Adrien #3
A slow grin spreads across my face. I walk over to it and crank it up to its highest setting. The circular blade picks up speed with a vicious whine until it becomes nothing more than a silver blur, the motor roaring louder and louder as its teeth scream through the garage.
Kasien glances over his shoulder and no words are needed.
“Wait...” Bryan croaks out something, but it’s impossible to make out.
Together, we drag Bryan across the concrete floor, his boots scraping desperately as he starts fighting back in earnest.
“Is there anyone else in the house?” Kas asks.
Between the two of us, we force Bryan down until his chest slams against the workbench. His face hovers only inches above the shrieking blade, close enough for the rush of air from its rotation to whip strands of his hair into the air.
“No,” he croaks out, a panicked whimper catching in his throat. “Please don’t.”
We hold him down, his nose right above the razor-sharp disc.
“You’ve known us our whole lives,” I grit out. “You watched us grow up.”
“I’m so sorry,” he wheezes, straining with everything he has to keep himself away from the saw.
“How could you do that to us?” Kasien shouts, forcing Bryan’s face even closer to the cutting wheel.
“You told us she was doing well,” I yell. “You told us she was married!”
“Lucien threatened my family,” he chokes out. “I’m so sorry.”
“We were your family too, Bryan!”
“I just put my own family first,” he says hoarsely, his voice shaking. “You would’ve done the same.”
I grab a fistful of his hair and yank his head away from the blade until he’s forced to look me straight in the eyes.
“She was never doing well, Bryan. She was with him this whole fucking time!”
“I know,” he croaks.
“You told me she was married!” I repeat it again.
“I wanted you to finally move on. I didn’t know what to do,” he winces, trying to put some distance between his face and the saw. “You wouldn’t stop calling me. I thought it would help.”
“It didn’t!”
I let go of him only for Kasien to seize his hair instead and slam his head against the table, the impact landing only inches from the whining machine.
“Dad?”
The both of us snap our heads toward the high, squeaky voice, only to find the smallest person with the biggest glasses I’ve ever seen.
We all freeze, Bryan trying to collect himself while Kas and I stare at the tiny creature standing in the backyard.
My hand blindly wanders behind me across the workbench in search of the switch before I finally shut the table off. The piercing screech slowly fades until the machine falls silent.
“You said there was no one else in the house,” Kasien grits out quietly, never taking his eyes off the little gremlin.
“Besides,” Bryan says between heavy breaths, “my daughter.”
My brows knit together as I stare at the microscopic human wrapped in ribbons, looking at us with a smile we absolutely do not deserve.
“Since when do you have a daughter!” I whisper-shout, frozen in place.
Bryan sighs. “Since six years ago.”
Kas and I exchange one quick look that clearly translates into—abort the mission immediately, but the little creature suddenly marches straight inside with all the confidence of a fearless toddler, and I realize she’s probably the cutest kid I’ve ever seen.
I gulp just as she reaches us, while we instinctively lean backward in a desperate attempt to put some distance between us and her.
“Do you want some?” she asks, pressing a packet of treats into Kasien’s hand.
He stares at her, eyes wide.
“No, thanks,” he forces out hesitantly, looking no less terrified than I feel.
“You?” She snaps toward me so fast I nearly throw myself onto the saw behind me.
“Sure,” I answer just as hesitantly, taking one of the sticky little things and tossing it into my mouth only to prove I’m not intimidated by this small imp.
To my immediate misfortune, I realize I’ve walked straight into a vicious trap when the taste explodes across my tongue, threatening to make me throw up if I don’t get rid of the venom as quickly as possible.
“What the...” I mumble around the thing in my mouth, frowning before spitting it onto the filthy concrete beside me. “That’s fucking disgusting.”
The little menace bursts into laughter so violently I could swear I see a spray of snot shoot out of her little nostrils.
When the giggling dies down, she goes right back to staring at us with eyes so big I’m forced to question whether Bryan reproduced with an alien.
We slowly begin our retreat before abandoning all dignity, rushing out of the property and diving into the car.
The moment the door slams shut, I let out a shaky breath and realize my hands are trembling. Kasien pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head.
Something awful settles over both of us as the realization sinks in that we almost killed that little thing’s parent.
I bury my face in my palms, unable to draw a proper breath for reasons I can’t explain.
“What are we doing, Kas?” I force out, my voice ragged.
“I don’t know,” he says, barely above a whisper. “This has to stop.”