Split

Power

I'd spent almost five hours playing with Hedwig and was exhausted. I'd tried to talk to him about the beast again but he was having none of it, so I was back to colouring in the drawings we'd been doing for the last hour. He had drawn his mice and was colouring them brown. When I'd suggested to do them more colourful, he'd reminded me that his mice were brown and that there was no such thing as blue mice. Sometimes I forgot that he wasn't a stupid kid, and was actually pretty down to earth... maybe that was the reason he didn't want to talk about the beast anymore-because he knew exactly what he'd done and how bad that was.
I had told him that he wasn't to let the beast have the light again, but he knew that... he wasn't an idiot... he was just scared.

By the late afternoon, Hedwig was tired and had fallen asleep in front of the TV, giving me a chance to rest, myself. I was a little worried about him sleeping in case the beast would take over, but I was soon made jump by someone clearing their throat. Barry was suddenly making his way back to our room.
He returned in his own clothes and proceeded to sit next to me. It was amazing how used to swapping they were by now, Barry hadn't even thought about it before he'd wandered off to change clothes, and it always amused me at how natural they all made it seem.
"Hey, sweetie, how was your day?"

"It was alright," I smiled, "Hedwig behaved himself."

"You make it seem like you're babysitting him," He mused.

"I know I'm not, he's not stupid... but..."

"What's the matter?"

"I told him that I wouldn't tell you this, but it was Hedwig that gave the beast the light."

"What?" Barry looked furious and I instantly regretted telling him, "that little bastard, when is he gonna learn?!"

"Just slow down a second, he didn't mean to-"

"Didn't mean to?! Of course he did, otherwise he wouldn't have done it!"

I put my hand on his, "he's scared, Barry... he's just scared."

"Scared or not, he can't let the beast through! He's going to kill us all at this rate! Damn it!"

"What do you suggest we do? Because screaming at him sure as hell won't work."

He hid his face in his hands, "I don't fucking know."

"Barry? You know he doesn't mean it... right? He was really upset... he knows he's not supposed to do it but... he's frightened... he's just a kid."

Barry dragged his hands down his face, "how am I supposed to protect them...? How am I supposed to keep the beast from hurting us? Or you? They look up to me, I'm the leader. If this goes wrong..."

"You stopped him last time-"

"Don't you get it? We stopped him because Hedwig stopped him. We all chipped in but if Hedwig hadn't of helped... there would have been no hope."

"Then we need to make sure he's not too scared to fight him off again."

Barry stood up quickly and paced to the window, "I thought that the group depended on me... I thought that I was the strongest, not a... a child..."

"Just because Hedwig controls the light more than you doesn't mean you're less important."

"Clearly it does. If I can't save them, what use am I? What purpose do I serve for Kevin?"

"You all have a purpose, Hedwig just has more control than you. That doesn't mean you are less important to the group. Speaking of which, what did they say?"

"They're all panicking... I practically had to fight Dennis for the light becasue he wanted to see you... I guess to make sure he knew you were safe... but I told him that it wasn't helpful right now. He told me to tell you to be careful and that he loves you."

I smiled a little but didn't let Barry see that, "you need to stop beating yourself up about it. You each have an important role in looking after Kevin, so don't let it bring you down. Think how bad Patricia feels," He rolled his eyes at the mention of her name, "she has the least purpose, right? And no one talks to her. It could be worse."

"You're right, I could have no control over the animal that's trying to break free and eat all the young girls he comes into contact with..." He said sarcastically and I sighed.

"Just... talk to Hedwig. See what he says and then go from there. He needs your support."

"I don't even like kids..." He commented dryly before sighing loudly, "alright I'll talk to the kid."

I knew how difficult it must be to lose power to a child after so long of being the one people turn to, but right now Barry had to suck it up. Hedwig was the key to all this, and if he needed Barry then he had to be there for him... what could go wrong...?