The Grean Household

58: A Great Fire

Things were happening quickly.

When Willow was home visiting her father, she witnessed a full break of his character. Sarah was right there, watching as his eyes grew wide. Sammy was eating something he cooked for himself, suddenly catching onto the sudden way his father put his phone down, closing his eyes, taking shaky breaths. Sarah asked what was wrong, watching as heavy tears fell from her husband's eyes. Henrik was always the one to silently cry when he received horrible news.

My father's dead...

The funeral was slow, with wails and sobs of mourning. Willow closed her eyes, each tear shed by her uncles making a few drop down her cheeks. What hurt her most was her father's reaction. He was holding onto them, still remaining straight and tall. Like he was still trying to hold himself together despite losing a figure so important for him- like he was still trying to be the bold figure everyone knew him to be.

Willow learned through her mother's careful explanation that this was a sensitive topic. Mr. O'Laughlin had been murdered in the back alley of Glendale's city streets. The person who found him was his former partner. He had just retired, though there were still some unfinished projects he had going on. Mr. O'Laughlin planned to finish them before his 65th birthday. He was only 62.

Willow watched as Aidan dropped to his knees, hand on the casket of his father, tears of pain slipping down his cheeks. One by one, his sons, adopted or not, walked to his casket, tears of pain on their cheeks. They placed a hand on his closed casket, clenching their jaws as they seemed to recall his face. It was when Henrik let go of his children did Willow feel true pain.

She watched his brothers turn to him, eyes filled with grief. Henrik put his hand onto the casket, covering his eyes as he cried. A few sobs escaped him in quiet hums and gasps of air. Carlisle hugged him, his jaw clenching as he tried to keep it together.

Willow took note of everybody at the man's funeral. Zoe was there. Carlisle's family was there. She noticed that Zoe had a ring on her finger; it was a bittersweet feeling. Willow never really got to know her grandfather, but what she could gather was that he was a good man: a man with many sons who loved him dearly. 

Mrs. O'Laughlin stared at the closed casket, handkerchief in hand as she cried. Her tears were plentiful, expression twisted into pain as she recalled how her husband left the world- she barely recognized his face when she saw him. Henrik was the first to hug her. She brushed her thumb against his hand, blowing her nose into her handkerchief. Then, Carlisle wrapped his arms around them. One by one, they began to hug their mother, watching as their father's casket was slowly lowered into the ground. Sarah held her children's hands, clenching her jaw, hoping that not too much of this intense feeling of loss would escape her through her eyes.

Sammy had his head lowered, hoping he could hide his influenced crying from everybody. Willow was watching her father as he shuddered, covering his eyes. Mrs. O'Laughlin rubbed his back, looking up at him. Out of her sons, Henrik seemed to be the one breaking the most- like he had kept himself strong for too long, ignoring the cracks in his foundation, and now his ignorance had come back tenfold to destroy him.

Then, she noticed Aidan looking around, searching for somebody. He wiped his eyes, then went to Carlisle, but Carlisle was the one to ask the question. Willow tried to read their lips but failed. The question seemed to draw her father's attention. He looked down at his brothers, eyebrows knit together. Aidan looked up at him, speaking to him. Slowly, the knit in his brow came undone.

His sadness slowly turning to a fury Willow had never seen before.

Henrik, along with all of his brothers, were suddenly heading for their cars. Sarah was adamant on following him, wondering what caused his mood to shift. Willow could see her father was grieving, though it seemed he was able to put his process on hold. He led a line of cars out of the cemetery.

It was silent.

As they pulled closer to Henrik's childhood home, they saw smoke. Willow covered her mouth. Henrik's eyes grew wide, a few tears falling from his eyes. He was quick, whipping into the driveway. When he got out, he screamed a name Willow couldn't quite hear. Then, she saw her father burst into the burning home. 

"Dad!" She was quick to get out. Sarah was too. Sammy was trailing his sister, following.

Suddenly, Carlisle was sprinting ahead of them. He stopped them, putting out his hands. Willow watched as some of the other brothers chased Henrik into the house, fear clear in their eyes. Aidan was one of the three who chased after their big brother. The other two, Willow knew vaguely: James and Max.

Willow managed to get underneath Carlisle's arm, determined to go in with the rest of them. Suddenly, hands wrapped around her her midsection, pulling her back. She looked back, seeing her brother's frightened face. 

"What are you doing?!" Willow flailed. Carlisle was pushing the family back, looking back, jaw clenching as he realized the gravity of the situation. Sammy pulled her back, grunting as he used his strength to move her. 

"Protecting you." Her uncle said, pushing the family away from the flames, his eyes staring in fear as the flames began to eat away at the home he grew up in.

Sarah held them back, and Mrs. O'Laughlin let out a noise of exasperation, looking up at her home as it started to burn. The fire department was already en route. Willow was praying, hoping that her father would come out unscathed, hoping that all of them were okay.

When they did come back out, the fire department was already dousing the house in high amounts of water. Willow stood there, watching as Max stripped his shirt, screaming in pain as the fire burned his skin. He was quickly doused in water. James was helping Aidan as they carried out Henrik who was limping; only Aidan was crying. 

They let him slip onto the ground. Henrik gripped his leg, groaning out in pain. Some of his skin suffered minor burns, but nobody was as badly injured as Max. The skin on his back was mostly red, with some black near his mid-back. He couldn't move, groaning out in pain as paramedics tried to help him. Willow dropped down next to her father, noticing that something shot through his leg. Fortunately, it was a deep graze, barely touching his bone, but it severed a tendon in the side of his thigh.

James was looking up at the house, eyes wide, mouth open as if he finally realized what had just happened to his childhood home. Aidan, was on his knees, covering his head as he cried out. Willow looked him up and down, noticing that he had no visible wounds on his body. Then it hit her. They were looking for a brother. They thought he was home, and they were right.

And they failed to get him out.