CURSED: FROM THE BEGINNING [D.M]

-(44) he is there to catch her

It instills hope in him too and he moves even closer. He can see her shaking her head, warning him to stay away but he doesn't care. Not one bit. "I'm here. You're safe. You're doing good."

She closes her eyes so abruptly, so forcefully, like she's protecting herself from everyone. Or more like she is protecting everyone from herself.

But when she opens them again, Draco breathes a sigh of relief. Because there it is. That brown hue he has sworn he would never get tired of looking at. It's there, fighting its way to the surface, through all the waves of darkness and fear. And it makes him smile and reach out to her further but just as his fingers graze her shoulder, she goes limp and begins to crash to the floor. 

She doesn't though.

She doesn't because he is there to catch her before she does. He will always be there to catch her before she does.

________________________

"She was entrusted to us. To you!", Ivan's voice is filled with pounding rage, the edges of it sharp enough to slice through the usually calm and collected and completely unbothered demeanor of Linden. Now, there's fear in his eyes. A trembling fear oozing its way out as his mask falls apart. "You have two daughters about the same age as her! She's our fucking princess for fuck's sake." Ivan's nostrils flare as his fist balls up by his side. Draco can see how much he wants to beat the living shit out of that man before him. But even after everything, it is his father.

Draco knows that feeling all too well.

"How could you?" There's pure disgust prevalent in Ivan's voice. Pure hatred.

Linden does not speak one word. He has dropped his head in shame, his eyes meeting the marble floor.

Ivan takes a step back, trying his best to keep his cool.  "You should leave."

"Iv-"

"Don't speak my name." Ivan raises a hand in warning. "Just leave. And be prepared to hear from Daphne about this."

That causes Linden to suddenly shoot his head up. "What?!"

"You heard me just right the first time." Ivan turns his back to Linden lest he should give in to the temptation to harm his father. Draco has his hands stuffed into his pockets as he leans against the railing of the staircase for this exact same reason too. 

He wants to bloody murder that man. And it is taking everything in him not to.

"Think about our family, Ivan", Linden's voice is desperate, plowing through the mud for a way out. "We'll be ridiculed and outcasted. Think about your mother and your sisters-"

Ivan spins on his heels, his fist colliding with Linden's jaw at the same instant, sending the latter to the floor with the intensity of it. "You!", Ivan spits with rage. "You were the one who should've thought about that. But now it is too late, Linden."

An audible gasp mixed with a groan of pain erupts from Linden's mouth. "I'm your father", he bellows.

Ivan kneels by one leg, dipping his head low to meet Linden's eyes. His voice is as deadly as the magic Draco saw in Zilliah earlier. It's potent, his words dragged out to emphasize the meaning. "I do not care", he whispers.

Another blow.

There's blood trickling down Linden's jaw. There's blood on the ground, on his shirt.

Draco smirks in satisfaction from where he stands.

Of course, he wishes more harm upon Linden. Hell, he wants to inflict it himself. He wants to cut out every last vein in that man's body. He wants him on fire alive.