Havoc

Chapter Four

A family’s bond

Is a rubber band that can’t be broken

Even when it’s stretched to its limit

And high-strung

It stands strong

Countless arguments

Yet love still exist

Chapter 4

Shifters’ Den, the Ashendorf’s Kitchen

Derek

“Derek, can you please just hear me out?” Lucy gritted out through clenched teeth. I glanced over at my bulóyi. Her short stature didn’t affect her wrath at all. Surprisingly, her short height seemed to enhance her anger, make it more potent. Small she may be, but her emotions were a never ending well. One Lucy got on a roll, there was no spotting her. Her checks were colored red, bringing out the tiny green flicks in her deep royal blue eyes.

I shook my head, trying to focus on the conversation and not on Lucy herself. However, I found it rather hard since I didn’t want to have a conversation on this topic. I leaned over Lucy and grabbed a tall drinking glass out of the white painted wood cabinet. I walked the desired two steps over to the refrigerator to pour some ice into the glass. After I filled the glass with ice cold water, I turned around to stare at Lucy.

She was wearing hip-hugging jeans and a purple floral tank top. Her feet were bare and her coral nail polish shined brightly against her light tan. She was standing in the middle of the kitchen, cutting cucumbers on the island. Lucy had renovated the kitchen three years ago, while she was pregnant with Lily. She turned the tiny dull space into an open, spacious hangout spot. Lucy made the executive decision while I was away to knock down the wall separating the kitchen from the living room, allowing more light to fall into the dark corners. The walls were wallpapered in a light sand color with barely visible white designs. In the corner of the large room a medium sized drink cabinet was built-in, connecting the other built-in hanging cabinets. Underneath the cabinets were marble counters. Dispersed in-between the counters were a trash dispenser, an over, and a dishwasher.

The counters were hidden by the square island, sitting in the middle. The end facing towards the kitchen was rounded, creating an area for people to sit at. The old shaggy carpet was ripped up and in its place was hard wood flooring, complementing the white wood of the cabinets. A large wooden dining table sat in the other corner. A large bay window sat above the kitchen skin. Behind the dining table, were two sliding glass doors. The doors lead to the backyard where Tracee and Lily were currently playing.

The backyard was a whole other story. Lucy designed it when she was pregnant with Tracee. My lips kicked up in a smile, I wonder what she’ll renovate next time. The backyard was large enough for our animals to feel free, not caged in. Lucy imported several different types of trees from the Bangladesh forest. A large watering hole sat in the end of the backyard. The entire yard was fenced off with a wooden fence about 10 feet high.

Even though the wooden fence wouldn’t do anything to stop a shifter from break through, many shifters have fenced off their yards for the pretence of privacy. After spending anytime in the Agent’s labs, shifters guarded their privacy zealously. We made paranoia and obsessive look sane. I looked out the glass doors and saw Tracee and Lily playing on the tire swing that I tied to a tree branch last year. We had several different apparatuses laying throughout our tiny forest for the children. Their energy and tiger needed to be challenged or they would become bored easily. And a bored tiger is never good news. You know the saying, Curiosity killed the cat? It didn’t become famous for no reason.