timebomb

He’d stopped looking. Up until he’d walked into Hazel’s bedroom and had found the reason for his death sitting there on Hazel’s bed like a genie out of a rotten bottle. Chill echoes had raced through him that night, the reminder that the past could sweep back over his life as sharp as the knife blade to his heart had been. He’d found himself triple checking the locks after the kids had gone to bed that night, not settling until he was sure as he could possibly be that the nightmare was held at bay.

Weeks had passed and the siren hadn’t made a reappearance. Theo squeezed the steering wheel again, fingers knotting tight as his gut as his gaze ticked to the wing mirror, then the rear view. It settled on Hazel, on Bo who was being settled by his big sister. God, he’d gotten complacent again, distracted by the miracle family he’d never expected to have, the one they were hoping to grow, not shrink with the threat of that son of a bitch.

Theo swallowed hard and tried to concentrate on getting them to the house in one piece. The house Mr. Callaway would have no trouble finding now. If he’d lied, if he’d been as skilled as actor as he dreaded him being, it would be so easy for him to wipe them all out at once. He’d come close in the woods when he’d been trapped on the other side, and he’d been almost powerless to stop him from killing the woman he loved and the life that had been growing inside of her. He wasn’t powerless now, though, and neither was his daughter.

The intention had always been there to tell her eventually, when Hazel was old enough to process everything and wouldn’t be shattered by the news that her dad was a modern day Lazarus. Eventually shouldn’t have been just a handful of years, though.

Peeling a hand off the wheel, the blanching of his knuckles fading rapidly as the pressure was released, Theo reached for his wife. He laced his fingers with hers, squeezing lightly instead of clutching at her like she was the lifeline that was going to stop him from going under. They were doing it together, the same way they had done almost everything in their marriage, and together they were going to make sure that son of a bitch never got to lay a finger on their kids.

Leaving Callaway’s office, Theo had felt as though one wrong move was going to shatter him. Parking the car outside the house, climbing out, it still felt a little like his limbs were stiff and brittle, like he’d crack and crumble instead of folding if his knees gave way the way they’d wanted to at the school. Knowing that Freyja had Bo, he moved slowly towards the front door. A man trying to drag his feet so he could avoid his judgment just a little longer. He shucked his boots and coat at the door, padded into the living room. A drink might’ve helped him get through the story of his execution, the months he’d spent unable to touch those he loved – as though he was proving that he could, he settled a hand on Hazel’s back, dragging it to her elbow to try and guide her fingers out of her mouth – his resurrection thanks to Cory.

It felt like he was about to shatter his daughter’s world again by breaking the silence, but Hazel beat him there. Her question the hammer that sent the cracks running through the glass wall they’d put up to shield all the worst parts of their lives. ”Sit down, Hazelnut,” he said hoarsely. Theo glanced up at Freyja, then folded forward like he was curling around that wound in his chest again. ”That wasn’t the first time me and your mom met Mr. Callaway. Do you remember any of the stories we told you about when your mom was pregnant with you?” They flew back and forth across the table on Sundays, nostalgia clouding thick around them, embarrassing memories recounted to bursts of laughter. His death hadn’t been one of them, but they hadn’t buried details of Freyja’s pregnancy the same way they had other things that had happened then.

The sick feeling crept through him, sweat beginning to bead at the base of his spine as he studied his daughter. Hazel already knew what it was like to find herself pulled towards a body with no control over herself. Her banshee side had been triggered when Abi had hit and killed that man, but she hadn’t seen the worst the rest of the supernatural world held yet. Theo swallowed hard, reaching out a hand to Freyja the way he always did to steady himself. ”A little while before your mom got pregnant, I got drawn to a body. The girl that killed him was still there. I managed to get away, but either someone saw us, or she told somebody about me. I ended up being blamed for what happened and somebody decided to try and get justice for the boy who died … Mr. Callaway tried to get justice for him. He ….”

His heart started to race as the memory of that man luring him out into the woods drifted back, staticky and patchy like the snow that had been falling. He dragged in breaths, his chest going tight enough that he clutched at it to make sure his heart wasn’t suddenly going to stop. The words wouldn’t come out of his mouth, he wasn’t sure he could do this. Eyes wide, Theo looked at Freyja: his warrior princess, the woman who had held him together both times, the wife he loved with all his heart, in this life and any he would have afterwards.

Tagged: HAZEL DAMASCA & FREYJA DAMASCA * Word Count: 971

Life was already hard for a seventeen year old who was trying to make it through those last few months of school. Exams were coming up and Hazel had to make some important decisions about college. So much going on but then her parents dropped the bomb that she was born into some supernatural family. Then she spent months stressing about whether she was a banshee or a psychic or nothing at all. But now something else was going on. Another secret had been kept from her by her parents. She was beginning to hate these little truth bombs being dropped on her every few months. A part of her was angry at her parents for lying to her in the first place, especially after it was hammered into her since she was a child that it was wrong to lie. Now it was clear it was right to lie if you’re protecting your daughter from something. Sadly she was on the receiving end of these lies.

Hazel glanced down at the chair, unsure whether she wanted to sit down at all, but it was probably for the best. It felt like her legs were about to buckle from underneath her at any moment, sending her flying into the coffee table and possibly through it. The last thing she needed was to be pulling shards of glass out of her body so close to the school prom. Oh gosh who was she going to go with? Most high school dances she and Abi went together because they don't need a boy by their side to make them feel good. But this was different, this was their final year prom. Maybe she could ask Lex.

