Operation Maroon

Forty-Three : For him; For Luke

》Max's POV《

I hold out another green grape to Karma, who eagerly takes it in her small paws and begins to nibble on it.

"Γհεៜε αʀε αβƞɸʀʍαℓIψ ϑɸɸδ-"

She says telepathically, in mild awe. I grin and set another one beside her for when she's done.

"'You never really ate a lot of human food, so everything will probably be abnormal to you.'"

I glance at Luke, who sits cross-legged in front of me, dining on the bowl of cereal he was given for breakfast. His sheer focus on eating every last one of those Fruit Loops is amusing.

His father was taken for, quote, 'classified reasons.'

Luke must sense me watching him, as he looks up innocently while wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

I just giggle at him, getting him to smile and blush in embarrassment.

"I'm hungry okayyy.."

I reach over and pat his shoulder, perking him up significantly. He looks to Karma, who's finishing up the other grape I gave her. He picks up one of the colored loops and offers it to Karma, who sniffs it cautiously.

"Iៜ Iτ ϑɸƞƞα ΚIℓℓ ʍε-?"

"'No, but it's high in sugar.'"

As if that was her cue, she takes the whole piece in her mouth at once, chewing with caution.

"Ηɸℓψ ៜwεετ βαβψ ϲհʀIៜτ ɸƞ α βIΚε, ϲαƞ I հα⋎ε α βɸwℓ?"

I snicker and pet her as she munches, her eyes sparkling with newfound flavor.

"She likes it?"

Luke asks, watching her intently. She nods quickly, staring at his cereal bowl.

"Haha, I believe she does."

She skitters over to his bowl, picking herself up a bit and looking into it.

"Δυհ! Ηε ατε Iτ αℓℓ-"

She whines, looking desperately for a loop. Luke holds the bowl with his fingers so it doesn't tip over, giggling at her.

"You can drink the milk, it's sweet milk now."

Ecstatic, Karma looks to me for approval, and I nod. Not my sugar crash to deal with.

Luke giggles as he watches her drink up the sugary milk. Jeez, she looks like she's gonna jump in.

While watching Karma dunk her face into milk is amusing, our fun stops as there's a wail from the hidden door within Luke's side of the conjoined cell. His eyes widen as the door opens, his father grunting and wincing as he's dragged inside by five security guards. He's still chained to hell, but now he has what seems to be a Crythtine vest covering his upper chest and back..

He must've fought with his wings.

"Dad-?!"

Luke stands up instantly, but he hesitates whether or not he should approach his father or not. I stand as well, placing my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. He backs into me as his dad screams and curses, flinging one of the guards into the wall.

"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!"

"SHOOT HIM!"

Luke turns away and buries his head into me, hugging me tightly at the scene. Doc repeats this many times, the ruckus of yelling soldiers, wall slamming, and demonic screeching making Luke cover his ears and shake. I kneel down and hug him to me as we back away slowly, looking away as they load another round of tranquilizers into their guns.

"NO! MAN DOWN! CALL A MEDIC TEAM!"

I can't watch this.

"Јεៜυៜ ẜυϲΚIƞϑ ϲհʀIៜτ... Ηε ΚIℓℓεδ ɸƞε ɸẜ τհεʍ..."

My heart sinks at Karma's shaky voice in my head. I glance up, but only to scoop her into my arms as she scurries over and hold her in between Luke and I. He needs a distraction.

Karma crawls into his hands, and I use mine now to cover his ears to spare him as we huddle in the corner. After several codes and more yelling, there's a cease in the demonic screeching followed by a thud.

Do I want to look up..?

I take a breath before slowly lifting my head.. And I see the carnage.

A soldier lays dead against the wall that's been painted with his blood, two other injured soldiers sobbing over him as they cradle his body. The other three are also injured and working together to keep Doc pinned, who lays bloody and unconscious on the ground with a grimace.

I tear up as I hear Luke begin to cry.

Looking down at him, he's hugging Karma and fighting back tears and whimpers, but he can't help it. One of the soldiers limps over to us, offering the hand that doesn't hold her gun.

"C'mon back to your cell, take the kiddo with you."

Luke twirls around and opens his mouth to speak, but upon seeing the state of his dad, he starts screaming. Karma, startled, quickly leaps to the safety of the ground, and I ultimately whisk her away so she doesn't get hurt.

"ΓհIៜ Iៜ... ⟆ɸ βαδ..."

She mutters in my head, getting me to nod slightly as I wince from Luke's high-pitched screams. I pull him back, but he's stuck frozen and screaming in place. The soldier sets her gun beside her and kneels down, trying to block the gruesome sight.

"HE'S DEAD! YOU KILLED HIM! NO! DAD NO! NO NO NO!"

His small body violently shakes as he goes into hysterical crying fueled by a panic attack, his eyes wide as ever.

I finally pull him into me, and he squeezes his eyes shut as he continues to scream. I look up at the soldier, a tear involuntarily rolling down my cheek as our eyes meet.

She pats my shoulder, her own eyes puffy and red from sobbing over the loss of her fellow soldier.

"Please, take care of him until further notice."

My eyes widen now, and I shake my head.

"Wh- I can't- I'm no mother-!"

She sighs, looking down as I squeak nervously. I feeeeel like I'm not mother material.

"Please.. His father will be in solitary for a while."

I look past her at Doc, who's being put into a cage with wheels for easy transport, a stretcher with a body bag behind him.

I run my hands gently through Luke's hair, his small hands hugging me as tight as they can. I just give the woman a nod, looking away.

I have to do this..

For him. For Luke.