A Horrific Fantasy

Chapter 64

Stolas had gone to the police station the next day in hopes of finding out any updates about his daughters or Vaggie or Angel. Unfortunately, the police had nothing to report and despite their best efforts, they couldn't reassure the terrified father. Afterward, he once again went around town, asking anyone if they had seen any of the missing kids and once again, no one had any thing useful to say.

"Didn't see em, don't know anything. I remember hearing that constantly." He heard a rough voice with an accent speak from behind.

Stolas turned around and there stood Etienne Devalcourt, with a bruised lip and a black eye.

When he saw him, another load of guilt was piled on top of Stolas as he recalled his previous actions toward the man. In all his haste and desperation to find Octavia and Charlie, he had almost completely forgotten that he had previously attacked an innocent man based on nothing more than rumor and innuendo. Stolas had meant to go to the man and apologize at some point while also thanking him for not pressing assault charges, but as the search for his family grew, he began forget other responsibilities.

"Mr. Devalcourt." Stolas said in a respectful tone. "I would like to apologize for my behavior toward you the first time we met, it's just that I had just found out Charlie was gone that night and I saw police cars at your place and I heard everyone talking about you and that you might have heard her, and then I saw the blood on your hands-"

"That was my blood you idiot. I accidentally grazed myself when I caused a bullet to ricochet off the wall."

"I know. My mistake sir. My grave mistake sir."

"But I gotta say, I respect man who has that kind of gutts when his kids are involved."

"Um...Thank you."

"But if you ever touch me again, I'll put a bullet through your head, stuff your corpse, and sell it to your ex wife to use for target practice." He threatened.

Stolas gulped nervously.

"Du...Duly noted." He stuttered. "And I would also like thank you for not pressing charges. Though you did have every right to."

"You're right I did. I should press charges on everyone in this town for judging me and treating me like a criminal without any proof." He said. "But I've been where you are and I figured you had enough suffering to deal with."

"Been where I am?" Stolas inquired, but then his memory kicked in. "Oh that's right, you lost your son. If I may ask, do you know what happened to him?"

"He ran away just like your older girl did."

"How did you know about that? And how did you know about my ex wife?"

"Husk is an old friend of mine, and we talk. He told me what happened and what you've been going through. So despite my distaste for you, I figured you might want some advice."

"From you?"

"Yes from me. Cause just like you, I lost my temper and said something stupid that made my kid leave."

At that point, Stoals couldn't say another word.

"Kids don't know what it's like to be parents. Not until they're grown up and have kids of their own. So they can't know how you feel or understand what you're going through. They need unconditional love and attention, they need you to drop everything and be there for them, even if you have your own problems. It's a pain in the ass for us but it's not their fault, that's just the way kids are. When I lost my wife, all I ever thought about was how it effected me. How I suffered. I didn't think about how it effected my boy or how alone he probably felt. And I just automatically expected him to just understand my problems, but he was a kid who had lost his mother, how could he possibly understand? He didn't need to understand me, he needed me to hold him and to be his strength."