that I was withholding the puppy until he agreed to treat me better.

“Fine..” Jason agreed and I smirked, agreeing to the deal.

Jason looked to me, his gaze lasting much longer than his normal ones and he was actually able to look at me, “Do.. You think I could go with you and Julia.. Fishing?” Jason asked and I smiled, nodding and Sadie was overjoyed with the huge turn around that Jason had directed himself towards.

“Of course, bud. Whatever you want. Julia and I usually wake up around 4:00am to get there before the sun comes up, think you can handle it?” I asked, knowing how much he loved his sleep on the weekends, but he soon nodded and smirked.

“Yeah, I can do that,” he replied somewhat confidently and Sadie and I tell him we love him, but he goes passed us with a smile instead and goes upstairs to his room.

Sadie and I stay up for a little bit longer after the kids go to sleep, but around 11:30pm we call it a night and head upstairs. We didn’t go to bed right away, instead we tired ourselves out passionately before falling asleep, holding her against me and yet again, falling victim to those lingering, evil thoughts as I drifted off to sleep..

________________________________________________________________________________

1:36 AM

I’m tired. I look at the clock on the wall and it reads around 1:40 in the morning. The television is still on from earlier before we had gone to bed, it’s so irritating but I don’t turn it off. My body is groggy, but able to move itself as I rise from the bed in a desolate manner. I walk to the dresser and put on pajama pants and throw on a shirt. I’m tired.. So tired of this. 

My monotone yet twisted thoughts continue flowing through my mind and I’m tired of this. Of them. Of me and what I’ve become.. What Jason will become and already is.. I can’t. My fingers twist all of the knobs of the burners of the stove, each one not igniting a flame, but I begin to smell the growing scent of gas.

I find an old candle holder and candles. I bring them to the living room and light them all; this will only take about 3 hours. Everyone will still be asleep. Sound. Don’t worry, Daddy’s handling it. He’s handling everything for us all. I won’t let this family name continue. I want to stop it all now. This is the only way to save us all.

1:48 AM

________________________________________________________________________________

4:48 AM

I toss and turn on my bed, weakly looking to the clock on my bookshelf when I finally awake and it’s almost 5:00 in the morning.. Ugh, I’m so tired.. Why am I up? I stand from my bed and stretch, rubbing my eyes and I stagger towards my window, looking out and knowing the sun was going to come up soon and all I wanted to do was sleep more.

My eyes catch something moving on the ground and I look to it, my eyes widening as I look to Archor, standing by his grave yet again and I wonder if I should go to him. Why is he doing this to me? I look at him a little closer, seeing him not taking his attention away from Hitomi’s bedroom window and I then wonder if he’s trying to tell me something; he’s never given me a sign before, is this the first one?

Screw it. I make my way to Hitomi’s room as silently as I can, coming into her room and turning on her lamp next to her bed. I look out her window and I can still see Archor, “Hitomi… Tomiii!!” I pressure, hearing her soon wake and she scoffs at seeing what time it was.

“Jesus, Jason.. It’s almost 5:00 in the moring! What the hell are you doing?” She asks with a groggy tone and I still haven’t blinked once, keeping my eye on Archor and not giving him the chance to escape my gaze.

“Shut up! Look, look! It’s Archor! Do you see?!” I whisper loudly and I can feel Hitomi rolling her eyes, even though I’m not facing her.

“Oh my God.. Jason, go to bed, you nut,” she continues but I hear her stand and come up behind me.

“What is this nonsense you’re going on… Abo-” Hitomi’s words stop and I knew that very moment that she could see Archor, just as clearly as I could. 

“Am I still a liar?” I ask her teasingly and I don’t get a response. I look back and she has tears in her eyes.

“Wh..What’s.. Wrong with him? He’s hurt!” She calls out quietly, still trying to keep our voices down and not wanting to wake our parents.

“That’s what I’ve been seeing this whole time!”  I argue and she takes my hand, heading for the door to go to the back yard before I could even suggest it.

We walked down the steps and coincidentally, Anya and Julia meet us outside of their room; Julia was such a light sleeper, she probably was still able to hear Hitomi and I talking in her room upstairs. They knew to keep quiet, we were right outside of mom and dad’s room and they knew to ask questions later, following us without question.

We all walked quickly downstairs, completely disregarding the lit candles that were in the living room and we made our way outside; the house kind of smelled.. Weird, too..? Hitomi and I were too awe struck in seeing Archor, while Anya and Julia were too curious about what we were up to to notice either. They followed us outside and Julia was the first to ask questions, “What the hell are you guys doing? It’s five in the morning! Let’s go back inside, it sucks out here,” She stressed and Hitomi motioned with her hand to keep her voice down. 

“We saw Archor,” I start quietly.

“No, not this again!” Anya pleaded but there was no more time to convince them when Archor did it himself, all of us seeing him as we passed the large hay barrels. 

“O-Oh my.. God.. Jason, you really.. Have been seeing him,” Anya finally acknowledged and Julia was speechless. 

“What the hell is going on?!” Hitomi wondered, looking at her long lost and deceased friend. 

Out of nowhere, Archor took off on his feet and dashed for the fence, leaping over it and beginning to run up the hill leading to the city.

“Wait!” Anya called out.

Anya was the first to take to her feet and we all quickly followed, hopping the fence and chasing after Archor. 

Where the hell was he taking us? Why does he always do this? Everything is always so confusing when it comes to him and whenever he decides to show up. I was mind blown that all of my sisters could see him, but it made me feel amazing about myself. I followed my sisters who were faster than me, trying to catch up to them as we ran up the big hill more and more.

The moon was the fullest I had seen it in a while and it was soothing in a way, but as we all reached the top of the hill, our hearts sank in fear and Julia had fell from an immense explosion that happened right behind us. The sky lit up bright for a few moments and we all turned around, horrified and beyond shocked to see our own house up in flames and the entire right side of the home was gone and blazing with fire and smoke.

“W-W-What… Happened!?” Julia cried out and Hitomi fell to her knees after the blast in shock, looking back and I couldn’t even describe what her face read.

Anya burst into tears, unable to handle or even remotely comprehend what had just happened as we all starred in awe and horror as we watched our home go up in flames.

“Mom..! DAD!” Julia continued and none of us could even move, we were paralyzed by what we were seeing.

The sun soon rose and the sound of firetrucks in the distance rushing to our home grasped us all back to reality, all of us running even faster back to our home than we had ran to the hill. We all stood outside, mortified, in shock, in disbelief, there was no way this was happening.. No way to describe the extent of our grief and horror as we watched our house burn to the ground in a heated blaze that made us all sweat, all of us knowing our parents hadn’t made it without even needing to mutter the words. Hitomi was hysterical, but was still able to help try her hardest to comfort Anya as she and Julia balled their eyes out as I stood there, still in shock and disbelief.

Had Archor just.. Saved us all?

_________________________________________________________________________________

End of Generation 1

Generation 1, Chapter 17

It had been a while since Jason had ran away; he had been grounded and wasn’t allowed to go out for an entire month. Jason had still been seeing Archor, but he tried to keep it to himself after the reactions he had gotten from his parents. There were a few times when Sadie would talk to Jason about Archor, and she would also keep it from Marrick; she wanted them to start getting along, and if she told Marrick about Jason still seeing Archor, he would be livid. Whenever Jason saw Archor, it was still the typical thing where Archor would never let him get too close and Jason was beginning to think more and more that there was nothing wrong with him. Sadie had noticed that whenever Jason saw Archor, there was actually excitement about it in his tone and excited to tell her about him, which only caused her to worry more and she didn’t want him to believe that Archor was alive. She came up with a plan and decided to keep it from Marrick and the rest of the family, wanting to get help for her son.

Sadie came to Jason’s room and shut the door behind her, “Are you ready to go?” She asked, seeing Jason sigh heavily and he looked to her with a blank expression.

“Do we have to go? This is stupid,” he contested and Sadie sighed as well.

“I just.. I just want another opinion, a professional one, about what you’ve been seeing,” she replied with a gentle smile, hearing him sigh in defeat yet again.

“But I don’t want to, it’s stupid. I see him because he let’s me. I don’t know why you guys don’t see him, but there has to be a reason for it. Maybe he just doesn’t want to hurt you guys by seeing him because you knew him,” Jason replied, somewhat surprising Sadie on how he had come up with an answer to her worry. “I don’t mind seeing him, even if he is a little.. Lacking, in his normal black and white fur,” he continued, referring to Archor’s bloody state.

“Well, I think this is best, I don’t want you to be seeing such things,” Sadie said with concern, “Aren’t you curious at all to know why?” She asked, watching Jason get up from the floor and put his toy away.

“I don’t know, I guess..” Jason replied.

“You know to keep this from your father and sisters, right?” Sadie asked and Jason nodded.

“Yeah, Dad would just get upset, and the girls would just be more people making fun of me. Or worse, worrying about me, like you are,” he said with a bland tone, Sadie’s expression going slightly discouraged as she followed her son out of his room and downstairs.

Marrick, Hitomi and Anya sat within the living area next to the kitchen, Hitomi studying as Marrick and Anya conversed. “I just hope I get into the schools I want. Hitomi was accepted into every one that she applied to, I hope I’m that lucky,” Anya began.

“I only got into those schools because of what I’m doing right now, studying my ass off,” Hitomi added.

“Hitomi,” Marrick scolded gently at her choice of words and Hitomi giggled nervously. “Don’t worry, you’re just as smart as she is, you’ll get into every school you apply to, I know it,” Marrick encouraged and Anya smiled warmly at her fathers response.

Simply just being in the presence of his father made Jason uneasy and irritated, watching as his father didn’t look at him and continued talking to the girls. Hitomi didn’t bother looking up from her book, continuing her studying, but Anya turned her head around and smiled at Jason, “Hey, baby bro! You’re always such a late sleeper on the weekends,” she said with a gentle giggle and smiled more.

Jason looked to her and shrugged, “Yeah, I guess.. I like my sleep,” he replied blandly, keeping his annoyed expression and Sadie brushed her hand down his hair, trying to say without words to stop acting how he was in front of his father.

“Where are you two off to together?” Marrick asked, looking to Jason and then to Sadie, who was more likely to give him an answer. Jason hated how his father always wanted to know where everyone was at all times.

“Just a little mother-son day, that’s all,” Sadie said with a smile, trying her best to lie to Marrick, even though she wasn’t very good at it. But, Jason looked to Sadie and he was proud of her that she managed to lie so well; it only convinced Jason more that she cared for him dearly and didn’t want his father to find out about anything that she was doing for Jason.

“Do you want a ride?” Marrick asked next and Jason sighed and rolled his eyes.

“She said mother-son day, back off already,” Jason snapped and turned his attention towards the TV that wasn’t even on.

“Jason, knock it off. It’s just a simple question you tweak,” Hitomi finally looked up from her book to Jason and he completely ignored her.

Julia soon came out of the kitchen, having just eaten her lunch and coming up to Jason with a joyful smile, “Hey! Wanna go to the park today? Or go roller skating or something?” She wondered, always loving to spend time with Jason since he was closer in age to her than Anya and Hitomi were.

“Maybe later.. Mom and I are going out for a little while,” Jason replied, wanting to play with his sister and not be dragged somewhere with his mother that he didn’t want to be a part of.

“Oh, alright..” Julia answered, her expression sad and she walked over to the couch Hitomi and Marrick were on. Marrick grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap, tickling her sides and she burst out with laughter, Jason only growing more irritated since he would much rather be playing with his sister and now his father was giving Julia the fun that she wanted from Jason; Jason was even starting to get jealous at the fact that no one else could see Archor, then he wouldn’t have to be going through with seeking help like his mother wanted for him.

Sadie and Jason soon arrived at the psychiatrist’s office, one that specialized in studying and treating children and adolescents. They walked in and Jason waited for Sadie, watching as she walked over to a girl behind a desk that sat in front of a large pair of stairs. “Welcome, can I help you?” The girl asked Sadie and she smiled.

“Yes, I made an appointment for my son, Jason Dubois,” Sadie replied and the girl looked through her computer.

“Oh, here it is. You’re Mrs. Hughes’ 1:00?” She asked and Sadie nodded. The girl smiled, “Alright, well, she’s still with a patient right now, have a seat. I’ll call when she’s ready for you,” the girl added.

“Alright, thank you,” Sadie said with a smile, walking over to Jason. “Let’s have a seat, sweetie,” she said to him and he nodded, though still wishing he wasn’t there.

“Now, don’t be shy or scared to tell her everything you’re here for, we’re here to try and figure out why you’re seeing these things, okay?” Sadie said with an uneasy tone and Jason couldn’t help but smirk at his mother; she was more nervous about this than he was.

“I know, Ma, it’ll be okay,” he comforted her and she soon smiled at Jason.

“You’re a lot braver than I am, and I want you to know that I love you and there’s nothing wrong with you, I’m just.. Concerned is all,” Sadie continued and Jason sighed, but kept his smirk.

“I know, Ma, I just want to get this other with,” Jason replied and Sadie nodded in agreement, proud of him and how he was taking all of this so calmly.

It was 12:59pm when the patient with the psychiatrist came down from upstairs and left the building, the girl at the desk then called for them, “Jason? Mrs. Hughes is ready for you now.”

Jason looked to the door and wondered if he should take this last chance to make a run for it and not go through with it, but when Sadie stood, Jason looked to her and sighed, not wanting to disappoint his mother and reluctantly following her upstairs.

They walked upstairs together and Jason stood by the door as he watched his mother sit in the living area just outside of the room, “You’re.. Not coming in with me?” He asked, finally getting nervous about talking with a stranger about what he had been seeing.

“No, I’m not, it’ll give you some privacy, she might even ask questions about home and I don’t want you to feel held back if I’m in there with you. Whatever you two talk about isn’t going to leave that room,” Sadie assured her son and he made an uneasy expression, soon looking to the door and hesitating. “Go on, it’ll be fine. I’ll be right out here if you need anything at all,” she continued and Jason soon nodded, walking to the door and slowly stepping in.

Jason walked into the room and looked around, seeing a weird contraption in the corner of the room to his right, soon looking to art supplies scattered about, a presentation board, a desk and computer and then to the living area in the middle of the room. He had to admit, he really liked that room as he continued looking around, shutting the door behind him and soon feeling relaxed as he stood there.

Jason’s eyes soon met the brown orbs of Mrs. Hughes and she smiled warmly, leaning over and putting out her hand for Jason to accept and shake. “Hello, Jason, I’m Mrs. Hughes, or you can call me Elaine if you prefer, doesn’t matter to me,” she said with another warm smile, her tone laid back and very welcoming. Jason soon smirked and shook her hand.

“Hi,” is all he could say.

