𝙷𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 [𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝]

Chapter 7

Leslie's POV

J.T. and Vincent runs tests for the next two weeks. I feel like J.T. knows something that he's not saying. He just has a look of almost guilt on his face. I've asked him what's wrong several times, but he just keeps avoiding the question. I think Vincent has noticed it as well. He seems very... oh what's the word that dad uses... inquisitive around J.T.

Tonight is the NYPD Christmas party. There are very few people on the force that have kids, so normally kids don't go. Dad almost wasn't going to go because he didn't want to leave me by myself at night for that long. When Cat heard that though, she told him that there was no way he was getting out of it that easily. So now, I'm going to the Christmas party as well.

It's a formal event so... that means dresses. Dad tried but that's not exactly his thing. He gave me to Cat and Tess yesterday to go find a dress. I ended up with a purple short sleeved dress. They know I'm not too thrilled about the dress thing, so I manage to get away with wearing my short boots and leather jacket. They said that since I'm young no one would really care. They actually got dad a tie that was the same color as the dress. Apparently there are pictures and they said it would be adorable... yay...

They have come over tonight and put on what little makeup they could get on me. Tess actually threatened to tie me to a chair. Dad could hear us in the other room. I only know cause I could hear him laughing. They were only able to catch me, because dad snuck up behind me and picked me up. So, in the end, I ended up wearing makeup... against my will.

When we get to the Christmas party, I swear everyone from the precinct took at least 15 pictures of me and dad. Eventually, dad, Cat and I sit at a table near the corner. Cat and I are attempting to hide more than anything. She likes this a little more than I do, but not much. We're having a pretty normal conversation until she mentions something about her mom. She and dad both have a strange look on their faces.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Nothing, sweetheart," my dad tells me. I know he's lying. I just look at him pretty much just to inform him that I know he's lying.

"It's ok, Evan," Cat says. She has a solemn look on her face. "My mom... she was um... she was killed about six years ago."

I want to ask her what happened, but I would assume that could upset her. I don't ask, but Catherine reads the look on my face.

"It's ok," she says. "I know you want to ask."

I just nod my head.

"She was shot right in front of me. I would've been killed as well had it not been for..."

She stops cold before she finishes her sentence. She has a look that tells me she doesn't want to say what she was going to. I lean towards Catherine.

"What saved you?" I whisper.

"It was...," she starts. "No. No. It was just a man."

"That's not what you really think it was," I state. She just smiles and laughs.

"You may not believe me, but it was some type of beast," she tells me. "It looked like a man, but there's no way it was."

Woah... this sounds very familiar.

The rest of the party is fairly uneventful. We take more pictures and whatnot. I just can't get what Catherine said out of my mind. It had to be him. I need to talk to him.

The next day, I go up to the chem plant first thing in the morning. I actually meet J.T. as he's going out the door. When he sees me, he screams.

"Holy cow, kid!" he yells. "When did you get there?!"

"Ummm about thirty seconds ago," I say.

"Ok," he says catching his breath. "Well, I have a feeling that you're not here to see me. Vincent's inside."

With that, I rush in to find Vincent. He smiled when he sees me.

"Well hey, kiddo," he says. "What're you doing here?"

"I have a question," I tell him.

"Ok," he starts. "Fire away."

"Have you ever saved anyone using your powers?" I ask him.

"Um I guess you could say that," he responds.

"So, like a superhero?" I question.

He laughs at this. He smiles bigger than I've ever seen him smile.

"I wish everyone saw it like that," he says.

"Did you happen to stop a murder about... 6 years ago?"

"How do you know?"

"Catherine Chandler."

He is silent for a moment.

"How do you know Catherine Chandler?" He asks me.

"She works with my dad," I tell him.

"Ok," he says not asking any questions about dad. "And yes, I was there that night. She told you she saw a 'beast' didn't she?"

I nod my head.

"Ok," he says. "Let me explain. Six years ago, Catherine and her mother were outside of her work. It was late at night, and her car wouldn't start. Men pulled up in a car and shot her mother. I heard Catherine scream. I saw her running through the woods. She tripped, and they nearly shot her... I stopped them."

"And Catherine saw you," I say.

"Yes. She did," Vincent replies.

"And you've been watching her," I state

He doesn't say anything, but his face turns slightly red.

"Oh my word. That was a guess," I say excitedly. "But you have been watching over her!"

"Yes," he admits. "I keep tabs on her. I make sure she's safe."

I give him "the look" pretty much telling him that there is more going on.

"That's it," he states. "Nothing more."

"I'm sure," I say sarcastically. "It's sweet."

He just rolls his eyes and moves on.

"Are you here just to aggravate me or do you have another reason for being here?" He teases me.

"Mostly to aggravate you, but I'm also here just to... Well I don't know... just hang out really," I confess.

He smiles. I guess it's kind of weird now to have a person who stops by and actually spends time with him. I mean he has J.T. but that's it.

"I'm ok with that," he says. "I don't exactly know how to entertain, because well, the obvious, but I'm more than happy to hang out with you."

We talk for almost four hours. It's weird for both of us I guess. Neither one of us really have had the experience of a ton of people who are just dying to spend time with us. I feel like I have this connection to him. It's different than my connection with my dad. With my dad, he doesn't know what I am exactly, but he still loves me. He cared enough about me to take me in. I'm closer to him than anyone... although Vincent is in a close second. With Vincent, it's different. He knows what I am, because it's what he is. He understands it. Dad understands my human side. Vincent understands the beast.