terrors don't prey on innocent victims

@emmettkenton

Charlie had a blue clip in her hair in celebration for the blue river that ran on the outskirts of town. That was about as patriotic as she got when it came to Lethe. It was her home, sure, but ‘home’ was a loose word when you lived as long as her, since she moved around a bunch anyways. After all, looking across the crowd sipping her blood slushie, Emmett Kenton used to be home once upon a time, too. She grinned and walked over to the man, dodging the children in the street running in the opposite direction. “Love. Truce?” she asked, offering the slushie to the man. “I’m afraid it has my cooties, but when has that ever stopped you?”

Emmett paused, his eyes flashing dangerously as he looked at her, his eyes darting to the slushie in her hand. “A truce only for the day,” he said warily. “I’m too tired to be a dick I guess. But that doesn't mean I won’t be tomorrow. I probably will.” He took it and took a drink, rolling his eyes at the cootie comment. “Suppose that’s a fair point.” He handed it back easily. “While we’re being nice, how have you been?”

Emmett’s comment managed to get a laugh out of him and the nymph simply shook his head. “You give me too much credit, Emmett”. It really wasn’t that big of a deal to return money, or at least, in David’s perspective it wasn’t. “It was good. Oh, and I got a tattoo” he said with a grin, rolling up his sleeve a little more to show the smiley face that had been drawn on his arm with black and yellow markers. “Can’t fail to mention that” he added with a chuckle.

Emmett gave a small laugh and glanced at David with a small grin. “I really don’t, you deserve all of the credit I give you.” He laughed lightly at the tattoo now on the nymph beside him, nodding his head in approval. “Oh, I see. What marvelous tattoo artists they are.” The kids in this town were creative and highly skilled, in all seriousness. They were good kids around here, and they were already on the right track to change the entire world.

“Walk me home, I live nearby,” he slurred slightly coherently, the weed kicking in and making him want to sleep anyways. His anxiety was lessening, worry no longer on his health or Adam or his work. Now he just wanted a nice warm bed to lay in and close his eyes. He groped for the older man’s hand, something to hold onto in the dark. They weren’t that friendly but he needed to know that he wasn’t the coldest being in town tonight. 

He didn’t normally sleep anyways, but Shiloh was so self-absorbed he didn’t normally think about what other species did with those five-plus hours a night when the world was quiet. So he decided to inquire the vampire about it. “What do you usually do since you don’t need sleep? You’re in good shape, maybe exercise? Prepare school lessons? I dunno, man.”

Emmett chuckled and started walking the younger man, giving him an affectionate glance. He knew hybrids sometimes had health problems, that Shiloh had plenty himself. And he wished that he could do something for him. He knew what it was like to be sick, he couldn’t forget no matter how hard he tried. “Yeah, I do jogging and lesson plans a lot. I read and watch shit too. There’s always something to do, even some places in town that are open all night. Probably because of people like me,” he said with a chuckle.

“I couldn’t have known,” she bit back almost hysterically. She wasn’t going to apologize, she couldn’t, but he had to know it wasn’t her intention to hurt him. “I loved you Emmett. So what if I was selfish, it wasn’t out of malice. It was out of want, my yearning love for you and just because she got into some accident and ended up in the ground you think I’m the worst person in the world because I thought she needed time. They all need time, pumpkin.” Yes, she knew long ago that she held her grips on him much too long, and in the months leading up to Henri’s death he asked more often if he could see his daughter and the lies got twisted worse and worse down the rabbit hole. Charlie couldn’t dig herself out. It was almost like he could sense her death coming and if Charlie had been a little less selfish… but it was out of her hands, it was the past, and there was no sense in dwelling. “You wouldn’t be in Lethe if humans were okay with vampires walking on the fucking street, Emmett. But they’re not, so you need to be with people like yourself. People like me, okay? You had twenty years with her, that’s–” twenty years more than I had, she wanted to say, but bit her tongue. “That may not be enough, but from what I hear those were twenty happy years, Emmett. If she could see you holding a grudge… you’d be less recognizable than with your fangs out, okay?”

“Fuck you, Charlie,” Emmett spat venomously, rage boiling under the skin. How dare she go back to that? Speak as if it was an act of love? No one who truly loved anyone else would ever- could ever- manipulate them for their own selfish gain. “That’s not love! It’s not!" He stepped closer, fury and hurt coursing through him. The truth was, that he had loved her himself. That was the worst part, the part that sometimes kept him up at night. “But I loved you, Charlie. I trusted you. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t know. The way I loved Henri was something you didn’t understand so you didn’t even try. You didn’t care. And that’s the goddamn bottom line.” He shook his head and backed away. “I’m not doing this with you. I am so sick of doing this shit with you. Just because we’re in the same fucking town does not mean that we have to keep going around and around. It doesn’t mean that I have to fucking see you. I’m done. You get it?” He shook his head, swore under his breath, and walked away with a shake of his head and a groan, anger nearly making his hands shake. It was an emotion he didn’t feel too often, and he was glad for it because it tended to take him strongly, wrap around him and make him into someone he didn’t even know. 