“Quiet, aren’t we? Well, let’s change that. Let’s have a seat, I want to get to know you better,” she said with, again, a warm smile and Jason was soon warming up to her the more that she smiled at him. He studdied her face a little, guessing she was in her mid thirties or later, but she was still very pretty and had a youthful look to her.

Elaine took a seat in a chair and Jason chose the love seat, sitting there awkwardly and waiting for things to begin, however they were supposed to.. “So, Jason.. When your mom set up this appointment, she only told me a little about you. I wanted to keep the details short because I wanted to hear more from you. But, she told me that you see things, is that right?” She asked with a smile, Jason growing nervous and his fingers fidgeted within his lap, his childish behavior shining through and not sure if ‘yes’ or ‘no’ was the right answer. He sat there in silence and looked to his lap, Elaine chuckling lightly under her breath at his bashfulness, “It’s alright, Jason.. Nothing that you or I say in this room will be repeated once you leave, it’s just you and me, okay?” She assured him and he looked to her, soon nodding and she decided to ask a different question, “How’s life at home?” She wondered.

“Umm..” Jason began, still unsure of what he should and shouldn’t confess, but he soon sighed and decided to answer her to the best of his ability. “It’s.. Alright,” he replied.

“Just alright?” Elaine wondered and Jason shrugged, “Tell me about your mother, how do you feel about her?” She asked with a smile, seeing Jason smirk slightly.

“She’s great. I really love her, and I couldn’t have asked for a better mom,” Jason replied with his smirk turning into a smile and Elaine only smiled more warmly to his words.

“That’s wonderful..” Elaine replied, writing something within a tiny notepad tucked between her thigh and the armrest of the chair, “How about your sisters, how many do you have?” She asked and Jason continued his content expression.

“Well, there’s Hitomi, the oldest.. Then Anya, then Julia, then me. So, 3,” Jason answered and Elaine nodded joyfully.

“Wow, good.. Good. Tell me a little about them, do you all get along?” She asked next and Jason nodded.

“Yeah, besides the random stupid girly drama that is pointless that they always pull me into. Other than that, we get along, I like spending time with them.” Elaine kept her smile and nodded, adding a few more things to her notes before continuing.

“And what about your father.. Marrick, correct? How do you feel about him?” She asked and Jason withdrew from her instantly, her face growing angered and he watched as she instantly wrote more things onto her notepad solely from his expression. Jason sat there and didn’t answer her, feeling as if this was a trap to get him in trouble so he sealed his lips. “Jason, it’s quite alright.. I want you to be comfortable with me, I want us to talk, get to the root of why you see the things you do, or why you’re seeing things in general. Please, go on,” Elaine continued, assuring Jason that his secrets would be safe with her by smiling at him more and Jason soon sighed, finally deciding to fess up.

“I don’t like him,” he finally spoke quietly and Elaine simply nodded, wanting him to continue. “He’s just.. He gives me the creeps, I don’t know why.. I’ve never liked him, for as far back as I can remember. I don’t trust him,” he continued and Elaine made a slightly surprised expression.

“Well, it’s very good that you’re talking about it. Feel free to continue if you’d like, only if you’re comfortable,” she replied with another smile and Jason nodded, starting to feel a little more relaxed around Elaine.

“It’s just.. I honestly don’t know what it is about him.. I’m not trying to lie to you or anything, I really don’t know.. But, I often choose to not be around him. It’s gotten to the point where he doesn’t expect me to talk to him, and sometimes he respects me enough to not say anything to me to keep me from getting angry,” Jason continued.

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it? He doesn’t want you upset with him, so he gives you your space. Isn’t that what you want?” She asked and Jason looked to his lap.

“I never said that,” he said quietly.

Elaine let out a gentle chuckle, “You don’t need to. It’s obvious that your holding something against your father, do you have any idea what that could be?” She asked and Jason looked to her, soon shaking his head ‘no’ and she nodded. “Is there anything else about him that you don’t like? Anything that he does that makes you angry?” She wondered.

Jason thought for a few short seconds before continuing, “Well, he always wants to know where we are. All the time. We can’t leave the house without letting him know where we’re going, it’s so annoying,” he replied.

“Isn’t that what a parent is supposed to do, though? Know where their child is, just in case, god forbid, something bad happened?” Elaine asked, trying to see the logic behind Jason and he then continued.

“He doesn’t only do it to me and my sisters, he does it to my mom, too. He’s always controlling her. He has such a nice way of saying things to her and it blinds her, yet the meaning behind what he is saying is way more strict that he’s making it seem to be.” Elaine nodded more and Jason was beginning to get irritated by her just constantly nodding, not to mention just talking about his father was making him mad. “Are we done yet?” Jason asked impatiently and Elaine let out a soft laugh.

“No, not quite.. With you permission, I’d like to try something with you,” Elaine began, catching Jason’s attention and he was slightly curious about what she wanted to do. “Have you ever been hypnotized?” She wondered, Jason’s expression going surprised and somewhat excited about the idea of it and he shook his head ‘no’. Elaine smiled, “Would you like to try it? All you would do is go into a meditative state, I’ll ask you questions, and it’s your subconscious that answers. I would like to try to reach yours, since I’m still not seeing any red flags yet that would be the cause of your.. Imagination,” she corrected her words, trying not to insult him and make him feel like he was ‘special’. Her words made Jason finally smirk again, making him believe there was nothing wrong with him and he was somewhat relieved.

“Okay, let’s try,” Jason agreed and Elaine smiled.

“I want you to completely free your mind. Take a few, long, deep breathes, letting them out slowly. Think about anything that makes you calm.. Happy.. Content.. Relaxed.. At ease.. Something that you love perhaps. Your mother? Your sisters? A toy? Focus on staying calm and relaxed, breathing in.. And out..” Elaine cooed softly and she waited an entire minute, watching as Jason’s eyelids grew heavy and he soon laid on the sofa. Her words soon lessened to a whisper, “Jason?” She questioned, not getting anything in response and she smirked, continuing in a relaxing, quiet tone, “When I count to three, you’ll wake up and have no knowledge of what we’ve discussed during this, but I’m going to be talking to your subconscious, I would love for it to reply..?” She somewhat questioned, hoping it would work, although knowing it already was by her soothing tone. “Jason? Can you hear my voice?” She asked at a normal volume, Jason nodding after 10 long seconds and Elaine continued, holding the notepad ready in hand. “Where are you right now? What do you see?”

Elaine waited another long 10 seconds and Jason finally replied, “My house.. I see my mom, holding Julia..”

“How old does she look? Are Hitomi and Anya there, as well?”

“She’s.. A toddler. It’s Anya’s birthday, everyone’s there,” he continued, his voice eerily responding with a blank and bland tone every time with no emotion detectable, seeming as if he was a robot.

“Very good..” Elaine added, still not bringing up Marrick, “What are they all doing together? Where are you?” She continued.

“They’re all.. Getting ready to go somewhere.. Somewhere, fun.. Just the girls..”

“Where are you?” She repeated.

“I don’t know.”

“..Where are you, Jason? Search the house,” She repeated yet again.

“Upstairs, in my room.”

“..Are you the same age as you are now?” She asked and Jason hesitated.

“There’s a crib in my room where my bed should be, there’s a baby boy in the crib, he’s sleeping.”

“Very good, Jason. You’re doing very well,” she encouraged before continuing her questions, “Why are you in your room?”

“I can’t get the door to open.”

“Who is the baby?” Elaine wonders.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you hear?”

“The television.. Just outside of my room.. It’s on.” Jason replies in his bland tone.

“Who’s watching it?” She wondered.

“My father.. He’s.. Talking to someone,” Jason continued, getting irritable now that they were discussing his father more. “I hear.. A dog barking. He’s barking louder now.. My dad yells at it, but I can’t understand what he’s saying.”

“Why do you think your father is yelling at the dog?” Elaine asked.

“I don’t know.. It won’t stop barking. The baby starts to cry.. My dad comes in and picks him up, walking him around the room and he manages to quiet the baby so it can go back to sleep.”

“Then what happens?” Elaine wondered, trying to dig a little deeper now that Jason had mentioned the dog. Sadie had told Elaine over the phone while making the appointment that Jason was seeing their old dog, Archor, which Jason was far to young to know or even remember. Elaine is intrigued by Jason’s words, beginning to think that she may be finding the root of his problem.

“My dad leaves the baby in the crib.. It’s sleeping again. A long time goes by.. My room is dark now and the baby is still sleeping.”

Elaine takes a moment to think before continuing, “Is the baby, you, Jason?” She asks.

“I don’t know.” Jason then grows irritable again, shifting more than he ever had and something is obviously bothering him.

“Jason..? Keep calm.. What do you hear?” Jason’s expression soon grows slightly scared and she notices his hands beginning to shake, “Jason, focus. Jason.. What do you hear?” She continued.

Jason’s voice isn’t as bland and monotone anymore, Elaine detecting that he was growing scared of something. “My dad.. He’s coming back up the stairs.. To my room.. I can hear his footsteps on the stairs..” Jason continues and his hands clenched into fists on the couch, struggling to continue. “I hide in the corner. I hear him touch the knob.. But he doesn’t come in.. He’s talking to someone again. ..The dog sounds scared.”

“The dog is still there, outside of your room?”

“Yes. He sounds.. Defensive, as if he’s protecting something.”

“Is the dog protecting the baby?” She asks and Jason shifts his entire weight, a tear falling out from his shut eye and he grows terrified of what he’s beginning to hear. “Jason? Stay with me.. Jason!” Elaine struggled to get him to talk more, but his body was going into a gentle spasm and his entire body was shaking in fear.

“1, 2, 3!” Elaine called out, watching as Jason’s eyes suddenly shot open and he sat up immediately, panting and soon wiping his one eye and seeing that he had been crying.

“Are these tears? What happened?” He asked Elaine in a panic, noticing that his entire body was still shaking and he could still feel slight fear within his most recent emotions that he was unaware of.

“It’s alright, take a few deep breaths..” Elaine suggested with a smile, Jason oddly feeling better quicker than he would’ve thought and tried to relax again on the couch. “Usually I do hypnosis to patient’s who have been coming to me a little longer, but your mother made it clear that you wouldn’t want to do this more than once, so I skipped a few steps. I can tell you though that we made a lot of progress, I’m very proud of you,” she added.

“What did I say? What did I talk about?” He asked somewhat excitedly, surprised that it had actually worked.

“Well, you talked of your mother and sisters, your father, and a dog,” she replied, Jason surprised and he nodded, waiting for her to continue, “But, you got upset the more we went on, and I didn’t learn anything too devastating that would cause me to worry too much,” she said with a smile and Jason believed her, soon smirking and letting out a soft sigh of relief. “I think we should end our session now. Do you feel anything.. Different?” She wondered.

Jason shrugged, “Was I supposed to after that?” Jason asked, but his tone made it seem as if he didn’t care for an answer.

“See? That wasn’t so bad, huh? Come, let’s go to your mother,” Elaine said with a smile and Jason hopped off of the couch, Elaine following him to the door and out of her office.

Jason came out of the office first with a smile on his face, Sadie noticing and taking it as a sign that he did well. “How was it?” She asked him.

“Easy,” he said with a confident grin and she caressed the side of his head with an approving smile.

“Go wait in the car, I’m going to talk to Mrs.Hughes for just one minute, okay?” Sadie asked and Jason nodded, taking the keys from her and going to the car.

“So?” Sadie began, “How is he? Did you find out what’s wrong?”

“Mrs. Dubois, this is my complete and truthful conclusion, and it’s the best professional opinion I can give you in regards to such a short session. But, I have reason to believe that Jason is suffering from one or multiple disorders.. He shows signs of Pediatric Schizophrenia, which is illustrated by symptoms such as auditory and visual hallucinations, strange thoughts or feelings, and abnormal behavior therefore profoundly impacting the child’s ability to function and sustain normal interpersonal relationships.. I also feel he has a mild case of Oppositional Defiant Disorder, or ODD.. It can be described as an ongoing pattern of anger-guided disobedience, hostilely defiant behavior toward authority figures, such as his Father, which goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behavior. Children suffering from this disorder may appear very stubborn and often angry, and whenever I brought up his father, he acted as such. I fear that he might also be bi-polar,” Elaine explained and Sadie was in shock, all of Elaine’s words not sounding at all out of the ordinary and she sighed with grief.

“Is there anything I can do, or Marrick can do to get him out of feeling this way?” She asked, worry in her tone and Elaine smiled warmly.

“It’s alright, Mrs. Dubois, all of these cases when it comes to Jason are extremely mild.. I’m not at liberty to discuss what him and I talked about, but I can tell you that he doesn’t hate his father.. He’s scared of him.. Terrified, actually,” Elaine said softly, losing her smile and Sadie’s eyes widened.

“Excuse me?” She asked, “Why would Marrick scare him? Well.. He can be intimidating at times, but he’s done nothing to our son for him to feel so strongly about this. I can’t imagine why he would be scared of him.”

“Well, maybe that’s something Jason and Marrick need to work on together.. I’d love to try and convince you to let me have a few more sessions with him, but I don’t want to pry.. It’s his decision completely,” she said with a soft smile.

“If this keeps up,  and if he wants to come back, then I’ll give you a call. Thank you for all that you’ve done,” Sadie said with an appreciative smile, shaking Elaine’s hand before leaving.

“My pleasure. Let Jason know that I’m always here to listen,” she comforted and Sadie nodded, leaving the office building to drive her son home as worry consumed her.

Sadie worried for Jason the whole ride home, but she never let it show as she listened to her son and he talked normal, seemingly not giving a care in his heart, and Sadie realized Mrs. Hughes had probably made him believe there was nothing wrong with him. Sadie didn’t say much on the ride home, but when they walked in through the front door, Jason soon quieted, noticing his father on the couch with a scowl cemented on his lips and he looked angered. “We’re back,” Sadie said with a bland tone, Anya being the first one to acknowledge them and she smiled.

“Hey, mom! Hey, Booger!” She teased and Jason smirked slightly, “How was your guys’ day together?” Anya asked and Sadie looked to Jason, smiling at him.

“It was very nice,” she said softly, watching as Jason smiled back to her and he was convinced that he had done good today. Sadie was proud of him for going through with everything, but she felt bad that she was lying to him about his results.

Marrick rose from the couch, Jason’s smile instantly disappearing as he watched his father approach his mother and he grew irritated, knowing that Marrick was about to question her and he wished that his psychiatrist could witness this herself. Marrick pecked Sadie’s lips and looked to his son, glad they were both back, but wondering where they had gone to, “You two were gone a while, what did you end up doing?” Marrick asked first. Jason sighed and rolled his eyes.

“We just, hung out. Saw a movie, got a bite to eat,” Sadie replied, Jason looking to her and studying her expression, seeing that even he believed her lie and Jason was the one that was actually with her. Marrick continued to look at Sadie with somewhat judgmental eyes, somehow knowing she was lying and he wanted to know why.

