#carryontm

     memes. accepting.

     “ THANK YOU. ”   she takes the hot chocolate in both hands, lets the heat from the mug soak into her trembling fingers. it’s been   ...   an intense few days, to say the least. doesn’t have the words to express everything she’s feeling, but she can try.

     memes. accepting.

     “ TEMPORARILY. ”

THERE’S A PANG OF GUILT IN HER GUT before the half-truth even leaves her mouth. indefinitely would be the more honest word choice, but it would only bring on the guilt-tripping, the jody needs you, the what about working together? so temporarily it is, with her too-full backpack and duffel   s t u f f e d   with weaponry. claire clenches her jaw.

     memes. accepting.

     SHE’S REALLY DOING HER BEST with this whole hunting thing. we help in other ways, alex once said, and patience has been hanging onto that. but it doesn’t stop her hands from shaking. it doesn’t stop her heart from beating so fast she gets lightheaded. HER GRIP TIGHTENS on the rifle she   b a r e l y   knows how to use as she nods her head, focusing on her breathing while she waits for alex’s signal. 

     soft fam memes. accepting. 

     THE NO-NONSENSE TONE awakens something deep in krissy that she   …   didn’t even   k n o w   existed. it brings her to a halt immediately, half-out of her chair, frozen as her brain tries to place the command. her dad’s idea of dinner was fast food in the car or a jumbo bag of chips   …   and meals with victor, try as he might, were always a whirlwind of homework and cases and gossip, the kids zipping in and out of the dining room with fires under their asses.

                    “ BUT   …   ”

     she looks helplessly down at her phone, claire’s excited   “ got a lead! come asap! ”   still shining up at her,   t a u n t i n g ,  as her body sinks back into the chair without her permission. it’s like jody has some kind of control over her, stirring an apologetic guilt out of her with nothing but a stern look and a handful of words. it’s like   …

                                           holy shit, she’s being mothered.

     soft fam memes. accepting.

     IT WAS MEANT TO SOLVE EVERYTHING.  sam and jody were apprehensive, still thought encouraging magda to embrace her powers was the right thing, but   ...   it was her life. her choice. the spell was experimental, they said, but the few cases recorded in the lore spoke proudly of its success. and it did succeed. she couldn’t so much as flicker a candle by the time they finished the ritual. she was free.

     but then the pain started. deep in her chest, every time she breathed. the dizzy spells   ...   the cold sweats   ...   the bloody coughs   ...   she thought it would go away, thought it was just a bug, but   ...   barely a month later and her efforts at hiding it have been for naught, alex’s kind eyes   w a i t i n g   patiently for magda to confess.

     she could lie. say it’s nothing, say it just started, say there’s no need to worry. last thing she wants is for them to reverse the spell. but she’s scared. it’s right there in her eyes when she reluctantly glances up at alex; vulnerable, terrified.