Pixie, First Daughter of Anarchy: Book 2

Past Demons

WARNING: This chapter contains mention of blood, gore, violence, medical equipment, and trauma.

As Jax sauntered along with Pixie on his back, she rested her chin on Jax's left shoulder and caught his signature scent mixture of apple, sage, Jack Daniels, pine, tobacco and patchouli. The complexity of the blend fit Jax's persona well, Pixie mused. They were on their way back into the hospital, but had taken the longer route through the gardens rather than the rusty employee kitchen door to give Pixie a chance to ground herself before she caught sight of the IRA guards, Fiona, or Clay, all of which had made her shit list. Shanksy walked beside them with his hands in his jean pockets, and he watched Pixie's sparkle fade out the closer they got to the building, even with Jax's escape plan in motion. Carotid also appeared to have noticed this change in demeanour from Pixie as he peered down thoughtfully at her whilst looming behind Jax, a spectre towering above them. Shanksy observed his best friend's dark green almost black eyes narrow, jaw moving as he bit the tip of his tongue in thought. An idea appeared to strike him, causing him to raise both his jet black eyebrows, hastily rifling through his kutte, searching for something specific. Shanksy carried on watching, reading Carotid's expression and guessing he was trying to do something to comfort Pixie. This development intrigued him as, other than Shanksy and Rane, Carotid didn't particularly like to be around other people. He had about as many people skills as an Angler fish lurking at the bottom of the ocean. Carotid was as introverted as one too, Shanksy thought. Finally finding what he was looking for, Carotid pulled his left hand out which was curled around something.

"Hm." Carotid rumbled, using the back of his closed left fist to tap Pixie's shoulder, getting her attention. Jax stopped walking, turning a little to see what Carotid wanted as well, unsure of how to feel about this new ominous brother.

"What's up, mate?" Pixie queried in a friendly but curious tone, smiling warmly at Carotid despite her low mood. It struck Pixie that even on Jax's back, she still had to peer up at Carotid, he was huge.

Carotid gestured with a head nod to his closed fist, still holding it out for Pixie. She adjusted her hold on Jax's shoulders so she could put out her left hand for him, intrigued as to what Carotid was trying to do.

Getting the response he wanted, the corners of Carotid's mouth curled up in a sort of smile as though he was trying to appear non-threatening and comforting, both of which were completely foreign to him. Unfurling his fist, he dropped a small white object into Pixie's cupped hand before giving her another smile and a clumsy pat on the head, clearly unsure of how to console her but giving it a shot anyway. Pixie and Jax both looked down at her hand at the same time and Jax jerked his head back in mild disgust whilst Pixie's hazel eyes widened in shock.

"Jesus, is that a skull?" Jax questioned looking down at Pixie's hand again at the small white bone in the centre of her palm. It was definitely from some kind of tiny animal and Jax stared back at Carotid with an unnerved expression. Carotid shot him a defensive one in return, letting out a low growl.

Pixie was better at hiding her shock, maintaining a smile on her face as she scanned the bone, figuring it had to be from some kind of rodent from the shape and size. It had been cleaned and bleached well thankfully, though Pixie still felt a little unsettled to be holding some poor animal's remains. As she looked up at Carotid again, she noted Shanksy was standing with his right palm over his face, shaking his head back and forth at his brother's actions.

"Yep, that's a skull, Jackie." Pixie confirmed with a light tone, trying not to come across as startled or accusatory. "It's... well preserved." She managed, trying to think of polite things to say when someone hands you skeletal remains. "Where did it come from?" She asked, seeing Carotid smile a little more over Pixie attempting to take an interest in what was obviously something he was very proud of.