Everything is Not What it Seems-Newtmas AU

Chapter Twenty Six

"I can't believe you're moving out already, Newt," Delilah sighed as she helped stuff one final box into the back of Newt's car. Alby's spare room already had a bed and wardrobe so Newt didn't have to worry about hiring a van to take his larger requirements with him. "You're always welcome here, son."

"I know, mum," Newt said. "I have to do this, though. I'm twenty five-an adult."

Inside, he wondered if his mother exaggerated her sobs to make him feel guilty. While it worked for the most part, he knew he couldn't back out of the decision he had made. He knew he should have moved out as soon as he turned eighteen but, although he was rebellious, he had to respect his mother...and her undying love for the coven.

That's all she ever cared about because she was a self-centred woman. Delilah didn't care about those she hurt, as long as she herself was satisfied. She could be conniving and manipulative but she was a mother of two. She loved her children more than anything, even when they were driving her up the walls.

Delilah tolerated the trouble making duo when they were children and even into their teenage years. When Newt started rebelling against her and disappearing on a Saturday night she became stricter with them. She started yelling at them, taking her anger out on Sonya because she knew the frightened girl couldn't defend herself. 

Sonya had two close friends and Delilah never approved of them. Why? Because they were human. That was the one flaw in their blood that made her despise them. She was so controlling that she didn't look past the evil in her heart to see that Sonya was happy for once. It had been years since she had seen her smile.

However, to Delilah, Newt was still a prominent problem. She wasn't going to eradicate her son, no, she would just teach him a lesson. He forbid her to mention that  topic. He threatened her with dark magic if she ever mentioned his  name. Newt could never forgive her for what she did because she took away the one thing -the one person- that made him happy. That started an ongoing war between them, and worse, between Newt and the coven. 

They thought their method would make him regret his actions but, frankly, it made everything worse. Newt stopped caring. He drank to feel something. A buzz, a spark, anything. But there was nothing. He slept with people to make himself feel alive again. But there was no joy or heart or lust in what he did. Only remorse. His smoking habit worsened. He wanted a taste of freedom again but instead he felt trapped.

Trapped in his house.

Trapped in his mind.

Trapped in his own skin and flesh.

He wanted to crawl out of it. He wanted to tear it apart like he was merely a vessel. He wanted to rip every fibre of his body apart until he was like shredded paper on the carpet. In the eyes of Witches, he was dirt, and he felt like it.

But he cleared up when Sonya found him crying on the step at the front door in the pouring rain. It was nearing two in the morning and the temperature had dropped to below zero. He didn't notice because the smoke from is cigarette was keeping him warm internally.

The world was quiet that night-perhaps it was the most peaceful it had ever been. Newt thought that was a bad thing because the silence gave him a place to think, and at that time in his life he should never have been left alone with his thoughts. 

Sonya forced him to take a bath and sit by the fire. It took him an hour to stop shaking and allow colour on his face once more. It took him months to stop drinking and smoking excessively. It took him a year to move on from what happened even though he would never truly forget.

"Call me when you're settled in, hm?" Delilah asked as he got in the car and turned it on. The January frost dissolved from his window in seconds and his mother bent down to speak to him. "And remember to attend coven meeting or I'll send Gally after you."