TITLE: Icarus Manor, chapter 16 AUTHOR: lillywhite1, but you can call me Casey. SUMMARY: In a mysterious mansion in a secluded part of North America, a man discovers that he is far from alone in the world. Here at Icarus Manor several species of non-human description live together to survive in a world that does not know they exist. LAST CHAPTER: William reveals his past and that of the angels. Orlando contemplates an unusual sickness. Elijah finds out why Cronos agreed to do Sean’s dirty work. And a surprise visitor threatens the calm of the household. THIS CHAPTER: Dominic must leave to right the wrongs of the family. William doesn’t deal well. PAIRING: DM/BB, hints of EW/SA RATING: R; still setting up the base for the affair. FEEDBACK: is my neutella on a spoon that makes me go all gooey and melty and mmmmm... A/N: Text in asterisks (*) represents italics or general emphasis. This is a book and a work in progress. Be gentle. Comments to cswann1@gmail.com. Chapter 16 Dominic traveled down the main staircase, his stomach a cold knot of anxious muscle. Over the past month or so his life had diverged so dramatically he had convinced himself his previous memories of a family, fire and feud had been a dream. He had closed the door on them with surprising ease. It brought about feelings of guilt, doubt and more anxiety now that his sister had arrived. The knot of muscle tightened. But then he saw her; light brown hair, bright green-grey eyes, her very presence a shock to his system as if she were something from his imagination realized. Emotions and memories rushed back, flowing like water and crashing down: Sweet memories of watermelon and summer, laughable childish quarrels. The time he accidentally knocked out her loose tooth he’d been sure his parents would be so angry he’d have to leave to be adopted by evil carnival workers. But she forgave him, and even covered for him. He remembered the time she’d brought her first boyfriend home and the protective brother side of him had shown all too clearly. The worst memories were the ones of her crying for days on the borrowed floor-space of a cousin, her clothes and hair blackened with soot. Her vacant expression as she watched Richard drive Dominic further and further away. Those were the hardest to bear. But her face. She seemed to have aged years since the fire; eyes inexplicably darker, her mouth a tight line, a general dullness. “Hello, Dom.” Her voice spoke volumes of all the changes in her. “Hello, Astrid.” The moment was awkward. What the hell does one say in these situations? “How’s life back in the pack of people who hate me?” or “Dad still dead?” Or was he really waiting for her to say something like “Missed you. Sorry we banished you and blamed you for everything”? Was he waiting for an apology or a curse? Dominic looked over at Orlando and Elijah who, if it were even possible, were more uncomfortable than he was, but for some reason had not left yet. “Why don’t we talk over here?” Dominic gestured to a drawing room away from his friends. He glanced back at them. They stood stock still with expressions of worry upon their faces. Behind the drawing room doors, Astrid took a seat next to an unlit fire. She could look so like their mother sometimes. “Dom, I know this is awkward, so let me get to the point.” She looked up at him; eyes more grey than green now, “The pack requests your return. The struggle for pack Alpha is getting out of hand. A rumble for the lead is being planned illegally, but by pack law, you have a right to attend more than anyone.” “That right isn’t preserved in pack law. The battle for Alpha is determined by physical strength alone. Why do I need to be there?” Dominic paced nervously. Rumbles were illegalized by the Counsel of the Loup Garoux half a century ago, but old traditions die hard. That didn’t mean the Counsel didn’t punish the violators, quite the contrary, but that wasn’t the only reason to avoid a rumble. Things got out of hand easily and werewolves died all too often. What was worse was a good and true leader could win a rumble and die afterwards from his wounds. This lead to more fighting and more killing. Astrid spoke again, “Because some of us want you back, and want you to win.” “I’m not going to risk my life to lead a pack that hates me.” “I can promise you a fighting chance.” Dominic turned from his pacing and stared at her. “What are you saying?” “There are contenders on your side.” “That’s a sneaky and underhanded way to win a rumble and I won’t have it, Astrid.” “Dom, what’s happened to you? This is the one chance you have to return home. You would gain more respect than before and rise to succeed our father’s position as Alpha. This is more than any estranged werewolf could hope for. Why are you so eager to renounce your blood, your species?” “Maybe because they tossed me out on my ass for a crime I didn’t commit faster than you could say, ‘thanks for moving us to the states for no good goddamned reason.’” “We didn’t all blame you.” “Well, you sure as hell didn’t fucking stand up for me! You didn’t even try to protect me!” Dominic whirled on his sister with all the pent up fear, anger, and heartbreaking loneliness that he had and screamed it to her face. “Did you not for once think of what they were going to do to me? They blindfolded me, tossed me in the back of a car