teaganmitchell (teaganmitchell) wrote in horror_story, @ 2013-04-07 08:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | complete, cycle002, teagan |
Teagan Deals with Dad
WHO: Teagan
WHEN: January 10th late night (11pm) - January 11th early hours of the morning.
WHERE: The Donnelly house, on the corner of Orchard and Maple.
WHAT: Michael Donnelly will not be heard from after this.
WARNING: None. Father-daughter bonding time (not graphic).
It had been a week since Tatum had stormed out of the video store. Teagan had expected her sister to come back within days, or at least send a text letting her know where she was. There’d been no word. Michael was furious, and for once Teagan found herself in the awkward position of sympathizing with her father. She didn’t approve of his methods, but he was right to be concerned about Tatum. The girl had become a loose cannon. Getting in trouble at school, deliberately stirring up shit with McBrayer... it wasn’t right. Someone needed to reign her in. Gently, though. With love.
God, was this how parents felt? Teagan wasn’t used to having to be the responsible one. It wasn’t a role she took to easily. She was angry at her sister for going off the deep end, angry at her father for running Tatum off... and immensely sorry for them both. As far as she was concerned, they were both being completely unreasonable. The fault for the dissolution of their already tenuous family could be divided into equal shares between the tiny redhead and their overbearing patriarch. The only thing Teagan knew was that she’d tried to help. Hold things together.
There was really only so much that could be done, and she didn’t have any help. It was frustrating. Charlie had abandoned her for some unknown reason, as well. There’d been no word from him since she’d told him about Tatum’s outburst at the video store. Apparently he couldn’t be counted on in times of crisis, which left her essentially friendless. Fantastic!
She was also furious at Mike McBrayer for being a psychopath... though she hadn’t seen any sign of him since he’d called about the watch, so if he was actually stalking her as Tatum had claimed, he was really, really good at it. The guy was a ninja. Which meant that when Teagan had tried going to Michael about the McBrayer situation, her worst fears were realized. Her father simply hadn’t believed her.
There was no actual evidence that McBrayer had ever done anything to her save fix her car back in December, and while Donnelly did think McBrayer was violent trailer trash, and absolutely believed that the man was responsible for the death of Susie Wilson, he assumed Teagan was only making another ploy for attention when she started to explain her situation with Crows Landing’s number one murder suspect. One of many tall tales that he’d dealt with from her over the years. Michael Donnelly had long ago learned to disregard Teagan’s fantasies, and a psychotic stalker was very much in line with her usual spiel. In fact, it sounded terribly familiar. Exactly like one of the movies she liked to watch so much. So he hadn’t taken her seriously, getting angry with her for trying to derail a murder investigation. There’d been some yelling back and forth. He thought she knew where her sister was. Thought she’d had something to do with her sister’s acting out. She thought he was being unreasonable, which he was. Same old song.
It wasn’t his fault, though. That was his nature. He was just being stubborn. Tatum had obviously inherited that trait from him. Teagan considered herself to be more rational. She could admit it when she was wrong, adapt to a situation and accept new circumstances, instead of clinging to preconceived notions and choking on her own ego like some family members she could name.
She was more like her mother.
When she’d gone back to the shop to see Sam Belli, it really hadn’t been to make a purchase. She wanted to ask about the camera her father had taken back. Maybe if she bought it again, she could use it as a peace offering to get Tatum to come around. She was sure that once she could get her sister to calm down and see reason, things would be fine. They’d solve it. Just as they’d always done, before.
Sam Belli had given her other ideas. Teagan hadn’t expected him to recognize her from the time she’d gone into the shop to spy on Avery Weston. She certainly hadn’t expected him to remember her enthusiasm over the pear-of-anguish, and she forgot all about Tatum’s camera when he started to talk about payment plans and the barter system. As it turned out, Charlie had been right about Belli. He was a genuinely nice guy, and as it happened he really liked movies. Teagan didn’t exactly have a whole lot of kindred spirits in town, but she felt as though Belli might be one. Like her, he was very reasonable. An out-of-the-box type of thinker. She liked that. He encouraged her to be more proactive, seemed to think she was capable. Independent. She liked that, too.
It took several days for the plan to formulate. Like all the best plans, there were layers to it. Steps.
First, she had to stop her father from doing anything rash. He’d already reported Tatum missing, and was all geared up to go on a tirade, dragging his youngest daughter home by the hair, if that’s what it took. Crows Landing wasn’t big enough to hide in forever. Given Tatum’s latest attitude adjustment, Teagan guessed how that would have gone down if she’d allowed it to happen. Michael Donnelly was a simple man, one who only really had one method of problem-solving. Teenage girls were complicated. He just couldn’t be trusted to handle Tatum any more than he could be trusted to bring in Mike McBrayer on murder charges. The man was Teagan’s father, and she did love him, but she also had to admit that he was sort of incompetent. The guy needed help.
So Teagan very wisely took matters into her own hands. Granted, it wasn’t exactly easy. No girl wanted to handcuff her own father to a bed, even if he was passed out at the time (admittedly, that part had been somewhat easy... Michael had taken to drinking a lot more since his daughter had disappeared on him, so Teagan hadn’t even had to drug him). Of course, he’d needed to be convinced to stay down after he initially woke up, and she’d had to deal with that Donnelly stubbornness again. A claw hammer turned out to be pretty useful for that. A few quick snaps to the head and the yelling stopped. Not hard at all.
By the 10th, he was feeling a lot more docile. He couldn’t walk anymore, but by that point Teagan felt as though it was a small price to pay for complacency. She hoped that Tatum was willing to play nurse when she got back, at least until he healed up. Teagan wasn’t cut out for working healthcare. In the meantime, she had no choice but to do her best. She called in for him at the station and fed him when she remembered to do so. He was difficult to move, and was starting to get rank, but she promised him that this would all be temporary. Like the bleeding! “Once Taters gets home, she can help me get you up. Take you to the bathroom. You’re too heavy for me to lift all by myself, you know.”
Yes, yes. Once Tatum was home, she’d help take care of their father. But Tatum wasn’t home yet, and why would she be? Teagan couldn’t blame her for being scared. Her sister didn’t know that Michael Donnelly’s temper had been dealt with. That it was safe to come home.
More than that, it might not even be safe to come home, yet. Teagan hadn’t spotted Mike McBrayer in the bushes outside, but that didn’t mean he was never there. He was still after her, still after her sister. Clearly, he was one of the factors preventing Tatum from feeling safe to poke her head out of hiding. There was no other explanation for why she hadn’t contacted Teagan to apologize by now.
For all Teagan knew, he’d already done something to Tatum.
So that was step two of the plan. Mike McBrayer had to be dealt with, which wouldn’t be hard. He was a murderer. The only reason the police hadn’t already hauled him off to prison was because they were pathetic. They didn’t have the evidence, wouldn’t act without the evidence. They’d act on a confession, though. All she had to do was get Mike McBrayer to confess to killing Susanna Wilson, and then he’d go to prison forever and leave her family alone.
“Don’t worry, dad,” she assured her father, after undoing the handcuffs on the morning of the 11th. Eight days after Tatum had thrown her little tantrum and stormed off. The handcuffs were pointless on Michael now, and she was going to need them for McBrayer. She noticed that her father’s eyes were still glazed over, and hoped that wasn’t permanent. He’d want to be lucid when she told him about her success. How daddy’s not-so-little girl had taken down a wanted killer. “You keep resting up. I’ll get him for you, and then Taters will come home and we can change your sheets and stuff.”