Blood and Snow

Chapter Thirty-Three

Belle was with Tyreke later that day. He invited her to his office for a chat, "Simply because I'm in need of some company, and you're the only one who understands the anxiety I have."

Belle smiled at him with a soft laugh, "If that was a joke, then it was funny."

Tyreke grinned at her. "Why, thank you! I am quite the comedian!" He joked again.

After Belle managed to clear things up for Baron, she went back to her room and dressed herself in a casual outfit. It was just a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Nothing too special. She also managed to catch Flynn on the way here and apologize to him for calling him names. He assured her that it was alright and she was just drunk. "It happens ta' everyone, lass." He said with a smile. "Merry Christmas, by the way." He added before they parted ways. Back to the now, Tyreke was sorting everything out again. "Holidays here can get pretty exciting. Lots of things can happen." He said, "One of those things is that Fredrick comes in here and reorganizes the bottles based on multiple things, like what sounds funnier or which is harder to pronounce correctly. It only happens when he's drunk, though."

"He really does that?" Belle asked. Tyreke hummed. "I thought you'd get mad over something like that." She said more as a statement than a question. Tyreke's smile softened a bit. "Nah. If it was Flynn or Bradley or Happy, then I would be mad." He told her as he put the last bottle back in its place. "Does anyone else normally do crazy things when they're drunk?" Belle asks. Tyreke whistled, "Ooooooh yeah! You wouldn't believe some of the stories I can tell you."

"Try me." She prompted him. Tyreke grinned. "Flynn can handle his alcohol pretty well, so when he's drunk you'll normally find him buried under a mountain of empty bottles. Other times he'll drag an old rowboat he found up the stairs, then ride it right back down. He'll do that for hours." He said, using his fingers to count, "Happy always knocks herself out or tries to sing opera. Myckenzie can get pretty violent if she has any tequilas, but other that that she'll just go to her room and fall asleep. I already told you Fredrick's. Let's see... Oh! Apparently I think everyone around me needs medical attention and I try to give them medicine or a diagnosis."

Belle's smile faltered. "Have you tried giving anyone shots?" She asked with concern. Tyreke nodded. "Once, but Baron has knives everywhere on him, so one of the blades actually broke the needle." He answered. Belle was now very concerned. "You tried to give Baron shots?" She asked again. Tyreke shrugged, "I guess so. That's what he told me when I woke up the next morning pinned to the wall by a bunch of knives, like a butterfly in one of those display cases you see in science classrooms."

"He spared your life?" Belle joked.

"He spared my life." Tyreke joked back.

Tyreke thought about something for a moment. "Okay, back on topic! No one's ever seen Mason or Baron drunk, and as far as I know Sierra doesn't drink alcohol. We all know Bradley's too young for it." He finished. Belle nodded in agreement with that last one. Tyreke was quite for a moment. "... Do you know what usually happens when you get drunk?" He asked her cautiously. "... Not really. I never really drank alcohol until last night, just a shot with my friend and her brother here or there." Belle said, "Mason told me this morning that I was screaming and crying my eyes out..."

Tyreke shuffled his feet. "You were... uhm... crying about your dad..." he said awkwardly, "I know that I don't have any right to ask, but... why exactly did you not want to see him?"

Belle looked into Tyreke's eyes, seeing something familiar in them. "... He wasn't the greatest father in the world," she answered him, "he didn't even try to protect me when I was getting beat up by... someone at school... I guess I just didn't want to see him because he didn't act like a real father."

Tyreke sighed. "Was he an alcoholic?" He asked, thinking maybe that that was why Belle didn't drink alcohol. Belle shook her head, "No; he was just a huge jerk. He did get drunk sometimes, but he wasn't an alcoholic. At least that's one thing he did half right."

Tyreke's eyes widened at the bitter tone she used for the last sentence. "And here I thought that you didn't have a mean bone in your body." He said, trying to lighten the mood a little. Belle smiled softly. "I'm not all sunshine and rainbows, I come with a lot of rain." She said half-jokingly. "And some thunder." Tyreke added. Belle nodded, "Right. And some thunder."

Tyreke fidgeted with his fingers. "Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm sorry if this is rude, but I heard that you were in Mason's room last night?" He questioned. "Oh good grief, not you too." Belle complained, a blush rising to her face for the third time today, "Yes, but it's not what you're thinking. I already had to explain this to Baron; nothing weird happened, we just happened to be in the same room when I completely passed out. He was probably asleep already since he didn't even know I was there... Well, until he woke up and yelled at me."

Tyreke cracked a grin. "That's not entirely what I meant, but I guess that answers it too." He admitted. "Did you have a hangover?" The male asked. Belle nodded, "As if the mild confusion wasn't enough, I got smacked with a bad headache."

"You gotta hate those things."

"I definitely hate those things."

The two giggled like little kids. Someone knocked on the door frame to get their attention. It was Myckenzie. "Hey, Belle, Happy's making Christmas cookies with Sierra and she wanted to know if you'd like to join them." The blonde said as more of a statement than a question. Belle nodded, "I'd like that very much. Thank you, Myckenzie."

Myckenzie nodded back at her and turned to look at Tyreke. "Also, Tyreke, Fredrick wanted to talk to you. He says it's important." She told him before walking away. Belle smiled at Tyreke and waved goodbye, subconsciously taking note of how surprised and concerned the young male looked. 'I hope he's okay.' She thought. It can't be too bad, otherwise Fredrick would have came to talk to Tyreke himself... right? 'You're just being paranoid for no reason. Focus and get to the kitchen before you run into a wall.' The bluenette scolded herself.

}-----{

After Mason got up and put himself in normal clothes he wrapped his striped scarf around his neck and went to his office. He sat down heavily in his chair and sighed before pulling open one of the drawers in his desk and taking out Belle's file. 'I should keep updating this.' He decided. Opening the file, he went to the notes section and wrote down everything he's learned in the past few days. "Deceased parents... verbally abusive father... Fear of Barbarossa..." he mumbled before pausing. With a light sigh, he wrote down, "... One of us..."