Godric Witt (shy_vamp) wrote in tiberiusswann, @ 2010-11-07 23:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | dante, godric, lyle, reese |
Saturday August 30th 2008
Who: Godric, Reese, Lyle, Dante, and Jack
What: The Rescue
Where: Roswell, NM
When: Friday evening
Rating: R for violence
Two weeks was long enough. Godric was not a man who acted on impulse, but Peyton had been gone long enough. Nox had been right- he couldn't just sit around and do nothing. He was her father for God's sake, he had to do something. Unfortunately, he didn't have a plan as to what he could do. There was nothing he could conceive of that Jack Billings might want, and even less that Godric could offer him. But he had to try. So with Lyle, Reese, and Dante in tow, Godric booked the earliest after dark flight out to the desert. Not much was said on the trip over. There was a shared anxiousness and animosity shared amongst the group. Everyone was worried about Peyton, what state she would be in when she was found, if she would even look the same. Jack was nothing like a normal man. He had deformed his own son for curiosities' sake, had been splicing his daughter's DNA since shortly after her birth. Any scenario their imaginations might concoct was reasonable to expect.
The only person seemingly at ease was Dante. He wasn't sure why he had agreed to coming, but he knew why the vampire queer had asked him along. Shortly put, they needed muscle backup. Dante had heard all the shit about this Jack Billings guy. He knew Peyton wasn't normal, something about aliens or whatever (he didn't care too much). He knew that Jack had fucked up his own son with some kind of experimentation. And he knew that, if push had to come to shove, he would be the only one who could actually kill the guy.
Of course, nothing was going to work in their favor. The closest airport to Roswell was in El Paso, which was over a hundred miles away. Thankfully they were not without money, and Reese (with a hefty bank account and family influence) managed to secure them a small private plane to a small airport outside Roswell. It was almost two in the morning when the rental car pulled up in front of the Billings house, Reese behind the wheel. On the outside Godric seemed calm, almost indifferent to being where they were. Inside, though, he was nervous as anything. There were too many ways this could go badly.
---
The least Reese could do was fork over large amounts of money. Wasn’t like it belonged to him anyway. He’d never earned a dime. If spending his father’s cash would help them get Peyton out of harm’s way, when Reese had never once before tried to help her, then he’d bleed all his accounts bone dry. As it was, he’d be cut off for life for helping with this fucked up plan. He was prepared to be disinherited, but being poor was going to suck. Hopefully, he could find a way to keep his car. He loved that car.
The rental car was a sad, sad sedan. It made him depressed to drive it. He couldn’t wait to hop out when they reached the outskirts of the property. “You guys stay here for a sec... I gotta deactivate the alarm system.” With that said, Reese set off running to the house. Because they weren’t expected, the motion sensors would alert Jack to their arrival if he got the car any closer, but since Reese knew where all the sensors were, he could get around them and make his way up to the house to turn them off, allowing the other guys to enter.
A few minutes passed before Reese ran back to the waiting men. “You should turn off your cell phones and leave them in the car,” he warned. Reese did the same. His father already tracked much of his communication, but Reese was used to it. “Now let’s go. I made sure the cameras are off too... well, the ones I know about. He might have ones I don’t.”
---
In any other circumstance, it would have been odd to have this group working together. But they were all united under one common goal- to get Peyton out of here. The house was gorgeous, massive and impressive, which seemed to forbode its danger. It was a typical wealthy house, a perfect disguise for the sordid shit that went on in its walls. Godric had no doubt in his mind that despite all the help Reese could give them in deactivating the alarms and security, there were cameras and indicators that Reese did not know about. Jack was the kind of man who had too much power, and would be paranoid to protect it. As Godric climbed out of the passenger's side, leaving his cell phone on the seat, he was positive that their presence was already known inside the abode, that Jack was probably watching them with some hateful, cocky smirk on his face. But Godric seemed unruffled. He couldn't show weakness here, or he'd walk away (or limp) empty handed.
Following Reese to the front door, the vampire turned back to look at his companions as they reached the front step. "Don't say anything unless directly addressed," he told them firmly, mostly for Lyle's benefit. Nox was right, the younger vampire could be a detriment if he let his emotions get the best of him. But it would behoove Reese to hold his tongue, although he was sure the oldest Billings child was well aware of this. "And you," he said, pointing a finger at Dante, "don't speak at all."
"What? I'm not a ten year old-"
"Shut your mouth," Godric snapped in a hissed whisper, not looking away until Dante set his jaw, but fell into silence. This was going to be hard enough without Dante fucking it up with his inability to shut his damn mouth for ten minutes.
---
Indeed, Jack did know about their arrival. He’d been sleeping beside his wife, when a small pulse was triggered on his watch. His eyes shot open immediately, and with much stealth, he freed himself from his wife’s grasp and slipped out of bed. He didn’t leave her unprotected though. Once Jack was out of the room, he turned on some impressive security features that transformed the master suite into a bunker of sorts. That was no ordinary glass in the massive picture windows, and the door was sealed to ensure no one but him could get in, and Mrs. Billings would not be able to get out.
Jack went to his dressing room and changed out of his pajamas and into a pair of black slacks and a pure white Oxford dress shirt. He looked professional and imposing as always. It was important to look nice when greeting guests.
Reese was prepared to see his father. He wasn’t naive enough to think his dad didn’t have layers of security that were invisible to others, but he’d done what he could to help make the group’s arrival a quiet one. At the very least, his mother and baby Wyatt wouldn’t be disturbed.
He escorted the odd ensemble to his bedroom. “He’ll be here in a second,” Reese warned. And sure enough, Jack strolled in less than a minute later, not looking surprised in the slightest.