“Oh my God, Daddy,” she said, incapable of crying but wanting so badly for the release of emotions. She felt hollow without them, like she was the zombie that she was. She felt gross and useless and unreal. But her father was cold to the touch, as well. He’d gone through a transformation as well. 

Henri didn’t want to let go of her father, so she kept the embrace and placed her chin as high as she could, to speak over the shoulder. “They say I’m a lich. I crawled out of my grave. God it was so scary and dark and cold and… I’m cold, and…” Is it really you? she wanted to ask. How is this possible? But the words stopped in her throat. 

Emmett was shaking as he moved forward, pausing just a couple of inches away. “May I..?” he asked softly, not wanting to overstep, knowing how much he had missed. A lich. She was a lich. She was alive, at least some kind of alive 

He wanted so badly to hug her, ached to hug her. “I- A nurse at the hospital, she turned me into a vampire and-God, I wanted to tell you but I was so afraid that I wasn’t in control, that I’d hurt you and she agreed and kept reminding me and I believed her and stayed away and then you died and I was at the funeral and... And I fucked up and I am so, so sorry.”

With his messenger bag hanging from his shoulder and his earbuds plugged into his ears, David was walking through the town after leaving work. His hands still had some specks of colors due to the art project he’d worked on with the kids today. Pressing pause to his music and taking off his earbuds, he called out “Hey, you dropped this” as he rushed towards the person on the sidewalk. Holding up a $20 bill, the nymph smiled as he handed it back.

Emmett turned easily, taking the bill from the other educator with an appreciative smile. “Thanks, man. You have to be one of the only truely honest people left in the entire damn world, you know that?” He usually didn’t have such a skeptical outlook, he was an optimist by nature. But after seeing Charlie again? Well, it was easy for the negativity to come back up. “How was your class today?”

Saturdays were both a day to plan for the upcoming week and a day to get done anything outside of work that needed doing. Sometimes, though, his Saturdays ended up not being anything too strenuous. Those were the better ones, nice and relaxing, a little break from the constant craziness of his life. This was one of those days, where he couldn’t bring himself to go get his work done and instead was walking through the park while he thought over everything that had been happening in his life. Somehow, in the same month, both Henri and Charlie had come back into his life. Apparently, he couldn’t have one without the other anymore. What was with that? 

However, Emmett found himself slowing to a stop, his eyes landing on one of his friends in town. Well, friend might still be too strong of a word but... He hesitated briefly, eyeing the chess board. “Is... Is someone playing with you, man, or is this all you?” How would one person playing chess even work? 

Jinny wasn’t much of a wanderer. Normally, she had a destination in mind. A plan to execute, a route to take. That’s why it was so easy for her and Zi to skip from town to town, city to city. And it was usually always busy so she never had any downtime at work. It was always go, go, go. Things were very different here that was in Lethe. Even though she’s heard from a few people already that the town is rapidly growing in size and population, The Sweet Spot had a steady stream of customers and orders, but it was nothing like the hustle and bustle of constantly throwing ingredients around like say in New York or Tokyo.

So today, because of how much time she had on her hands, Jinny found herself wandering through Irving Plaza. Locking eyes with a stranger who sits at the base of a tree, Jinny tries to turn away but there’s already a spark in his eyes before he even begins to speak and Jin knows she’s going to be stuck. —   “Shit, ah…” Jinny runs her fingers through her dark hair, making it fall to one side messily and walks closer to the stranger. “Pinata… Making…?” She says with a big shrug, clearly unsure of her own answer. “You can… Teach them about the process of making something and then absolutely demolishing it afterward teaches them that you don’t always have to keep what you make. It’s about how you get there… Besides, kids always like to hit stuff…?” Jinny was trying to take a page from her own book. She’s made beautifully created pieces of food, and then watching it all get smooshed and ruined was something she had to learn how to deal with when getting into her industry. “Sorry, man. I haven’t had to think about this stuff in a very, very long time.”

