The Mirror

31

Ricky

"Iiii found you." I look under the blanket at the giggling three year old. I lift him up into the air, his laughter like music to my ears. I bring him back to my chest and sit on the floor to watch as he plays with his toys. He brought his favorite ones to Matt to play with.  

"He's growing so fast." Angelo said quietly beside me.

"I know." I say proudly, these last three years, almost four, have been the best in awhile. A yelp comes from my bedroom. "Dev?" I run into our room, he's staring at his work table with living animals, such as mice and lizards, that were previously dead just an hour ago. A giggle comes from behind us,

"Sage did you do this to dads things." Devins held up a squirming mouse. He nodded his little head with a grin.

"So I guess this means you have to keep your experiments where he won't get to them."

"Yep." Devin sighs. "At least his powers are showing."

"Does this mean you'll stop obsessing over bringing things to life now?"

"No, we still don't know the extent of Sages' abilities. I'll continue while we work on him." I nod in agreement picking up the now sleepy toddler who was begging to be picked up. "Such a daddys' boy."

Sage pov

"Dad, daddy!" I ran to them as fast as I could, my stomach dropped at the sight of so much blood. Uncle Matts' pale face drained of any remaining color.

"Sage?"

"Yes I'm alive, where's my parents?"

"Upstairs."

On the way up I ran into the guy I believe to be Dakota. Not bothering to apologize like the asshole I am I run past and looked through the rooms. I thought seeing my parents after so many years would be exciting and full of happy tears but the only emotion felt was dread. They were laying on opposite beds, both bandaged and unconscious. A man was stroking my daddys hair with tears slowly streaming down his face while dad lay in the other bed all alone. What happened while I was gone? Quietly I crept to dads side going unnoticed. The bed shifted under my wieght, the gashes on his body looked brutal but nothing close to daddy. He's lucky to be alive and even more so if he survives the next few days.

"Sage?" The man beside daddy asked quietly. I nod without a word not wanting to speak to him. Instead practically pushing him away from daddy so I could be near him. The wound in his chest had gone straight through, the long knife had only gone halfway through uncle Matt. I'm so close to being with you again, you can't leave now.

A hand rests on my shoulder, "who are you." I shrug it away.

"I'm Ryan."

"Ok?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Your dads, I mean daddy I guess, I'm his boyfriend."

No no fuck no, "no you're not." I snap. "They're married, they're my parents. You have nothing to do with that. I want you to leave." He stares at me in disbelief, "now!" I had no patience to be polite, especially for him.

I sit on the floor in-between the beds, head in my hands.  The bed to the right shifted. "Dad." I rush to his side. His empty eyes light up, "thank God you're here." I lay my head on his chest letting tears soak his shirt as my emotions spilled over. "It's ok baby, it's ok." He pet my head, I cringed under his touch. I pulled away, his eyes held hurt and confusion by my actions. I didn't mean to do that, he was a safe person that I didn't have to worry about hurting me. I lowered my head more tears streaking my face. "Baby what happened to you?" He cautiously reached his hand out to me, I take it pressing  it to my cheek. "Is it true you and daddy aren't together anymore?" "Yes honey, I'm so sorry. After you were taken so many things happened." A sob left my body, "who's the guy that was in here?" "That's Ryan, he's a good guy. He makes daddy very happy." "Ok." I whisper, "are you happy?" "Now that you're here, very." "Did you find someone  else like daddy?" A sad look crossed his face, "yes but he was killed not long ago." "What did he look like." I wipe my tears. "About daddys size, blue eyes, short brown hair, kinda tan." I nod, "he's still here, I saw him in the attic before I broke out. TJ was also there, another man was with them also." "Thank God." His body relaxed. "Are you ok honey, you look aweful."

I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror across the room. My skin was smudged with dirt, you could hardly tell my hair had been straight and a dirty blonde. "I'm alright." My fingers got stuck in my hair. "There's clothes in the closet that should fit you, I'll call Dakota to come help you."

The guy I'd run into earlier stood in the doorway, he gave me a small smile before leading me down the hall. "Do you want some help?" "Um,  sure." He set the clean clothes on the counter and looked for towels while attempted to get the knots out of my hair. "Here, sit down I'll help you." I sat on the toilet so he could comb out my hair. He was gentle, trying his best not to pull to hard. It took a long time but he eventually got them out. "I'll start the shower and leave so you can clean up." My heart sped up, I've been alone so long it scared me to be alone. "Could you stay?" I was a little embarrassed but it was better than being scared, "sure." He took my spot on the toilet and I got into the shower. It was so warm, it felt nice.

"Can I have a towel?" I didn't want him to see me naked. I dry off and put on the sweatpants before stepping out. "You look much better." He said, "I feel better." "You look hungry." His eyes glanced over my torso making me uncomfortable. I'd forgotten to look for a shirt. "Here." He took his sweatshirt  off and handed it to me. "Thank you." The sleeves went over my hands and it went just passed my butt. On the way down the stairs my leg gave out, the one that had been damaged repeatedly in my time with the devil. Dakota caught me before I could fall further, "you ok?" Worry filled his eyes. "Yeah, my knee it just fucked up." He put his arm around my waist until setting me at the table. The three men from the attic were there.

"Hey kiddo." TJ smiled. I looked the man dad had described to me. "My dad's upstairs, I bet he'll want to see you." He smiled and jumped up. "Who are you talking to?" Dakota set a plate in front of me. "Oh, Vinny,  Josh and TJ are here. Once they get used to being ghosts and consume enough energy you'll be able to see them." The other two disappeared, "it's just us now." He just nodded and began eating. I moan at the taste. I blush when Dakota looked at me, it'd been a long time since I've eaten. I knew he was still looking at me but I continued to eat until my stomach buldged uncomfortably.  I yawned, now that I was clean and had a full stomach a nap sounded good.

It's my birthday!!