“What did you see?” He asked next, Jason letting out an over-exaggerated sigh and his eyes hurt for how hard he rolled them in agitation.

“Jeez, are you the police now? We saw a movie and ate, stop asking questions. Mother-son day, meaning not you, and not Dad-jealous-and-annoying-day… Oh, wait, that’s every day,” Jason insulted and Marrick grew angered instantly.

“You watch that mouth of yours or you’re not stepping foot outside of this house for months.. Don’t test me, I’m getting sick of this. It’s time for you to grow up,” Marrick hissed and Jason grew intimidated and he averted his eyes.

Jason then completely ignored his father, looking to the doorway that lead to the study, swearing to himself that he saw something walk into it.. “Whatever, I’m going upstairs,” Jason said angrily.

“Stay up there the rest of the night, you’re in trouble for speaking to me like that,” Marrick added angrily.

“Fine!” Jason continued, quickly making his way upstairs and no one followed him.

Jason reached the study, looking around it before he went upstairs, “I could’ve swore I saw something..” He said in a whisper to himself.

Jason then heard claws tapping at the very top of the steps, looking just in time to see the back pair of a dogs paws and tip of the tail, noticing parts of them were stained in red. Archor..? Jason thought to himself, looking behind him and noticing no one was following him or going to be soon, beginning to slowly follow the sound of the gentle footsteps on the floor above him. Jason walked up the stairs, then looked to the other stairs leading up to the third floor and seeing the same thing, the back pair of Archor’s paws and tail. Where are you going..? He wondered, looking down to the first floor and still not seeing or hearing a sign that someone was coming up. Jason continued, following Archor upstairs and going to the third floor.

Jason reached the top of the stairs and his eyes widened, seeing Archor balled up in a cowardly way, laying on the floor; unknowingly to Jason, where Archor was brutally murdered more than a decade ago. Jason was hesitant to approach, wondering if he should go get his mother, but he soon decided against it, realizing that Archor wouldn’t be there when they got back. Jason watched Archor, surprised that Archor had let him get this close to him without leaving or making a run for it. “..A-Archor?” Jason finally tried to acknowledge the dog, getting a little squeamish as the smell of blood was a lot stronger now than it ever had been.

Jason continued to stare at Archor, wondering what he should do and wondering what Archor wanted him to do. He’s just.. Lying there.. Like it’s where he’s meant to be, right outside my door.. Jason thought to himself, feeling an eerie sense flow over him and he shut his eyes, putting his hands over his face and rubbing his eyes, “This is too real.. I want it to stop,” Jason said out loud to himself, continuing to rub his eyes and he soon looked up, Archor nowhere to be found and Jason hadn’t even heard him move, but he was gone again. Jason sighed, slowly walking towards the spot that Archor was laying and the scent of blood only grew stronger and harder to handle. Jason observed the flood, sighing in defeat, convincing himself that maybe the psychiatrist was lying to him, maybe there really was something wrong with him.. Mom was quiet the whole ride home after she had talked to Mrs. Hughes and I didn’t even notice.. I wonder what she told mom..? Jason thought to himself. Out of nowhere, his keen eye then noticed a tiny, almost unnoticeable pin-point of a stain, Jason bending down slowly and touching it, scratching it off of the flood and he looked to his fingernail, rubbing the few specs of the substance he had gathered between his index finger and thumb. Jason gasped gently, “No..” Jason said to himself, standing to his feet, “That’s not blood..” Jason tried to convince himself, deciding to ignore what he had found between the crack of the floorboard and going to his room.

After they had all eaten dinner, except for Jason since Marrick had refused anyone to bring him anything as Jason’s punishment for his words earlier, they all bid one another good night and went to their rooms, Sadie looking at a butterfly Jason had caught her a few days before and smiling gently. “You’re a bad liar,” Marrick began and Sadie’s heart froze, not expecting him to say those words and she continued to look at the butterfly, trying to keep her attention off of the subject.

“What are you talking about?” She asked curiously and Marrick let out a quiet chuckle.

“Give it up. Where did you go with Jason?” He more so demanded than asked, Sadie growing guilty and not wanting to tell him the truth in fear of how he could react. She turned to face him when she heard him approach her from behind, looking to his eyes and somewhat noticing the same look that Jason often had; maybe they’re more alike then I realized? Sadie wondered, but shook off her worry, focusing on Jason again and growing remorseful.

“I.. I took him to see and psychiatrist, I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you would only get upset.. But, Marrick, he’s still been seeing Archor all this time, and it just got to be too much for me, I had to see if I could figure out what was wr..” She stopped her words, not wanting to admit that her only son was suffering and that something was wrong with him.

Marrick’s expression didn’t change, knowing full well that Jason had still been seeing Archor; I’m not stupid, I can see right passed his eyes. I heard every night that he chose to tip toe all the way down both set of stairs, passed my room, none the less; I knew. “What did they say about him?” He asked, looking to Sadie with the same blank expression.

It was the last thing that Sadie had expected him to say, wondering how he wasn’t phased really by what she had just told him and she couldn’t help the tears that built up in her eyes. Marrick noticed instantly and put his arms around her comfortingly, feeling her return the hug tightly, “She told me he might have several things.. He could be schizophrenic, he might have ODD, he might even be bi-polar.. Why does my baby have to go through all of this?” She asked, pleading for an answer and he was pained by her dismay. “You need to talk to him, I don’t care if he makes it seem like he doesn’t like you or whatever the hell he feels towards you. I want all the fighting to stop and I want my boy to be okay,” she continued and it made Marrick come to a realization.

It’s all happening exactly how I didn’t want it.. I didn’t want a son for this very reason. He was insane, like me. He’s seeing Archor’s ghost for reasons that are unknown, and I want all of this to end. I don’t want him to go through this, either, Sadie.. I really don’t, that’s why.. That’s why, I’ll take care of it. All of this hate, torment and suffering Jason is going through will soon no longer be a problem; not for him or you, or me. I’ll give him the push he needs to get passed this, I’ll..

“I’ll take care of it,” he assured her, feeling her pull away slowly and she soon smiled, wiping her eyes softly before the tears could fall and happy that she believed he would make everything better. He had to, one way or another.

---

Resources and information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_and_adolescent_psychiatry.

Generation 1, Chapter 16

The next day, Jason strolled casually into the kitchen, thinking hard to himself and repeating Hitomi’s words in his head over and over.. “I don’t care what you say, it wasn’t this dog”.. Those words stuck with Jason, causing him to eventually second guess himself and wondering if he really had just seen a dog that just simply resembled his fathers deceased canine companion.. Jason checked Hitomi’s room and all throughout the house, not finding her, Anya or Julia anywhere and he was angry at Hitomi; she agreed to help him look for the injured dog that morning, but she had left with her sisters to do who-knows-what, going back on her word to him and he knew he would hold it against her for longer than she deserved.

“Morning,” Jason said softly to his mother, trying to get her attention and butting into his parents conversation without a care. Marrick had been looking at Jason since he had entered the kitchen, but didn’t bother to acknowledge him and Jason even respected Marrick a tiny bit for knowing not to utter a single word to him; he wasn’t in the mood to get into an argument that him and his father notoriously found themselves in at least once or twice a month. Marrick’s eyes fell to the table and he minded his own business, watching as Sadie’s face lit up when she saw her son and she smiled happily.

“Hey, sweetie. Where have you been all day? Did you sleep well?” She asked, watching as Jason stood in the center of the kitchen, his expression deep in thought.

“Yeah, I guess..” He replied simply.

“Where’s Hitomi? She was supposed to.. Help me, with something today,” Jason asked, watching as his father stood from the table and decided to wash dishes out of nowhere, seemingly wanting Jason to not be in his sights anymore, so he turned his attention to something else.

“Her and the girls went out, I think they went to the mall,” Sadie replied, hearing Jason then sigh with aggravation and Sadie grew concerned for him. “What was she going to help you with? Is it something I could help you with, instead?” She offered.

Jason pondered her offer for a few long seconds, wondering if he should bring up the injured dog that he saw and wondering what Sadie might think about it. “Well..” He began, but hesitated, second guessing himself and wondering if he should continue.

“I.. I woke up last night at random.. I looked out my window and I saw a dog. It was badly hurt, it’s entire underbelly, paws, legs, even its tail a little was soaked in blood,” Jason began, catching Marrick’s attention and he looked over his shoulder at his son, waiting for him to continue.

Sadie gasped lightly, “Oh my.. That’s terrible,” she said with concern.

Jason despised how Marrick was looking at him, Jason seeming to strike a nerve or a curious brow from his father, but he couldn’t tell which he had struck, so he continued anyways, “I-I went downstairs as fast as I could and went outside to the back yard.. I then saw the dog a little better, but still not much, it was really dark.. But, when I went to get closer and went around the tree, the dog was completely gone and I didn’t know where he went, so I couldn’t help it..” Jason continued, watching as Marrick then seemed strikingly interested in his words as he took a few steps closer to Jason and Sadie did as well after standing from her chair.

“Hitomi said she would help me look for it today to see if we can find it and get it help, but she’s been gone all day.. It’s going to be night soon and I wanted to look during the daylight,” Jason continued in a whining manner, watching as Sadie’s expression went slightly warmed at Jason’s caring personality and wanting to help the poor creature. “But..” He continued, looking to Marrick’s eyes and hesitating as his father stared at him, waiting for Jason to continue. The expression on Marrick’s face was beginning to intimidate Jason and he didn’t want to continue anymore, “Never mind..” Jason finished.

Sadie’s face grew concerned once more and she pried, “But, what?” She asked in a sweet tone, coaxing Jason to continue and he hesitated briefly before going on.

“There’s a picture.. In Hitomi’s room of a black and white dog, you’re dog,” Jason continued, Marrick’s face then growing slightly more intimidating and Jason felt the fear building up inside of him from his fathers gaze. “His name was Archor, right?” Jason asked and Marrick’s expression twisted in anger.

“What about him,” Marrick more demanded than asked, his deep, strong tone echoing through the kitchen a little and Jason began to tremble slightly at the look in his fathers eyes; he had never seen him like that before and it was slightly terrifying.

“No, I’m going to sound crazy and no one’s going to believe me! Hitomi didn’t either!” Jason randomly burst out in anger, unable to stand his fathers eyes on him any longer and hating how much he couldn’t get his body to stop shaking.

Marrick’s gaze only grew more intense and maddening when Jason called himself crazy, Marrick’s heart sinking and realizing that his worst nightmare was beginning to come true; his son was just as insane as he was, Jason didn’t need to continue with his ramblings any longer before Marrick was already convinced. “Stop looking at me like that!” Jason yelled at Marrick.

“Like what?” Marrick asked in anger.

“Like I’m crazy! I know what I saw, and I saw Archor! It had to have been him.. He was identical to the dog in Hitomi’s picture! He was even standing by the grave and everything,” Jason continued, his eyes soon welling up with tears and he grew more emotional as he went on, knowing how ridiculous he must seem in front of them, but wanting desperately for at least one person to believe him.

“Sweetheart.. I’m so sorry, but that’s just not possible. Archor passed away a long time ago, your father buried him himself,” Sadie was with a saddened tone and she touched Marrick’s shoulder to give him comfort, hating to see her son in such turmoil and wanting to get off the subject of Archor before Marrick got any more upset.

“That’s enough,” Marrick demanded, Jason flinching slightly at his fathers angry response and Jason grew angered again as well.

“See? No one believes me! He was right in front of me.. I could even smell the blood, it was so potent..” He continued to try and reason with them, but again, he could read the disbelief in both of their expressions.

“Jason, sweetie.. I want to believe you, I really do, but it’s just not possible.. He’s dead,” Sadie continued.

“But, Ma.. I saw..” Jason replied and he grew saddened once again, Marrick stopping him from continuing and he was fed up with the conversation.

“Listen to me for once in your life,” Marrick began angrily and after each word Marrick spoke, Jason only grew more intimidated and saddened, his eyes still soaking in tears but still refusing any of them to fall down his cheeks, “You didn’t see Archor, and you’re not going to look for that dog. If he was as injured as you claim, the thing is probably long dead by now, there’s no point in helping a bullshit cause such as that one. It’s dead,” Marrick snapped and Jason’s eyes widened in shock from his words.

“Marrick!” Sadie hissed at him, wanting him to calm down and stop talking to Jason with a disrespectful tone.

“I don’t even want to hear his name come out of your mouth again, is that understood?” Marrick threatened and Jason couldn’t hold anything back anymore; the man that stood before him, barking orders and acting like an actual father was nothing to him now, if Marrick even meant anything to Jason before that..

“It was him, I know it! What happened to him? How did he die, if he even did!?” He demanded to know and Marrick was done with the argument.

“I said that’s enough! You’re lying, now go to your room!” Marrick finally raised his voice and Jason’s entire body filled with fear, cowering to his father.

“I hate you,” Jason gave one last reply and his body moved on it’s own, frazzled and completely ignoring Marrick’s words as he made a dash for the front door.

“Jason Richard Dubois!” Sadie called out in anger at her son, “Get back here this moment!” She demanded, but to her surprise, it was the first time ever that Jason disobeyed her and she looked to Marrick, losing track of all that had just transpired and she worried greatly for her son. Sadie went to go after him but Marrick stopped her, Sadie looking to Marrick with complete and utter depression, but noticing for the first time in their entire relationship together that Marrick was genuinely hurt by Jason’s words as his face fell victim to a sadness that Sadie herself had never witnessed. “..Marrick.. You know he didn’t mean it, he-” Sadie began but Marrick put his hand up to stop her words.

“Yes he does,” he replied quietly, Sadie watching as Marrick bit his bottom lip to keep it from quivering and he escaped the kitchen quickly and went to his room, refusing to let Sadie see him that way; so vulnerable, fragile and hurt, it wasn’t something she was used to and he refused to let her see him in the weak state that he was in.

Jason slammed the door on his way out, his footsteps hard and angry on the deck and he completely skipped the steps, jumping off the porch and racing down the street as he continued to hold back his tears. “I hate him! IhatehimIhatehimIhatehim!” Jason repeated to himself numerous times as he ran further and further away from the home, the sky already beginning to get dark.

Jason wandered around for a while, still trying to calm himself down and before he knew it, he was in the middle of the city, standing in front of the large fountain and calmly listening to the sound of the water being spewed proudly out of each faucet. The wind picked up the water droplets a few times, lightly misting Jason and he shut his eyes as he took a deep breath in, savoring how free and relaxed he felt now that he was out of the house and far from his father.

Jason stood at the fountain for about 10 minutes, still calming himself and he checked all around him as the cars raced down the streets, wondering if each car would be his mother looking for him, or worse, his father. A single, gentle bark filled Jason’s ears and he looked all around him frantically, finally noticing a dog in the distance to his left and he recognized the dog from last night. “A-Archor?” He asked himself in a whisper, looking at the dog and seeing that it was starring at him from not too far away across the street. “Archor!” He called out, “Come here, boy!” Jason attempted, but the dog only wagged it’s tail once to it’s name, confirming to Jason that it indeed was Archor. “I knew it,” Jason said with a smile to himself, then watching as the dog turned around and took off on it’s feet.