Emmett couldn’t help but to laugh a little, mostly because of the wording. And she wasn’t wrong. Kids really liked to hit stuff. “You know what? I really like that idea actually. I have never thought of that before, but kids would enjoy that. And honestly, making pinata’s is pretty fun. It makes a big mess, which the kids will go crazy for.” He clambered to his feet and held out his hand with a friendly smile. “No, that’s great, thank you. I’m Emmett, by the way, I run a child care center here.”

@emmettkenton

She had nothing to do, waiting for the paperwork to go through for the town and her job application for the police force. And she didn’t eat, and didn’t sleep, so she exercised for fun when she wasn’t studying. Dawn was the most beautiful part of the day, in Henri’s mind, and since she didn’t sleep there was no such thing as ‘having to wake up early’ for it. It was an easy remedy to calm her mind, for a lich’s minds were never on sleeper mode. 

As she left the hotel and the morning sun broke through the trees, she started her jog around the perimeter of the town, not in the trees but only on the streets, where it was paved. She didn’t fatigue so she went halfway, stopped to watch the sunrise, and almost finished her second half before stopping suddenly. She’d seen a man, a ghost, in the corner of her eye. Lich’s senses were acute, nothing like a vampire or werewolf’s advanced hearing or eyesight, but healthy as she was as a human. She appeared slightly dead, but something inside her persevered. 

Henri slowly but surely turned her head at the stranger who was stretching his limbs on a park bench. She approached him. She’d be shaking if she were human, but alas she was not. “Excuse me?” she asked. When he turned around, she recognized him. God, did she recognize him. If her heart were beating it would’ve dropped in her chest, she would’ve stopped her breathing or something, but none of these things happened, just the sensation, the thought, the memory or idea of these things occurred in the split second that their eyes met. “Dad,” she breathed, heavy and raw. “Dad,” she repeated after a moment’s hesitation. She didn’t know if this was real. She didn’t think she’d ever hallucinated before, could liches hallucinate when the hormones in their brains were nonexistent? She was afraid to touch him, afraid to go near him, but something in her wanted so badly to be held by her dad.

Emmett had been running in the mornings for a long time. He used to do it before he was even a vampire, though he had had to stop when he had been diagnosed with cancer. He had picked it up again eventually after he had left Charlie (he had been too scared of harming people before that). When Emmett got to his usual pausing point, mostly because the view of the sunrise was great here, he paused to stretch at a bench. He wasn’t tired, didn’t mind getting up this early to run, because he didn’t actually sleep, another reminder of how far from human he was now.

He felt tears instantly spring to his eyes the moment she came into view, shaking his head slightly because this couldn’t be real. “Henri?” He could hear the wavering in his voice as he moved closer, unable to wrap his head around it. She was here. She was alive. How was she alive? Had she done the same as him? Oh, god, he should have told her.

He stumbled forward before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a hug, his entire body shaking against her. “I am so sorry, Henri, I am so sorry, I messed up so bad, I-” His words died in his throat because it wasn’t enough, it would never be enough. “How is this possible?”

@emmettkenton

The fae had gotten close to his daughter’s teacher, because Nolyn wanted a little bit of special treatment, extra attention, just in the beginning. He needed an inside look at how she was doing, because Nolyn didn’t want to stay in Lethe if his daughter was being picked on or didn’t make any friends. Thankfully, the best came to pass and Eden arrived home everyday, happy and with a different creative project from the day. “Thank you, Emmett. I know she’s bigger than all the rest, but with all the school she missed from being in the hospital… We did a lot of homeschooling, lets just say.” That is, when Nolyn was home, but he wasn’t going to admit that just yet. “Thankfully it hasn’t been an issue. No being picked on, or even doing the bullying? No parent ever wants to believe its their kid, but I trust you, man. 

Emmett shook his head easily. “Nah, man, she’s fine. I really do have older kids in my program. We go all the way to twelve, so. But really, she’s a joy to have.”  He chuckled slightly as he shook his head. No, Eden was far from the kind of kid who would bully and everyone seemed to love her. “She’s actually taken this five-year-old I have under her wing. She’s a really good kid. And, actually, I was going to ask you. She was just something else today, super excited, super happy, said her mommy came by yesterday? Judging by how she was today, that seems like a good thing but thought you’d know best. Good or bad, though, anything I can do, lemme know. I know you’re still new and another transition or adjustment could bring stuff up.”

“ That would make me feel a lot better, thank you,” she laughed as she turned to Emmett. She had known him from the after-school activities that Inny had been part of when she first arrived. But, as time went on she realised her daughter would far rather be out and about looking for whatever strange bug than doing anything really organised. “Would you take a bribe?” she offered hopefully, joking along with him.

