Death Call

thirty | he kills people

"I don't care if the sky falls down, Nathaniel. When I ask you to be somewhere, you show up," dad's voice growled through the phone, the deep rumbling grating on Nate's bones like a knife scraping across granite. It made him grit his teeth together, grasping the phone in an almost deathly grip as he imagined smashing his father's head into a wall. He hadn't known what to expect when he didn't show up to his father's commands, although he hadn't expected anything close to understanding. As a matter of fact, he hadn't really thought at all. He had been so preoccupied with his worry for Eleanor that he paid no mind to the impending doom of this father's fury. 

He leaned his head back against the wall, slowly swirling the car keys around the fingers on his free hand as he contemplated what he could say to get on his father's good side again. Which often proved to be a highly impossible task. Nate's father wasn't exactly someone to accept and love his children for who they were. Oh no, he much preferred to try and make them as much like him as possible, and then have a tantrum when they didn't live up to his standards that were so high they vanished into the clouds when you turned your head towards the skyline. And Nate had been trying so hard for so long, attempting to climb the skyscraper that was his father's expectations no matter the cost. No matter what rain and wind raged against his back. He couldn't help it. No matter how many times his father managed to piss him off, he would always feel the need to please him. It was his way of making up for mum and Bronwyn. He was the only family he had left. And he was the last thing his father had left. Being the perfect son was his way of letting his father know that he hadn't lost everything. That, perhaps, they at least still had each other. "Look, dad, I can drive down now if you want." His words held a little more exasperation than he had intended, struggling not let out a yawn as he slumped further into the wall. It wasn't as if he was necessarily required at the murder scene; dad just liked to prove that he still had a child able to take a place on The Counsel. Even after all that had happened.

"Well, there's no point you coming now, is there, Nathaniel? The Counsel has already clearly seen how unreliable my son is." Nate had to bite down the urge to laugh, the ironic humour of the situation almost too much for him to bear. To him, it appeared as if history was very much repeating itself. Over and over again. If he closed his eyes, he could place himself in his own memory, sitting on the stairs as he watched his older sister have the exact same phone conversation. In the exact same hallway. In the exact same position. With the phone pressed against her ear and the exact same expression on her face as she glanced from her younger brother to her boyfriend, Luke, who was nervously fiddling with the sleeves of his sweater as he leaned against the opposite wall. After all this time, his father really had learnt nothing.

"Dad, it really was an emergency. It was Luke, he's back and he-"

"For the last time, Nathaniel, I don't care for your petty excuses. As far as The Counsel is aware, Luke died in that house fire along with everyone else."

"Dad, just listen to me. Luke isn't just some kid, he kills people. He wants to wipe out all of us. We can't just keep lying to The Counsel about this."

"I'm sorry, do you want to see our good family name dragged through the dirt? If we tell them about Luke, they'll ask questions and how else are we meant to explain his vendetta against us?"

"For god's sake, dad! This isn't some game! He's going to kill us!" 

"I have no reason to be threatened by a-"

"You know damn well what he is capable of."

"He got lucky last time. Caught us off guard, is all."

"Dad, he killed your daughter! Your wife! Don't you get how dangerous he is? He needs to be stopped. We can't let any more people get hurt!"

"As far as The Counsel is concerned, that house fire was an accident, Nathaniel, don't you forget that."

"God, you don't even care, do you? All you care about is your bloody name and your bloody Counsel. When are you going to admit it, dad? We ruined Luke's life. He had every reason to do what he did to us."

"That boy got what he-"

"By doing what you did, you basically killed mum and Brownyn. Congratulations, dad, and I'm sure your precious Counsel would love to hear how you blackmailed a teenage boy."

"Now listen here, Nathaniel-"

"So you can take your Counsel and shove it up your old, prejudiced ass because I don't want anything to do with it."

And with those final words, he hung up.