“Hey, wait! Come back!” Jason called out, racing after the injured canine passed the fountain, cars beeping at the child as he ran through the street without checking both ways. Jason chased the dog for miles, all the while getting further and further from his home and far from the city as he raced over the bridge that lead to the suburbs. “Where are you going? Stop!” Jason attempted to call out, but the dog simply looked behind it’s shoulder briefly as it kept going, barking a few times. Twice Jason had lost Archor, but he would notice tiny drops of blood on the ground and follow it until he found him again to continue the chase. Jason soon slowed his pace and he walked across the bridge, being completely out of breath and he struggled for air as he saw the dog stop at the end of the bridge, watching Jason and waiting for him to catch up. Jason’s legs ached and throbbed for how much he had ran, but he bravely continued on, determined to hopefully catch the dog so he can bring it home to show his parents, mostly his father, that he wasn’t a liar.

Jason took to his feet again after walking all the way across the bridge to catch his breath, running after Archor and following him down a road that lead to a dead end. “Nowhere for you to go, now,” Jason said to himself, hoping the dog would give up this game of chase and finally let Jason touch him or bring Archor home with him. “..Is that where he lives?” Jason asked himself when he noticed the dog was running towards a house, but it looked like no one was home.

Jason reached the home and watched as Archor ran to the back yard, but Jason was puzzled on why he had brought him here. Jason looked to the front yard and noticed an old looking ‘for sale’ sign still in the grass, then looked in through the windows and noticed no one lived there, it hadn’t looked like someone lived there in well over 10 years and he raised his brow in confusion.

Jason soon walked away from the window and went around the back to see where Archor had gone, then noticing a red dog house just like the one they had back at his house. Jason walked more towards it and it had Archor’s name written along the top arch of the doorway, “Whoa, no way.. Is this where you and Dad lived..?” Jason asked no one, inspecting the doghouse and he could still see black and white dog hair scattered about on the floor of Archor’s red house. Jason then heard Archor bark in the back yard and he then ignored the dog house, continuing to the back yard of the home and seeing nothing once more.

Jason walked to the back and looked in through the back door, still seeing nothing and no one and still wondering where Archor had gone, “Archor, here boy!” Jason called out, wondering where he had gone to. Jason could still smell the blood that soaked Archor fur, but he still couldn’t find him. Jason noticed a few bugs on the ground and walked over to them, “Oh, cool..” He said softly, playing with the bugs and even picking one up to inspect it more. The bug bit him and he quickly dropped it, watching as it scurried away and Jason looked to his finger, watching as a bump was forming and turned red with irritation.

Jason was drawn away from his bug bite when he heard Archor whimpering by the shore, Jason’s eyes widening in shock as he looked to Archor now lit up by the moon and Jason then convinced himself he had to be seeing things. Jason slowly stood up straight and looked at Archor, now seeing the extent of his wounds and seeing the deep, numerous stab wounds the dog had been subjected to. Jason put his hand over his mouth in shock, watching as blood continued to drip out of his wound as if they were still fresh. “O-Oh my.. God.. Archor?” Jason could barely form words as he looked to the mutilated dog, “Y-You.. Should be dead.. By now.. From those wounds,” Jason said softly, his voice shaking as he began to slowly walk towards Archor, “Who.. W-Who did this to you..?” Jason asked sympathetically, his body shaking in slight fear as he looked to the mangled animal that should indeed be long dead from serious wounds such as those.. There’s no way he could’ve survived the night.. Jason thought to himself.

There was rustling behind Jason and he quickly turned around, a light being shined on him from a bright flashlight and Jason covered his face to hider the light, “Hey, you! Are you Jason Dubois?” The man asked, Jason now realizing it was a police officer.

“Yeah.. I was following this dog, it’s really hurt, it’s right over-” Jason began but looked back, not seeing Archor anywhere and wondering yet again how Archor had gotten away so quickly. “He was right there.. I swear!” Jason pleaded and the police officer gripped his arm and pulled him towards his vehicle, “Let me go! I have to find it, it’s seriously hurt!” Jason tried to plead more but was shoved into the car without the officer giving a single care what he was saying.

“Your parents are worried sick, I’m taking you home little man, no buts,” the officer demanded and Jason grew discouraged, hanging his head in the back seat in defeat as he glanced out the window as the car pulled away, not seeing Archor anywhere and sighing heavily to himself.

“Uh oh… Looks like the run-away is home!” Hitomi said teasingly as she watched the gentle flashing of the blue and red lights coming from the cop car when it pulled up along the curb. Everyone had been watching television as Sadie paced around the home nervously, wanting her baby boy back more than anything and her expression was excited after Hitomi’s words.

“And in trouble,” Marrick added with a displeased tone, the rest of the girls worrying for Jason and wondering what the extent of his punishment was going to be. Marrick went outside and made everyone else stay in, Sadie getting antsy and wanting to follow to greet her son, but she assumed that Marrick wanted a word with him.

“Thank you, officer,” Marrick began, watching as the cop tipped his hat in a ‘you’re welcome’ gesture and pulled away, leaving Marrick and Jason alone on the porch together. Jason refused to say anything, looking to his father in disgust. “Did you have fun?” Marrick asked sarcastically and Jason scowled at him.

“More fun than being around you,” Jason replied with a cocky tone and Marrick’s anger jumped up a few levels.

“You worried your mother,” Marrick added, getting the subject off of him and talking about Sadie so Jason would eventually feel bad for what he had done, “She’s been a mess ever since you stormed off, go apologize, now,” Marrick demanded.

“I’m not apologizing to you!” Jason yelled angrily.

“I didn’t ask you to, go inside and see your mother,” Marrick demanded again, but with less anger in his tone, genuinely concerned for Sadie and wanting her to feel better now that her son was home.

“Whatever..” Jason replied and stormed inside, Marrick sighing and following him inside as well.

“Oh! My baby boy!” Sadie cried out, going to Jason quickly and pulling him into a tight hug.

“Hey..” Jason replied, hugging her in return and soon feeling her kiss his cheeks a few times.

“I was so worried, where did you go? Why did you leave? I’m so happy you’re home,” Sadie continued, tears forming in her eyes and Jason soon felt terrible for leaving. “Don’t ever do that again!” Sadie pleaded and Jason sighed, smirking slightly at how much he was missed and Sadie stood from hugging him, looking down at his face and smiling with tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I won’t,” Jason replied and Sadie let out a sigh of relief. Marrick watched the two together, staying silent as he watched his wife and only son getting along wonderfully while he was left in the dark. Marrick still wondered why Jason hated him so much, but he knew that Jason truly meant the words he said just before he ran away and that’s all that had been running through Marrick’s head while Jason was gone.

“Mom, I’m not a liar! I swear.. I went to the city because I was mad, I was going to turn around and come right back, but..” Jason stopped, briefly glancing behind him and noticing his father was still right there, listening to his words and Jason was scared to continue, but he was determined to convince them. “I saw.. I saw Archor, again!” Jason stated and caught everyone’s attention, all looking to Jason as if he was crazy and Marrick sighed heavily behind him.

“How many times are we going to have this discussion.. He’s dead, Jason,” Marrick added and Jason completely ignored him.

“I followed him! He ran all throughout the city, over the bridge.. He even brought me to an old house for sale at the dead end of a road.. I found his old doghouse, a red one. B-But, I saw him again! He took me there, I don’t know why.. He was by the shore and he was still hurt and bleeding, but the cop showed up before I could catch him and bring him back with me to show you guys!” Jason continued and Marrick had had enough..

Hitomi, Anya and Julia kept to themselves, pretending to watch television but really keeping their full attention on what was going on with Jason and their parents. “Stop, stop right now. I’m not going to take this any longer, he’s dead Jason. End of story. No more. This is ridiculous and it’s gone too far. I’m warning you, if you ever mention Archor again, you don’t even want to know how long you’ll be in trouble for,” Marrick threatened Jason. Jason looked to Marrick, seemingly not phased at all by his threat and he was fed up with his fathers demands that Marrick knew he would never listen to.

“Show me,” Jason dared Marrick.

Marrick was completely thrown off by Jason’s request, “..W-W..What?” Marrick asked, his heart beginning to race as he pondered Jason’s words and hoped he simply just misunderstood him.

“I said show me, prove to me that he’s dead! Because from what I’ve been seeing lately, he’s not! He’s alive and hurt! I want to help him, but if he’s really dead, then I’ll stop! So show me! Let’s go right now and dig up that fake grave you have in the back yard!” Jason threatened and his expression was filled with rage. Marrick’s expression was blank, shocked by Jason’s words and he couldn’t find a way to respond to him. If he said no, then Jason would only hate him more, but if Marrick said yes.. Jason, along with the rest of the family, would know what Marrick had done to Archor; Archor’s body wouldn’t have any fur or flesh, he would’ve already became one with the dirt, but the bloody towel that Marrick had wrapped Archor in would still be there. Marrick panicked, unsure of how to answer his son.

Sadie gasped, horrified by her sons words, “Jason Richard! You go to your room this instant!” Sadie raised her voice slightly at Jason and he looked to her, “Right now!” She continued, Jason was shocked by her words and he quickly escaped the room as tears fell from his eyes.

Sadie felt guilty for yelling at Jason as she heard him cry while running to his room. She sighed, “I’m going to go talk to him..” Sadie then came up to Marrick and caressed his cheek lovingly, trying to give some comfort to him after Jason’s hurtful words and Marrick only shook his head in disbelief. Anya and Hitomi came to their father, wanting to comfort him as well after Jason’s behavior.

“Are you okay, Daddy?” Julia asked from the couch.

“It’s okay, Dad, Jason’s the only one that doesn’t believe he’s gone.. I can’t understand why he’s acting like this..” Hitomi said with a defeated tone.

“It’s alright.. He’ll realize the truth sooner or later and give up this charade, hopefully soon,” Marrick replied to his girls in a quiet tone.

“I’m sorry Jason treats you so horribly, Dad. I really wish he would just grow up,” Hitomi said in defeat, hugging her father and Marrick soon had a smile on his lips from his daughter’s affection, needing love from his children now more than ever, though he wished he was getting it from his son, too. He was well aware that his daughters loved, respected and cherished him, but never once had he felt any respect from Jason and it hurt more than the rest of the family knew.

“We love you, Daddy,” Anya said with a smile, hugging her father next and Marrick’s smile only grew, trying to forget about Jason’s words as he received more than enough comfort from his other children.

“I love all of you so much more,” he replied, letting Anya go and putting one of his hands to either side of their faces. “I’m going to bed, don’t stay up too late, girls,” he said with a smirk, watching them nod in agreement and Marrick walked towards the couch, bending down to kiss Julia on the top of her head before going upstairs.

After the girls knew they could talk among themselves, they continued about their father and brother, “What the hell has gotten into that boy? Seriously?” Anya asked, trying to figure out her confused brother and Hitomi shrugged.

“Who knows, maybe he just hit puberty of something, he’s probably just going crazy because he doesn’t know how to deal with it. He’s too emotional and he hates dad too much to probably talk about it with him,” Hitomi said softly, flipping through the channels on the television.

“Maybe he really does see Archor,” Julia added, Hitomi and Anya looking to Julia as if she was stupid.

“It’s impossible, Dad’s said it a million times.. He’s dead, like actually dead. Not coming back, not roaming around, nothing, he’s in the ground in the back yard. The fact that Jason had enough courage to dare Dad to dig up the grave of his best friend and prove it shocked the hell outta me,” Hitomi continued.

“But, what if it’s like.. His ghost, or something..?” Julia tried to convince her sisters.

“..Yeah, if you even believe in the mumbo-jumbo, ” Hitomi replied and rolled her eyes.

Anya sighed, “I just don’t understand.. I hope he gets out of this phase, and soon.. Archor meant the world to Dad, I just want Jason to stop all of this before Dad really looses it,” Anya said jokingly.

Marrick was in his room, standing at one of the windows that looked down to Archor’s grave. Marrick’s thumb tapped against his bottom lip in agitation, anxious about the last half hour he had been standing there waiting for Sadie to be done talking with Jason. He starred at the grave, displeased that Archor was still manipulating him, and now he was manipulating his only son, “You lead him so far away from the house, he could’ve gotten hurt. Why did you take him back to the old house; to prove who you were? Why are you doing this to him? To me?” Marrick talked to himself, beginning to bite at his nail in anxiousness. “He was fine before you showed back up, and now he thinks he’s crazy,” Marrick hesitated after his own words, “Well, maybe he is..”

Sadie soon walked into the room, breaking Marrick’s attention on Archor’s grave and he looked to her and saw grief in her eyes, “What did he tell you?” He asked quietly, walking over to her and she wrapped her arms around him.

“He honestly believes that he sees Archor, even though he’s never even met him. He describes him perfectly, even mannerisms that only we would know that Archor would do. I don’t know what to think of all this,” she began, averting her eye from his, “He.. He said that he got a good look at him and he was still covered in blood, even had stab wounds.. Marrick, I don’t want our son to be seeing such gruesome things,” she pleaded.

Marrick’s heart stopped when we realized Archor was pinning Jason against him this entire time, wanting him to see what Marrick had done to let him know the true wrath of what his father was capable of doing to his loved ones. Sadie was right, ever since that one fateful day when Marrick had disposed of Archor, Jason heard everything, and even though he was a baby, he’s always known subconsciously that there was a reason to stay away from Marrick the best he could. “H-He’s just a growing boy that doesn’t know what he’s seeing or doing, his imagination is just running wild, I assure you that it’s probably just a phase,” Marrick replied, trying to ease her worry.

“What if.. What if there really is something wrong with him? Why is he seeing such things? How do we fix this and help him?” She wondered, still worried about Jason and whatever he was going through.

“He doesn’t need help, he’s fine. It’s a phase, don’t worry about it so much. He’s probably just been staying up later than he should with the girls and watching those paranormal TV shows and having nightmares.. Just, let me handle it, I’ll think of something to do about this,” Marrick assured her, resting his forehead against hers and she soon nodded, having confidence in him and hoping he would find a solution soon.

Generation 1, Chapter 15

Time flew by for the Dubois family; Hitomi and Anya were in high school now, Julia was in Junior High and Jason was on his last year of elementary. Sadie made pancakes for breakfast and the girls sat at the table with Marrick, waiting for breakfast as they talked about school and other things.