“Gentlemen,” he stated smoothly. “Jackie, you really should have called ahead to say you were bringing visitors. You know how your mother is... she’ll insist the place is a wreck and unfit for company.”
Reese kept his chin high, though it was clear he was very nervous about seeing his father. “Sorry, dad.”
Jack glared at Reese briefly before turning to the others and assessing them. Lyle was weak, despite his vampire blood. Godric was not prone to violence, and would no doubt prefer to discuss the situation at length before resorting to brute force. The other man was a stranger to Jack, and he looked hardened. Whoever the man was, he knew how to fight. Jack could tell in the way he held himself. “So, Mister Witt, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
---
If it had been up to Godric, he would have walked right into the house, alarms going off and all, and met Jack in the kitchen, where business was normally discussed. But despite the assumptions that Godric could make about Jack, based on all previous encounters, Reese had lived the nightmare firsthand. Therefore, Godric would follow the young man wherever he led them.
Lyle looked around, following quietly, not as anxious as Reese but nowhere near as nonchalant as Ric seemed to be. Lyle had met Jack before, and he knew he was just a huge bully with too much power. But bullies with power did the most damage, because they had no morals or conscience. And this time, Jack had all the leverage and despite the number of people here, the men had none. He didn't think Jack was above killing Pey, and he didn't agree with Ric that the man had put too much work into her to lose her. Jack would kill her just to prove a point, that he was the biggest dog in the junk yard. Sitting himself on Reese's bed, Lyle drummed his fingers on his knees, waiting for Jack to make his appearance. He heard the soft, airy footsteps just a few seconds before the massive man made his appearance. Jack looked well groomed, and completely awake. Fuck, didn't this guy ever sleep?
S idestepping Dante, who was standing with his arms crossed and looking around the room as though Jack's presence bored him, Godric approached the other man. "First," he said, his voice cordial, "you may assure your wife that her home is quite perfect. I'm particularly fond of the piece she has above the fireplace in the living room. Second, I wish to bring Peyton back to Danvers with me. What do you want for her?"
---
Reese was quiet, because he didn’t want to further anger his father. While Jack did a good job of appearing casually bored, Reese knew that was not the case. Jack was furious with this intrusion, though he’d allowed it, when Reese knew they’d all be dead by now if Jack preferred it that way.
“Want for her? You must be joking. You have nothing I want, Godric. Peyton is staying here. I’ve made sure she’s comfortable.” Comfortable in a coma. She’d only been conscious for a few minutes since her arrival, and that was only because Jack needed to check for certain responses that required her to be aware of her surroundings. The rest of the time he kept her in a medically induced coma.
---
Since this was precisely the reaction he had anticipated, Godric didn't let it deter him. And since Jack had decided to drop the formalities and switch to first names, Godric decided that he had not anticipated an offer being made, and at the very least would be amused and intrigued as to what would be offered to him. It was a foot in the door, a stay of execution. "Everyone wants something," Godric said, almost dismissively. "I know money is no good to you, and you have enough power to suit yourself for the moment. I want Peyton, I know you won't give her up without adequate compensation. So, regardless of if you think I can or will be able to deliver your request... name your price." He maintained eye contact all throughout, never flinching, never looking away. He was perfectly serious. There no doubt that whatever Jack asked for would be hopelessly impossible to deliver on, at least at first, but he had to get the bargaining started.
---
Jack was a complete bastard, no doubt about it. He could think of one thing he wanted at the moment. He pointed to Dante. “Have your bodyguard stake you in the heart. That would please me. The worried boyfriend can take Peyton back to school if you’re truly dead. Anything short of that, and she stays.”
Reese’s eyes went wide. He knew his father was a terrifying person, and he’d always assumed people had died at Jack’s own hands or by order. But this was the first time Reese saw and heard something directly. Before now, such business was done outside his presence, and he liked it that way. “Dad...” he started, unable to hold his tongue.
Jack shot Reese a look, and his tone was harsh. “Don’t you fucking speak. You involved yourself in this. You’ve never had a problem accepting what I do before, so long as it kept you surrounded by the toys you love so much. If you want to play with the big boys, learn to keep your damn mouth shut.”
---
The offer was not what Godric had expected, at least not so soon and up front. His lips parted slightly in surprise, his response paused for a moment. "No," he said finally. "I don't trust for a moment that once I'm gone you'll let him take her out of here. You won't even let him get as far as the lab. Let Reese take him down now, and once he's there and can see her, I'll do it. At least then they'll have a shot of getting out of here."
Lyle had been baffled, absolutely dumbfounded, by what was going on. "You can't be serious!" he interjected. "Ric, you can't just-"
"I told you to keep your mouth shut."
"You can't just let him kill you!" he shot back. "There has to be something else, something that..." But of course, there wouldn't be. Once Jack picked something that would hurt, he would stick to it. And Ric seemed completely gone by now, lost in insanity or something. Reese was too chicken shit to do anything. God, was he the only sane person left? In a last ditch effort, he turned to Dante. "You can't do this," he said weakly.
Grinning, his smile almost predatory, Dante looked over at Jack. "Got a stake?"
---
All the whining was giving Jack a headache. “You’re in no position to bargain, Godric. And if you can’t get your bitch to behave, I will.” Jack would delight in killing Lyle, but he’d much rather have Godric’s head on a platter. Over the years, Godric had helped poison Peyton’s mind, making her more rebellious. It was a mistake to send her to that school.
“Well, well... seems like your muscle is eager to please whoever he decides is the most dominant.” The large, imposing man seemed to have no problem whatsoever killing Godric, though it was possible he had other motives, but it appeared he was already armed, so giving him one more weapon wouldn’t make him that much of a bigger threat to Jack.
