Family Business: A Walten Files AU

Chapter One: Odds and Ends

(Hello. I know this story has been published on NovelWW/NovelHD, and possibly other sites. I just want to say that if this story is not on Wattpad or AO3...the poster is not me, TheHostyToasty/The_Hosty_Toasty. Please read this on those official websites. Anyways, enjoy the story.)

I remember vividly the day my father handed me the broom. I was 13, which would be illegal if my birthday wasn't the next day, and at first it was simple. Just sweep the party room, and he'd give me a dollar or two. It was fair at first, for about a week or so. Then he began to conveniently "forget" his wallet and promise to pay me double the next week. I gave up after a month and just did what he asked for free. No questions asked, just keeping my mouth shut and my head low. He was my dad, I wouldn't speak up against him.

I wouldn't, if he wasn't just...bad. He hurt a lot of people, killed some too. Ed. Molly. Probably Jack. Rosemary. So many innocents. Family...just gone. So I realized enough was enough, and decided to do something and be a hero. If only I wasn't still just a teenager. I've been to that police station more times than I can count. That day however, was the one where they finally sat me down to hear my story. I spilled everything to them, everything Dad told me he did, everything I saw and heard, everything I knew.

I watched the police officer's face. His eyes scanning around the room to focus on literally anything else, his hands sitting idly by the pen and the blank notepad, his body slouched over tiredly and his face conveying a sense of boredom. I ended up pausing halfway through my sentences more than once to make sure he was listening. I managed to get through it that time, and I watched him pretend to flip through his notes. Reading invisible ink or something because he finally broke his silence to give me his unwanted opinion.

"Look, Miss Kranken, I've heard everything you've said here. Recorded it too." He gestured to the unplugged tape recorder and looked me dead in the eyes "You're just crazy. You haven't given me a single ounce of evidence to back this up, and your dad's an all around stand up guy. I'm sorry, but...nothing can be done without evidence."

Those words felt like a knife, piercing through my very soul and shattering it. But I remained determined to prove I wasn't lying. I wasn't just some crazy kid. I stood up now, crossing my arms as I looked at him. My face was red with anger, not as red as a man in a drunken rage but it was probably close.

"How much did he pay you to tell me that? I'm not crazy. I can get you all the evidence you need, everything and more probably! Why is it that every time I come here I'm either turned away or flat out ignored? You people are in his pocket, I'm going to the press."

I could feel the venom in my voice as I spoke those words, and I must have had an effect on that man because he was whiter than the paper on his notepad. I simply just grabbed my purse and walked out the interrogation room and into the waiting room. Once entering there however, I paused, the feeling in the room was familiar. That stench of whiskey, that bright mess of mismatched socks and a vibrant tie to match, and the gleam from his glasses. My father was there, his brick phone in hand and a forced look of relief on his face.

"Oh my Darla Darling, there you are! When they told me you were here I thought you were hurt, come on let's get home okay? It's late." He checked his watch as he spoke and grabbed my wrist with an iron grip. Before I could protest he was already bringing me out to his car, the one he bought after the accident. He forced me in, and once he was in we took off for home.

________________________

We had been driving for about 30 minutes now, the quiet ambiance almost suffocating. "I don't trust being in a car with you anymore," I said to break the silence between us "Especially when you smell like that."

"Smell like what? You and your imagination, there's no stench in the air or anything." He said with a tone as rough as sandpaper, his darkened eyes merely glancing at me for a second before turning up the radio so I wouldn't try and talk to him.

I didn't give him the opportunity to shut me down this time, switching off the radio and glaring at him. "You're drunk aren't you, or at least had a few drinks at some point today. I thought you would have learned your lesson with them. Let me drive us home." His eyes bore into mine now as his head whipped towards me, like I brought up Mom again.

"You- Why would you even ask that, Darla Darling? You can't drive, you were never taught. Are you trying to get us killed?" He asked me, almost hypocritically in a way. I saw lights in front of us and I freaked out now, my heart going as fast as this car was. I grabbed the wheel and jerked it to the side to narrowly avoid the oncoming truck. The sound of the horn was ringing in my head as Dad pulled off to the side now. His breathing was heavy, making my nose sting. The whiskey smell was overpowering.

"Never do that again. Never! You could have gotten us killed, Darla Jocelyn Kranken!" He looked shaken up and blamed me for it?! I saved his life and this is how he repays me for it?! He took deep breaths now, and got back on the road. His face was less red and looked a bit more sobered up. I leaned against the window now and watched the lights passing by in a hypnotic pattern. After a little bit, however, I noticed that...we passed by our street. I went to point it out, but he grabbed my wrist and held it down with one hand.

"Shut. Don't say anything. We'll go home later." He said sternly "Don't say a word until we get there, I just want to show you something okay?" His tone said I didn't really didn't have a choice, so I sat there and said...nothing. Absolutely silent, but I spoke once I saw us pull into the Bon's Burgers parking lot.

"Woah woah woah hey what are we doing here? Dad, it's closed, there's nothing here." I protested but he gave me no response. A shaky smile was spread across his pale face, and a couple tears ran down his cheeks. I looked concerned but I got out with him anyway. We headed inside the rundown building, stepping over debris and things. Everything was covered up, nothing had been moved out yet because Dad didn't want to do anything yet. The curtains however, didn't have any dust on them. Felix walked up onto the stage with a grin on his face.

"Darla Darling, welcome to the last show of Bon's Burgers! Everyone else may be moved, but the most important star is still here with...a few new updates. I present to you, the new and improved Bon!" He drew back the curtains, and I felt sick to my stomach. I stepped back until I hit the wall behind me. My heart was racing fast, and I felt my eyes water and spill over onto my face. "What...What the hell is that?" I asked in a soft voice, watching the blood drip from his...no...it's jaw.