138. Things Fall Apart

Warning: coarse language, unusually long for a Krisis update.

Bridgeport, present day
Frost/Summers penthouse...

J.D. and Krimsyn sat in stunned silence. Michaela wasn’t home. Again. For the second night in a row. And Cameron had just dropped a deadly missile on them.

“How do you know this?” J.D. asked, referring to Michaela’s hunt in Hollow Creek.

“She could be anywhere. She’s scared. We have to find her and the boy!” Krimsyn muttered, ignoring J.D’s question and his angry glares, and the implications of Cameron’s involvement. At that moment she was all about finding her daughter and making sure she’s okay and she didn’t hurt another person, accidentally or otherwise.

The guilt and the blame moved in much quicker than neither of them had anticipated. And it wasn’t long before they were caught up in a screaming match and hurtful accusations were spinning around the room.

Krimsyn and J.D, blamed themselves and each other: If they weren’t so involved with their issues, stemming from Krimsyn’s mistrust, brought on by J.D.’s showing off in Barnacle Bay, they would have seen their daughter was hurting.

“Are you saying it’s my fault?” J.D. threw his hands in the air.

“I’m just saying if you didn’t have to be Mr. S.W.A.T Hotshot in Barnacle Bay we would have noticed she’s in pain, we would have seen she’s in bloodlust!” Krimsyn shot back.

“I helped Devon because you and Krisis asked me to. It was for Leigh! You think I wanted to show off for the world? What is wrong with you?”

And they carried on, brutally carving each other with their irrational words.

Cameron just sat there, listening to their fight get uglier and uglier. Every time he tried to excuse himself their angry glares fixed him in place on the armchair.

He didn’t regret his decision to tell them about Hollow Creek and Michaela’s erratic behavior, but he wished he’d caught them at a better time when they didn’t have other issues between.

He hadn’t seen much of Michaela these last two days, neither had her parents. She was always out of the house, and every time he called her friends, she wasn’t with them and that’s what had prompted his visit. She was on a downward spiral, letting her guilt eat her up, and he was afraid if he kept silent, she wouldn’t get the help she desperately needed. He couldn’t sit back and watch her self-destruct. He loved her too much to let it go that far.

“Get your shit together. Both of you! This isn’t about you. It’s about Michaela. She’s out there, alone and afraid and she’s hurting. Quit being so fucking self-absorbed and do the right thing!” Cameron snapped. He’d finally had it with Krimsyn and J.D.

They both stopped their screaming match and stared at him. Krimsyn looked positively appalled at her own behavior. Cameron put up his hands apologetically; he was out of line. But he didn’t regret his harsh words. Something had to be done to save Michaela.

Wordlessly Krimsyn grabbed her car keys on the coffee table and swiftly made her way out of the room, she needed to get the hell out of there.

“Syn, get back in here! Where are you going? You can’t leave like this!” J.D. tried to stop her from leaving, but Krimsyn ignored him.

She got in the lift and counted the floors as she rode down. She had to do something, even if it was just mundane counting. If she didn’t, she was sure she’d fall apart right there...

_______

Vampire Council's Offices, Bridgeport...

When Krimsyn left the penthouse, she’d planned on going to Michaela’s friends, Rose and Maddie, but as she passed the Vampire Council’s headquarters she decided to make a quick detour. She knew if she didn’t do it now, she’d never do it again.

“Mr. Thornton can’t be disturbed right now.” Celina ran after her.

 Krimsyn dismissed her with an angry grunt, her flats squeaking furiously on the tiled floors.

“Why?” She asked Thornton as soon as she walked into his office. He looked up from his screen, momentarily stunned to see her there.

“Excuse me?” He asked, rising up to greet her.

She ignored his question and his outstretched arms reaching out to embrace her. She wasn’t there for a fucking reunion. She wanted answers. She’d had it with everyone. She’d had it with the lies too, and the dancing around the truth.

“Why did you rape her? Why couldn’t you leave her the fuck alone? Did you enjoy it when she screamed? Did you like hearing her say no? Did you? What kind of a man are you? How could you?” Angry tears stained Krimsyn’s porcelain cheeks. She furiously wiped them away and carried on with her tirade. “I hate you and what you did to us and Margaret!”

Her emotional rant went on for a solid ten minutes as she hurled every curse word she knew, every insult, and every hateful word at Thornton, and he just stood there and let her let it off her chest.

When she was done, exhausted from her tirade, she collapsed on the floor and broke down. It had been a long time coming, 216 years was way too long for anyone to carry that amount of hurt.

Every time Thornton tried to reach for her and comfort her, she recoiled and screamed at him not to touch her…

"Syn, hey,” Krisis murmured gently as he took Krimsyn in his arms.

Thornton’s PA had called him right after JD’s phone call, and asked him (politely) to get his ass to the Vampire Council’s offices.

Celina had not wanted to go into detail over the phone and Krisis had not wanted to come either, but he knew she wouldn’t have called him if it wasn’t important. Now as he listened to his twin’s sobs, he wished he’d gotten there much sooner.