As if out of thin air, a slender wooden stake appeared in Jack’s hand. He moved surprisingly fast for an older man. No one in this room but him knew just how advanced his training was over the years. He pulled the stake from a holster on his forearm with impressive speed. “Make as little mess as possible, and I’ll make sure you’re compensated handsomely.” With that, Jack threw the stake through the air to Dante, confident the man could catch it.
---
Despite how menacing Jack was, Lyle did not appreciate being called a bitch, regardless of the circumstance. "You fucking-"
"Quiet," Godric snapped, his authoritative voice demanding obedience. The eagerness in which Dante had agreed to this was slightly alarming. He didn't know if this was an act or not, a way to get Jack to let his guard down. Possibly, but... he didn't think so. Dante had never really liked Godric, and thus he held no loyalty to him. Still, he didn't think the man would delight in killing him.
Laughing a little, Dante caught the sharpened wood in his hand deftly, twirling it in his fingers as he shoved Reese aside to get to Godric. "You'll barely know he was here," he assured Jack, standing before Godric, towering over the vampire. "You ready, faggot?"
"You could be a little less pleased about this," Godric told him, his voice shaking just slightly. This was it. This was the end, and all he could do was pray to the God he wasn't sure listened to his damned soul anymore that Peyton could get to leave this nightmare. He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to Cissy, or Hope, or Georgie... never got to say anything to Blake that should have been said. This was what happened when you didn't plan every detail. Spontenaity had never been kind to Godric.
"I'm gonna enjoy this," Dante assured him. "And I'm gonna get paid when I would've done it for free." Grabbing the smaller man by the throat, Dante pinned him against the wall beside the door, holding him steady while the tip of the stake pressed on Godric's chest. "Any last words for the corpse?" he asked Jack over his shoulder.
---
Reese looked like he was about to cry. He didn’t like Godric, but he didn’t want to witness the vampire’s murder! And Reese had ZERO faith that his dad would just let the rest of them leave with Peyton after this was over. They were all so totally fucked!
Actually, Jack was thinking it might not be that bad to let Peyton leave if Godric was dead. He’d prove a point to her that he really was willing to do anything. She’d be obediant from now on, and he was nearly done with this latest phase of his experimenting. He’d keep the men here another day or two while he finished up with Peyton, then let her go back to school. Lyle was sure to be a good boy from no on too, and Reese would learn that his father wasn’t a man to fuck with. Problems solved. He might even consider the big guy as an ‘assistant’ in the future.
“You know... I have this half formed joke in my head. Something along the lines of ‘who’s your daddy,’ but it’s not really coming together. I’m sure I’ll figure out a witty remark by the time it’s too late. Kill the bloodsucker,” he said with a wave of his hand.
---
Oh God, if there was one thing that could make this death any more awful, it was Jack Billings trying to be funny. Thank Christ he had decided to just let Godric die. Squirming just a little, the vampire took one last look at Lyle and Reese, both wearing similar horrified expressions. He wished he could have thought of some great last words, but none were coming. Only "oh fucking hell", and that seemed less than poignant.
Shrugging, Dante tightened his grip on the stake, fingers holding fast to Godric's neck. "Yes, sir," he said, driving the stake up into the man's chest. Blood immediately came rushing out down his forearm, red rivulets snaking through the thick hair there. It was cool, not the sensation Dante had been expecting, but then again the guy was dead. Godric screamed loudly, head snapping back and banging against the wall with a dull thud. The hand that had been around the man's neck moved to clamp over his mouth, drowning out the sound. With a sharp tug, Dante yanked the stake from the vampire's chest, a few sticky droplets hitting the floor. "Fucker," he grunted, letting the smaller man crumple to the floor, both hands clutching over the hole in his chest. "Huh," Dante said, watching a moment and wiping the stake on his jeans. "Guess they don't explode like on that HBO show."
He twisted suddenly, knuckles white from gripping the wooden rod so tightly, the point plunging into Jack Billing's left eye, all the way to where Dante's large fist clenched around it.
---
Jack could not have been more pleased. He’d been waiting a long time for this. He nearly got hard watching Godric die. Though Jack really should have paid more attention, then maybe he would have noticed that Dante didn’t strike the heart with his blow.
Apparently, Reese didn’t notice either, because he gasped and closed his eyes as soon as he saw blood. He felt sick to his stomach and immediately threw up on the floor of his own bedroom. Jack sighed with disappointment. “And you wonder why I picked Peyton. She’s stronger than you. You’ll never be able to follow in my footsteps.”
And those were Jack’s last words. He didn’t see Dante coming, because he was too busy looking at his eldest son with disgust. Then the world went black. Instant brain death as the stake was driven through his scull. The only thing holding him up was Dante, but that was a great deal of weight to hang off the end of a stake.
This time Reese screamed. He got up and ran over to his father. In many ways, Reese hated his father, but there was still love in his heart, it was impossible to extinguish. This was his father, and he was dead.
---
Dante released his grip on the stake, letting Jack's massive body fall to the floor. He almost felt bad about what he'd done, hearing Reese scream like that, seeing him rush to his father's side. But then again... the guy was a total douchebag. Oh speaking of douchebags...
Turning, he looked down at Godric, who was bleeding all over the floor. "Fuck," he huffed, kneeling down beside him. "You alright?"
"You fuckin' stabbed me!" Godric shouted, suprisingly forceful. "No I'm not alright!"
"Don't be such a baby. Drink some blood, you'll be fine."
"Ow," he whimpered, shoulders slumping. This hurt, a lot. But at least he was alive. And Jack was... Forcing himself to sit up, Godric looked over Dante's shoulder. Jack Billings was dead. Jack Billings. Dead. "Oh my God," he whispered.
