☄. *. ⋆ LOST LIVING, J.W

EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT
greatest apologies.

THE NIGHT WAS ALREADY beginning to roll in as the pair arrived at his house, they walked inside, stopping at the living room where Luke sat.

He sat on the couch, as usual, dressed in his work attire with a glass of whiskey in his hand, he barely glanced at the two as they stepped in the room.

"Your teacher called. You proud of yourself?" Luke's voice was dry, and hoarse, it sending chills down Ruby's spine.

"I'm sorry. If that's what you mean." Jake apologized, rocking back and forth and his feet as his father glared angrily at him.

Luke sighed lowly, "You're not sorry. You were suspended."

"It wasn't my fault." The boy protested.

His words seemed to trigger the man, he jumped up, his glass clinking against the table as Luke harshly placed it down, taking steps closer to his son, "You insulted your friends and your family in front of the entire school."

"They deserved it. And they're not my friends." Jake fought back, his voice cracking as he spoke in defense of himself.

"They used to be. You used to have more than one friend, Jake. What happened to you?" Luke spat, "It doesn't bother you that everybody thinks you're fucking weird, huh?"

Ruby could sense the tension growing between the two, her heart sinking to her stomach as she saw Luke clenching his fists.

"You don't care that they think I'm weird." Jake paused, taking deep breathes before continuing, "you just care because they know I'm gay."

Time seemed to go slow as the man hit Jake across the face, the doll dropping to the floor as it caught the teen off-guard.

Ruby shrieked, immediately going to claw at his father, pushing him backwards with every source of energy in her. But, he only came back stronger, his anger getting the best of him as he shoved the girl to the ground.

Luke held Jake against the wall, fisting his flannel as his feet dangled, "listen to me. Listen to me. You say that again and I will kill you, you hear me? You hear me?"

"Get off him!" Ruby cried, shakily standing up as she gripped the edge of the coffee table, pain shooting up her back.

"Should've been you inside that car instead of Mom." He whimpered, his feet hitting the ground as his father dropped him.

As Jake was placed back on the ground, he made his father step back as he pushed him, bending down to collect the doll, wrapping an arm around Ruby as he assisted her out of the room.

Luke grabbed Chucky, making Jake whine in warning, he was only yelled at more, making the two best friends hurry up the staircase.

She hissed as they walked up the stairs, surely feeling her back pains as each step seemed to get more longer.

He helped her lay on the bed, belly flopping on it as she weakly scooted to the top of the mattress, flipping over to face the boy.

"I hate you! I fucking hate you!" Jake screamed, slamming his door closed.

Tears pent up in his eyes as his chest rose up and down rapidly, blood dripping from his nose as he sat beside her.

She lifted her head to his chin, making him glance up at her with teary eyes, she grabbed a tissue from the nightstand as she gently brought it to his nose.

"I'm so sorry, Jake. I tried to stop him." Ruby sniffled, stroking his knotted strands as he nuzzled his head into her ribs, "I'll never let him hurt you again. I don't care if he kills me in the process."

The two laughed, tear streaks staining their faces as they both sighed.

Suddenly, the lights flickered off, them both heating a round of cursing from Luke downstairs, signifying a power outage.

The lights began to flicker on and off after a few minutes, continually going from dark to light again, the two scooted to the edge of the bed.

"Wanna come?" Jake asked, his hand gripping his door handle tightly.

Ruby quickly nodded, she'd never let Luke near his son, especially not after tonight, "yes."

The duo walked down the steps of the basement, hearing the creeks underneath their feet, their brows furrowing as they seen sparks flying out by the breaker.

Once, they rounded the corner, they'd both seen something that'll scar them for life.

Luke was pale, his body jerking, shaking, and smoking, his hand still placed on the breaker switch, his eyes looking right at Jake.

Ruby gasped, her palm coming to cover her mouth as she stepped back, her hand gripping the boys arm in fear.

"Jake. C'mon." She tugged at him, he didn't move an inch.

He seemed to be frozen, his bottom lip quivered as he watched his father experience a slow and tortuous death.

She stuffed her shaky hand into her pocket, her eyes blurry as she typed in the three numbers, bringing it her eyes as she punched her eyes shut.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Hi. H-He's being electrocuted. I-I don't know if he's dead. Please s-send help." Ruby choked, the disturbing image replying over and over in her mind.

Within minutes, the house was swarmed with cop cars and ambulances, the teens running up the lead the investigators and medical team to the basement.

authors note <3

fuck luke.