To Love A Myth - Book 1: Mr. Higgs and the Maid🎩✔️

19

"Higgs. Eat." Jamison growled.
"I'm not hungry."
"And that's a problem."
Higgs looked over at his father from the couch that was way too small to hold him, but he didn't say anything else. Jamison sighed and walked over to his son.
"The month is almost over with and Ms. Dunbrough hasn't come back. We need to face the facts, son."
"Unless Merida tells me herself, I won't believe that she's left. Not in a million years. I don't care how long she's gone; she would have told me if she were leaving. Do you honestly think she's the type to just sneak away?"
"No but... it doesn't make sense."
"I know. That's why I can't give up on her and believe she left me. Something weird is going on about the whole thing."
Jamison sighed again and sat on the other couch on the other side of the small tea table.
"Well I've had Boston and Lucus practically scouring the whole country and nothing has come up."
"I'm telling you, it's Patrick."
"Lord Clarvins? The one who stabbed you?"
"Merida did something to him and I'm just sure that he has something to do with this."
"Well we can't go around accusing noblemen of kidnapping without any proof. The fact of the matter right now is that you won't eat."
"I told you that I'm not hungry."
"And as the ogre, that's a concern. What if it makes you go on a rampage like the werewolf or the vampire" Higgs just shrugged. "Higgs."
"What?" he growled.
"The question wasn't rhetorical."
"We'll do nothing just like we do with the werewolf and the vampire. We sit back and watch the authorities go 'What the hell happened here?' and join everyone in saying, 'I don't know'. I don't care."
"You're being childish."
"So?"
Jamison scoffed, realizing that one of his son's high traits in this form was belligerence. He breathed in a little to calm himself down and try to work with his hard headed son.
"Let's play a game."
Higgs looked over in interest. "What kind of game?"
"It's a thinking game."
"You know I'm not very smart in this form. Is it hard?"
"I don't think so."
"Fine."
"Let's imagine something for a second. Let's say that Fuschia were taken and Ms. Dunbrough were still here; how would she handle everything? Tell me what Merida would do?"
Higgs thought for a moment, trying to skip over all the funny thoughts of Merida to get the more serious ones. Of course, Fire-breathing Merida would never fully stop showing up in his mind.
"I know she'd tell me to stay calm... um... Try to think of who may have something against Fuschia and then... probably choke the suspect." Jamison chuckled as Higgs thought a little more. "She'd probably tell me to think about the suspect and try to imagine how they would do things."
"Alright then. If that' s how Ms. Dunbrough would do it, then let's follow her example. We will do this as if she were here with us to find her. Does that sound like something you could work with?"
Higgs nodded. "I think so."