“Everything’s falling apart. Mickey’s gone. J.D.’s angry with me, and you are also angry with me. I don’t know what to do anymore. And I thought coming here would be a start to fixing things. But I don’t know-” She sobbed on his chest.

“It’s okay. Let’s get you home. Mickey’s there waiting for us. We’ll talk at home,” he helped her up, and thanked Celina, for what though, he didn’t know. It just seemed like the polite thing to say under the circumstances.

Not a word was said to Thornton…

______

Frost/Summers penthouse...

Leigh pulled Krimsyn in her arms as soon as they walked in, “You scared the hell out of us, don’t ever do that again.”

Krimsyn only smiled and reached for her daughter, who’d been lingering in the background.

“You are home,” she whispered, half crying and half laughing.

“I just went for a walk mom, that’s all. I would have told you about Hollow Creek. But you and dad, with your issues. I didn’t want to worry you,” Michaela explained.

“No. I don’t ever want you to think that. You have to come to me, no matter what your father and I are going through.”

Michaela nodded her agreement...

The three men went to the patio and arranged themselves around the bar. They each grabbed a shot of Vodka.

J.D. poured one shot after the other and gulped them down quicker than anyone could blink.

His relationship was in trouble. He and Krimsyn were on the brink of losing each other and he had no clue how to fix it. He wished he could go back and change Barnacle Bay, not the outcome, but his own actions because that’s when things had started going wrong.

He was so afraid no amount of assurances on his part, or apologies on hers, or the intensity of their makeup sex would fix this crack in their relationship.

He broke down and sobbed in his hands when he thought of losing her. Krimsyn was his life, the very reason for his continued existence. He couldn’t go on without her love. He couldn’t exist without her.

When J.D. fell apart, Cameron retreated to one of the marble pillars lining the patio. He was just as messed up as J.D. was, and he had no idea how to help him or what to say to him.

He’d been through every emotion imaginable in the past four hours. He was mentally and emotionally exhausted. But he was also relieved Michaela was home, and that her parents knew the truth about Hollow Creek and her bloodlust. She would be okay; she’d get all the help she needed.

As much as it pained him to do it, he knew he had to let her go, flush her out of his equilibrium somehow.

She was at a bad place, the chemistry he’d thought he’d felt between them was most likely the result of her heightened senses and emotional state, not unusual for a fledgling vampire going through a transformation.

He’d misread the signs, she wasn’t in love with him. And it hurt him to know this. Deeply. More than anything he’d ever felt.

Krisis, now lounging in the arm chair, was too numb over his sister’s breakdown to deal with J.D’s heartbreak.

He’d had no idea how much the stuff with Thornton had cut her. She’d always put up a brave face, dismissed everything to do with their rapist father with a mere shrug of her fragile shoulders.

While he’d always wanted to know the truth, always had questions about their beginnings, Krimsyn had been oddly removed from it all, and she’d had no interest in digging up old ghosts.

He understood now that pretending she didn’t care was her way of coping with the ugliness of their traumatic start. He wished he’d seen the signs much sooner, wished he’d been there for her the way she’s always been there for him.

While Leigh got dinner ready, Lily played with Michaela’s old teddy bear at her aunt’s and cousin’s feet, oblivious to the tension in the house as she merrily bit Mr. Snuggles ears.

Krimsyn and Michaela talked on the couch. For the first time in months, Michaela opened up to her mom. She explained she wasn’t ready to talk about Hollow Creek, but she promised she would once she’d come to terms with everything.

Krimsyn nodded, she understood, and she didn’t want to push. She was just glad they were talking again.

Michaela did share her feelings though, describing the loneliness and isolation she’d felt when she broke up with Leo and the heartache she’d gone through.

She assured Krimsyn she wasn’t mad at them for ignoring her, she understood, Blake was missing, finding him was a priority at that time.

But Krimsyn didn’t want to be let off the hook so easily, she apologized, again and again, explaining she would never intentionally ignore Michaela’s needs and put other people before her.

Soon the conversation moved on to Michaela’s friendship with Cameron and her sudden, but very real feelings for him.

It wasn’t some bloodlust reaction; her intense feelings for him were not a result of her transformation. She was in love with him, as old as he was and with his worldly experience.

She didn’t want anything from him. She wouldn’t even push anything with him if he didn’t want to. But she loved him, and that was her truth and no one could take it away from her.

Lily cried on the floor, interrupting their talk. She was hungry. Michaela got up to get her bottle. A minute later, maybe more, Michaela came back and they resumed their conversation.

Krimsyn didn’t like the idea of her daughter and Cameron, but she would always be grateful to him for looking out for Michaela when they were too caught up in their issues to notice she was in pain.

She was relieved to learn nothing illicit had happened between them; in fact Cameron had been nothing but the perfect gentleman.

“What should I do?” Michaela asked. Krimsyn fell silent. She knew what she was asking her.

“You have finals coming up. Focus on that for now. And when that’s over, take a moment for yourself. Six weeks is a long time to figure out what it is that you truly want,” Krimsyn replied. She didn’t want to alienate her daughter by being hard on her, but at the same time she didn’t want to come right out and condone the relationship.