and drove for hours before stopping to beat the shit out of me twice over. Then they chased me though the woods till they cornered me. I thought they were going to kill me. They meant to!” Flashes of that night took him over: Being thrown back and forth in that trunk, struggling to breathe, feeling the tips of boots cracking his ribs, spitting blood as he ran terrified from those he’d loved, the final fight and the flashlight of hope before he’d passed out. He was barely able to keep the tears of betrayal from showing. “And the worst part was thinking that you condoned it, Astrid. Having your family attempt such things; knowing the secret meetings they had to discuss your fate; deals in the dark determining your future or lack there of all carried out in the coolest detachment by your loved ones. The ones that held you as a pup or organized the family photo albums or gave you’re their hand-me-downs from onesies to torn jeans. Why, Astrid? You of all I hoped would have come to my defense.” A moment passed that was pregnant with emotion rather than words. “Dominic, what did you expect me to do? Our father had just been killed, possibly murdered by those awful humans. Mother wasn’t talking or eating. I was struck dumb for weeks. Richard did nothing but blame you. We were all looking for someone to blame. As for ‘deals in the dark,’ I had no part of that. How could I?” “How could you stand idle??!!” Dominic was furious. Astrid rose and matched his tone. “How could I stand in their way?! Do you know what would have happened had I rallied anyone still willing to be reasonable? Civil war, that’s what. We would have been biting each others throats before the week was out. We would have destroyed ourselves.” “So you would rather I be the scapegoat?!” “No! Dominic, no! As much as our brother terrified you, they weren’t going to kill you. Banishment and physical punishment were planned to satisfy their rage. You didn’t die. You survived. You flourished, even. The pack is satisfied, tempers have cooled and your survival is all the more reason that you should try for Alpha.” “So my punishment was some sort of sick test to judge my strength?” Astrid sighed, “No, but now it works in your favor. Must everything be an attack?” “Pardon me for being wrongfully banished.” “I’m sorry.” She looked at him. He looked at her. And within a split second they were locked in an embrace – talking over each other through their sobbing. “Dommie, I was so worried…” “…never thought I’d see you again…” “…nightmares that you were lost in the woods, bleeding to death…” “…relieved you’re just speaking, missed your voice…” “…woke up screaming every other night, seeing your face…” “…and I still blame myself for it all.” “You can’t say that. It wasn’t your fault.” “Mine more than most.” “Never.” The choking desperation had faded and they relaxed, sitting on the carpet together as if they were pups in their own den again, and all of this had been a dream. “How’s mum?” “She’s still not responding to anything, but I think deep down she’s just recovering. Just resting, really.” Dominic frowned. The doctors had said their mother might never come out of her catatonic state. Astrid’s hope was as refreshing as it was unfounded. “I love you, Sissy.” “I love you too, Dommie. Does this mean you’ll come home with me?” “Yes, but I need to talk to my friends here first.” “What will you tell them?” “That I’m leaving for a little while and I’ll be back soon.” A silence fell. The words that neither of them wanted to say danced silently in the air. The fact was that Dominic wouldn’t be coming back. If he won Alpha, he would return home and lead the pack, and if he lost, chances were it would be that last thing he ever did. ~ “So, like a vacation, right?” Dominic smiled at Elijah. “Yeah, like that.” Dominic took the merman into his arms and hugged him thoroughly before letting go. “If you don’t leave immediately, we could do a quick shopping trip for travel-sized things and…y’know, self-tanner or something.” Orlando shifted awkwardly before Dominic hugged him as he had Elijah. Dominic felt eyes on him and looked up. At the top of the stairs William stared down at him; his face neutral of emotion, blank with anger. His eyes burned into Dominic’s. He didn’t say anything, but Dominic knew he knew everything, and he didn’t appreciate being treated like a fool. During their goodbye, he had been just as cold. *Of course he’s pissed. You just told him you’d never leave and less than an hour later you’re breaking your most solemn promise, your first promise as his lover.