Lyle's hands were clutching the bedspread, his eyes wide and disbelieving. He couldn't even comprehend what had just happened. Jack was dead. Ric wasn't. Reese was upset and there was blood all over the place, and it was making him hungry. Swallowing, he looked over at Ric, and then Dante, who still had two peoples' blood on his hands. "Reese?" he asked softly. Reese was young like he was, wasn't fucking crazy like the other men were.
---
Reese was a wreck. He kept yelling at his dad, shaking the man’s lifeless body. Tears were gushing from his eyes, his nose a snotty mess, and he still had the taste of vomit in his mouth. “Dad? Dad?” It just didn’t seem possible that his father was dead. Reese was like any other kid. The idea that daddy wasn’t invincible just didn’t compute, and that idea was even stronger in this family, because Jack Billings was too damn powerful to die.
---
Peyton. She was why they were here, what had brought them across the country. She was the reason Jack Billings was dead, why Reese was sobbing on the floor. Moving slowly, as though in a dream, Lyle got to his knees beside Reese, grabbing the older boy's shoulders. "Reese," he said, finding his voice little by little. He could barely stand looking at Jack, the morbid corpse with a piece of wood sticking out of his face, like some cartoon. "Reese! Come on, Reese!" He shook him hard, turning his face away from his father. "We need to get Peyton. She's why we're here, we have to get her. Come on."
---
Reese flinched when Lyle touched him. For a moment there, he forgot other people were in the room. It was hard to process reality right now, when the reality was that his dad was dead. Murdered. “What?” he asked, confused about what Lyle was saying at first. What about Peyton? Who the fuck cared right now, his daddy was dead! And when someone was gone, it became difficult to remember the bad things, because your mind flashed back to the good memories. There were good ones. Jack had his moments. He didn’t hate his children.
Reese cried some more, wiping at his eyes and getting blood on his face in the process. Blood was everywhere now. There was a pool of it under Reese that had spilled from Jack’s scull. “I can’t... I can’t leave him here!” he squeaked out.
---
It was pitiful. Reese had always been pathetic, but this was just... heartbreaking. Lyle almost felt like crying. He couldn't imagine his own father dying, and he couldn't imagine why Reese was so upset that Jack was gone, and he couldn't imagine Dante just stabbing him like that, like it was nothing. This was too unreal. From the minute Godric had knocked on his door and told him to get ready to leave, this had been so unreal. He wished that Fisher was here, someone who knew about death, was used to it. What the hell was he supposed to say to Reese right now?
"You gotta... I know. I know he's dead, but... just remember why we're here. Your sister, and she's locked up, and... he's been torturing her, and you've got scales now, and he did that. He did it to you. You have to focus on that." Lifting the edge of his own shirt, Lyle wiped the blood and tears from Reese's face, as he would with a small child with a bloody nose. "You can say goodbye later, right now we have to go save Pey."
---
Reese sniffed and actually listened to Lyle. He hated the bastard who had been fucking his sister, but Lyle made sense. He nodded and tried not to look at his dad anymore. “He.. he’s the only one who can get us in there.” And Reese glanced at his father again. It was a damn good thing Dante only took out one eye. “Retinal scan and fingerprints.” God, they were going to have to take his dad’s body down to the lab to get to Peyton, and what if she reacted as badly as Reese did to this whole mess?
---
Godric had been using Dante to get to his feet, the hole in his chest throbbing in pain. It hurt so much, although it wasn't the worst pain he'd ever felt. He could live through this. Finally somewhat stable, Dante's massive and bloody arm around his waist, Godric got to his feet, looking down at the two boys on the floor. He caught the last bit of what Reese said, something about retinal scans and fingerprints. "Great," he moaned. Of course they would need Jack even after he was dead. He'd only allow himself to access his lab. "Reese," he croaked weakly, "you need to show us where the lab is."
Getting to his feet, Lyle tugged Reese up along with him, keeping a hold on his arm. "What... what about..."
"We'll have to bring him," Godric interrupted.
---
Reese was starting to feel cold, both emotionally and physically. It didn’t help matters that Godric and Dante were so emotionless about Jack being dead. “It’s downstairs,” he said softly. “I don’t..” Reese shook his head, “I don’t want to do this.” He didn’t want to watch them dragging his dad’s body around. He didn’t want to see what sort of condition Peyton was in. Jack was right, Reese was weak. He was a coward and struggling to stand right now. If not for Lyle holding on to him, Reese might have fallen over.
---
Dante was indifferent because he didn't know, nor did he care to know, anything about Jack Billings. This guy was just a job, the reason that Godric had brought him along. At least, he assumed this was what the vampire wanted. "I can't carry both of ya," he grunted, dropping Godric unceremoniously onto Reese's bed. The vampire cried out, curling up against the pillows. "Stabbed!" he shouted angrily against the mattress, his voice muffled.
Dante gave him an annoyed look. Honestly, what a sissy this guy was being. The worst the damage could be was a stab in the lung, a small puncture at best. Not like he needed those things anyway. "I'll take him downstairs and look for the lab," he said gruffly, tapping Jack's body with his toe. "And that one," he added, nodding toward Lyle. "You gonna stay here with th'other one?"
"Yeah," Godric groaned, rolling onto his back and hissing in pain. He could actually feel that his lung had collapsed, and while it wasn't inhibiting his breathing any, it still hurt like a son of a bitch. Keeping one hand pressed onto his lung to stop the bleeding, he watched Dante heft Jack's body over his shoulder with minimal effort, watched as the two muscular men and Lyle walked out the door. All that was left was a pool of blood on the floor, on Reese's clothes. In his bedroom.
---
It was a good thing Dante decided to leave and take Jack’s body with him, though Reese was surprisingly not pleased to have Lyle go along. Seeing as how Lyle seemed to be the most supportive person in the room right now, Reese wanted him nearby. It hurt to see his dad’s body carted off like meat.
