WTTM x The Traveler AU

◇●°• Chapter 9 •°●◇

Part Writtwn by Jen Says Hi

I didn't want to force those kids out of their room as soon as the kids got home. They needed time to adjust to the current situation before we could throw them into another. My blaring headache blurred my vision. I turned all the lights off and closed my eyes;I had no intention to fall asleep.

"Dark!" Yenzo called slapping me gently on the face.
"Huh?" I jolted awake. Rosemary dragged her bag inside and leaned it against the couch next to me. Soon enough, Speckle and Timber pranced through the door aswell.

"Dad guess what happened at school today!?" He yelled tugging on my arm.

"Speckle, inside voice," Yenzo scolded.

"Dad guess what happened at school today," he whispered. I smiled to myself.

"What?"

"No guess!" He said. I rolled my eyes and walked to the kitchen.

"Do you guys want anything to eat? I can make grilled cheese or mac&cheese, but it has to be something with cheese in it or I can't do it." I laughed to myself.

"Mac&cheese!!" Speckle shouted.

"Speckle," Yenzo sighed with a tired tone. Timber pulled out a homework packet and started scratching her pencil across the surface. Rosemary took a seat next to her, laying her head down at the table. I grabbed a box of kraft mac&cheese from the pantry and started boiling the water.

"I heard this girl at school taking about a loud bang in her neighborhood last night. She lives by all the poor people so it was probably a serial killer or something. And when I told her that she started crying like a baby and the teacher told me to sit in the corner. School is so unfair!!" My heart froze. Not because of Speckle's incredibly tone deaf story telling, but because people were starting to figure out something happened. I could feel Yenzo's eyes staring at the back of my head.

"Speckle!! That was very impolite of you to say! Im surprised I didn't get a phone call from the school. What about you Dark, did she call you?"

"U-h I...no" I stammered in response. My children knew I had done some bad things in the past, but they didn't know I killed people because of my temper. If I could just control myself, then maybe this wouldn't have happened. I shivered and poured the noodles into the water.

"Crazy child..." Yenzo mumbled to himself. He filled his watering pale in the kitchen sink and walked out the back door.

"Whacha working on?" I asked Timber.

"Math stuff," she responded in her small voice.

"Sounds dumb."

"I like math actually," she mumbled. I looked away awkwardly.

"Ok...so what about you two? You got anything you should be working on?" Speckle and Rosemary both shook their heads. I knew they were probably lying.

"Im gonna go watch TV now," Speckle yelled. Rosemary flinched at his piercing voice. He needed to work on. His volume a bit. I sighed listening to him flip through the channels on the tv.

Soon enough I served all three on my kids a bowl of hot mac&cheese. They ate happily as I prepared a 4th and 5th bowl. I didn't plan to eat it myself.

"Whos that for?" Speckle asked.

"The rats have to eat too," I laughed. The three giggled amongst themselves as I walked past them to the guest room. I listened carefully for the sound of angry screams. Silence. I opened the door carefully to the two children curled up in one of the beds. They used their tails as blankets to cover one another. There were two beds in the room, but they still chose to sleep in the same bed. I smiled, setting the bowls on the nightstand next to them. I placed a hand gently on Katiya's shoulder and shook her slightly. No movement.

"Hey," I whispered shaking her shoulder. Suddenly, Michail launched awake with a gasp and slapped my hand hard. He growled at me pulling her towards him. I backed away with my hands up.

"Im not here to hurt you, I just want you to eat." He layed his head down across Katiya neck and glared at me before closing his eyes again. I sighed and removed myself from the room. I left the door unlocked. Michail had calmed down a bit. He was able to tolerate me for 5 seconds, and he even closed his eyes around me.

"Oh Dark! I was just coming to check on them. Looks like you beat me to it."

"You asshole! Don't startle me like that!" I whisper yelled at him.

"Im sorry I though you noticed me!" I sighed kissing him.

"They're both sleeping. Michail has calmed down. I left some mac&cheese on the nightstand in case they got hungry."

"Good," he smiled at me. "Im glad they're doing ok. Do you know where Noah is?"

"In his room I think." Yenzo nodded and walked back to the kitchen. I sighed rubbing my neck. For a moment I forgot all about my dream. The silence of the hallway ways making me think about it. Who was talking to me? Why was it so dark? What was that ticking? I hurried back to the kitchen to fill my brain with Speckle's small voice so I wouldn't think about it.

"Yenzo, can I be homeschooled?" Speckle asked.

"No dear, you would just watch TV all day! Plus, we don't have anyone to tutor you." I smiled sitting down next to Rosemary who had set her head back down after she finished her bowl. Star would be coming over to see her next week and I couldn't say I was enthusiastic about that idea. I also couldn't tell if Rosemary was either. I knew she missed her uncle, but some of the things he said and did just pissed me off. I was worried he would say something and trigger her trauma.

Noah rubbed his tired eyes as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey guys," he mumbled.

"Noah!!" Speckle yelped jumping on him.

"Were you sleeping? At this time?" I asked.

"Hey asshole!! Im a little tired after that kid tried to kill me...twice!!!" He hollered displaying his bandaged arm where Michail had scratched him.

"Ewwww blood!!" Speckle said cringing.

Damnit why did he have to say anything in front of the kids??? I hoped they would just assume Noah had a quarrel with one of his friends or someone from a gang down town.

"Who? Are you okay Noah? Who tried to kill you twice?" Timber asked concerned.

"From the-" he paused looking over at me. I stared him down with wide eyes hoping telepathically he could understand that these kids can't know there's a literally psyco fox child in our house. "-just from work you know."

I released my breath relieved. Noah sat down next to Speckle, chaining his neck to see what Timber was working on. Yenzo hugged him from behind and brought the kids some apple juice.

I closed my eyes for a split second hoping this time I wouldn't fall asleep like a dumbass. Yenzo slugged me on the arm and the whole kitchen got quiet.

"Hello," Timber said in her soft voice she used for meeting new people. Michail was standing in the kitchen entress holding his bowl of mac&cheese. It looked untouched since I had left it there for him. His legs and handswobbled slightly as he did his best to hold himself in place.

"I don't need your pity," he growled. He released his grasp on the bowl dropping in on the tile floor. The bowl shattered into a plethora of pieces and the mac&cheese splattered all over the floor sloppily. He turned and walked back in the direction of the guest room.
That was one of our good dishes.