𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙'𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊! ━━━ ⁷
Tripping over the same stone.
HOW would a sixteen-year-old teenage girl spend her Saturday?
Sleeping in. Binge-watching series or movies. Doing nothing. Catching up on some homework. The normal gist of a homeschooler. But that was not the case for Teagan Prime, half of her day was spent surfing through Edward White's computer. There were 12 files, each a separate report about the knowledge he had acquired that day. Teagan took her sweet time going through each file, she acquired knowledge of a clan run by someone named Vulture, sadly there was no name, just an alias. Given by Edward's reports he never got to meet Vulture, the agent responded to a man named Cole aka Argo.
"Bingo!" Kylo, her beautiful Yorkie Poo, heaved his head to watch her clap her hands up in the air. "We finally got a name, Kylo," Teagan told him, Kylo tilted his head to the side as he continued to watch her owner.
Teagan heaved the computer and crisscrossed her legs before setting it down on her lap, Kylo got up and went to cuddle on her side. Teagan smiled at her best friend and stroked his smooth fur as she continued to do her homework. "So, Cole No-last-name. What else have you got for me, White boy?"
Throughout the whole day, she spent it like that, going through files, connecting the dots, and trying to get something out of it. Something like more information about what a symbiote is and if it's safe. So far there haven't been any mentions of it and Teagan grew desperate, her mind betraying her confidence, she started to think if going through all this trouble was going to be in vain. The more she dug into the files, the more she realized what her brother was trying to do, and she was deliberately foiling his plan. She knew he was going to be pissed with her once she found out the thing he's been looking for was right in his home all along.
"Ugh, last file and still no symbiote." She clicked on the twelfth file. "Scheisse."
Kylo growled lowly upon hearing the familiar German cuss word, Teagan let out a disbelieving gasp. "Traitor." Kylo barked at her and Teagan gave him a sarcastic look. "No, no. Quit giving me that attitude. If I'm saying it in German, then it doesn't count, capico?"
Kylo only whines in response before going back to his comfortable position. Teagan blew a raspberry, amazed by how everybody was trying to get her to quit saying bad words. It's not her fault she liked saying them.
She went back to work. After minutes of searching, Teagan encountered something different, instead of coming across a document she was staring at an mp4 file. Without wasting any more time, she clicked on the file and turned up the computer volume.
"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!" A male man wheezed, Teagan frowned as she watched the man pace back and forth while holding his head. "I can't do this. I can't do this. F*ck the mission. F*ck Christian Prime. And f*ck the brotherhood." The man suddenly got really close to the camera, a thin layer of perspiration covered his entire face, his complexion was tremendously pale. His eyes were bloodshot and his pupils were dilated, he looked drugged, extremely unwell. "I didn't sign up for this. I was told I was only here for recon. None of this was supposed to happen!"
When Edward screamed at the screen, Teagan could feel and see the rage in his face, but that wasn't what affected her. When he screamed, a strange face appeared on his, it substituted his eyes for white, orca style eyes, and his mouth stretched into a large sinister smile with thin razor-like teeth. "Heathen..." She trailed off, eyes glued to the computer screen.
The man pulled back, the strange face disappeared, leaving only Edward's scared face. "You see? See what this f*cking mission has done to me? There's a monster inside me. It wants... it wants out. It wants to feast on the human brain- AGH!" Edward flinches, holding his head once again, his face going red. Then loud bangs came from the metal door behind him, but Edward didn't seem to hear it. "It's too loud. Too loud. SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
"What the hell?" Teagan sees the man collapsing into madness, he stumbles inside the room and manages to knock down the camera. The camera now only allowed her to see his stumbling feet, the door was knocked down and Teagan could see some men storming inside the room.
"I told you, I have a nose for traitors." They spoke flatly, Teagan couldn't see the man's face. "You don't mess with the big leagues unless you have a death wish. I'm feeling quite generous today, I'll grant that wish."
"Argo... you don't want to do this. Trust me. Just let me go." Cole, she thought. Teagan observed Edward backing away, frighteningly, before freezing in his tracks. "Fine... have it your way." The next thing that happened took them by surprise, Edward merged into Heathen, Teagan recognized the blackness engulfing his whole body.
Gunshots were fired, along with painful screams let out by Heathen's victims. She noticed someone fleeting out of the door, leaving behind the men to fight Heathen. Teagan scrunched up her face in disgust as she heard Heathen chewing a man's brain, she fast-forwarded the video but noticed that was it. The last thing the camera caught was Edward picking up the camera and pressing pause.
"Dammit." Teagan dropped her head back, landing on her bed. She stared at her ceiling for a moment before straightening up and grabbing her notebook. She wrote down Edward's behavior, which was nothing compared to Leo's.