The prom seemed the least of her worries now though. “Um… yes… maybe… I don’t know.” Hazel couldn’t think straight. Her mind could barely bring up any stories about her mom being pregnant with her. “Just tell me what happened.” Frustration crept into her voice, desperate for her parents to cut to the chase.

Her right knee started to bounce as the anxiety ran through her body. Her focus was on her dad as he began to explain what happened. As soon as he spoke her nails were back in her mouth again, nibbling softly on her already ruined nails. There was no saving them in time for prom. His voice trailed off though, as he was unable to finish the story. Hazel was about to leap out of her seat and scream “He what?” But her mom slipped into the seat alongside her to continue the story. Her body eased into her mom for a moment until she told her what happened. Immediately she sat back up right as onfusion washed over her face. That was impossible. Her dad was standing right in front of her, looking at her. She shook her head as her hand dropped from her mouth. “No… Mr Callaway wouldn’t do that. He's our guidance counsellor… he’s there to look after us… the… the school wouldn’t let him work there! He—” Her sentence was cut short as she swallowed back the vomit which rushed to the back of her throat.

Her eyes fell down on Bo, who was happily playing in his playpen, completely oblivious to what was going on around him. One day he’d have to go through this and it filled her with sadness, but when the time came she’d be there for him to offer comfort. Her tears had stopped flowing, replaced with sheer shock at what her mom had just told her. “So what the heck is Cory? God?” She finally pulled her eyes away from Bo to meet her parent’s gaze. “Is there anything else you guys need to tell me?” Anything else they were hiding from her?


THEO DAMASCA

If Mr Callaway was a religious man then he hadn’t held onto the belief that the dead could rise again. Honestly, he hadn’t thought it could happen either, despite Jesus and Lazarus both doing just that. Trapped on the other side he’d thought that he’d be separated from his family forever, damned to watch his daughter grow up without him because a monster had slaughtered a young man and he’d ended up painted with the blame just like the boy’s blood had painted her skin.

Theo knew he’d been lucky in a way, he’d been able to stay with his family in a way, but it hadn’t been peaceful and happy the way Heaven was supposed to be. It had been torture not being able to touch Freyja, to experience all those little moments at the start of her pregnancy. It had been hell on earth not to be able to step between her and that son of a bitch on the day that Callaway had come for the two of them. Maybe the Other Side wasn’t that way for everybody and wouldn’t be for his family in the end, but the memory of it now was turning his stomach.

”It’s called the Other Side,” Theo said hoarsely. ”People with abilities go there instead of to Heaven. It was like being on the other side of an invisible wall, but I could still see your mom.” And she could see him thanks to her abilities. Maybe that wasn’t the way it was for everybody, but in making his exceptions Cory had been able to keep their family together in a way the whole way through and maybe that had been what had helped with save Freyja and Hazel’s lives when the unthinkable happened again.

Freyja’s hand on Hazel’s back seemed to be calming her and Theo could almost feel that same touch on his own, her comfort stretching across the gap between them. Cory had been the one to make sure that he could feel that comfort again, that they could sit around the table on Sundays, that he was here to tell his story to his daughter himself. ”And sometimes they’re able to bring them back,” Theo added hoarsely, looking at his daughter. It had been an exception. If it could happen every time someone died then Frank’s friend Dom wouldn’t still be mourning for his fiancé.

Callaway might’ve spluttered his protests and apologies, but it was never going to undo all the damage that had been done because someone had tried to avenge a death without bothering to find out exactly what had happened first. Theo felt his heart beating against his ribs and was struck with gratitude for it so hard that the tears started to burn in his eyes. ”We got our miracle, and we’re gonna keep thanking Cory for it.” Gathering him close while they backed away from Callaway and the shadow he’d cast back over their lives today. ”I was I knew, honey. Sometimes the worst things happen to good people.” And sometimes he thought that some curse had been laid on them somewhere along the line to balance out all the happy, all the love he’d been gifted with Freyja and their kids.

If he had his way the curse wasn’t going to touch his kids again. That thing could try worming her way into Hazel’s life again, but even if he stood there shaking like he was about to fall apart, Theo would keep her from hurting his daughter the same way she had him. The warning about Harmony had almost poured out at the time, but the threat that had slipped so easily from her lips had stopped him. They could’ve given it now, but Freyja was dipping her chin, the message obvious even in its subtlety. This was enough for today. Their daughter had enough weight on her from what had already been revealed, as her parents they wouldn’t crush her.

”We wish it could be, we never wanted you to go through any of this, Hazelnut.” Theo pushed his way to his feet, feeling stiff enough to shatter as he crossed the gap between the chair and the sofa. ”Your mom’s right, we’ll tell you what we can.” He glanced at the playpen, at their son who had no idea of any of this yet, and his vision swam again. They’d learned with Hazel that there was no protecting their kids from this, no matter how much they wanted to. ”When he’s old enough,” he said hoarsely as he sat on the arm of the sofa, wrapping his arm around both his wife and daughter. ”He’s got you watching out for him as well, that’s gonna make the world of difference for him. Just like having your Uncle Frank around does for me. You know that whatever happens, you’ll have all of us to protect you.” Sometimes it wouldn’t be enough and each time it wasn’t it was going to cut at them the way it had today.

They still had to figure out what they were gonna do about Mr Callaway, how they were going to keep that son of a bitch away from Hazel until graduation, cause there was no way in hell he was gonna believe that he’d stay away from Hazel now that he knew the truth. ”Do you want us to call the school about Mr Callaway? We can make sure he’s not allowed any contact with you.” It would mean more half truths, but Theo doubted anybody would push the matter if they saw the effect the man had on all of them.

Tagged: HAZEL DAMASCA & FREYJA DAMASCA * Word Count: 940