He managed to stay standing for a moment before crossing over to the bed and sitting on the edge. Reese was lost in his own little world, so it was difficult for him to feel sorry for Godric, who was in a lot of physical pain, though it felt as though there was no way it could compare to Reese’s mental anguish. “I thought you were the one who was gonna die tonight.” Reese had prepared himself for that possibility when they left Danvers. He had no idea he’d witness his father’s murder.
---
Godric would not for a moment ever consider that the horrible, stabbing pain he was in was anything near as horrible as what Reese was going through. Watching the younger man thoughtfully, Godric stayed quiet a minute, bracing himself as Reese sat on the bed beside him. "I did too," Godric admitted softly. He had really thought that Dante was going to kill him. Feeling that wooden stake drive into him, coming so close to his heart, had scared the hell out of him. But he did it willingly, for Peyton.
Moving closer to Reese, Godric took the younger man's hand in his own. "I'm so sorry, Reese," he offered. "I know it doesn't mean much, but... I am."
---
“You’re right, it doesn’t,” Reese replied in a hollow tone. He felt so... lost right now. This wasn’t what he wanted. Yes, he wanted Peyton to be safe, and he’d agreed to come along because it felt like for ONCE he needed to stand up to his father where Peyton was concerned, but look what happened as a result? Reese was the one who let Dante into the house. He felt responsible for everything.
“I don’t know what I’m gonna tell mom.” She was probably still sleeping, might have even passed out drunk, though she claimed she had stayed sober after Wyatt’s birth and even talked about how she’d been ‘saved’ by God. What a load of crap. She’d be drinking again soon, and she might even drink herself to death. Then what?
---
Godric knew that Reese's mother probably expected her husband to be killed someday. Jack was in a dangerous line of work, and he dealt with dangerous men. The odds of him not getting murdered were very slim. Still... as much as Godric knew that Jack Billings needed to die or he would never stop torturing his children, he would never wish Reese to have to experience this.
Sitting up, moving closer to Reese, Godric rested his shoulder against the younger man's. "I'll tell her, if you want. It's... it's my fault. You shouldn't have to do it." This was all his fault. He had brought Dante here, and he'd brought Reese here... He wasn't sorry that Jack was dead. But he hadn't wanted to scar Reese forever.
---
The damage was fucking done. Reese was scarred forever, and Godric could probably tell. This was so severely fucked up, and his mother would never forgive him, and Peyton might not even be herself, if she was even alive at all! God, what if everyone ended up dead but him?
“No, I should tell her. And I should stay. I don’t know how we’re gonna handle this though... I can’t...” he didn’t even know where to start. Jack’s employers would wonder where he was. What the fuck did Reese do when goons started snooping around? What if they found him and Peyton and found out what Jack had done?
---
Godric's father had died when he was only eight, and from that day on, he had been placed in charge of his household, his father's business, his mother's care, everything. It was obvious that the same notion was playing out on Reese's expression. He was going to have to take the weight of this burden on his shoulders, and clearly that was scaring the crap out of the young man. It wasn't right. It wasn't right for Godric to have had to do it, and it especially wasn't right for Reese to have to now.
"This is what we'll do," the vampire decided, because there was no way that Reese would be able to think clearly enough to concoct a plan right now. "We will go to your mother and tell her the truth... of sorts... and then we'll go to Peyton and see if she's alright. What's important right now is to get everyone together. You don't have to worry about this by yourself. You didn't get yourself into this mess, and you don't have to wade through it alone."
---
Reese shook his head, his hand running through his hair. This was more than he could handle. He’d never been responsible in his life! How could he possibly be expected to be responsible now? FUCK!
“She will fucking flip... start drinking again... fucking... off herself! FUCK FUCK FUCK!” Reese swore. Jack wasn’t a good guy, but when he was alive, the family maintained some sort of normalcy. That was gone now. Dante took it away, and Godric helped.
Reese turned his eyes to Godric, glaring. “Did you tell him to do it? Did you plan this?” he asked accusingly. If this was Godric’s plan all along, then he was a fucking psycho.
---
It was alright that Reese was freaking out, actually Godric was grateful for it. It was a normal reaction, and if he was reacting instead of sitting there, numb, then his brain was processing, and he could heal. But first he had to go through anger and resentment.
Meeting Reese's eyes, taking the glaring unphased, the vampire was quiet a moment. "I didn't tell him to do it," he said finally. "But I thought that it might come to this. I'm not going to lie to you, Reese. I brought Dante because I knew that... I knew your father would never let Peyton go. He'd never stop hurting her, hurting you." Shifting away from Reese, because the moment of comfort was long gone, Godric decided to just tell Reese the hard truth, let it all out now. "He is your father, and I'm sure you love him. But for every good memory you have of him, there are a hundred more brutal ones. He tortured you both, and nothing anyone did was ever going to stop him. So, no. I didn't plan this. But I came here knowing that it might happen, and I'm not sorry that it did."
---
The truth hurt. Reese didn’t like hearing what Godric had to say. And he hoped it hurt Godric too. Probably did when Reese shoved him right where the stab wound was. “Fuck you! This is your fault!”
Reese got up then, more sure on his feet now that anger had briefly replaced grief. He paced the room, getting bloody footsteps all over the floor. “He said he’d let her go if you were dead. Why can’t you be dead!” Reese shouted.
---
Reese was in luck- getting shoved did hurt. Godric fell over onto the bed, biting his bottom lip to keep from crying out. Fuck, fuck, ow, fuck. It felt like being stabbed all over again, a white hot bolt of pain shooting through his chest, burning every inch of him.
