"you are not a god."
OR
in which lenore harrington struggles to let go of the shadows of her past.
the boys season 3 & 4.
the boys x fem! oc.
companion to liability, gen v.
quinlans 2024.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
ONE. monstrous love
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
LENORE HARRINGTON WAS many things: a hero, a sister, a daughter, a murderer. The list went on and on. But if there was one thing she wasn't, it was a mother. Lenore didn't have a maternal bone in her body. She wasn't caring or nurturing. She wasn't what a child needed.
When Lenore first found out her sister, Elaine, was pregnant, she didn't know how to feel. Elaine had been excited, practically bursting at the seams with joy. Her pregnancy had been unplanned, and it couldn't have come at a worse time—Elaine was finally a member of The Seven, she had been for almost four months at the time, she was finally living her dream. But motherhood had always been a nagging thought at the back of Elaine's mind, and while Elaine had put her career first, Lenore knew it was only a matter of time before Elaine sacrificed her career for her happiness. So, with her pregnancy announcement, Elaine had stepped back from active duty as a member of The Seven, with Lenore filling her spot until after her maternity leave.
The birth of her niece, Vivienne, was a distant memory—one that Lenore had tried so hard to omit from her mind. She had been at her favorite nightclub, downing shot after shot, hopelessly attempting to get drunk and forget. This was her nightly ritual; this is what kept her going. She didn't hear her phone ring the first time, nor did she hear it by the fifth time. By the tenth time, something made her check her phone. She couldn't remember if it was her shadows whispering to her or if it was her subconscious telling her that something was wrong. But when Lenore listened to her voicemail and heard the desperation and pain in her sister's voice, she immediately dropped everything and shadow-walked to her sister's hospital.
That night had been one of the longest nights in Lenore's life. Her brave, sweet little sister, Lenore's only reason for living, was dying and it was all because of the baby, her niece. The birth had gone wrong, her sister had lost too much blood and needed surgery to correct what was wrong, her energy completely depleted. When the baby had been ripped from her mother's womb, she didn't cry or wail like a baby should. The baby had been born silent.
Lenore could still remember Elaine begging to hold her baby girl, just so she could see her. The doctors had tried everything to revive the child, but it seemed like it wasn't meant to be. The moment the baby was placed against Elaine's chest, Lenore could feel the shift in the air, could feel the embrace of her sister's powers.
Lenore stood there, stunned, watching as her sister healed her child, giving her everything so she could live.
And as her sister's eyes rolled into the back of her head, her heart monitor crashing, a newborn baby cried into the night.
As the doctor's rushed into the room and pushed Lenore out, she went to the one place where she could find any type of solace—the hospital's chapel. She knelt at the altar and prayed and prayed, begging God not to take Elaine. Elaine was the light in Lenore's darkness, she was the only thing that was truly pure in the world. She deserved to live, unlike Lenore, unlike the baby that had so ruthlessly damaged her mother.
