The Rise of Hel {Loki Laufeyson} Book Two

Chapter Four

"God is great, God is good. Let us thank him for our food, Amen." My mother finishes the prayer, gesturing for the whole family to dig into the meal I made.

"Oh Victoria! Delicious as usual!" My Aunt Mavis waves a turkey leg at my mother, smiling. My mother reciprocates the smile, shooting me an apologetic glance. I roll my eyes, ripping off some dark meat and slapping it onto my plate. Taken for granted and then stripped of the credit. Typical.

My older brother Skyson enters the room, lab coat peppered in mysterious chemicals. He's in University at NYU, majoring in the biology field. Now, since dad's arrest, he's made dad's lab his own, dedicated to studying his old experiments and trying to figure out what the hell happened to him. He's working with Oscorp to perfect dad's growth serum to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again, while also finding a solution. He spends most of his time down there, playing around with the chemicals and the lab equipment, making sure that the Connors' family doesn't repeat the same mistakes Curt Connors made.

He rushes to the kitchen to throw his coat over the basement stairs for later, but stops short - grabbing a handful of dressing. He shoots me a wink, padding away. At least someone cares for my sanity.

"Addison, sweetie?" I glance at my mother. People say I look like her, but I've never seen it. I look nothing like her. Her dark hair is pulled into a tight bun on the top of her head, resting perfectly without so much as an inch of movement. Her cheekbones are much more prominent than mine, making her appear both skinnier and more elegant than she really is. Her eyes are a warm shade of chocolate, kind and caring, but it's all a facade. Her personality is completely the opposite. She's highly self conceived, overly passive, and strongly opinionated. She can't cook without setting something on fire, and cares about the presentation of the family more than the actual family. But, that said, she's a loving mother that has devoted her time to helping her children through these trying times - what with her divorce from dad and the therapy sessions for each of us... She's been trying to be here more, and she's done just that. Yes, she's wonderful in some aspects, but horrific in others.

"What?" I ask sweetly. It would be embarrassing for both her and I if I was to act hostile toward her like I want to be. Like every Christmas dinner, all I fantasize about is ripping her throat out for ignoring all of my hard work in order to put it off as her own.

"Are Peter and Theresa coming over?"

Tess - shit!

"Um," I falter, looking around the room at the expectant gazes. "Yes. Peter is coming a little later while Tessa is um... With her family." I smile, making a mental note to contact her at some point today or tomorrow to apologize for forgetting her.

"But... she has no family...?" My little brother Jonah says cautiously. My jaw drops and I whip my head in his direction.

"Jonah!" I exclaim, kicking him under the table. Though, he isn't wrong. Tessa's brother Nathan died years ago, as did her parents, her grandparents, hell, her whole damn family. Tessa is the only one left. She lives with her new boyfriend James - or Jem - and his roommates - there are a lot of them...

"By family," I sneer over at Jonah. "I mean Jem's parents."

"He doesn't have any either-" I kick him again, harder than before. He cries out, tears filling his eyes.

"I mean," He stammers. "How nice of them..." He grunts, holding his knee under the table. Guilt overcoming me, I tentatively stroke my leg over his, trying to soothe him as an apology, but he just glares at me, picking up his fork and continuing to devour the food on his plate. As he eats, he makes annoying slurping noises and I find myself kicking him again. He growls, slurping louder.