Emmett grinned in amusement. He liked Aalis, and he liked Inny. Inny was a good student and a good kid. She might not be in his class anymore, but she was still a joy to run into. “You know what? You’re one of the best parents around and Inny is pretty great, so I’ll just let it slide for free,” he teased back easily.

Not great, he easily could’ve said, but instead he grunted. “You’re good at your job, too, Emmett.” He could never handle children, couldn’t imagine having any of his own. He knew a bit about Emmett’s story, about losing a daughter. So he filled the void with work, so what? Shiloh filled the emptiness in him with animals, too. They just couldn’t talk back to him. “I guess our jobs are similar, when I said ‘hell on wheels,’” he said with a lazy smile. He wouldn’t let this high be a bad one, and Emmett was a good influence, a good guy. “What are you doing up so late?” he asked, forgetting that vampires… don’t need sleep. 

The laugh that tore from Emmett was genuine, bringing him to shake his head affectionately as he cocked an eyebrow at Shiloh. “Yeah, they are. Honestly, depending on the age, kids are not that different from dogs. They really aren’t.” Especially toddlers. Toddlers were basically dogs that could talk. Maybe a dog mixed with a teenager on second thought. He grinned at his friend, lightly nudging him with his shoulder. “I’m a vampire, Shi. I don’t sleep. But what about you? I know you need sleep.”

            she was in a hurry. in all fairness meredy was ALWAYS in a hurry. thats something that came with the fact she preferred to remain separate from, ya know, PEOPLE. people were complicated heaches just waiting in the wings to happen. okay, maybe that was harsh. alright YES that was incredibly harsh. maybe that was who she was now. someone who was harsh. one of the biggest struggles was, well, KNOWING. so yes she was in a hurry, and yes she was a bit MORTIFIED when he talked to her. in a instant her eyes roamed around looking for alternative people he could of spoken to (HOPING there had been someone else) but NOPE she was stuck being rude, polite, or hauling ass. “i used to like the food kind of art.” she said, unsureness clear in her tone. “macaroni stuff or marshmellow stuff. it was… fun.” 

Emmett smiled at the girl, instantly gathering that she was either new or shy, or maybe both. “You know, I always loved food crafts as a kid. That’s a really good idea. I’ll have to watch them though, I have at least one kid who will try to eat the raw macaroni.” He let his smile get a little softer as he got to his feet, extending his hand. “I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new? My name’s Emmett, I’m a teacher, thus the random question. I’m sorry if I startled you, ma’am.”

Once upon a time, a new vampire came to Lethe and opened the business of caring for kids. The parents at Kane Harper’s school raved about Mr. Kenton, and Brynn had chatted him up one day. ‘Which is yours?’ he had asked. ‘Oh, I’m looking at ‘im,’ she’d said with a grin. She’d bought him a cup of coffee (for him, blood) and they had shared their life stories, boundless with philosophy and hope and regret. They’d laughed, they’d cried, and Brynn had gone to bed that night with one more person that she loved. 

Therefore, when her friend called her over, she only could oblige. “Well its about summertime right now. Something outdoors-y. Swimming pools, beaches, BBQs… As for crafts Emmett, paper, cardboard, plastic. Food is always fun. Ooh, a collage! I’ll get Kane to round up the newspapers and magazines. What else do you need help with on this beautiful day?” 

Emmett grinned up at his friend. “Brynn, good to see you. I’ve been wondering about you. You were out of town for a while, weren’t you?” He nodded consideringly with a small smile on his face. “You know, I got a small swimming pool- you know, nothing fancy, the plastic kind- and maybe I could have them make some kind of decorations for it.” He perked up at the mention of a collage. “I like that, I like that. Maybe they could do a collage of their favorite thing of the summer, just the best thing that happened to them all summer, and we put it all together and on the wall of the classroom.” He nudged his friend lightly with his foot. “how about some company on a walk around town?”

“Older than five but younger than twelve? Clay might be a good option, they are old enough to not eat it and old enough to shape it into something of their liking no matter their age. A couple of days later you can use it again as a painting exercise,” she offered after a moment’s thought, tapping her finger. When was the last time she spent caring for a child that age? Almost a century ago? Most days after that, it was people who didn’t require crafts. Yue was on the bench just a little ways away from him and she turned now to face him, eyebrows arching in question. “It might be a little messy, but it’ll be easy to clean up. They could decorate the classroom with it or take it home, assuming you’re a teacher of sorts and not a parent struggling for ideas?” She wondered what her son would think, grown up now and disbelieving as he was, if she asked him about crafting ideas. “If they were a little older, you could try crocheting. It’ll take a little more patience on your side though so perhaps only with a few. Afraid those are the limits of my ideas, I’m not much of a creator.” 