Hitomi was now dating her friend John whom she had been friends with since she was a child, while Anya hadn’t found anyone yet, but the line of boys at her school that wanted to date her stretched across the whole neighborhood. Marrick hated Hitomi’s boyfriend, he was convinced he was a bad influence on her because for the first time in all of her school career, ever since they started dating her grades had been slipping from the constant A’s to high and low B’s, and he new she was smarter than that. He especially hated seeing how fast his girls were growing up into women and he dreaded the day that they would move out to go to college. Marrick didn’t like the attention that Anya was getting from all the boys in her grade, but he was happy that she wasn’t jumping into anything until she was done with her schooling. There were even a few times where boys had come over to ask Marrick himself to date Anya, but the boys never noticed Anya behind them in a doorway, peaking out and shaking her head ‘no’ to her father, Marrick then being happy to use scare tactics as a way to keep them away from her; inside and outside of school.

“I can’t believe Jason is already 11 today,” Hitomi began, “It seems like only yesterday he was learning how to walk, and failing at it,” she said with a giggle.

Anya and Julia laughed, “Just because he learned later than the three of us doesn’t mean he was failing, he can obviously walk, now. He just, took a little longer..” Anya said with a smile, defending their brother.

“What do you think he wants to do today?” Julia asked everyone, Marrick continuing to drink his coffee as he listened to his daughters, relaxed and content as he sat there.

“Hm.. He’ll probably want to go to the library or something boring,” Hitomi through in, always loving to tease her younger siblings.

“Well, we’ll have to do something super fun. My babies are growing up too fast, we need to make the most out of each of your birthdays,” Sadie joined in, soon finishing the pancakes and walking them over to the table for everyone.

Sadie called Jason to breakfast, but he never came down to eat with them, the rest of the family then deciding to eat without him since the food was getting cold. “Why does he hate breakfast so much?” Anya wondered out loud, “He loves mom’s cooking, but he never eats in the morning, and it’s like, the best food, too!”

“Oh, thank you, sweetie,” Sadie said with joy, clearing everyone’s plates from the table and cleaning the dishes at the sink.

Hitomi rolled her eyes at Anya’s comment about Jason, “He’s always like this, he’s so absent minded and over-emotional lately, he never knows what’s good and what isn’t anymore,” she said with little hope.

“Hitomi, that’s enough.. It’s his birthday,” Sadie chimed in again, Hitomi shrugging and choosing not to talk anymore.

About fifteen minutes later, Jason finally showed his face in the kitchen and Anya was the first to notice him, “Hey birthday boy!” She said excitedly and Jason smirked slightly.

“Morning,” he said quietly. Hitomi, Anya, Julia and Sadie all looked to Jason and smiled, but Marrick kept his attention forward, sipping his coffee and not acknowledging his son. Jason and Marrick still never got along; Jason didn’t give Marrick the time a day, let alone listen to anything he said or told him to do. He only listened to his mother and sisters.

“Wow, you look.. Fancy,” Julia said with a giggle afterwards, Jason then adjusting his jacket and collar.

“Thanks,” he continued to reply quietly.

“You missed breakfast that your mother made for you for your birthday,” Marrick said with a rather bland tone, already knowing that Jason wouldn’t care.

“..I wasn’t hungry..” Jason replied to his father, furrowing his brow and already not liking how the day had started off since his father had now spoken to him.

“Hi, Baby!” Sadie said happily, drying her hands from washing the dishes and coming over to Jason to give him a strong hug, “Happy Birthday,” she continued and Jason smiled wide. Jason loved Sadie the most of all, always listening to what she said and always enjoying her company, his mood being lifted completely now that his mother had taken away his attention from his father.

“Hey, ma!” He replied, hugging her tightly in return.

“If you didn’t want breakfast food then I could’ve made you something else, you know that. You get whatever you want today!” She continued happily, kissing his cheek.

“No, it’s okay, ma. I wasn’t hungry,” he replied with a smile and she caressed his face lovingly, admiring how handsome her little boy had become and how much he resembled Marrick.

“Well, I’m sorry I’ll miss a tiny bit of your birthday, but I’ll be back really soon, alright?” She said with another smile and he nodded happily. Sadie had recently been guest speaking at art museums and schools, giving lessons and teaching art all around town. She was getting very well known, and even became a small time celebrity throughout the city.

Marrick stood from his seat and put his mug in the sink, walking to Sadie and pulling her close, “Teach your class quick, we don’t want to have all the fun without you,” he said with a fake smile, kissing her lips gently and Sadie smiled warmly.

“It won’t be fun without her,” Jason said under his breath, hinting that since Marrick was the chaperone, they wouldn’t have any fun.

Sadie looked over to Jason and gave a ‘watch your mouth’ expression, but smiling as well, “Stop it,” she said softly and he rolled his eyes. Sadie smiled at Marrick and kissed him once more, “I’ll be back soon, just let me know what you guys decide to do and I’ll meet you there or something,” she added and Marrick nodded. The family all said their goodbyes to her and Marrick watched her leave the house, soon looking to Jason and keeping a blank expression and Jason scowled at him slightly.

Hitomi got up quickly to break the tension between the father and son, walking over to Jason and forcing him into a hug, “Happy birthday, baby brother,” she said with a smile and Jason smiled as well, hugging his oldest sister in return.

“Thanks,” he replied.

“Are you ready for Junior High next year? It should be challenging, but I know you can do it!” Hitomi continued and Jason shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess I’m ready,” he replied, soon giving her another smile and seemingly not that excited for his birthday.

Anya soon came over to him and hugged him as well, “Happy birthday! What do you want to do today? ” She asked, watching as his expression twisted in thought and he soon shrugged, being in the same position as Anya when she was his age and not caring what they did.

“Let’s go do something fun, like the arcade!” Julia suggested, Jason’s expression growing happy and he nodded. Jason then looked to Marrick as if asking him without words if they could go there, but he soon looked away and didn’t want to bother talking to him.

“That’s a great idea, let’s go there,” Hitomi took over being in charge as she looked to Marrick, smiling at him and his expression didn’t contest to what the kids had decided.

“Alright, the arcade it is,” Marrick replied, and soon the family loaded up into the car and left.

The arcade was in the city and Marrick took forever driving to it; he still hated the city. He stopped at a gas station and got gas and drinks for the kids, taking his time when doing so as all of his children hassled him to hurry up. “When’s mom going to be there?” Jason asked as they drove towards the arcade.

Anya tousled his hair and giggled, “Don’t worry, she’s good at what she does, it won’t take her long before she meets us there,” she assured him and he smirked, looking out the window and watching the buildings begin to get taller, more modern and they were soon inside of the city.

The first thing that the kids did is play video games against one another, Hitomi against Anya and Julia against Jason. Marrick sat on the sofa not too far from his children, watching them enjoy themselves and having fun on Jason’s birthday.

“You are sooooo going down,” Hitomi threatened, a devious and confident grin upon her lips.

Anya kept a straight face with a slight smile, “I doubt that, I’m awesome at this game,” she rebutted and gave a devious chuckle.

“Anya always wins, Hitomi!” Julia added, laughing as Hitomi gave her a threatening glare.

“This game’s stupid, let’s do something else..” Jason said with a disheveled expression.

“You’re just mad because I’m winning!” Julia replied with another laugh.

“Shut up! You’re not winning!” Jason hissed back, getting frustrated at the game.

“Be nice,” Marrick added, not enjoying whenever one of them go mad at the other, Jason simply rolling his eyes at his fathers request.

Anya and Julia moved on to whack-a-gnome, Jason went to try his luck at the claw machine, and Hitomi was on her phone, most likely texting her boyfriend. “I’m gunna.. Go upstairs to play on the arcade machines,” Hitomi said with a smile to Marrick, him then watching as she raced upstairs to the second story and he raised his brow, wondering what she was up to. He continued on his way towards the others, watching them play their games and seeing Jason winning a toy. Marrick then remembered back to the time when they had gone to the tiny circus that came to town for Hitomi’s birthday when she was a toddler, thinking of the pink bunny he had won her on her birthday and a smirk ran over his lips.

Sadie eventually showed up as dusk rolled over the horizon, finding Marrick instantly and going to greet him. “Did I miss anything fun?” She asked and gave Marrick a quick peck on the lips.

“No, the kids have just been playing their games,” he replied simply, watching as she smiled excitedly, “We should bowl for a little bit,” he suggested and she nodded in agreement.

Jason came over to her quickly after hearing her talking to Marrick, “Hey, do you wanna play a game?” He asked her with a wide smile, feeling her brush his hair down and kiss his forehead.

“Your father and I were about to go bowling, do you want to come with us?” She asked in return, watching as his expression went slightly annoyed.

“No,” he replied and walked away from them, finding something else to do without them.

Sadie was concerned for Jason, but her and Marrick continued on to go bowling, talking about Jason as they did it. “Do you think I should’ve played with him?” She asked, getting a strike and not really even caring.

“He’s fine, you can play something with him in a little bit. We invited him to bowl with us and he said no, just let him do what he wants,” he reassured her and she smirked slightly.

“Yeah, I guess so,” she replied, continuing to bowl with Marrick for a while longer.

When they were done bowling, Sadie went to look for Jason and Marrick went around the arcade, looking for Hitomi and wondering where she had gone to. On the second story, the arcade seemed dead and Marrick walked all around it, checking each area in search for his eldest daughter.

The last place Marrick checked was the comic book section, finally finding Hitomi and he was displeased to see her with her boyfriend, John. His blood boiled at the sight of him, he hated him and knew Hitomi could do much better than a trouble maker like John. He watched as he flirted with Hitomi, getting close to her and even dragging his finger down her arm and Marrick had the sudden urge to hold him down and beat the living shit out of him.

Marrick’s eyes widened then as he watched Jason take hold of Hitomi and force her into a kiss, Hitomi acting as if she didn’t want it but letting him do it anyways. Marrick made a beeline towards them and forced them apart, surprising Hitomi and she was shocked by her fathers actions, “Dad! What the hell?” She asked in anger.

“Watch your mouth, and while you’re at it, keep your mouth off him!” He retaliated, John’s eyes widening in shock and he didn’t know what to say. “You stay away from my daughter, do you hear me?” He asked John and he coward in fear, looking to Hitomi and wanting help out of this horrifying situation.

“Dad, stop! This is stupid, he’s my boyfriend, I can kiss him if I want!” She replied, getting angry with her father and Marrick didn’t back down.

“Look man, I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just-” John tried to reason but Marrick butted in.

“I don’t want to hear it, keep your hands off of her,” he warned, looking to Hitomi and pushing her towards the steps to go downstairs, “Go by your mother,” he demanded, giving John one last death stare before escorting his daughter away from him.

“Dad, what is wrong with you? Let me go!” Hitomi yelled at him, gathering the attention of the rest of their family as she jerked her arm out of his grip. “I’m waiting in the car, leave me alone!” She threatened, storming out of the arcade.

Sadie was in shock and worried for Hitomi, “What happened?” She asked with concern, Marrick’s expression going back to calm and bland.

“Nothing, let’s go,” Marrick replied simply, Sadie not asking anymore questions and taking his final word.

Of course Dad manages to ruin a fun day, Jason thought to himself, sighing in defeat as everyone kept quiet and left, the entire ride home awkward and almost nauseating from how much tension there was in the car.

When they arrived home, Anya, Julia and Jason went upstairs to their rooms and got ready for bed as Marrick and Hitomi exchanged heated words in an argument about John as Sadie watched, wondering what she should do to stop it. Marrick eventually grounded her and sent her to her room, not saying anything to Sadie as he went upstairs to their bedroom. Sadie was left alone in the living room, waiting until she heard both of their doors slam closed and deciding to go upstairs to check on Jason.

“Are you okay?” Sadie asked, noticing his annoyed expression and Jason soon went happy at the sight of his mother.

“Yeah.. I’m fine. Dad just, makes me angry,” he replied, looking to the floor and Sadie sighed.

“Why?” She asked.

“Because.. He just always finds a way to ruin everything. No one can ever make him happy,” he replied and Sadie’s expression went saddened.

“That’s not true, you make him happy. Hitomi, Anya, Julia, we all make him happy, he was just concerned for Hitomi.. He’s not ready to lose his first child yet, neither am I,” she replied, “I admit he may have handled it wrong, but he’s just scared and nervous for her.”

Jason sighed and nodded, understanding her but still unsure of his father, “Still.. He didn’t need to do that, Hitomi should be with someone who makes her happy, and John does just that,” he replied and Sadie pulled him into a  hug.

“I’m so happy to know I have such a caring and understanding son,” she said with joy and Jason smiled, taking it as a compliment and liking that he wasn’t like his father. “Get some rest,” Sadie finished, kissing his cheek goodnight and she left his room.

Jason had fallen asleep, but only for roughly two hours, suddenly sitting up in his bed and breathing in a panic. He looked around his room and saw nothing, standing to his feet and walking over to his window to look out of it and loving the view of the city that he had from his window. He suddenly looked down, his eyes widening in shock when he saw an old, white and dark gray patterned dog walking though the yard. Jason worried for the dog, noticing that his chest, paws and underbelly was covered in blood and he wanted to help him.

Jason raced out of his room, tip-toeing down the stairs and hoping that he wouldn’t wake either of his parents since he wanted to sneak outside. He quickly typed in the code on the security system and the front door unlocked, Jason racing outside and running though the grass and the wet dew almost made him loose his footing a few times. His worry for the injured and mangled dog caused his heart to race and he ran as fast as he could through the yard and to the tree that was outside of his window.

Jason reached the back yard and still saw the dog in the distance by the tree, approaching with caution, “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” Jason whispered to the dog. Jason could smell the blood that the dogs fur was soaked in, walking around the tree to get closer and see what was wrong, but the moment he went passed the tree, the dog was no longer there. Jason looked around the hay blocks and around the tree, then looked around the entire rest of the yard and wondered where the dog had gone. “I.. Couldn’t have imagined it, I smelled the blood..” Jason said to himself in a whisper, confused by what he had just seen and wondering where the dog had gone to so quickly.

Jason soon came back inside, but only after checking the rest of the back yard first. He punched in the security code and locked the house again, making his way back up to his room and he stopped in the hallway when he noticed Hitomi sitting on the couch. “Where’d you go?” She asked, watching Jason walk over to her a little more.

“I, um.. I saw a dog outside, it looked really hurt, so I went to go see what was wrong with it,” he replied simply.

“A dog? Well, was it hurt, or no?” She asked, standing to her feet and walking over to Jason.

“Well, no.. It ran away before I could get close enough,” he answered with a defeated tone, Hitomi’s expression going curious.

“What did it look like?” She wondered, seeing Jason’s expression begin to remember.

“It was kind of a big dog, tall, really furry. It had two different patterns, a dark gray and white, he looked old, and it was covered in blood,” he replied, Hitomi’s face then went worried.

“Are you sure? Maybe it was just a different pattern or color,” she replied, not wanting to believe his story and hoping there wasn’t an injured dog running around.

