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CassieCain So sorry for the wait! School got crazy busy. For Kenya, I ended up going with a work theme, just 'cause he reminded me of Lightning. Let me know if it's alright! ^ ^ '
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He never realized anything was wrong.
They did their best to shelter the children, only vague remarks and attitudes. There were doors they were told never to look behind, strange noises in the night, but nothing that shone through the haze of childhood.
Looking back, it was a wonder he never realized it sooner. Parents disappearing at odd hours of the day, mysterious stains around the building the color of rust, the amount of times they were shushed and told to go play somewhere else. But that was normal.
It was only abnormal when the other children disappeared too.
It was only abnormal when he was woken in the middle of the night, pulled from his warm bed despite his protests and a dagger pressed into his hands.
His sleep was riddled by nightmares afterwards, the air saturated with blood. He jumped at every shadow, every slam of door and the clomp of footsteps.
“It’s alright,” they cooed. “You don’t have to be afraid.”
Somehow, it was never all that reassuring.
He tried not to let it bother him. Tried to appear strong and unaffected. He smiled as much as he used to, laughed as often as he could, involved himself in all their clan activities even as a part of him screamed that it was wrong and terrible and this wasn’t right.
He was gone by the turn of the year.
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He was so sweet, wasn’t he?
A lamb in a den of wolves. Bright-eyed and naïve. Innocent and so very precious. She wanted to cherish him, pull him close and devour him.
And here he stood. Li’l [NAME], all grown up, staring at her with wide-eyes and that ever present spark of fear.
She smiled. Beckoned to him. “Mommy misses you. Don’t you think it’s time for a family reunion?”
He took a step back, shoulders tense.
And oh, how he surprised her. Ruthless and cunning, the best of them all. He deprived her of her powers, shackled her strength. She could feel her magic beneath her skin, twisting and churning. Yet no matter how she searched inside her, reached for it, they slid from her grasp like water down a drain.
She tossed her head back and grinned, so absolutely proud despite it all.
“Are you going to kill me, sweetheart?”
He gaped at her, burst out, “No!” Scrambled for the words to say. “Never! I’d never—"
He was adorable. So young, and already as malicious as any. Acting all flustered and worried as if he didn’t know that death was often the kinder option.
“Oh, darling,” she breathed, eyes glinting. All playful and sly. She leaned in close, breath teasing his ear. His face twisted in revulsion, but that would change eventually. It would just take some time. A little nudging here and there.
“You’re exquisite.”
After all, she wasn’t going anywhere.
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He wasn’t lonely. As the nights stretched on and the days loomed, and every day toiling and working and looking forward to the next project, the next deadline. And he was fine with that. Happy even. This was the life he’d signed up for, the life he wanted. It was everything he dreamed of and more.
He laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, working through the latest problem to the latest invention, and always dealing with his coworkers and their insistant, “Are you sure?” and “I don’t think we should.”
As if he’d ever steered them wrong before. As if he’d ever done anything without meticulous planning. As if they ever did anything but whine and moan and talk about how much work there was and how much pressure, and there were more important things in life than work, Kenya!
But it was fine. Things were progressing smoothly and in a few months time, he’d be done and out of there.
“Don’t you get tired,” his friend once asked, “doing all that?”
“No,” he said, and his friend paused, squinted at him.
“Uh huh. Okay. Well, once you decide to get off your high horse and actually take a break, some of us guys are getting together if you wanted to come.”
And then he was alone with an empty glass in front of him and rolling his friend’s words over in his mind.
Arrogant? Him? Never.
He just had more sense than to throw away his life on trivial matters. And if they weren’t going to take it seriously, then that was their fault. Who needed them anyways?
He stared at the empty chair across from him, listened to incessant ticking of the clock, and scoffed.
He wasn’t lonely.