Craaven

Chapter 43: Mortemville, Montana 1988 April 23rd

"I can't fucking believe we let you in our goddamn house and you do this to my son! You taught him to love freaks like you behind our backs so he could go with you to whatever slaughterhouse you created!!" She hissed.

"I did no such thing!! You're fucking insane!" I responded.

"I'm the insane one!? You kidnapped my son and nearly killed him! And now you escaped that goddamn hospital just to come back and try again!! You're insane to be that obsessed with a child!!" She fought back and pointed an accusing finger at me.

I actually laughed at her response, "You're talking to me about being obsessed with a kid when you constantly sought out your own child to take your fucking anger out on!? And then you killed her to punish Daniel for being a father to her!? And somehow that doesn't make you fucking insane!? Do you even realise how lucky you are that I never exposed your little secret after all these years!?" The anger that I felt coursing through my veins was making every single muscle quiver and clench. My fists were itching to strike her as violently as I had hit Mr Whitaker but I only held back because of Max being in my way.

Lucy's mouth gaped open in shock and her entire persona of rage faltered momentarily because of my response; however, she still continued to fight back, clearly determined to win, "What the hell are you talking about!? I never murdered anybody!" She shrieked. Daniel was finally starting to get fed up with the whole situation, so he came over to Lucy and tried to pull her away to go inside. She retaliated, however, and yanked her arm out of his grip and back-handed him across the face. Max whimpered in fear and backed away from Lucy into me; he'd never seen his mother's true side and I could only imagine the fear he suddenly felt. I held his shoulders protectively and watched Lucy in case she turned to try and hit me next.

Daniel held his cheek in pain but Lucy only screamed at him to stay out of her way and to let her deal with the situation on her own.

"Don't you dare fucking hit him! He didn't do anything!" I yelled at Lucy and she darted her head towards me.

"Oh, now you want to defend him!? Shut the hell up! He's my husband! You have no right to tell me what to do on my own property!" She argued back.

"I have every right to tell you not to hit someone, you abusive bitch!" I yelled and turned slightly to keep Max away from her. To my dismay, she took great offence to that and stormed up to me to pull Max away from me. I scrambled away from her while Max hurried around to hide behind me; however, before she could raise her fist to punch me, Daniel hurried up behind her and wrapped his arms around her to keep her from swinging at me; she began to scream profanities at him while he pulled her away and I could only find the power to stare in surprise at the scene. I'd never seen Daniel fight back against her before. He always stood idly by in silence while she rained down her cruelty on whoever made her angry. And now here he was keeping her from hitting me or possibly Max despite his own emotions regarding me.

I watched in shock as he wrestled her to the ground and held her down to subdue her from her enraged frenzy. She continued to curse at him and demand he let her go, but he ignored her and turned his attention to me.

"Get the hell out of here, Ed!" he ordered furiously at me. His sudden rebellion had stunned me so badly that I couldn't think of an angered response to hold my ground. Instead, I simply obeyed, not knowing what else to do.

Max hugged me tightly before I could take a step and began to cry, "No! Please don't leave me!" Quickly, I knelt down and hugged him tightly. No way in Hell was I going to leave him with that witch of a woman after what he'd just witnessed. It didn't matter how hurtful the Lockwoods' words were; Max was in danger of his mother and I'd risk being murdered by Lucy in order to protect him and make sure he stays safe from harm.

"I'll see you later, okay?" I assured him and pulled him away to look at him. He continued to cry but I couldn't waste time trying to console him because of Daniel's threatening glare and Lucy's screaming. I only told him to go inside and I gave him a gentle shove to urge him to hurry inside. He obeyed and ran inside the house, tears still falling down his cheeks. I was sure he genuinely believed that I was actually leaving but I didn't have time or the chance to explain myself. I just needed to leave immediately and come back later to explain everything.

I turned and left when he went inside and I sped-walked down the dirt drive to the road. I turned into a raven once I was far enough away and flew into the trees to hide out until evening fell so I could return and look for a way in again. As stubborn and criminal as I knew I was being after Daniel's words, I couldn't just fix my ways and move on knowing Max was possibly in trouble. He could end up like Ally if things became too sour and it would be my fault if I left him alone to face that horror alone.

I will be a stubborn criminal simply to make sure my brother is safe.