Devour

Chapter 18 - Pasch

All right. So my Errol distractions need a little fine tuning. Apparently when something goes wrong at this point in our lives, he just automatically assumes I'm trying to distract him from something.

Oh shit. If I'd just kept playing Whitney Houston they probably would have kept making out which equals being 100% distracted from anything I'm doing. I should have noticed they were doing that. In that they kind of raised me it's sort of creepy and I'm kind of glad I didn't like spy on it because it's gross BUT it would have made an excellent distraction.

For now I'll just have to do it while they are asleep. That ought to work.

It takes a good while for them to go to sleep after that. Maybe starting a fire wasn't the best idea I've ever had. That's fine, I've got loads of time to come up with better ways to distract Errol from the things I plan on doing.

For now I wait till they and my siblings are all asleep nicely in their beds.

Then I apparat. Only this time, I focus on my mother and what she looked like exactly today and everything.

And as before I feel space rippling through my fingers.

"So here's how this going to work. I'm going to do exactly as I want, whenever I want, with whomever I want, and you're not going to tell anybody, anything----is that clear?" I ask, spreading my arms out to make it sound like the good deal it clearly is.

"Pasch I----" my mother was not expecting me to appear in her apartment well after midnight in----okay next time I make broad frightening statements I'm going to not wear my little striped pajamas no matter how comfortable they are.

"----this is not a negotiation we both know who holds the power here and so this is how it's going to work---I do what I want, when I want, you don't say shit-----and if you so much as hint to Errol that I'm even something close to decent with telekinesis and all else I will end you. And him. Got it?" I ask.

"Yes---Pasch I just----"

"I don't care. Also I don't like my name I'm open to suggestions for a new one. Feel free to think about it." I turn around and walk back into my room.

I sigh and flop down on my bed. That went well. In fact I don't see how it'll go wrong. She is my mother I'm sure she'll see things my way, if she truly wants me to be happy.

There's a gentle little knock at my door.

"What is it, Dax?" I ask, sighing. I am rather tired now.

"How'd you know it was me?" Dax asks, coming in.

"You're the only child who knocks, and the grown ups knock louder," I say.

"What was your mum like? You really didn't say," he says, sitting down at the foot of my bed and nearly squishing a cat.

"I didn't----get the feeling she understood me," I say, "Don't tell Miss Cora or Dad----I know they were trying to help and they'll think little chats will help."

"I won't," Dax who totally would have, says.

"I feel like she wants me to be someone I'm not," I say.

"Why? You're cool."

"I don't know. Grown ups are weird."

"Why'd you set the barn on fire?"

"Keep Dad guessing."

"That's super mean."

"It's good for him. He'd get complacent and not notice a real threat if I didn't stage these little tests."

"Or he wouldn't be chewing up pain killers all the time."

"You say that like it's my fault."

"It-----almost definitely is."

"If you're not going to like me either you can just go."

"Did Miss Cora or Dad say you could have a cat in the bed with you?"

"Snitches get stitches."

"I know it's a saying but please don't threaten me Dad sees it later when I think about it and he gets mad at me."

"Then don't think about it!"

"It isn't as easy as all that --these things just drift through my mind."

"You're lame."

"So're you."

"Do you want to go do something fun?"

"Yeah."

"Oh good, I was thinking we could try to bake a cake."

"Sleep Patch. It's called sleep; it'll be so fun."

"You're really boring. I'll wake Nel up she'll want to bake a cake between one and two am."

"Probably. Please don't though."