Emmett laughed lightly with a small nod of his head. “That is true. The worst they might do is throw it at each other, but I think they enjoy crafts enough not to do anything to mess it up.” He tried to think if he had any kids who might throw clay at each other (or him) but he didn’t think so, really. He had a really good bunch of kids. Clay was a good idea, and there were definitely a lot of kids who would really enjoy it. “Maybe it could decorate the classroom for a few weeks then go home. A nice mix of both, really. But yeah, you nailed it. I run the Helping Hands Child Care Center. You know, maybe I could find something close to crocheting but a little less advanced. I think they’d like it and I have several kids who would take to it I think. I’m Emmett, by the way. Thanks for the help.”

“Oh, so no hatefuck? Tragic, you were always more fun than you let on,” she grinned. “I built my house over a century ago, so I was here first. They thought I was fine enough, besides I heard talk that Aliza is with a cult leader who encouraged mass-suicide. Can’t beat that, baby,” she said, swaying sideways, twisting back and forth slowly. The quirk of her lips made it appear that she gave no interest in this conversation, but in actuality she cared about Emmett. She tried not to think of him over the years, and she knew she had been in the wrong, but was too proud to ever apologize. She was lonely, she’d loved him dearly. They had gotten much too close over the months they had spent together, her caring for him constantly. And when he was finally a vampire and they could actually be together, he felt vigorous and strong and hungry, of course she wanted him for herself. She didn’t have any children, didn’t understand the bond between a father and a daughter. Hell, maybe she resented her own absent father and accidentally, involuntarily took it out on Emmett. Of course she never meant to hurt him, and she didn’t know Henri would ever die. Not for another fifty-plus years at least.

After a moment she stopped swaying. She took a few steps forward until she was a normal distance from him, and frowned. “What chaos would that be, love? I didn’t make you go at it alone. You left me, remember. You chose this for yourself. You lost Henri and then you pushed me away. I can’t imagine… how you’ve handled all this time,” she finished softly. I never stopped loving you, she wanted to say, and even though Greyson didn’t have werewolf hearing she still feared he would get upset if she admitted anything aloud. She felt guilty for loving multiple men, but she truly believed these two were the best in the entire world. However, something in her eyes probably gave her away as she looked at Emmett’s frown and pursed her lips together in pain. It had been months since she last thought about him. She was glad to see he was alive and sound, safe, hopefully thriving since he was in Lethe. But she didn’t know if he would tell her anything. If she pried, would he say the truth? Would he spit back at her? Even though he deliberately hurt her, like she had hurt him, she still loved him. And it was pissing her off. 

Emmett set his jaw, eyes flashing dangerously. “Oh, of course, you’d be after a hatefuck. Why am I surprised? And don’t call me baby. Don’t.” His tone was vicious at the last few words, twisting with his anger and the wrenching in his gut. Because the worst of it, in the truth of it, was that now that the image was in his head it was hard to push away. It was much to easy to picture slamming her against a wall, pinning her there as he tasted the sweat of her neck. It was hard to get past the thought, hell, the desire of it. But he needed to. He hated that it was there at all. She could play innocent all she wanted, they both knew what she had done. 

“You make it sound like I blamed you for her death. I blamed you for her life,” he snapped back. “I blamed you for keeping me away for her life while she died alone.” I blamed you for me living while she died, he didn’t say. That was where he stopped being fair, he knew, where he was being irrational, where Charlie wasn’t to blame. So instead, he focused on what she had done. On her telling him he wasn’t ready, taking advantage of the regret he had felt nearly immediately after taking her up on her offer.

After visiting the local farmer’s market, Zinaida sent a quick text to her mother stating that she got the ingredients they needed for dinner. Jinny was going to try a new dish today, as such Zi offered to get the groceries done while she was out working. Hearing someone groan nearby, the vampire arched a brow and stared at the man blankly. “They still do arts and crafts? I thought they’d be consumed by technology in this day and age. I’ve see them with iPhones and iPads you know?” She paused and pondered on a solution. “Pinterest. Have you gone on there for ideas?”

Emmett grinned and chuckled lightly. “I make it my goal to teach them something instead of sticking a screen in their faces. But, plenty of schools are actually all electronic. I just think kids get more out of using their hands and making something.” He smiled at the woman as he nodded consideringly. “You know, I have Pinterest but I almost never use it. I’ll take a look. Thank you.” He even had the app on his phone, it just never crossed his mind to open it. “I’m Emmett, by the way.”