“Yes, I’m sure! I could smell the blood!” He replied with a sudden burst of anger and she put her hands to his shoulders.

“Okay, okay! Keep your voice down, jeez.. Come into my room for a second,” she suggested, pulling him into her room with her and shutting the door silently.

“Wait, what are you doing up, anyways?” Jason asked curiously.

“I was on the phone with John,” Hitomi replied simply, “Now you’re sure it was hurt?” She asked, getting them back on the subject of the dog.

Jason’s demeanor was twisted with all different emotions, wondering what he should do, “Well, I don’t know.. It was covered in blood, I just kind of assumed it might’ve gotten into a fight with another dog or something,” he replied hastily, “We have to go look for it!” He pleaded, taking her arm and trying to lead her back outside with him.

“Jason, stop this, if the dog was hurt, then it wouldn’t have been able to get away so fast, I’m sure it’s fine,” she tried to reason with him and calm him down.

Jason’s eyes suddenly widened when he saw a picture hanging on Hitomi’s wall, never noticing it before now, “That’s it, that’s the dog I saw! Why do you have a picture of him?” He asked, walking to the photo and Hitomi sighed.

“That’s Archor, Dad’s old dog.. It couldn’t have been him, he died when you were a baby,” she replied, now not believing a single word he had said.

“It can’t be, it was this dog, I’m sure of it! I smelled the blood..” He replied, trying his hardest to convince her.

“Jason, just go to sleep, we’ll talk about this more tomorrow, I’ll even go looking for the dog with you in the morning, but I don’t care what you say, it wasn’t this dog,” she replied with a stern tone, pushing him out of her room and closing the door before he could plead with her anymore.

Jason walked to his room and shut the door quietly, walking back over to his window and looking out, seeing nothing by the tree but the grave of his father’s old dog and the bundled up hay blocks. He sighed as he looked down to the yard, hoping the dog would be okay and vowing that he would go looking for the dog in the morning with Hitomi. He slowly walked back over to his bed and crawled under the blankets, starring out the window at the trees swaying in the wind, his eyelids soon growing heavy and falling asleep as he thought of the dog covered in blood.

Generation 1, Chapter 14

Attention: This chapter gets split up, it begins where chapter 13 left off, but it will jump more into the future later on.

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Marrick panicked. His entire body was shaking from nerves, guilt, and sorrow for what he had done to Archor, but he forced himself to snap out of it, not wanting any of the girls to come home and see what he had done, let alone ask where Archor was while he was still dealing with the body. Marrick ran to the bathroom in between Jason and Hitomi’s room and grabbed a bath towel, wrapping Archor in it and he carried him outside to the back yard. Luckily for Marrick, Sadie had locked up Arnica in her stall before leaving with the girls, so Arnica wasn’t there to keep Marrick from coming into the yard. He dug a hole as fast as he could and buried Archor, taking a few moments to look at him, almost trying to engrave how he looked into his head so he could remember what he had done. Such a horrible, terrible thing, and he didn’t want to forget it. He wanted to overcome it, he wanted it to never happen again as he looked down at Archor wrapped up, the white towel soaking up all of the blood he was still losing. “I’m so sorry,” Marrick said in a gentle whisper before quickly returning the dirt over Archor’s body, burying him and hiding the evidence. Marrick then grabbed more towels, bleach, and tons of other cleaning supplies to clean up the blood puddle on the third floor.

It took Marrick roughly ten minutes to make the floor spotless and he bagged up the bloodied towels and threw them into the dumpster underneath other garbage as to not cause any suspicion and knowing the stains wouldn’t come out with just a simple wash. Jason was still crying and wanting attention as Marrick ran back and forth throughout the home to cover up his tracks, “Hold on, Buddy, please.. Daddy’s coming,” Marrick said to himself, hating that Jason needed him for roughly the passed half hour of his cleaning and he hadn’t gone to him yet. Marrick then rushed to the bathroom and finally looked to his face, seeming dried and still somewhat moist blood on him and he still couldn’t calm down his rattled body. He splashed water and soap on his face numerous times, scrubbing and rubbing everywhere to get every spec of blood off of him before he had contact with Jason or the rest of the family. He then looked to his shirt after his face was clean, unbuttoning it quickly and racing to his room to change his clothes since there was blood splattered on his cuffs, arms, and part of his chest.

Marrick changed and bagged up his clothes as well, hating that the shirt he had worn was something Sadie had bought for him, but he had no choice but to get rid of it with the rest of the blood stained evidence. Marrick’s breathing was unsteady and his chest never rose and sank the same, still trying his hardest to contain what he had done within him. He looked at himself in the mirror over his dresser, looking at his own eyes and even noticing himself that he was dangerous; his eyes held mystery and depth, yet an unknown rage and personality shined through on occasion, and this time the other personality overpowered him, and won. Marrick shut his eyes and turned his attention away from the mirror, finally ready to go to Jason now that he wasn’t covered in blood.

Marrick went upstairs to Jason’s room, glancing on instinct at the area he had just cleaned up to make sure he still didn’t see anything that would spark any questions. He opened the door and rushed to Jason, “I’m sorry it took me so long, shh, shh,” Marrick tried to calm Jason’s crying and it only worked a little, Jason’s eyes still refusing to stop tears but his whines and loud cries had gotten better. “Its okay,” Marrick said with a smirk that he found almost impossible to make, his cheeks were even pained a little in doing so as he rubbed Jason’s back, trying to comfort him. Marrick’s breath stopped when he had heard and felt through the house the front door open and close, assuming the girls were home and his heart was beating faster than it ever had before. He was nervous, worried he might slip up, but as he thought about it more and more, he knew that if any of the girls ever found out, he’d be a monster in their eyes and he would lose them forever. Marrick shut his eyes and gently bounced Jason around his room, trying to collect his thoughts and refusing to let himself be the reason for the crumbling of his family.

“Marrick?” Sadie’s voice called out though the house and he didn’t answer, his eyes still shut as he paced around Jason’s room more. He heard Sadie and the girls roaming around the home, searching for him and Sadie soon came to Jason’s room, walking in and seeing Marrick. She gave him a happy, calmed smile when she saw him and he looked at her with little interest, happy to see her, though unable to show any sign of it.

“How was everything?” Marrick asked, looking down to Jason with his continuous blank expression and Sadie smiled wider.

“Oh, it was wonderful.. We went to the beauty parlor and got our nails and toenails painted, then went and saw a movie the girls have been wanting to see, then we ate and now we’re back,” she replied, but Marrick’s lack of response and silence caused her to worry, her smile fading and she came up closer to him, “What’s the matter?” She asked, giving Jason a quick kiss on the forehead before looking back to Marrick.

Marrick didn’t know where to begin, he had only just finished cleaning up his horrible mess no more than a few minutes before they got home and didn’t really have too much time to think about how to explain Archor’s demise.. He continued his rather depressed expression, turning away from Sadie and putting Jason back into his crib. He stood there for a few moments in silence, Sadie’s expression filled with worry as she stood there, watching him and how he was acting. “Is.. Everything okay?” She asked, trying to get him to say something, anything.

Marrick looked to Sadie and slowly came over to her, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly against him as he continued to think of what to say to her. She was warmed by his hug, but it almost made her worry more as she held him in return. Marrick took a deep breath and drank in her scent, enjoying smelling something sweet instead of the bitterness of blood and he exhaled slowly. “Archor’s dead,”  Marrick came right out with it just above a whisper.

Sadie gasped and withdrew herself from Marrick, putting her hands to the sides of his face and looking into his eyes, “What?” She asked in a panic, “What do you mean..? How?” She continued, her voice beginning to weaken and wanting to cry, but she held back her tears as she looked at Marrick.

“I was.. Out. Walking him.. Earlier, and..” Marrick’s voice was still quiet, his words fumbling and it took him a few moments to eventually recover, “Another dog came out of nowhere.. I was holding Jason in one hand and Archor’s leash in the other, and it bit me, so I let go of the leash,” he continued, removing his hand from holding her and showing her his wrist were Archor had bit him, trying to defend himself from Marrick.. “Archor got into it with him and chased him, getting away from me for a few minutes and when I finally caught up, I found Archor in the grass.. The other dog had limped away, Archor got him pretty good, but.. Not good enough, I guess,” Marrick finished and wrapped his hand around her waist again, looking down and avoiding eye contact as his lip began to quiver the tiniest bit, knowing the truth behind the lie.

Sadie was in disbelief, horrified that another dog had came after the both of them for no reason, “Oh, Marrick.. I’m.. I’m so sorry.. He loved you so much, it was good that he had protected you and Jason, though, even despite the outcome.. I’m so sorry, babe, I loved him too.. We all did,” she said softly and her tears began, falling down her cheeks as she pulled him close and held Marrick, trying to give him the best comfort she could. “Where is he now?” She asked, slowly pulling away from him and looking to his face as she wiped her tears away.

“He’s.. In the back yard, it happened right after you girls left.. I didn’t want to wait, so I buried him,” Marrick replied and Sadie nodded in understanding. “But.. I’m glad you girls had fun, we can tell them about Archor tomorrow..” Marrick suggested, “I’m just.. Going to go to bed,” he finished, bringing one of his hands to her face and kissing her lips softly before exiting Jason’s room.

Marrick walked out of Jason’s room and Hitomi was walking to her room, but stopped when she saw her father, “Hey, Dad,” she said with a smile, but it quickly faded when he didn’t give her a smile or really say anything that she was so used to hearing, like ‘hey, beautiful’; that was her favorite, and he only said it to her. “..Dad..?” She said once more and he finally looked at her while going downstairs.

“Did you have fun today?” He asked with little interest and she made a rather reluctant expression.

“Yes..” Hitomi replied and she watched as he gave a fake smile.

“Good,” Marrick answered, “Get to bed on time,” he finished with and continued down the steps, Hitomi not answering his last statement as she worried for him, wondering what was wrong.

Sadie had wiped all of her tears away before leaving Jason’s room, seeing Hitomi standing in the hallway, looking a bit lost. “Are you okay, sweetie?” Sadie asked, watching as Hitomi looked to Sadie and gave a rather worried expression.

“Is Dad okay?” She asked, “He seems.. Sad. I’ve never see him like that,” Hitomi said with concern in her tone and Sadie sighed, not wanting to lie to her daughter.

“Well.. He is sad,” she replied, taking a few seconds to gather her words before continuing, “I need you to keep this from your sisters, just until tomorrow when Daddy and I are ready to tell them, okay?” Sadie asked, Hitomi’s eyes widening a little.

“..You’re pregnant again?” She asked, sounding rather unamused and Sadie smiled and shook her head ‘no’.

“No, sweetheart.. Umm..” She started but stopped, still unsure of how to tell Hitomi the news; she was the closet to Archor out of all the children, but she was unsure on how she would take the news.

“You’re Dad is sad because he.. He, lost Archor today..” Sadie said with a sad expression, looking to Hitomi and her eyes widened.

“Well where did he go!? We have to go get him! Why didn’t he go after him? How can he lose him?” She contested, beginning to get angry with her father.

“No, no.. He’s gone, sweetie.. Archor died while we were gone,” Sadie finished and Hitomi looked into Sadie’s eyes for a few long seconds, letting the words sink in and soon, Hitomi’s eyes filled with tears and she began to sob, Sadie feeling her tears come back as well and she quickly hugged Hitomi, “It’s okay.. He’s in doggy heaven, now.. But, please, just keep this from your sisters, just until tomorrow when your Dad and I tell them.. Alright?” She asked, pulling away and wiping Hitomi’s tears off her cheeks and watching her nod in understanding.

. . . Present Day, One Year Later . . .

“Come on, Jason, I know you can do it,” Marrick said softy with a smile, beginning to get irritated with how Jason was refusing to cooperate with him. “It’s not hard, I know you can.. Come on, now,” he continued, picking Jason up from the floor by his hands for the hundredth time and slowly pulling him along so he would walk, “See? You can walk when I’m helping you, but not by yourself?” Marrick asked, knowing that Jason could walk on his own and getting more frustrated that he wasn’t taking initiative.

“My girls did it so easily and quickly, but your son refuses,” Sadie said with a gentle laugh, teasing Marrick .

Marrick sighed after Sadie’s remark, not really in the mood to get teased as he struggled to teach his son how to walk on his own. He pulled Jason up to his feet once more, then stepped back and held out his arms, “Come on, Jason! Do you want candy? A new toy? Then come to Daddy,” he insisted, still holding out his hands.

“Hey, no fair! We never got bribed,” Anya pointed out, letting out a laugh as she watched the television with Hitomi.

“Because you were good girls from the start, I didn’t need to,” Marrick replied with a smile, being proud of his girls, but he lost his smile as he looked to Jason once more, “Come on, buddy.. Please?” Marrick continued, wiggling his fingers in requesting for Jason to come to him. Jason looked to Marrick and made a fed up expression, plopping down on the floor and pouting. Marrick sighed and hung his head, “Fine, I give up,” Marrick continued.

“Maybe he’s just stupid,” Hitomi suggested as the cause for his lack of walking skills, laughing after she said it and even Anya joined her in laughing.

Marrick and Sadie were anything but amused, “Watch your mouth,” Marrick hissed, giving Hitomi an intimidating glare and she quickly lost her smile, continuing her attention on the television and so did Anya. The bus pulled up along the curb outside and Marrick noticed it, “Bus is here, have a good day, girls,” he continued, his tone still rather intimidating and neither of them said anything as they fled from the home and away from getting into more trouble by their father.

After the girls left for school, Marrick picked up Jason and decided to call it quits for the day on teaching him to walk, he was beginning to get upset more and more the longer Marrick pushed him to try. Once Marrick picked Jason up, he began to cry, seemingly not wanting to be held by his father. As Jason got older, and ever since that fateful night that Marrick had gotten rid of Archor, Jason had lost his ‘calm and content’ nature and acted up more often, crying and causing a fuss when it was unnecessary for him to and there was usually no reason behind it. What Marrick and Sadie didn’t know, though, was that Jason wanted nothing to do with his father. Jason was scared of him, didn’t trust him, and didn’t want to be anywhere near him, let alone be taught how to walk by him and be forced to go into the arms that Jason never wanted around him.

Jason was still unsettled in Marrick’s arms, still giving a fuss and wanting to be put down. “Okay, okay,” Marrick said to Jason, giving in to him not wanting to be held anymore and he put him on the floor.

Sadie was concerned for Jason, she wasn’t really sure on how to take his personality change ever since Archor had died; Jason didn’t even know who Archor was since he was too small to remember him, trying to figure out why he had changed so much since then.. Sadie looked to Julia in her arms and smiled, “Go play with your brother, okay? Daddy and I need to talk,” Sadie said softly, watching as Julia smiled and nodded, Sadie then putting Julia on the floor as well.

“Come on, Jason! Let’s go watch cartoons!” She said excitedly, walking towards the television and Jason crawled with her and away from Marrick and Sadie, finally calming down now that he wasn’t in his fathers grip.

