Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction / Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ Black Velvet ❯ Never Again ( Chapter 22 )

 

He's drunk again, it's time to fight
She must have done something wrong tonight
The living room becomes a boxing ring
It's time to run when you see him
Clenching his hands

She's just a woman

Never again.

 

In the minutes before dawn Brad Crawford stood in the one place he swore he'd never be again, the doorway to his childhood house. It had taken pulling up every ounce of courage he possessed to walk in and that was only because he wanted two things out of that house if they were still there.

 

He walked quickly through the still dark house, remembering the way even after so many years had passed. First to the room Circe and Deidre had shared so long ago. Running his fingers along the side of the bed frame he found the box he was looking for and pocketed it. Then he moved on to the room that had been his. He had to force down the bile that had risen as he passed the master bedroom. Too many memories, all bad, of the things which had happened in that room. He stifled the urge to cover his ears to keep from hearing the echoes of his mother's screams, the sound of flesh hitting flesh and breaking bones.

 

I hear her scream, from down the hall
Amazing she can even talk at all
She cries to me, Go back to bed
I'm terrified that she'll wind up
Dead in his hands

She's just a woman

Never again.

 

 

He pulled what he had come in for from his old dresser, not pausing for an instant he walked back toward the kitchen. Pausing just inside the doorway, he could see the faint outlines of where the police had marked where the bodies had lain. It was odd those marks were still there after all those years and with them came the full memory of what had happened. Without Star's mental blocks he remembered everything as clearly as though it had just happened.

 

Father's a name you haven't earned yet
You're just a child with a temper
Haven't you heard "Don't hit a lady"?
Kickin' your ass would be a pleasure

 

 

He remembered coming through the front door from Ben's house only to have Dee meet him looking terrified and frantic.

 

“What?” he had asked warily.

 

“He's drunk again and he was choking her and I tried to stop him but he threw me into the door and I couldn't make him let go of her and I don't think she's breathing, Brad! I can't wake her up.” she had managed all of it through hysterical sobs.

 

“Oh, God!” He had bolted into the kitchen to find their mother lying on the floor, her head turned at such an odd angle that he knew she hadn't just been strangled, staring at nothing. He caught Dee just as she started toward the body. “No, Sis. You can't help her.”

 

“Bradley.” He had looked up at the sound of his name to find Skye, whom he had called by her real name at the time, and Aurora standing in the kitchen doorway. Aurora had her face turned into Skye's shoulder, her body shaking. “Take them to Belle's; she'll know what to do for the shock. Keep them and yourself there. I'll take care of this.”

 

“He's dead, Maggie. I swear to god, I'll kill him for this,” he said, reaching out and gathering Aurora to his side.

 

Skye had smiled faintly at him. “I don't think you'll have to, bebe.”

 

He hadn't understood what she meant at the time but he did now. He had taken his sisters to Belle's and had grabbed the Beretta he'd bought the week before, illegally of course but it had seemed that the man who'd sold it to him somehow knew what he'd had in mind. It had always been common knowledge that David Crawford was a first class bastard and that someone would eventually end up killing him.

 

He had come back to the house with gun in hand; ready to put a bullet between his eyes at the first sign of him. He'd gotten a rather large surprise. At first it had seemed someone had doused Skye with paint, she was literally covered in red. It had taken a few seconds to register that the elder Crawford's head was sitting like a macabre dinner serving on the kitchen table and bits and pieces of him littered the floor. He had been truly angry that he hadn't been able to kill him but some part of him was gratified and deeply relieved that the task had been taken out of his hands.

 

He came out of his reverie when he felt someone's arms wrap around his waist.

 

“Do I want to know why you came looking for me here, Skye?” he asked, turning slightly and putting an arm around her shoulders.

 

“It seemed reasonable with Circe truly gone that you'd want to finally put to rest old ghosts.”

 

“And Schuldig sent you after me,” he said dryly.

 

“Actually, your daughter did.”

 

“My daughter. Dear gods, Skye, I don't have any idea how to be a parent. Look at what my father was like?”

 

“I remember. Vividly. But you aren't him.”

 

“But I am a killer. Several times over.”

 

Skye shrugged. “As am I. We'll cross those bridges if and when we get to them. Do you have what you came for?”

 

“Yes,” he said, handing her the small box and the picture he had taken from his room.

 

“You were all adorable,” Skye said, looking at the picture of him and Ben at eight years old, Aurora had been ten and Dee, Cassie and Circe were four at the time. “Your daughter does look just like Dee and Circe when they were little.”

 

“Yes, she does.”

 

“I take it the locket is in the box.”

 

He nodded. “Dee always said Circe would be back for it someday. I just don't think she realized it would be for her burial,” he said hollowly.

 

“We can't see everything, Bradley. No matter how hard we try. Come on, it's time to leave the past where it belongs.”

 

“You go on. I have one more thing to do,” he said.

 

She nodded and went out. He took one last look around the kitchen as he finished what he'd set out to do. “The cycle ends here. Rory, Dee and my children will never have to worry about going to sleep at night. They'll never have to be concerned that they'll do or say something that might get them beaten within an inch of their lives. I am a monster. But I will never be the kind of monster you were.”

 

As he walked out the front door he saw several people silhouetted against the rising sun. Schuldig was trying to wrangle their daughter who was chasing the twins around him and Skye and Uri was looking mortified in the way only a teenage boy can manage. His own odd little family.

 

He felt his smile widen as he drew closer to them. Without looking backward he put one hand over his shoulder, hit the detonator and kept walking. The force of the explosion shook the ground but everyone stayed steady on their feet. Crawford thought he'd probably remember one of the best moments of his life being his daughter running toward him saying, “Daddy! You blew up the house! That was cool!”

 

 

**************Author's Notes************

 

The song used in this chapter was “Never Again” by Nickelback.