Eclipse Child |✔|

|30|

What is more unfair

than having to choose 

between being a monster 

or being a hero?

(-when you have to be both.)

When you learn that

the road to hell

is paved with more

than just good intentions

-you are not heads or tails; you are the coin| m.a.w.

***

I didn't plan for this. I didn't plan for this to happen at all.

My mistake comes slamming into my face, throwing me down with the air out of my body as I desperately try to keep up with the sudden turn of events.

Lilah stands by dad's side, her eyes narrowed at the challenger.

We all watch as the wolf shifts.

My vision turns red as fur turns to skin.

Vincent has changed since I last saw him.

His face is haggard. His hair longer and showing an uneven cut. His brown eyes are restless, darting and landing on everyone who stands in front of him- never able to settle on one thing.

He is panting, out of breath- unable to regain it. For some reason, the hollow sunken in appearance of his stomach makes my mind flash back to when I first saw Orion in skin.

But that is not the main thing that catches my attention.

It's his eyes.

His eyes hold a crazed maniac fire that unsurfaced some small fear in me.

What happened to Vincent, in the time that he was gone, to create such a look in those eyes?

Dad slowly steps down the porch, each sound of his foot colliding with the wood to create an impact of resonating power in all of us. He is not holding back his dominance.

For once, it was on full display.

I watch as some of the female warriors' shiver, their eyes widening and mouths opening to take in the new sensation.

Mom is oblivious to it. Her hands are folded against her chest, worry etched into every surface of her skin.

Lilah and Uncle Mark have unconsciously moved to stand in front of her. I don't think they were even aware of the change in their position.

"Vincent..." Dad's voice comes out cautious like he is approaching a wild animal. That's all I can see of Vincent though. He holds a different wild from the one Orion wears. Orion contains the wild of the forest. The woods and trees- nature and its beauty.

Vincent, however, held the wild of something unnatural. Still deadly, but unable to be contained in a word or place.

"Vincent, it's been a while...where have you been?"

"Hey dad." Vincent ignores dad's question, his feet restlessly shuffling on the ground as his eyes continue to wander.

His gaze lands on mom and his smile widens, "mom, I missed you."