Marrick and Sadie walked into the kitchen and Marrick looked to her, wondering what she wanted to talk about as he noticed the worry on her face, “What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I just.. It’s taking him a while, you know? To learn to walk.. The girls would be running and playing already, but, not Jason. Do you think.. Well,” she paused, looking away from Marrick briefly, then back to his eyes, “Ever since Archor died.. I mean, Jason never knew Archor, but he completely changed after he was gone.. He’s so, unloving.. Towards you,” she pointed out and Marrick grew slightly nervous, but hid it well.

“Well, you said it yourself.. He didn’t know Archor, it’s impossible for him to remember him, so why would he be affected by his death?” He asked, trying to make her doubt herself and wanting her to think what happened to Archor wasn’t to blame.

“I guess you’re right.. It’s just odd that it happened around the same time.. I want to know what changed him. It seems like he just, doesn’t care, or doesn’t want to learn anything..” Sadie continued, discouraged and Marrick could tell that Jason’s upbringing has been different than the girls, causing him to fall behind a little.

Marrick smiled, “He’ll be just fine.. He’s just a late bloomer, that’s all.. And he just doesn’t like me because his mom is so beautiful.. I wouldn’t want to be held by me, either, if you were around,” he flirted slightly, causing Sadie to smile and he cheeks blushed a little. “Come on, we should go to the park or something.. Get these kids out and about. Who knows, maybe Julia will coax him into playing with her and he’ll just learn to walk on his own,” he suggested, seeing her smile wider and she nodded, agreeing with him and feeling a little better now that he had comforted her worried soul.

Marrick and Sadie brought Julia and Jason to the park to play, liking that their children had the entire playground to themselves. “What do you want to do first, Jason?” Sadie asked him, watching as he looked around and tried to decide. They first pushed Julia and Jason on the swings, then watched as they both played in the sand pit for a little while, then went over to the slides. They then let the two of them play together and went over to the bench and sat to watch them play, admiring them from afar and Marrick began to think of what Sadie had said earlier about Jason changing because of Archor..

They had only been there for two hours before Julia wanted to leave; she could only stand the outside for a little while, she hated the outdoors and no one could really understand why. Julia made her way over to her parents and pulled at Sadie’s leg, “Can we go now?” She asked, her expression getting irritated and Marrick let out a gentle chuckle.

“You want to leave already?” He asked, watching as she nodded her head ‘yes’ quickly and he nodded as well, “Alright, let’s go,” he added.

Sadie stood first and picked up Julia, Marrick joining her in standing and he looked over towards Jason, “Time to go, buddy,” he said with a smile, walking towards Jason to go pick him up. Jason looked to Marrick and made a slightly scared expression, crawling back and soon standing on his own. Marrick’s eyes widened and he let out a chuckle, “Oh, now you know how to walk, huh?” He teased, “Where are you going?” He asked, walking quicker as Jason then began to run but Marrick caught up to him in time before he left the park. Jason began to cry and Marrick sighed, feeling Jason squirm within his grasp, “I know you don’t want to leave, but it’s time to go. Stop fussing,” he somewhat requested, walking to the car and Jason stopped crying when he was put into his car seat and no longer in Marrick’s arms, feeling comfortable in the back with Sadie and Julia.

Later that evening after they all ate dinner, Marrick when to check on Hitomi and Anya, knocking on Hitomi’s door and being let in, seeing the two girls doing the homework. “School work almost done?” Marrick asked.

“Yeah, I just have one more problem to do,” Anya replied, Marrick smiling and nodding in approval.

“Hitomi?” He asked, waiting for her answer.

Hitomi could feel her fathers eyes on the back of her head and she sighed, “Yeessss, Daaad,” she teased and Marrick let out a gentle snicker.

“Good, make sure you both get to bed after this, alright?” He requested.

“Do you mind if I stay up for a bit? I wanted to finish a painting I’m working on,” Hitomi asked and Marrick looked to her easel. He was no artist, but judging by her painting, she looked like she was almost done and it wouldn’t take her long.

“Well.. Alright, but if you’re still up working on it around 9, I want you to call it quits and finish it tomorrow, okay?” He asked, watching as she looked over her shoulder and nodded happily.

Sadie was in Jason’s room with Julia, getting Jason changed for bed as Julia played with his blocks before being put to sleep herself after Jason. “You ready for bed, handsome boy?” She asked with a smile, Jason smiling and giggling in return. “Can you say Daddy? Or Mommy? J-u-lia?” Sadie asked, pronouncing the words well for him and he moved his lips as she did, but nothing came out; he was shy to try. “Maaaama?”

“M-Ma..” He began, trying his hardest to mimic her. Jason stopped trying to repeat her when he heard the hard, recognizable footsteps of his father in the hallway, his grip getting tighter on her clothing and he looked to the door.

Marrick came into the room and smiled at the sight of Sadie and Jason together, walking over and giving Sadie a quick kiss on the side of her head. Jason kept his eyes on Marrick, weary of his actions but before he could make a fuss, Sadie tickled him and he couldn’t help but let out a joyous laugh. Marrick could sense Jason’s discomfort, causing him to worry if what Sadie had said earlier was true. What if he remembers..? What if he knows what I did to Archor? No.. He was too young, no one remembers anything from that young of age.. Marrick convinced himself.

“Say goodnight to Daddy,” Sadie said to Jason, Marrick then tousling Jason’s hair and forcing Jason’s forehead to connect to his lips, even despite Jason making an uncomfortable face and trying to get out of his grip the whole time. “Oh, stop it,” Sadie said to Jason, desperately wanting him to get over this ‘phase’ of him hating his father.  Marrick was only a little bothered by Jason’s actions, if it was true that Jason changed because of what he heard on the other side of his door that one fateful night, then Marrick assumed he would never get over the fear he had for his father. There was nothing more he could do but watch his son grow up to despise him for a reason he wasn’t even sure of.

Marrick went to Julia as Sadie turned off Jason’s lights, “Ready for bed, baby girl?” He asked her, watching as she held out her arms excitedly for Marrick to pick her up. Sadie walked over to them and they all began to leave, “Say goodnight to Jason,” Marrick added to Julia, watching as she waved goodbye.

“Night night, Jason!” She called out. Jason stood in his crib and began to cry, not wanting to be alone, but Marrick and Sadie had learned to ignore his constant need for someone to always be with him, especially wanting Sadie.

As Sadie shut the door, Jason continued to cry out, “M-Ma.. Maa! Maama!” He yelled and Sadie stopped herself from closing the door, hearing him say her name for the first time successfully and she went to go back in, but Marrick stopped her.

“Sadie..” He said with a demanding tone, her looking to Marrick and giving a defeated expression, “He needs to learn to sleep on his own, we can’t keep coddling him.. He’s not going to hate you,” he finished. Sadie sighed and shut Jason’s door, continuing to hear him call for her as they went to Hitomi’s room to wish her goodnight before going downstairs.

Sadie wished Julia and Anya goodnight and went to her room, not joining them in the girls’ room and Marrick knew he had upset her. He changed Julia into her pajamas and put her into her crib, kissing her on the forehead as Anya talked with him, “Is he ever going to walk?” She asked, Marrick soon losing his smirk as he looked to Julia getting comfortable within her crib.

“He walked today, ran actually, when we went to the park,” he replied.

“Oh, good! I knew he wasn’t stupid,” she answered and Marrick chuckled, remembering Hitomi’s words from that morning.

“No, he’s not stupid,” he confirmed.

“Which one of us learned the fastest?” She asked next.

“Well, it kind of went in order.. Hitomi learned the quickest, then you, then Julia, and Jason took the longest, but it was still at a good pace,” he replied and smiled, looking back to Anya, “Now get to sleep, don’t you have a test tomorrow?” Marrick asked.

“Yeah, I’m going to ace it, though, so it’s okay,” she said confidently and Marrick smiled more, going to Anya and hugging her goodnight.

“I know you will, you’re smarter than anyone else in the class,” he replied, “Goodnight,” Marrick added, feeling her peck his cheek before walking over to her bed.

Jason knows.. He has to know  something, remember something, anything.. He acts so strange around me, like he always needs to keep an eye on me, like he’s.. Frightened. I don’t know what I’ll do if he turns out anything like me, I don’t know what I’ll do. Will he grow up wanting to hurt animals? ..People? His own sisters? ..His mother..? Marrick cringed at the thought of losing any of them, worrying if Jason was going to turn out anything like him. I’m not insane.. I’m not insane.. And neither is Jason, he never will be.. He’ll ever be like me. Marrick repeated to himself over and over again as he waited for Anya to get situated in her bed before shutting off the lights to their room.

Generation 1, Chapter 13

Attention: Yayyy! I finally have a potential heir! >:D Also a heads up, blood and rather violent content/behavior in this chapter. 0.0

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Where was the time going? It had already been an entire year since we had gone to the hospital. So far, it was the first birth I had actually been there for instead of leaving like I had done with Hitomi since I was so nervous, I was late getting to the hospital when Sadie had Anya, and when she had Julia, I had to wait in the waiting room because I had to watch the girls; they’d be a nervous wreck and crying if they were in the room with Sadie. But, since Hitomi was there to watch her sisters, I actually made it to the room in time to see my baby boy born.. I was so nervous, and I still am. Sadie wanted me to name the baby since she had named all the girls, so I picked something simple and named him Jason. There’s been a drastic difference in raising him compared to the girls; he hardly cries or gives a fuss, he’s calm and content with whatever it is he’s doing and where he’s at, almost as if he’s always thinking, or rather absent-minded.. Jason already shows the characteristics of a calm nature, I just hope he stays that way.

Marrick walked into Jason’s room to find Hitomi, Anya and Julia playing with blocks. He then looked over to see Sadie holding Jason and rocking him back and forth in the rocking chair, watching as he still continued his calm and content nature as he laid relaxed in his mothers arms. Marrick smiled and looked down to Anya, seeing her already looking up to him and smiling.

“Hey, Birthday girl,” Marrick said softly, leaning down and picking her up within his arms and kissing her cheek repetitively to get to her laugh, and it worked, hearing her let out a few giggles.

“Daddy!” Julia let out and she hugged his leg as he held Anya, looking down to her and chuckling.

“Hey, little lady,” he replied and bent down once more, hugging her against his leg and she then went back to playing with Hitomi. Marrick was happy to see that they’re getting along better and Hitomi isn’t treating her like she doesn’t exist anymore, it’s probably because Julia isn’t the youngest anymore, Marrick thought to himself.

“We should do something really fun for Anya’s birthday,” Hitomi said with a smile, looking up to Marrick and Sadie while still playing with the blocks.

“Yeah! But what? I wouldn’t mind just staying home with you all, either,” Anya replied and Marrick pulled her closer to him, kissing the side of her head lovingly at her response. Anya was most definitely just as sweet and heart warming as Sadie was, a diamond in a sea of coal.

“Noooo, we should think of something.. What have you always wanted to do?” Marrick asked, looking into her big brown eyes and keeping his warm smile.

Anya grew slightly shy and Marrick chuckled, unsure of what she wanted to do for her birthday and she soon shrugged, unable to think of anything. “Well, don’t worry, Daddy’ll think of something for his pretty girl,” he answered for her and she smiled, nodding and believing he would think of something good for them to do. Marrick looked over to Sadie and smiled, watching as she seemed to be in her own little world with Jason, the son that she had been wanting and waiting for. Marrick was happy that he had finally been able to give her what she wanted and make her happy, but it was hard for him to show the same kind of love for Jason like Sadie did. Marrick was weary of him, constantly wondering how he was going to turn out and if he would end up with the same thoughts in the future like Marrick had in the past.

Sadie eventually stood from the rocking chair and walked towards Marrick, stopping in front of him and still unable to look away from Jason, but she finally managed to briefly, “I’m going to go finish Anya’s cake,” she said with a smile, looking to Anya, “Wanna help?” She asked excitedly and Anya grew excited, too.

“Yeah! Yeah!” She replied and Sadie smiled, signaling for Marrick to give her Anya and he did, then Marrick took Jason from Sadie.

“It should be done baking, so be sure to come down soon!” Sadie continued, taking a moment to plant a kiss on Marrick’s lips before leaving the room with Anya.

Jason looked up to Marrick as he held him closer, his expression blank as he starred into his fathers eyes. Marrick began to grow a little uneasy, even though he was only a year old, Marrick felt as if just by that one look Jason knew they were alike, and in more ways than one.. Marrick grew a little uncomfortable and began to talk to Jason, hoping to change his strange expression and he held him up in the air as if flying him around the room, soon seeing a soft smile form on Jason’s lips and Marrick smiled then as well. Marrick decided it was about time to go downstairs and join Sadie and Anya, looking to Hitomi and Hitomi looked up to him, “Take Julia and go downstairs to the kitchen, I’m gunna put Jason down for a nap, I’ll be down soon,” he said with a smile and Hitomi nodded.

She stood from the floor and went to Julia, “Come on now, time to see Anya blow out her candles!” She said happily, picking up Julia and bringing her downstairs as Marrick put Jason in his crib to nap.

Marrick, Hitomi and Julia soon joined Sadie and Anya in the kitchen and the cake was ready and so was Hitomi. Marrick hated that his little girls were growing up so fast, but he loved seeing how much more beautiful they looked every day since all of them look so much like his lovely Sadie. Marrick put Julia in the high chair and Hitomi joined him at his side, all of them watching as Marrick lit the candles and they all began to sing happy birthday to her, watching as Anya blushed at the attention all on her.

“Make a wish, little lady,” Marrick said after the song was complete, Anya nodding and she thought hard for a few long seconds. Anya then looked to Sadie, “Ready!” She said and Sadie giggled excitedly. Sadie leaned over the table with Anya and they blew the candles out together, the rest of the family clapping with joy.

Hitomi brought out her noise maker and blew threw it, making the ambiance complete for the birthday party and Sadie set down Anya, the whole family waiting anxiously for her to grow.

Marrick, Sadie, and the girls were so surprised when Anya had aged up, seeing that she was almost identical now to Sadie aside from her beaming brown eyes she got from Marrick.

Marrick soon cut the cake and gave them all a piece, but Anya didn’t want any, “It’s your birthday and your cake, yet you don’t want any? Isn’t that bad luck?” Marrick teased at Anya and she giggled.

“It’s alright, I love the idea of it all, I’m just not a big sweets fan,” she replied and he shrugged, remembering now that even when they went trick-or-treating every year, she would barely eat any of her candy and would eventually give it to her sisters.

“Well, there will be plenty of leftovers if you change your mind,” Sadie added with a kind smile, “Me? I can’t get enough of sweets,” Sadie said with a gentle laugh, enjoying the cake.