In six weeks, she’d be eighteen, and if they opposed the relationship outright it would push her straight into Cameron’s arms, or worse, lead her to act out again.

“Thank you,” Michaela murmured, getting up to help Leigh set up the table.

Krimsyn went off to read to Lily and tuck her in for the night, her niece was exhausted.

Michaela and Leigh worked silently for a while, only the sounds of plates and the cutlery being placed on the table punctuated the silence.

“Aunt Leigh, about the other day-” She started to say, but Leigh stopped her when she pulled her into a warm embrace.

“It’s okay. I should have been more understanding. I should have listened to you. I may be older, but sometimes, that doesn’t make me wiser Michaela, I wish I was though. I’m just glad you trusted me enough to come to me and I hope you’ll still do. And I’ll try and be there for you as best as I can,” Leigh told her when they separated.

Dinner was tense.

Krisis and Leigh held hands tentatively, conscious not to make the others uncomfortable.

For once, they were at a better place. They didn’t have any issues between them, and they were incredibly happy with the impending birth of their triplets.

As much as they wanted to overtly show just how blessed they felt, they knew it would be a slap in the face for Krimsyn and J.D, with everything they were going through.

Cameron tried to enjoy his meal, but he had a lot on his mind. He excused himself minutes into the starter course, promising to see them all at band practice the next evening.

If he’d stuck around for a little while longer, or if he’d turned back at the door one last time, he would have seen the hurt and confusion in Michaela’s eyes and he would have understood she didn’t want him to go.

But he didn’t stick around, and he was already at the door, eager to get home and start the business of getting over her.

_______

Thornton's residence...

In his lonely house high up on the hills, Thornton was having the same shitty evening as his kids. He felt defeated, and he cursed the day Krisis found out the truth.

This was exactly what he was afraid of, hurting his kids and causing so much chaos in their lives.

For two centuries they’d all done okay, he’d looked out for them from afar and that arrangement had worked fine. Until he saw Lily’s pictures in the gossip magazine Celina loved so much. And out of the blue, his paternal instincts had kicked in, and suddenly being the cleanup guy wasn’t enough for him anymore. Suddenly he wanted to know his kids, wanted to spend time with them, be a part of their lives, and watch his grandkids grow up. He couldn’t be there for Krisis and Krimsyn, and he knew that was a mistake, but his grandkids were supposed to be his fresh start, his second chance. And he’d fucked it up, over and over, antagonizing Krisis and doing nothing to reach out to Krimsyn.

“Oh suck it up, Bill!” Celina snapped from the doorway. It was amazing how well she knew him.

“You and Zahara founded the Vampire Council; you built it from the ground up, instilled law and order in our society and fought hard for our kind to practically have the same rights as humans!” His PA glided into the room.

“What’s your point Celina?” He asked, glaring at her.

He wanted to be alone and lick his wounds, wallow in his misery and self-pity for a while. He’d lived over 600 years without complaining about his wretched existence, in his opinion, that entitled him to a few minutes of a pity-party without his PA gate crashing it.

“I’ve never seen you walk away from a fight, Bill. I don’t know why you think you can now. Do the right thing. You love your kids, go to them. Show them you are not the man they think you are. Clear up their confusion and hurt. They’ll thank you for it. Maybe not tomorrow, but they will, eventually. Krimsyn broke my heart today, her self-loathing left a huge stain in your office and you know why she feels that way, because Margaret lied. Don’t let them hang on to the lies.”

“They don’t want anything to do with me,” William sighed.

“Only because you’ve been nothing but a jerk whenever you are around them. They don’t know the real you.” With that Celina left him alone in his pity party, and William had to admit she was right…

His PA was only gone for a few minutes when his cell phone rang. He reluctantly pulled it out of his pocket, wondering who could be calling at such an ungodly hour.

He frowned and braced himself for what he knew wouldn’t be great news when he saw it was Zahara, the Council’s Chief.

Zahara got straight to the point. An urgent meeting had been arranged by the Council and he had to fly out to the Vampire Council’s headquarters in Sunset Valley.

“I can’t. My kids need me right now. I have to deal with Margaret’s mess,” Thornton tried to worm his way out of the meeting but the Chief was having none of it.

“They’ve done fine without you for 216 years, what’s a few more weeks? This is more urgent, and it can potentially affect your youngest. The humans are not pleased!” Zahara informed him harshly.

“I’m on my way,” he gave in, hating his job for the first time ever.

“And pack a reasonably-sized bag. Your stay at this stage looks indefinite.” Zahara added on her end. He wanted to protest, say something harsh to show his displeasure. But he knew it was pointless, as second in command, he had a responsibility to fulfill.

“How is my son? Do you think he’ll want to see me now? Is he still angry?” Zahara asked just before they ended their call.

“I think that’s something you should be asking him. But he’s doing well I suppose with the band, their album is due for release in two weeks. I’ll see you in a few hours,” Thornton snapped, suddenly angry with her for her double standards, one minute she’s telling him his kids are not important and in the same breath she asks him about her own son…

_______

And that's the end of Thornton....till next Season.

Can you spot the easter egg in the pics?