Wild Thing

“A job? I’m supposed to get a — job?” He was barely able to pronounce the three letter words, almost chocking on them, as he paced around wildly with his phone pressed to his right ear, “Why the fuck are you upsetting me like this, mother?” He hissed, stopping in his tracks for barely a second, in order to take a deep breath, “How was I supposed to know I’ll get arrested again?” At this point, he was shouting, without a care in the world that someone might be hearing him, judging him, or simply laughing at him. “Do not hang up on me! It’s my mon-…” He paused, clenching his jaw absentmindedly, fingers curling into a tight fist, nearly smashing the phone in his hand into tiny pieces. The conversation was over, and so was his hope to get his hands on the money his father left for him in his will. “What is a job and where do I get one?”

He was just stepping out from fixing Mr. Thompson’s stove when he heard the man arguing with his mother over the phone. There was a whine in his voice, and an air that he was used to getting what he wanted. He shoved his hands in his back pockets, laughing at the question, and then adopting the voice he used to use on Ally when she was very little. “Well you see a job in when you put in a service and then get this thing called a paycheck. Might just want to start off slow. Try craigslist, or town hall.”

“Your sibling, after all, is the only other person in the world who understands how fucked up your parents made you.”

It’s sad that the most toxic relationship I have ever had is with my own mother.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it that there’s going to be carnage at this next town event thing?” he asked, he’d been alive during the last blood moon, but a child. Naive and innocent to the supernatural, and more concerned with what was happening in his own little world. He’d heard rumours, whispers of what happened during them and whilst he wasn’t looking forward to it, he knew there was little that could be done. “It’s going to make for an interesting night for sure.”

“A solid twelve.” He’d already planned his schedule around taking off that night so that he could be home. He’d been bussing tables when the last town disaster had gone down and he wasn’t going to be caught off guard again. “But on the bright side of mass murder I get to watch all you vamps and wolves complain about how tired and weak and vulnerable you all are. Should be funny.”

“Shit – shit..” Tessa let out a groan as she pulled on the locked door once again in vain. The building was already locked up and of course, she’d left her laptop in her office. Racking her mind for options, she circled quickly to the opposite side of the building, finding the fire escape that’d lead to a window she hoped she could open. Grabbing a hold of the latter, she could feel someone’s eyes on her as she took a few steps upward. “I swear what I’m doing isn’t illegal.. I think. I work here and I really need something inside.”

Jack held up his hands. Watching Tessa Hastings breaking and entering were the least of his worries tonight. With his mother back in town, he was practicing Olympic level avoidance techniques. “Likely story,” he joked. “Care for an accomplice in your new life of crime?”

Pippa had heard the music the moment she had walked through the door to the Wilde house, a crash of a glass followed by hysterical laughter that could only belong to one person, telling Pippa all she needed to know. Hurricane Martha had arrived back in town. Fear gripped at her chest, increasing as she saw a dark haired blur running towards her, her arms wrapping tight around Pippa’s waist. 

He'd been in the middle of fixing Mrs. O'Leary's heating system when the text came in from Pippa. It was like being drenched in ice water. The last time he'd seen Martha Wilde he'd been a teenager, recently dropped out of high school. His go to when she decided to twist into town and disrupt their lives was to sleep over at Hazel's, but that wasn't an option anymore. He dropped out of his job, texting Laura to stay in class, he had the car. He'd grab their brothers.

“Sorry, I use humour to deflect my insecurities. Plus, I’m hilarious, so don’t hate.”

Today was Laura’s twenty-second birthday. She didn’t want a lot of people knowing but considering her younger sister made her a birthday pin that she had to promise to wear all day, everyone would find out sooner or later. It was big, pink and full of bows. Laura sighed as she waited to cross the street, she was only a few blocks from the coffee shop. Laura smiled as people stared while she was walking down the street. Instead of looking down, she nodded at the people as she passed by. “Yes! it’s my birthday! Yes, this is a birthday pin. My little sister made it for me!” She shrugged. “If you don’t like it, it’s your problem.” 

“It’s adorable.” He’d had a little preview of the pin a couple nights earlier when Ally had tugged him to her desk to show him the progress. He was just coming off an early dock shift, still smelling of salt and fish and sweat. “Lot less glitter than mine had two years ago.”