“Maybe that’s why you taste sweet,” Marrick said with a suggestive tone, leaning down to kiss Sadie’s lips before sitting down at the table. Hitomi, Anya and Julia all let out an ‘eeeww‘ at the kiss and Sadie and Marrick only chuckled to their children’s behavior, their love still striving after all the years that have passed.

After they were all done eating their cake slices, Julia instantly wanted Marrick’s attention; she had been good throughout the beginning of the day, letting Anya have time with Marrick and Sadie since it was her birthday, but her need for attention from them overwhelmed her eventually. “Daddy, Daddy!” Julia demanded, holding up her arms to be picked up and Marrick chuckled, picking her up within his arms without hesitation and giving her the love that she so desperately needed and wanted.

Sadie put away the cake leftovers and walked around the kitchen, collecting everyone’s plates, “Anya, decide what you want to do! The day’s almost over, I’d hate for you not to have fun on your birthday,” Sadie began.

“But I don’t know what I want to do! I already said I wouldn’t mind staying home,” Anya replied and Sadie sighed, beginning to wash the dishes. Marrick grew concerned for Sadie, he knew how much she wanted to make her children happy and the fact that Anya was content with doing nothing at all upset Sadie in an odd way. Sadie loved to have fun and create memorable moments, she couldn’t understand why Anya would want to stay in rather than go out and have fun; Sadie even wondered if anything was bothering Anya simply because she didn’t get why she wouldn’t want to go out with her family.

Marrick thought of an idea since he still couldn’t think of anything to do for Anya, either, asking Julia, “Anya needs help, beautiful. What should we do for her birthday?” He asked and Julia’s expression grew excited.

“We could get a puppy! Or a bird! Or another horse! Or go horseback riding! Or..” Julia continued, Marrick soon realizing she was only naming things off that she wanted rather than the entire family.

Anya’s face lit up at the sound of animals, becoming as much of an animal-lover as Sadie was and loving Julia’s ideas, “Yes! Can I get a bunny? Or a hamster? Or a bird?” She asked.

“No, no more pets, sweetheart,” Sadie replied before Marrick could and he was rather surprised at her words, knowing that Anya and Sadie shared the same infatuation for animals but she had turned it down and he wondered why.

Anya’s expression went defeated and Marrick grew angered, hating to see his daughter sad on her birthday and he looked to Sadie, giving her an expression that only she would understand. Anya and Hitomi talked amongst one another and Sadie came up to Marrick, noticing his expression and wanting to talk it over, speaking in a quiet voice, “Secret time, Julia,” Sadie said to her in a whisper and Julia knew that what they were about to discuss was not to be brought up in front of Anya and she put her hands over her mouth instantly, ready to keep the secret and Marrick kissed she side of her head from her cuteness. “We shouldn’t get anymore animals, we’re just going to end up having to take care of it, and I already have a hard time keeping up with the kids and breeding Arnica and other horses, not to mention Archor always wants so much attention, too..” She began the argument and Marrick sighed.

Marrick hated to agree with her solely on the fact that he knew Anya was upset, he didn’t want to give up on her just yet, “It’ll be fine.. She adores animals just as much as you do and I know she’ll do an amazing job. She’s exactly like you, and if you can do it, so can she,” he replied and Sadie’s expression soon grew happy, his words convincing her and she nodded in agreement. “I’ll get her a little something while you girls are out, I have an idea now on what you can do,” he continued and Sadie only smiled more, excited for his idea.

“Yay! Another anim-” Julia began, about to give away Anya’s surprise but Marrick put his hand over her mouth and stopped her, smiling and shaking his head ‘no’ so she wouldn’t continue.

“Secret,” he pressured, Julia finally knowing that she shouldn’t say a word and she kept her mouth shut when he removed his hand from over her mouth.

Sadie walked over to Hitomi and Anya, getting in on their ideas on what to do and also curious for Marrick’s idea as well. “What if we went to the arcade?” Hitomi offered.

“Nah, that seems like something we should do for Jason,” Anya replied and Hitomi sighed, giving her 5th idea so far and Anya continuing to turn them down.

“Well.. What about the art gallery?” Anya continued.

“No.. I don’t think it’d be fun. You and mom would like it, though,” Anya replied again and Hitomi gave a defeated and aggravated expression, giving up on ideas to give her.

Marrick went to Sadie and handed her Julia, then went into his wallet and handed Sadie a stack of money that seemed to be only 20 dollar bills, “I got it.. Just go out, get whatever you want. Go to the spa, get your nails done, your hair, makeup, anything you girls want to do, anything at all. Just go out and drive around until you see something you want to do,” he chimed in, looking to Anya with a warm smile and her eyes lit up as did Hitomi’s.

“Anything?” Anya and Hitomi asked at the same time and Marrick smiled and nodded.

“No pets,” he began, looking to Sadie and giving a quick wink at her before continuing, “Just pamper yourselves, I’ll watch Jason, he needs to nap anyways and he shouldn’t be around all of the commotion. I’ll stay home with him and you can all have a girls day,” he finished and all of their faces lit up, Marrick feeling amazing about himself now that he had managed to get a smile on all of his girl’s faces, which was extremely hard to do at one time.

“You’re the best!” Anya called out, hugging him tightly and Hitomi soon doing the same.

Sadie was warmed by Marrick’s kindness and she didn’t contest it, watching as he gave their daughters affection and just the thing they needed to help enjoy the rest of their day. Marrick said his goodbyes to Hitomi and Anya, then went to Sadie and kissed Julia’s cheek for a few long seconds. “Have fun, girls,” he said to them and gave his last goodbye to Sadie, kissing her lips and she held the kiss for a few moments, hoping to express her gratitude through it and pulled away with a warm smile.

“We’ll be back later tonight.. I love you,” she replied and kissed him once more.

“Love you,” he replied instantly, surprising himself at how easily and eager he was to say it back and he watched as Sadie’s cheeks turned a gentle pink before walking away with their daughters, and smile cemented among her lips.

After the girls had gone, Marrick watching them load up in the car and pull out of the driveway, he went upstairs to the third floor and went to the first room, peaking in on Jason and seeing that he was still asleep. He silently closed the door and went to the small living area in between Jason and Hitomi’s room, sitting on the couch and beginning to watch television at a quiet level, making sure that he would be able to hear Jason if he woke up and needed Marrick for any reason. Archor’s claws tapped upon the steps, walking upstairs and joining Marrick, laying on the floor and starring at him.

“You’re getting to close to them,” Archor began and Marrick rolled his eyes; it had been a while since Archor had spoken to Marrick..

“Why do you say things like that? I thought you liked them,” Marrick replied with a blunt tone.

“They’re going to be the death of you and you know it. Especially Jason, who knows what he’ll be capable of when he gets older,” Archor continued, ignoring Marrick’s question.

“I should just get rid of you. You do nothing but say terrible things about my family, a family which you are a part of,” Marrick replied, unable to understand what Archor was ever getting at.

Archor stood to his feet and continued to stare at Marrick, “Get rid of me and then what? Let them continue to bring you to the slumps that you don’t deserve, dragging you down and always being a burden on your shoulders,” Archor replied and Marrick grew angered, chills running over his arms at the hate-filled words that Archor pronounced.

“Shut up,” Marrick demanded.

“He’s going to be just like you, crazy, not all there in the head.. Insane,” Archor continued without hesitation.

“I said, shut up!” Marrick called out in rage, balling his fists and slamming them upon his knees.

Archor grew angered as well and retaliated, “I’m looking out for you! He’ll kill you if you don’t kill him first!” Archor yelled back and Marrick’s eyes widened in shock, appalled at his words and unable to comprehend why Archor wanted Jason dead.

“Shut the fuck up! You’re supposed to be my best friend! How the hell can you act like my family is going to be the death of me when they’re all that I live for? They mean everything to me!” Marrick yelled back, his tone still filled with rage and he stood to his feet, ready to fight Archor in this argument to the death and wanting it all to stop.

A gentle cry of a baby boy filled both of their ears and Marrick’s manner went soft instantly, his expression calmed and worried for his son as he cried for attention in his room. “See? He’s going to run your life from now on, and at that one moment when you think that he’ll be okay, that he’ll make it, that he’s a success, that he beat the insanity just like you did.. He’ll stab you in the back, and remind you of what your family name is so well known for,” Archor finished his words and Marrick was at a loss. Marrick didn’t have anything to say.. Archor was, right.. The men in his family were known for being notoriously insane and bat-shit crazy, but Marrick had finally convinced himself that he was passed all of it; he had beaten his family gene, that is, until his son was born and Archor was talking to him once again..

Marrick didn’t respond to Archor and went to Jason’s room, going to his crying son and holding him within his arms until he stopped his tears, cooing him back to sleep by walking around Jason’s bedroom and caressing his cheek. Marrick never imagined that he could love someone so much, especially the son that he never really wanted. Jason was his everything now, the youngest of the children and Marrick made a promise to protect him from everything that he could from then on, including Marrick himself and especially Archor..

After Marrick had successfully put Jason back to sleep, he returned him to his crib and went downstairs, looking for something to eat since the girls had been gone now for more than three hours and he was growing hungry, yet, he didn’t have an appetite. Not for food..

There was an itch in the back of Marrick’s spine that he couldn’t scratch, something eating at him and wanting to make itself known. Marrick had never felt something like this before, and he couldn’t pin point exactly what it was  that he wanted to do besides eat. It was more so of a thing of nature, it was around that time when they would all be sitting down to eat dinner and Marrick almost made dinner solely on the fact that he wanted his family to be there with him. He made dinner for the entire family, yet no one was there to eat it with him.

Marrick soon finished the preparation and stood at the counter, putting his hands among it and shutting his eyes, his fingers delicately dancing over the knife he used to cut vegetables for Julia. His middle finger traced over the handle of the knife and before he knew it, it was grasped within his hand and ready to wield at his every whim. Marrick left the meal he had prepared and went upstairs, back to the third floor where he last saw Archor.

The entire house had an eerie silence to it, all the lights throughout every room was out or dimmed as Marrick made his way upstairs. It felt so empty without Marrick’s girls running around and causing commotion, but that was the last thing on Marrick’s mind..

He has to go.. I can’t risk this anymore, I’ve gotten to far ahead of myself and I lost the big picture. I never wanted my name to carry on, I never wanted there to be another Dubois man alive after I died.. I wanted me to be the last, I was happy when I was alone.. Everything’s changed, though.

Marrick soon reached the top of the stairs to the third floor, his eyes fixed on Jason’s door and make a slow beeline towards it.

“Good, you’ve finally come to your senses, I see,” Archor said softly and Marrick’s hand gripped Jason’s doorknob but he stopped himself from entering when Archor’s voice went into his ears. He gently turned his attention to Archor and everything went red in Marrick’s eyes, starring at Archor as he lost complete control over what he was doing and unable to stop himself. Luckily for Jason, Marrick was searching for one of them to dispose of and came upon Archor, first..

“Do you ever think back to when we had the house and it was only you and I?” Marrick asked, continuing their eye contact and neither of them bothering to take the time to blink. Marrick had a completely different personality,  taken over by his bottled up insanity and he was a new man. If Sadie would converse with him, she’d have no idea who he was; his manner, his tone of voice, the look in his eyes as he gazed at Archor, it was all something that wasn’t the real Marrick.

“I don’t care, just do it! Kill him already so this can all be over with!” Archor replied, “Open the door, Marrick, and finish this!”

Marrick completely ignored Archor, “Do you remember that one time.. Back when we went out for that walk and you killed that squirrel but I didn’t let you keep it?” Marrick continued, a bone chilling, evil grin forming on his lips.

Archor’s expression grew more impatient than angered now, both of them still refusing to acknowledge one another’s words, “I said I don’t care, do it already!” Archor yelled.

Marrick continued his grin, “Well.. I’m still me, you’re still you, but the squirrel this time is Jason, and you won’t touch him,” Marrick replied, soon losing his smile as he still continued his eerie glare into Archor’s eyes.

Archor was filled with rage, “Shut up! Stop stalling and fucking do it! Kill that bastard or I will the first chance I get!” Archor yelled back.

“Wrong answer,” Marrick said with an ominous tone, his grin then coming back to his lips and Archor’s expression went intimidated, then scared. Marrick finally let go of Jason’s doorknob and lunged at Archor. Archor in defense bit Marrick’s right wrist but Marrick’s left hand continued, driving the large knife into Archor’s stomach and chest repetitively. The yelps and cries from the dog were loud and full of agony, releasing his teeth from Marrick’s wrist as he was brutally murdered just outside of the baby’s room.

When the deed was done and he had stabbed Archor more than 15 times, Marrick starred at Archor’s limp body, watching in excitement as the blood pooled around him on the floor boards and seeped in between each crack. Marrick took a deep breath in through his nose, savoring the smell of blood that stained the air and floors and soon letting out the breath through his mouth; the hunger he felt before had finally been dealt with and Marrick felt accomplished and satisfied. He lifted his hand and touched his face and looked to it, seeing blood among his fingers that he took from his face that must’ve splattered on him as he stabbed repetitively.

“Ha.. Haha.. Hahahahahaha!” Marrick began laughing menacingly at what he had just done, the smell of the blood overwhelming his brain and causing him to go into an insane frenzy.

Archor laid there, dead and continuing to bleed over the floor and soon Marrick’s ears heard the gentle cry of Jason in his room, most likely startled and scared of what he had just heard coming from the other side of the door. Marrick blinked roughly a few times and seemed to snap out of his other personality, looking around and seeing Archor mutilated among the floor and hearing Jason’s crying getting louder, “Oh my g-” Marrick stopped his words, looking to his left hand and seeing a bloodied knife within it, causing him to drop it immediately and take a few steps back.

“W-What.. Jesus Christ.. W-what , happened?” He asked himself, unaware of anything he had just done, seeming to have blacked out, “I was.. Making dinner.. I was just making dinner,” Marrick repeated to himself, his hands shaking violently from his nerves building up and he fell to his knees. “A-Ar.. Archor?” His voice was beginning to give out and it cracked the more he tried to talk, slowly crawling towards Archor and reaching for him. The moment Marrick touched Archor’s fur, he knew that by him not responding instantly to his touch that he was dead, causing him to quickly pull back his hand from him. “What have I done?” Marrick asked himself, continuing to stare at Archor without an explanation and still hearing Jason crying within his room but unable to move and go to him. “Oh, f-fuck.. The girls!” Marrick said to himself,  realizing now that they could be home any minute and he began to panic; he had to deal with Archor, and fast..

_______________________________________________________________

Attention: No animals were harmed in the making of this chapter, lol :D But Archor is just no longer in the story, because he’s Marrick’s black shadow and he needed to be ‘disposed of’ in the words of Marrick. I don’t have anything against animals.. >_>;; lol

<3 R.I.P Archor Dubois

P.S. Sorry for the grotesquely large knife, too, it was all that I could find for DL.. XD Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

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