* They remained staring for less than a second more before Dominic lowered his eyes and followed Astrid out the door. The sound of the closing door of Icarus Manor made Dominic’s stomach drop. He kept telling himself he didn’t have to go through with the rumble. He could always leave at the first sign of trouble. He could always go see his mom, a few friends, and hurry back to his new life at Icarus. Maybe if he just kept telling himself this, he might come back to them, but he knew that the pack still had its claws deep in his flesh. Once he saw their faces, it would be nearly impossible to get out. Even Astrid seemed to have some unholy power over him. Astrid was swiping vigorously at the air when Dominic got to the car. It seemed he’d forgotten a few friends. The pixies were waging a full out assault on his sister. Six of them had taken the car keys and were straining to lift them higher into the air and out of Astrid’s reach. She was spitting and cursing at them. She struck out and grabbed a little blue pixie, but just before her hand closed around him, four of the gnomes teleported into her hair, whipping her head back as she screamed. Dominic couldn’t help himself and laughed, most likely much harder than he should have. He laughed till tears leaked out of his eyes, and he fell to the lawn nearly hysterical. After he regained some control, he noticed all the pixies had gathered around him. “No,” one gnome managed, “go.” The pixies twittered in agreement and did their aerial dances. The other gnomes agreed most heartily. “No go” chorused from them all. For some reason, he chose this moment to break. He cried full, unabashed tears letting them fall noiselessly into the grass. The pixies settled on him with comforting cooings and gestures. The gnomes stared fixated. “I have to.” Dominic wiped his eyes, “I’m sorry.” Lilac, his little purple friend, embraced his cheek as best she could, sniffling. Then something remarkable occurred. All of the gnomes had appeared and formed a circle around him. They hummed in their deep voices, chanting without words. The notes moved up and down with a decisive pattern. The pixies formed an air-borne circle about him and they began to chant and spin. They spun with such velocity that their colors were a blaze of white. The chanting rose in pitch, becoming more imperative and demanding, and split into multiple sounds encasing Dominic in a swirling cocoon of light and sound that filled him hope. The music reached a feverish pitch and a crescendo of impossible volume before the light surrounding him shattered into sparkling, shining particles and tumbled down about him. Some sank into his skin with a warm tingle. The chanting stopped. Every pixie gathered a handful of the sparkling dust and blew it back at him with little twitterings and blessings. The dust penetrated his skin and warmed him as if to lift his spirits from the inside. He felt charmed, lucky even. He thanked them all before rising with the car keys. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he assumed it was a good luck spell, which was exactly what he needed; that and an armory. He walked towards Astrid who stood stunned; she had managed to stuff half of her hair back into a bun, but the other half stood straight up and she wasn’t bothering to fix it. “Alright?” He searched. “Yes, yes.” She answered with a start, and began to fix the other half of her hair. As Dominic slid into the passenger seat of the old car, his hands danced lovingly over the upholstery. Every little nick, dent, stain, and mark were scars of the past. The red marker on the ceiling was a personal favorite. This car had been his father’s. It had been given to Richard on his sixteenth birthday and became a prized cast off for all the Monaghan children. It had even been his briefly. Astrid played a little light music as the car passed through the gates of the manor house and off into the uncertain horizon. ~ William watched the little car part the gate and speed off. It broke his heart to let him go, his Dominic. He closed his eyes and tried again to get a grasp on the slippery strands that were the future. Predicting the future was impossible, but William was better than most. Unfortunately, it was still all a fog. Nothing came to him. He cursed. William felt like the Beast letting his Beauty go back out into the world, but he had to, didn’t he? His anger with Dominic was useless, he knew that this was unforeseen, but couldn’t seem to help himself. *Why now?* He paced angrily up and down the room. A glass on his desk shattered violently. He knew full on why now, didn’t he? It was all God’s doing. A painting fell from the wall and the frame snapped. Every time he was allowed a moment’s happiness, it was taken from him so rude and rough was his master’s cruel humor. A letter opener on the desk winged across the room and embedded itself in a bookshelf. Happiness was never his to have so long as this villain reined his existence. He was trapped in a concrete box screaming as it sank into black waters. A light-bulb popped and its lamp smashed to the marble floor. All his riches, his hard work were for nothing if he could never be truly happy. Why not smash the whole thing to bits, then?! A chair flew into the door and splintered. William roared. Two more chairs took flight, one hitting the ceiling and crashing back towards the marble, taking chunks of the painted plaster God with it. The second brought Adam crumbling to the floor before shattering like the others. That ceiling, that wretched painting, the reminder of his exile; He focused on it as if God itself had put it there to taunt him. More chunks of the mural hurtled down at him, his anger his only protection. But that stubborn painting, the two hands nearly touching refused to come away with the rest. The house shook, and with final resolve, William shot himself up and through it, smashing it in all its insane cruelty. He crashed through the painting, the ceiling, the roof, spreading his wings and soaring with impossible speed into the high noon sun. ~ Please email comments to cswann1@gmail.com.