Edward was frantic, unstable, and extremely anxious. She wondered why Leo was so different from Edward. Teagan wrote down a few questions she was thinking about asking Leo, probably on Monday, since today they were heading over to Liz's party. Teagan didn't really enjoy those spaces, but Ned and Leo insisted on her to the point they both videos called her on Skype. So she ended up agreeing. She was easy to pressure.
Beep. Beep.
Teagan's hazel eyes snapped towards the tablet, Kylo raised his head, becoming alert. She dropped her pen on the carpeted floor and plugged the tablet's USB cord into the computer. Almost immediately, a screen mirror of the tablet appeared on the pc screen, it was a GPS map. It was showing a live GPS location of a vehicle in motion. "Hmm, I'll take a wild guess and say this is Cole or one of his goons... same difference."
They were in Queens. Teagan had a horrendous idea, what if she followed them?
After all, they had gone through all this trouble, and they still needed answers. What if they were selling more Symbiotes? Or something worse? If they were involved in something far more concerning than Symbiotes then Teagan was required to tell her brother, despite being kind of a rule-breaker, she also had limits. The only reason she hadn't told Christian about her findings was that she hadn't felt in immediate danger and, apparently, nor was Leo. Aside from the constant chattering of Heathen, Leo was doing just fine. If Heathen was a danger, then he wouldn't have helped Leilani out of that wrecked car.
"I need to tell Leo." She mumbled to herself, Kylo barked twice, but Teagan ignored him, the Yorkie Poo left her room in a hurry. "We can ditch the party and do some investigating on our own." She smirked, picking up her phone from beside her.
Kylo barked once again, Teagan was still not paying attention.
The dangerous thing about Teagan Prime is her lack of self-perseverance, she doesn't stop and assess the situation carefully, she just leaps right into it. Or perhaps this wasn't just Teagan's flaw, perhaps it was instilled in every teenager, when it comes to danger they don't turn and run in the other direction. Instead of doing the safest thing, they do the opposite, they see danger, and they run to it. In another alternate reality, Teagan would've taken Leo to his brother and given him his missing equipment instead of playing 'girl in the chair' for God knows what reason. Maybe it was all fun to her, finally having something exhilarating happening in her life, or maybe it was something deeper and darker. Perhaps the reason she was helping Leo on her own was just to distract herself from her loneliness, from herself.
The dog sensed an extra scent on the house, it didn't belong to either Christian or Teagan. Kylo sniffed around, following the scent, which led him back to Teagan's room.
Teagan was typing down her third message when she got a call.
From Ava Herrera-Prime.
Teagan's heart constricted upon seeing her mother's name, it was a familiar feeling of pain she always got whenever she gets a call from her. Before she could answer the call, it ended, seconds later she got a video call instead. She was skyping her. "Can't you just leave me alone?"
It's been two years now, it was time she let go of the past. Teagan knew that. She knew she needed to let go, but... she couldn't. The youngest Prime was terrified of being that vulnerable again, of being that exposed, without armor and without walls to shield and protect herself from conniving people. She was afraid of trusting her own mother. What if there was another lie waiting to be unearthed by someone? Teagan... she was a pure person with a heart of gold, she wanted to trust and free herself from all fears and insecurities, but she knew she couldn't take another heartbreak.
Maybe she was weak for feeling the pain so deeply, or maybe she had common sense and avoided tripping over the same stone.
Releasing a heavy sigh, Teagan accepted the call, she saw her mother's smiling face. Teagan recognized the background of the living room of her first home back in Canada. Sometimes she misses her home, being around her dad, and their father-daughter date at the ice cream parlor every day after school. So many beautiful memories, when she hadn't learned the meaning of deception so clearly, back when she was free and happy.
"Hey, baby." Ava smiled at her daughter, Teagan noticed the loving gaze of her mother, it still filled her with warmth even though she rejected it most of the time. "I was waiting for you to call me, but I figured you were busy, so that's why I decided to call. How are things on your end? How are the Reeves?"
Oh, you know, just chasing down some bad guys, which by the way, the more I learn of them the more I realize this is above my experience, Teagan thought. Also, Leo contracted a symbiote, which looked like a big bad parasite, and we decided to deal with this ourselves because we obviously know what we're doing. So yeah, things are Peachy.
She couldn't possibly answer her despite it being the truth, so decided to keep things as simple and uneventful as possible. After all, she was a teenager, the phase where the attitude was at its peak.
"Great." Teagan sighs, Ava kept silent, forcing her to elaborate on her answer. "Uh... things are going really great here. The Reeves, they're good. They're doing good." She nodded. "Leilani has not yet been discharged, but little by little she has been recovering. Leo is fine. Still a dumbass."
Ava guffaws at her comment, a look of relief adorning her angel-like face. "Thank God, I'm so grateful nothing bad happened to them. The news took us all by surprise. We almost took a flight to NYC."
Teagan pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded robotically. "Yeah." Then a frown fell upon her small face. "Why didn't you?"
