It's you and me, and the devil makes three...
daemonprompts: "O poor heart, I was doomed from the start. Doomed to play the villain's part."
-Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "Up Jumped The Devil
Michael is seven, and watching his parents' daemons warily. He can't hear the conversation they're holding in the kitchen, it's all angry half-whispers, but Veda keeps setting her teeth on Loren's neck, without ever biting down, and Loren's halfway between puffing his feathers indignantly and bearing the whole thing with weary resignation.
Little wildcat Kerry is trying not to bristle herself, but she swats lightly at Michael's hand with a velvet paw, crouches momentarily, and then springs at a loose string on his sleeve. The distraction works, for the moment.
*
Michael is thirteen and half-tucked under the steering wheel of a car three blocks from home. If he's lucky, it'll be a quick trip, a few hours and he'll have it back before the owner even knows it's gone. If he's not lucky... Well, he's been lucky so far.
Kerry stands on the passenger seat, paws on the dashboard, fox tail twitching nervously as she keeps lookout. SHe barely has time to hiss, "Michael," before he hears a shout. "Hey! Hey, that's my car!"
But he's done, and the engine sputters to life, and now it's not like he has much choice but to swing himself into the driver's seat and go. Feathers brush his ear as Kerry swoops over his head, hawk-shaped, and dives at the man's squirrel daemon before swinging back to Michael and tumbling through the car's open window.
They don't even make it home before police sirens start up behind them.
*
Michael is fifteen and on the floor, bleeding freely from a gash near his temple. Dad's drunk and raging and Mom's screaming and crying and Nate's just screaming, his daemon a howler monkey apparently just so she can join in, but Michael's quiet, angry and hurting but ice cold.
Veda snarls at Kerry, puffs her little fisher body up so she looks bigger than she is, scrawny bitch, and flashes yellowed teeth. Kerry was a cat, maybe small enough for Veda to take, but she's had enough. Loren's feathers are on the floor, and Michael's bleeding, and in a flash she is a massive black wolfdog, jaws around Veda's whole body, lifting her off the floor.
Dad goes pale. He steps toward Michael, and Kerry tightens her jaws, and Veda whines. Dad freezes and grates out, "Drop. Her." He may be talking to Kerry, but his eyes are on Michael. Michael doesn't look away, and Kerry waits a second before dropping Veda on the floor.
Dad stalks out of the house a minute later. Kerry walks calmly over to Michael, licks the blood from his face, and never changes her shape again.
Muse: Michael Westen
Word Count: 447
-Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "Up Jumped The Devil
Michael is seven, and watching his parents' daemons warily. He can't hear the conversation they're holding in the kitchen, it's all angry half-whispers, but Veda keeps setting her teeth on Loren's neck, without ever biting down, and Loren's halfway between puffing his feathers indignantly and bearing the whole thing with weary resignation.
Little wildcat Kerry is trying not to bristle herself, but she swats lightly at Michael's hand with a velvet paw, crouches momentarily, and then springs at a loose string on his sleeve. The distraction works, for the moment.
*
Michael is thirteen and half-tucked under the steering wheel of a car three blocks from home. If he's lucky, it'll be a quick trip, a few hours and he'll have it back before the owner even knows it's gone. If he's not lucky... Well, he's been lucky so far.
Kerry stands on the passenger seat, paws on the dashboard, fox tail twitching nervously as she keeps lookout. SHe barely has time to hiss, "Michael," before he hears a shout. "Hey! Hey, that's my car!"
But he's done, and the engine sputters to life, and now it's not like he has much choice but to swing himself into the driver's seat and go. Feathers brush his ear as Kerry swoops over his head, hawk-shaped, and dives at the man's squirrel daemon before swinging back to Michael and tumbling through the car's open window.
They don't even make it home before police sirens start up behind them.
*
Michael is fifteen and on the floor, bleeding freely from a gash near his temple. Dad's drunk and raging and Mom's screaming and crying and Nate's just screaming, his daemon a howler monkey apparently just so she can join in, but Michael's quiet, angry and hurting but ice cold.
Veda snarls at Kerry, puffs her little fisher body up so she looks bigger than she is, scrawny bitch, and flashes yellowed teeth. Kerry was a cat, maybe small enough for Veda to take, but she's had enough. Loren's feathers are on the floor, and Michael's bleeding, and in a flash she is a massive black wolfdog, jaws around Veda's whole body, lifting her off the floor.
Dad goes pale. He steps toward Michael, and Kerry tightens her jaws, and Veda whines. Dad freezes and grates out, "Drop. Her." He may be talking to Kerry, but his eyes are on Michael. Michael doesn't look away, and Kerry waits a second before dropping Veda on the floor.
Dad stalks out of the house a minute later. Kerry walks calmly over to Michael, licks the blood from his face, and never changes her shape again.
Muse: Michael Westen
Word Count: 447