Looking up at Reese, Godric swallowed, his voice weak but determined. "Do you really think he would have?" he said darkly. "If I were dead, instead of him, do you really think he would have let her go? Do you think he'd let YOU go? All it would prove is that he would stop at nothing, do whatever he wanted, that nobody would stop him." Forcing himself up onto one elbow, Godric stared Reese down, dark eyes unrelenting. "I saw the look on your face when he ordered me dead. You didn't want it to happen, but you didn't do anything to stop it. You couldn't. So what would you do if it had been Lyle instead of me? What if it had been Ingrid? Or your sister?" Godric knew that the only way to stop Jack's madness was to get rid of him forever. And whether or not Reese liked it, deep down, he knew it too.
---
“He might have!” Reese barked back. He wanted to believe that his dad would keep up his end of a bargain. Reese knew that probably wasn’t the case, but he wished it was. They’d never know. Jack was dead. It was over.
The other questions made Reese feel sick again, but there was nothing left to vomit up. It wasn’t because he didn’t like imagining those people dead, it was that he’d never stood up to his father before, and he knew he probably wouldn’t if any of those situations had come about. Would Reese have stopped his dad from killing Ingrid? So many times he’d let Jack hurt Peyton. Reese would just put on his headphones if he heard her crying. He was an asshole and just as cowardly as his dad said.
---
Reese could wish until he was blue in the face, it wouldn't make it so. It wouldn't erase the scales on his shoulders, it wouldn't take the spliced genetics out of his sister. "No. He wouldn't." The sooner Reese admitted to himself that his father was a selfish, diabolical asshole and the world was a better place without him, the sooner he could heal properly.
"We need to tell your mom," he said, sitting up fully again, then shakily getting to his feet. "You're the man of the house now, Reese. You don't have to do this alone but you do have to do it." Everyone needed to grow up sometime, and now was the time for Reese.
---
Reese rubbed his face. He really didn’t want to do any of this. He wanted to go back to school and crawl into bed beside Ingrid. Now it felt like he might never get back there. He had too much to do here. “She’s gonna hate me,” he said with a sigh.
Godric didn’t seem too steady on his feet, and despite the anger Reese felt right now, he went over to help Godric. “Their room is that way,” Reese said with a nod of his head to the right.
---
Taking the boy’s help gratefully, Godric put an arm around Reese’s shoulders. “She’s not going to hate you,” he assured Reese, although he didn’t know his mother well enough to know if this was true or not. “You’re not the one who did it.” Reese might have felt guilty over letting them all inside, letting in the man that did kill Jack, but it wasn’t his fault. Dante would have gotten in and done the job anyway. That was why he was here.
Following in the direction Reese indicated, Godric walked steadily enough to the master bedroom... and found an overly solid looking door blocking the entrance. “Is this a panic room?” he asked, tapping the door with his knuckle. It was probably a lot thicker than it seemed, more like a bomb shelter. Jack Billings didn’t screw around.
---
Reese didn’t believe Godric. His mother was going to hate him, just the way he hated himself right now. How did everything go so fucking wrong? And how the hell were they gonna get into the master suite? Shit. “Yeah, it is.”
He thought it over for a while before jogging down the hall a bit to grab a phone. It had an intercom system built in. “Mom? Mom, wake up..” he called into it.
A minute passed, with Reese calling for his mother a few more time, before there was a response. “Baby? What are you... hang on.” A few seconds later, he could see the door handle jiggle, but it didn’t open. Double shit. “Jackie, why won’t the door open? Where’s your father?”
The color drained from Reese’s face again. “Mom.. can you find a way to open the door?”
He heard fiddling on the other end of the intercom. The door was designed to only open for Jack, but Paige had figured it out a long time ago and simply avoided telling her husband about it. Sure enough, the door opened, and Paige came out and hugged Reese. She seemed quite groggy, unaware of what was going on at first, and the dim lighting made it hard for her to see the blood on him. But when Paige pulled away and finally noticed, she looked panic stricken. “Jackie, what’s wrong?!”
“I’m fine, mom...” he said weakly, pulling her hand away from his face. “It’s... it’s not my blood.”
Paige finally recognized Godric’s presence. “Who are you?!”
---
This was going to be awkward and difficult, especially since every inch of Godric's chest was throbbing in pain. Paige looked horrified, and rightly so. She didn't notice that some of the blood on her son had come off on her nightgown, that she was wearing her own husband's blood.
"My name is Godric Witt," he began, struggling to keep his voice calm and even. "I'm from the school on Danvers where your children are enrolled. I think we should sit down someplace and talk, Mrs. Billings.”
---
Paige was completely disoriented, though surprisingly didn’t smell of alcohol. Reese was still adjusting to this new sober version of his mother. It was strange, even though she acted as scattered as ever. How could she not notice that Godric was covered in a great deal more blood with a STAB WOUND to the chest?
“Why are you here?” she asked Godric though didn’t wait for an answer. She looked back to her son, “Why are you? What is going on, Jackie?”
Reese took Godric’s cue and let the man lean against the door frame, escorting his mother back into her bedroom. He didn’t know how to say it. How did you tell your mom that your dad had just been murdered?
He helped her back to the bed, making her sit down, before taking a seat next to her. “Dad’s... gone,” was all he could manage, and it was so quiet that Paige barely heard him.
“What do you mean... gone? Honey, where’s he gone? What is going on!”
“He’s dead, mom,” Reese blurted out.
Paige stopped speaking then. She looked to the blood on Reese’s clothing once more, then back over to Godric, finally noticing the stab wound.
---
Godric watched Reese take charge of the situation, almost proud of the boy. Despite how much of a wreck he was, and despite how impossibly hard this circumstance was, Reese was doing it. He was dredging through the impossible. Leaning against the doorframe, Godric waited for the bomb to drop. He knew it would just fall out, would just burst forth into the air. The pressure was building too high.
