Gravity Rises (S2)

GL: Part Three

Patrick "Bud" Pleasure found his hands trembling as he set out plates for breakfast.

One for him. One for his wife, who sat smiling dreamily up at him.

One for Pacifica.

Bud slid the plate onto the table as if it would bite him. It sat innocently at Pacifica's empty place, and for a moment it seemed like a normal plate for a normal girl.

Then a frustrated scream shook the walls.

Bud winced and backed away from the table, as if the plate he set out for Pacifica had been the one to scream. But no, the scream had come from the girl herself, who had yet to venture out of her room since being dropped off last night by the Northwest boy.

Last night had been the hardest one Bud had ever had to live through. He still remembered the sensation of curling up underneath his covers, shivering in a cold that wasn't really there, wishing he could fall asleep as easily and peacefully as his wife Catherine. But his daughter hadn't slept, either. Instead, she had kept Bud up all night with her screams.

And now, even with the morning sun streaming through the windows to give him strength, Bud waited in terror for his daughter to come out.

"It's so nice that Pacifica is staying with us," Catherine said pleasantly.

Bud glanced at his wife, a helpless frustration washing over him. Even after six years of her condition, he still wasn't sure how much Catherine understood, but it was clear he was the only one who felt the fear that swirled through the room. Didn't Catherine hear the screams? Didn't she see Gideon Northwest on their doorstep yesterday, holding their unconscious daughter in his arms, informing them that she was broken?

A door banged down the hallway. Bud jumped.

"Here she comes." Catherine smiled at her husband. "You made her favorite, didn't you, honey?"

"Yes, I. . ." He trailed off as he realized it had been some time since he'd checked on the food. 

Bud turned and hurried into the kitchen, where he flipped the eggs on the stove and prayed they weren't burned. They looked fine. He breathed a sigh of relief, and decided to stay here in the kitchen for a while, where it was a little less stifling.

"Good morning, Pacifica, darling."

Bud squeezed his eyes shut. He shouldn't leave Cathy alone out there, but. . . he'd rather just stay in here. . . .

No. Bud Pleasure knew he was a coward, but he couldn't just leave Pacifica and Catherine alone out there.

He flipped the eggs one more time and picked up the pan, balancing a plate of toast in the other hand. Then, plastering on his best Happy Family smile, he exited the kitchen.

"Pacifica, I'm glad you're awake! I made you some breakfast."

He got his first view of his daughter and faltered. Pacifica's smoky grey eyes were staring to the left of Bud's face, framed by splotchy purple make-up that was far less precise than her usual impeccable look. Her hair stuck out at strange angles, the loop of hair that was usually tucked under her headband now a ratty mess, starchy with hairspray. She had on the same clothes she'd had on yesterday: her black shawl and bell-shaped purple dress with moon designs on the skirt over black stockings, but now unkempt, her skirt crumpled and her shawl sitting askew on her shoulders. Where her amulet usually sat on her collarbone was an empty space. Bud found his eyes drawn to the spot. He hadn't seen Pacifica without her amulet in four years.

Pacifica tried to sit daintily in the chair Bud had pulled up for her, but she misjudged where the chair was and nearly fell off. Bud's fear tripled. He'd never seen his daughter so. . . decomposed.