𝑊𝐴𝑁𝑇 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑆 (locke and key gabe)

13 rewritten

An; sorry, it's been a while :)

Duncan's here. Just saw him use the anywhere key. Hate to break it to u Gabe, but ur girl lied. They're onto us.

She wouldn't. That was the first thought that crossed his mind as he stared blankly at Eden's message. Not Avery. She wouldn't lie to him. Unless she knew. Of course, that would explain her unease, her growing distance. But how? It was impossible, surely. He ran a hand through his hair, brows furrowed in quiet contemplation. Gabe dared to cast a glance back in the direction of her stall across the market. She was lent against the sink, hands in her hair, chest rising and falling with laboured breaths. Kinsey stood as far away from her as their makeshift gazebo would allow; arms folded, expression schooled into a scowl. Gabe watched her for a moment longer, and for a second he allowed himself to consider approaching the two. One more time. 

The dread in the pit of his stomach came with a creeping sense of disgust. She was a mere pawn. That's all she was ever supposed to be. Gabe had played many people. He'd used and manipulated them as he saw fit and had never once spared them an ounce of pity or regret. But she, she was...different. 

He... cared, if something so twisted and broken as he was could even care, that is. But there was something, a certain longing, a feebly concealed anxiety, a longing for a girl who was supposed to be his path to the keys, to unspeakable and deadly power. Yet it was nothing compared to the power she held over him. His very soul ached at the thought of her knowing the truth, at the thought of what would come as a result of that.

But perhaps they were doomed from the very beginning, a flame and a snowflake; two opposites bound together by their beautiful, deadly juxtaposition. Two souls tied together by their sheer difference. If that were true, Gabe thought to himself, then perhaps he would be the snowflake, cold and sharp and vicious, blessed with beauty to conceal his harsh cruelty. And Avery would be the flame. She was untameable, wild and rough and jagged at the edges. The one who could melt him to something as pathetic as a measly puddle. 

It's a funny thing, wanting. It makes us weak and strong, all at once. It destroys plans and logic, and all things reasonable. To want, to love, is to destroy. Yourself, your goals, your motives. All those big, terrible things, all those reasons you had for doing what you chose to, seem to pale in comparison to the wick abomination that is feeling. 

You make me feel, Avery.

The night was dark and rich with the heavy musk of pine and woodsmoke. Snow fell in soft, wisping flakes, speckles of sparkling powder against the black canvas of night, settling in heaps against the windowsills of Key House, against the trunks of trees. It looked peaceful on nights like these. When the eerie shadows had blended into the cool darkness of the early night. The moon shone high, pale and dull, a soft crescent tucked behind low-rolling clouds. Her home reminded Avery a little of a story book palace, mysterious and enticing, perhaps with notably a little less grandeur. But with its spiralling towers and neat little balconies, it was easy to pretend for a moment that Key House was just as it seemed. A pretty building. Nothing more. 

As she followed her siblings onto the porch, Avery kept her eyes on the fleeting shadows between the trees. Unlike the calmness of Key house, the dense woods were far from calm, far from fairy tale-like. They were dark and dangerous and immediately set her on edge. She passed through the door with a final wary glance over her shoulder. Across the threshold, Avery felt no safer. The house still thrummed with magic and darkness, unknown dangers too far out of her control. 

"Avery." A quiet voice called.

Her head snapped up. Duncan. His hair was flecked with dainty flakes of snow, his hands still gloved. He had left the house.

"Uncle Dunc," She bristled, eyes alight with an unspoken surprise. "Everything okay?"

He shook his head, a quiet fear in his gaze. She knew something was wrong. From the way he stood, the way he watched her. "I think Gabe knows," He said, "That I have my memories back."

She bit her lower lip. "Shit."

"I used the anywhere key, Eden saw me," He murmured. "He knows,"

"But why did you-"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that we fix this." Duncan bristled, "I need you to call Gabe."

"What?" I murmured.

"It's a miracle," 

Avery cast a wary glance over her shoulder. Her three siblings and Uncle stood in the doorway. Watching, listening to what she told him. She knew the fear in their eyes, it was a fear that followed them everywhere, a fear that she too saw in herself. It was the result of a curse they never wished for. A curse under the guise of magic, something that had brought nothing but misfortune upon them from the very beginning. From the moment the very first key had been forged by their ancestors. 

"So he has his memories back?" Gabe asked.

"Yeah, we just got home, and it was like something had snapped, I don't know." 

"That's great, Ave." She could hear the quiet smirk in his voice, and it irritated her. Knowing that he truly believed he had won. She hated it. Hated feeling powerless and hated how it made her feel. His voice, his company. The fear and the longing had long since mixed, the line between love and hatred had grown blurred, until all that remained was a growing numbness. 

"Do you want to come over? See for yourself...we could watch a film or something." She offered, fighting the tremble in her voice. 

"I'd love to," He chuckled, "I'll be there in 10, okay?"

Avery cast a final glance over her shoulder. At her family. At that look in their eyes. They wouldn't have to be scared anymore, none of them would. She was going to do this. To be rid of Gabe or Dodge or Lucas or whatever he was. She was going to kill him. It was going to end, tonight. Avery felt the weight of the anywhere key in her palm, reassuring and cool. 

Whatever it takes. She promised herself. Whatever it takes.