Taking both Paige and Reese's silence as a cue, Godric forced himself to be steady on his feet as he walked over to the bed, kneeling down before the pair. "Mrs. Billings," he said plainly but gently, "I know this is a shock, and you should take all the time you need to gather yourself. But I need to ask you some questions, and when you can, I need the answers to them. You may ask anything you need of me, I'll be as honest as possible." He didn't promise that he would tell her the absolute truth, because he wouldn't. He couldn't.
---
Paige was definitely in a state of shock. She couldn’t process what her son had just told her. Jack wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. No. This wasn’t happening. That wasn’t her husband’s blood on her son’s clothing... and on her own? It was only then that Paige noticed her nightgown was soiled. She started to rub at it, only making the stain spread.
When Godric began speaking, Reese shook his head. Big mistake. Paige couldn’t answer questions right now! She seemed to agree. She flat out slapped Godric across the face. Hard. “You get the fuck out of my house!” she growled.
---
There were a great deal of reactions Godric had expected, and being slapped was very low on the list. He jerked back, startled, simply staring at Paige a moment. He didn't know her, and he was a stranger in her house, and it was understandable that she wouldn't want some stranger talking to her about her husband's death.
But he could not deal with this crap. She was probably quite blissfully unaware of everything her children had endured, everything that Godric and Lyle had endured, all because of her husband. "Fine," he told her tersely. "But I am not leaving this house without your daughter, and your son. They are both leaving this house tonight." He got to his feet, his head suddenly light and his wound seeping more blood, a few fresh drips speckling Paige's perfect clean floor.
---
Paige didn’t appreciate his tone. Reese didn’t either. He glared at Godric. Could the man not show some fucking sympathy and compassion right now?! “Godric..” he started.
But Reese was quickly interrupted. As Godric got to his feet, Paige reached under her dead husband’s pillow and pulled out a gun, promptly shooting Godric in the chest over and over again until the clip was empty.
“HOLY FUCK!” Reese shouted, standing up with a shock. What the fuck? When had his mother turned into fucking Rambo!
---
Getting shot was not on that mental list that Godric had for reactions. He realized only too late that Paige was reaching for a gun and pointing it at him. He stumbled backward as Paige fired repeatedly with insanely deadly accuracy, nine rounds to the chest. This was not going to be well received when he got back to Boston. This was not going to be well received at the airport.
When the room fell into silence, and Paige was standing with her hand still raised, and Reese was staring, horrified, and Godric's blood was spilling freely on the floor, he dared to look down at himself. It wasn't pretty. "OW," he said angrily, looking back up at Paige. "That was not terribly wise. I'm going to need blood fairly soon." The more he was losing, the more in danger he was of succumbing to bloodlust, and the more danger Paige, as the only human in the house, had put herself in.
---
Reese could not get over the fact that his mom just emptied a magazine into his teacher and sponsor. He gawked at the woman. When did she even learn to shoot a gun? Not just learn, but fucking master it! “Fucking Hell, mom!” he shouted at her.
Paige looked calmer now than she did minutes before. She pushed her hair back and lowered the gun. She hadn’t known for sure that Godric was a vampire, but it was clear now. “You’re not taking my children,” she said in a low voice.
When did she become so damn.. strong? Reese always thought his mother was weak and flighty. This was a whole new side of her. He’d assumed for years that she was clueless about Jack and everything the guy did. Now Reese wasn’t so sure. Was she just really good at playing dumb?
---
Paige simply could have asked if he was a vampire, although the hole in his chest and his still being able to stand could have clued her in. At least now she appeared calm, at ease. Godric had assumed that Paige was somewhat oblivious to her husband's evil ways, because how could a woman possibly stand being with a man like that? But now the pairing was beginning to make sense.
"I'm not kidnapping them, if that's what you mean," he said flatly. "And if either of them wished to stay, I suppose they may. But I cannot imagine either of them will." Especially Peyton. Even with her father dead, he couldn't imagine the girl wanting to stay in this household. Reese surely didn't want to spend the night under this roof with his father's blood on his hands.
---
Paige turned to her son. “Jackie... you’re staying.”
Dammit! Reese couldn’t look away from her, and her voice was actually somewhat soft. “But.. mom..”
“Honey, I need you here.” Paige was surprisingly good at manipulating people, though she usually did so by pretending to be an airhead. No one took her seriously, because she didn’t want them to. Even her own husband underestimated her. Now he was gone. Paige was genuinely mournful over that, but it was done, she had to focus on what could still be changed.
Reese shook his head, “I can’t... I promised...” he started, but didn’t finish. His mom didn’t know about Ingrid, and Reese wanted to keep it that way.
“You’re staying. Peyton too. She needs her rest. Travel won’t suit her.”
---
Paige was good. She was damn good. In every way that Jack was hard, apparently Paige was soft. She was attacking on the psychological level, and poor Reese was caught right in the minefield. The boy was weak, and Godric knew it. It was possible he could lose him tonight. Paige needed him here. He was family, and this was his problem. But if he was forced to stay here, he would fall back into this house, into this family, then he might be lost forever. Godric couldn't let that happen. He cared about Reese, and despite everything he knew the boy had potential.
"Reese," he said, looking into the young man's eyes, taking a step toward him. "I need you. I cannot do this unless I have you. When was the last time anyone really depended on you?" They both knew the answer- never. No one counted on Reese because Reese was a Yes Man, he was an obedient slave who didn't act for himself. He followed orders. He wasn't reliable because he was too weak. "Please," he said softly.
---
Actually, Ingrid counted on Reese. She was the only one who had ever really liked him as a person. Most people just put up with Reese because he was rich with a powerful daddy. Ingrid enjoyed his company. She might even love him.