"How is Higgs holding up?" Fuschia asked Boston as she brought in some tea.
"Not well. He believes she hasn't left him. I'm just... not sure."
"Merida isn't like anyone else who's ever been in Higgs' company and she was so adamant about not leaving him. It's no wonder he won't let this come to a conclusion she left on her own."
"What do you think?"
"Merida wouldn't up and leave him like that. No way. Something happened and Lord Clarvins is part of it. Whether he's the ringleader or just a part of it somehow, it's connected. You?"
"I really only ever got a tongue lashing from her so I don't know her that well. But from what I've heard of her and her tenacity about Higgs and his condition, I have to say I'm more on the fence than anything. True, Ms. Dunbrough wouldn't do anything to hurt him and after such grand promises and yelling at people, her attitude is what wins everyone over. But also too, she's not dumb. She knows she's made grand promises so... so what if she did something no one would suspect so that she didn't have to face Higgs and go back on her promises?"
"I can see how that would be thought of..." Fuschia said with a worried look as she drank her tea. "I hope that isn't the case."
"I hope it isn't either; it's just a thought."
"Now that you've given up on being a lawyer, how has your doctorial training been going?" she asked, trying to change the subject but still genuinely curious.
"Father is most excited to help me and Lord Northumberly is uh... well... I'm not exactly sure."
"Father is a bit of a mystery sometimes." She said with a small giggle.
"How do you cope with that?"
"His mysteriousness?"
"The changes."
"Oh... well... I don't know exactly. I just accept them as part of their natures and hope that the curse is broken before the next generation. I've known about my father for a long time but Higgs was... well, Higgs was supposed to be a secret."
"What do you mean?"
"Despite our closeness, we weren't close as children. That's only because Mother had Higgs locked away by himself on the other side of the mansion. I was so young when he was born and Mother didn't want to expose his differences to me. But I found out anyway and I was happy to deal with them, except the vampire and the werewolf..." Fuschia thought for a moment and smiled sadly. "I remember the first time I saw him change into the werewolf. I didn't understand how the monthly thing worked and was confused as to why he was taken from the playroom so quickly during that month. Then I saw him change and the agony and pain he went through... His form was just a little puppy practically and he was confused and scared. He hurt me badly that night. He attacked me without warning and it scared Mother. The only thing she could think of was to hit him, hard, with a cricket bat. He didn't talk to me for months after that..."
"He attacked you?"
"It wasn't the first time. You'll figure out that the vampire and werewolf are the two oldest forms and the two most dangerous, for their lust for blood or their lack of remembrance causes problems. He got me again when we were a little younger than now. That's why he decided to move up to the mansion on the hill, to keep everyone safe."
"Do you have scars?"
"On my torso and legs mostly. I can't dare go swimming with him or he gets weird. Seeing the scars reminds him of what he is, what he's capable of... Your father has a good relationship with mine because he helps him cope with the mistakes made while in his non-human forms. He understands what is preventable and what isn't and comforts my father as best he can. My father trusts your father almost as much as he trusts Davros and Catherine and that's why they want you to be Higgs' doctor, so that when things happen he has someone to comfort him. True, if Merida is still around she will be there, but a female companion is different than a male companion."
"That's true." He sipped some tea. "I just don't know if I'll be good enough. I mean, I didn't really want to be a doctor but I ended up one. I spent most of my time studying law and so switching occupations has been a little... difficult."
"I can understand."
The two talked discursively while Boston waited for Jamison to come back.
When he finally did, he walked in and then frowned at the boy.
"What are you doing here? Alone... with my daughter?"
Boston and Fucshia looked at each other in bewilderment, not even realizing that they had been in the tearoom together without someone watching them. They had been having such good conversation that propriety didn't even enter their minds.
"I- I'm so sorry, Lord Northumberly!" Boston said, standing and taking a bow. "I meant no harm."
"We have just been talking and drinking tea, Father. Honest."
Jamison rolled his eyes. "I can see that. I wasn't angry..."
"How was Higgs?"
"He's refusing to eat anything and I'm afraid he'll go on a rampage in his ogre form if he doesn't eat something. He still believes Merida is out there and won't stop until he finds her or he finds out from her own lips if she's really left him."
"We were just discussing that as well... what do you think, Father?"
"I'm on the fence about it. Ms. Dunbrough wouldn't just leave like that but then again, since it's not her nature to do such a thing, it might have been the only way she knew to keep from facing Higgs with the truth."
"That's what I said." Boston said.
"I hope it isn't even in the range of that. Higgs needed someone like her, someone to hold him up and give him confidence. If that Scot sinks him even lower than he was before... I'll go and kill her myself."
Boston leaned over to Fuschia. "What form is he in now?"
"Um... I think he's normal."
Boston made a face as Jamison turned back to the door.
"I assume your father sent you to fetch me?"
"Yes, he did."
"Alright then. I'll see you later, Fuschia."
She waved them off and the two men left the house. Before they got in the carriage, Jamison grabbed Boston by the coat and turned him around, pinning him to the carriage.
"Let me make this perfectly clear: if you want to woo my daughter, it will not be easy for you. I have a lot of different personalities to deal with and even though you're not trying to do anything with me, you'll have to get past every form I'm in before I'll let you even hold her hand. Have I made myself clear?"
"C-crystal."
"Good."
They climbed into the carriage for an awkward ride back.