"Oh, well, Christian told us not to." Ava sighs, giving her a sad smile. "He said everything was under control and if things got worse, then he would give us a call."
Teagan bit the inside of her lip, feeling her blood boiling with rage and frustration. She had to glance away or else Ava would clearly see the piss-off look Teagan had. The thing about teenagers is that they're an ocean, they contain these negative emotions and unspoken thoughts, and when the adults fail to magically read their thoughts they explode. They rage and rage, succumbing to their own fury and misery. Teagan held so much anger and resentment towards her parents, mostly towards her mother. She just wished they would show up, be there whether they were invited or not.
Teagan wished she had those overprotective parents that liked to be on top of their kids, at least by showing up in everything they did to mean they cared. She hated hearing some teenagers complain about parents who are like that, naming them nosey, suffocators, adults with no life, and another bunch of stupid name-calling. She liked living in New York, but she hated that her parents didn't bother to visit her, money isn't the problem because they are stinking rich, they own a private jet. So it all boils down to the initiative and seeing none from their side, hurt her, even if she gave them the cold shoulder when they came, a secret part of her was glad to have them around. She's just a teenager, what she says she doesn't want, she actually wants it.
She has issues, doesn't she?
"How's your brother holding up?" Her silver voice brought Teagan back to reality. "I heard he didn't leave the hospital until Leilani was fully conscious." Ava chuckled heartedly.
"Well, you know how Chris is... he's like a loyal dog. Never left her side." Teagan shrugged, glancing over at Kylo, who was busy scratching at the legs of her study desk. "Kylo, no. No."
Kylo whimpered, he turned to her and back to the bottom of the study desk leg, he scratched at it and then turned to Teagan and barked. "What...?"
He found something, Teagan frowned and glanced back at the video call, about to bid her goodbyes when Ava spoke up.
"And Gavin? How is he? He told me he moved in with you guys yesterday." Ava seemed anxious to be asking Teagan about her half-brother. "I promised I would make it up to him next weekend."
"Make up for what?"
Ava bit down on her lip uneasily. "For missing out on his graduation. I spoke to him and told him about my situation, the business had my hands tied, thankfully I closed a lot of deals."
"Right." Teagan scoffed, Ava frowned at her daughter. "Right when I think you actually care, there's always something much more important that needs your attention. Even if that means missing out on one of your kids' big days like graduation. You don't miss those kinds of things."
Ava let out a tired sigh, she ran a hand over her beautiful snow-white skin. "Let's not fight, okay? Please, I didn't call you for that."
"Why do you even bother to call?" Teagan's tone was dripping with impatience. "I hate these weekly calls, it doesn't make our bond stronger, it doesn't mean we're back to being friends. A fucking call won't fix the damage you did to me!"
Ava gasped, eyes wide and glassy. "Teagan..."
"No, don't even begin." Teagan cut her off sharply, her face was slightly red as she fought the tears back. "I'm sick of this. I'm sick of you saying you're fighting to salvage your relationship with your kids and that your children mean the world to you, because if that is true, then it's a shitty world."
Ava inhaled sharply, tears fell down her cheek and she brushed them away. "Then tell me, tell me what I can do to make things better." She cried, Teagan breathed in through the nose and brushed an unwanted tear off her cheek. "Because you do mean the world to me, I failed Gavin, and I'm trying to make amends, I truly am."
"Do what a parent is supposed to do," Teagan said in a toneless voice. "Show up. Be there. Even if your kid is telling you not to, do it. But of course, knowing you, I'm asking for too much."
Ava shook her head. "No, I-I'll do better. I'll do better. I promise."
Teagan chuckled dryly, her eyes showed her just how much she didn't buy that. "I'll believe it when I see it. Say hi to dad for me. Bye, I got homework to do."
"I lo-" But the call had ended, Teagan didn't give her a chance to say goodbye.
Teagan stared at the screen of her phone before locking it and coming back to her senses, she turned to Kylo and crawled her way towards him.
"What is it, boy?" Teagan asked in a soothing voice, she scratched his head before moving him aside and dropping low to the ground. She noticed a small button-like device protruding off the surface underneath the storage wardrobes of her white study desk. "The hell..." She whispered.
Teagan slipped her thin fingers underneath the wardrobe and ripped off the device, she pulled it out and pushed herself on her knees. She examined the thing, and it took her a moment to realize what it was.
A microphone. Somebody was spying on her, but the question is: since when?
No, more importantly, who?
Ah, Teagan, Teagan.
This girl really needs to
learn how to let go of the
past.
I get that she's hurt, but
come on, it's been (3 years?)
since the truth about Ava
having another kid came into
the light. The problem is that
Teagan closed herself off to
the point of not knowing how
to open herself up again.
But she will, she will. All in due
time.
(Also, who chipped her room? 👀
Any guesses?)
Stay safe mis amores 🤍❄