Reese looked to Godric as he pleaded his own case. Why were they doing this to him?! How could he say no to his mother?
Paige seemed to sense she might not win, so she made it even harder on Reese. “Jackson... you can’t leave me alone to raise Wyatt. Someone has to look after us.”
God, was she trying to kill him? He didn’t even like his baby brother, Wyatt was just that.. a baby! Reese couldn’t just leave the kid here. While Reese and Peyton hadn’t had a great upbringing, they’d been provided for. Someone needed to look after Wyatt, and it seemed clear now that Paige wasn’t all she seemed. Reese didn’t want his brother to grow up just as dysfunctional as everyone else in this family.
---
There was no way to win the family fight. Godric had needed to be a support for his mother when his own father had died, and despite how horribly Paige was going about this, she should still have her son by her side to see this through. Even though Jack Billings did not deserve to be mourned, he was going to be anyway.
Pleading wouldn't work. Reason wouldn't work. Nothing would work for Reese, because he didn't know what to do. But some things would happen whether Paige liked it or not. "Reese," he said, a little frustrated, "do as you need to. You are the man of this house, and whatever you decide will happen. She is your mother, and you should help her deal with this. But she is not your master." Although the bond was strong between mother and son, it was not insurmountable. "I am going to get your sister out of that laboratory. If you have any decency, or any love for your sister, do not let your mother try and stop it."
---
Reese looked down at his hands, which were dark brown from dried blood. Had his life always been so severely fucked up? Probably. He’d just been really good at pretending it wasn’t. Money was a good distraction, and the distance it allowed him when he went away to school made it even easier to forget all the shit back home. Now he was knee deep in it.
He reached over and grabbed the gun from his mother, setting it on the bed. “I’ll stay if you let Peyton go,” he whispered.
Paige didn’t like this plan, but she could tell she was at risk of losing everything if she didn’t strike a bargain. She put her hand to Reese’s cheek and stroked it lightly. “Always such a good boy.”
It made Reese feel ill. He was never going to be strong enough to stand up to his parents. It was too late with his dad, and now his mom had taken control of the leash. He gave Godric a nod. “Will you tell her I’m sorry I didn’t keep my promise?” Hopefully, Godric would know who Reese was talking about.
---
This wasn't good enough. Reese couldn't stay here, he couldn't get trapped in this web, he couldn't succumb to this life anymore. Reese was weak, and if there was one thing Godric was good for, only one thing, it was taking on burdens. So if Reese couldn't stand up to Paige, Godric would. "No," he said firmly, staring Reese in the face. "I won't. Because you are not staying here."
Now his attentions went to Paige. He understood her now. She was not a delicate flower, she was not a dumb, confused housewife. She was a mental assassin. "You have no say as to whether or not Peyton stays here, because she is a legal adult and can go wherever she pleases. And once she is freed from whatever nightmare your dear husband has placed her in, she will want to leave. And if you wish to call authorities and try and have me arrested for kidnapping, you may also feel free to explain the laboratory, and your daughter's spliced DNA, and the scales on your son." Involving the police would be the worst idea in the world, and Paige would know that. Everything Jack did was illegal, and she'd be up to her tits in trouble.
---
In the past, involving the police wouldn’t have been a problem, because Jack could have made a call and thrown some money at the department and make everything go away. Now he wasn’t here. Who would make that phone call? Paige thought about it. “Reese made his decision. You need to leave before I use other weapons at my disposal.” And she wasn’t just talking about physical weapons, Paige had a mental arsenal built up against her son, and she wasn’t afraid to use it.
“Just go, Godric,” Reese begged. “Get P.J. and leave. I’m fine. I’m staying.” He’d made up his mind. This was the best way he could protect Peyton. If he kept his mother happy, then Peyton would be happy too, and seeing as how Reese had never done one thing in his life that was on Peyton’s behalf, he figured this was a good place to start.
---
Maybe Reese was right. Maybe he needed to stay, to appease Paige and get one problem solved at a time. But Godric didn't want to leave Reese here with this psychopath. He might never get out of here. "How am I supposed to leave you here?" he asked seriously. "I can't just leave you behind. She would never forgive me." There were a few 'she's' he was referring to, and Peyton was one of them. As much as she said she hated her brother, she wouldn't want him stuck here with this woman.
"I'm not letting you stay here," he told him. "You can't... stay... oh, dear." He swayed a little on his feet, closing his eyes a moment. A sudden surge of hunger swept over him, and Reese looked like a fantastic buffet covered in blood like he was. "I need to go. Now. Right now." Biting the inside of his lip with his fangs, Godric headed toward the door, his fists curled at his sides. If Paige was wise at all, she would not try and stop him. She would keep her stupid, crazy mouth shut and let Godric walk through the door.
---
But Godric had to leave Reese behind. There was no other option right now. Especially when thirst took hold of the vampire. They both knew it would be extremely dangerous for Godric to stay put, because even though Paige was the only true ‘human’ in the room, she didn’t taste as good as Reese. He’d learned that the hard way.
Reese took hold of his mother’s hand when Godric stumbled out. He could tell she wanted to try and stop Godric, but she didn’t. The woman needed to cut her losses and keep what she could. She gave Reese’s hand a squeeze and stayed put.
---
Reese wasn't staying here. But now wasn't the time to argue. Godric got out of the room fast, but moved slowly in the hallway. He wished he had kept his cell phone, that it wasn't out in the car, seemingly hundreds of miles away. He wished that he hadn't been shot in the chest a bunch of times. He wished that Dante was here, and that was something he had never wished before. He just wished there was someone here to help him. What was he going to do? He needed to feed, and he needed to think, he needed a plan. He couldn't think unless he could stop thinking about blood. Once he had a plan, he could fix this. He had to.