I could see the blood building up around the corner of his eyes as he fought back tears. So he knows of his daughters but not his son.
“Bellamy,” he blurted out. “Bell–––”
“We are in conversations with your grandson,” I said. Although we haven’t personally met him, we are aware Bellamy Holmes is actively moving around in secrecy and up to date about everything. Lifting my chin up as I peered down at him through my frames, I silently mouthed.
“The mythical story about the moon is real–––”
Dr. Holmes slammed his fist down on the table and snarled with his fangs and saliva showing towards me. I didn’t flinch. The tip of my tongue pressed against my teeth to keep my fangs in check. I gripped the corners of my frames to adjust against my face.
“I don’t want to hear about this fucking make-believe moon bullshit! Leave that to the pathetic wolves to worship the shit in the sky! Not us! We are not–––”
“Headlines will already be circulating about The First Family lying about your birthright which will cause a possible witch hunt on those who associate with you. You have put everyone in danger of being taken.”
“I don’t care…it was never true to begin with…just made-up bullshit to keep the little piggies on the farm to slaughter. I don’t…I don’t care,” he dragged with his hand pulling at his face. “All I ever wanted to do was to protect the Underground…Protect what I have built, my legacy, my school, my home…That is what I’m doing now. That is why I’m here.”
“You need to think about protecting the family that is coming up behind you..” His glossy eyes became cloudy with confusion and unsettled emotions as he shook his head, refusing to hear it. “Again, please find a way to communicate with me so we can keep in touch.”
“They don’t…”
I waited for him to speak knowing Mr. Park was openly talking about sports. That was the signal to hurry up and leave but Dr. Holmes held my gaze. He was afraid to speak for the first time. Could it be about his daughters or granddaughter? Was it the mention of his son being right behind me and now he was searching for him?
“Theywho, Dr. Holmes?” I questioned, confused. Before I could speak, feeling like he was purposely trying to toy with my mind, Mr. Park coughed hard and cleared his throat several times. That was the cue that we needed to leave this building as soon as possible. I knew Dr. Marvin Holmes had other ways of communicating outside of this cell. Now we just had to wait.
I quickly checked out and followed Mr. Park to the first set of stairs. Neither of us spoke because we knew what was at stake here. Mr. Park began shedding the suit he stole as he winced in pain. His face stretched and neck twisted, fighting the urge to shift into his true form while we continued to climb the stairs. When we came up on another door, he banged three times on it before coming out on the other side of a bathroom stall. Vanessa, the wild woman with the baby and blood, turned around from the bathroom counter and glared at us.
“About damn time!” She fussed. “Come on! They’ve already begun looking for this old ass man. Here, change into this and hurry up so we can go. Himora, you go first. Just be normal. Don’t cause a scene and run.”
“Baby, if anything,” Mr. Park warned in a threatening tone. Part of his face was split into two as his eyes twitched and lids fluttered. I could hear almost three different voices within his words fighting to take control of his body, but he was hanging on.
“No time for that, go. Go,” Vanessa urged. “Hurry up.”
“Right.” I nodded as I stepped out of the bathroom. We were back on the main level of the justice building. Offices began to close and the last bit of media waiting to hear from different trials was pushed out. I signed my name out at the front and stepped out onto the court steps.
Souxie Lafayette
“Please take your seats! Quickly now!”
The auditorium began to fill up as the building stretched to accommodate the incoming students. I crossed one knee over the other when Asha walked in with a trail of colorful girls with exaggerated glam make up behind her chewing gum and twirling their hair. They always caught the attention of the young boys who found themselves attracted to shiny things like that. When Asha locked eyes with us, she frowned with a helpless expression on her face as the girls continued to crowd around her like a school of fish. She was slowly becoming the new Solomon whether she wanted it or not. They were naturally paired together as king and queen of their kind.
“She secretly loves that they follow her around like that,” Isis muttered before she waved at a few girls from her class. A row of dapper men dressed in suits and ties were sliding across the seats in front of us when Isis stood up and hugged one of them. I smiled at the others with their lingering eyes. “I’ll text you later on tonight,” Isis said as she sat back down. She leaned in close against my ear. “So the first two guys are having a small get together…but I can’t tell if they’re just trying to be nosey about Maggie or if they’re for real. Either way, we could probably score big on weed.” Isis continued to smile and wave like a politician.
She’s absolutely perfect.
“Quickly students! Please take your seats! We won’t be long!”
I watched as the new dean; the head bitch herself came walking in with her parade of assistants as they stepped on stage where the chairs were laid out. I leaned forward to check my bag seeing a quiet Quan tucked in my tote bag like a curled-up ball of fur. He’d been unusually quiet these days and would disappear for hours at a time. Not that we claimed him or anything because I know he lingers between different girls, but it was curious. His relationship with Namir seemed to be growing.
“Shit!”
I looked up to see Harmless Harvey dropping his bags as he brushed his khaki pants down with his hand. He adjusted his glasses with his upper lip curling up, squinting down below at the stage only to look at the seat next to me. It was a guy who sat down after attempting to talk to me before deciding to stay once he realized I wasn’t interested. I looked at Harvey’s things that were right there at the man’s feet before looking up at him with an amused smirk.
He’s a psychopath if I ever met one.
“What’s good my man?” The guy said as he looked up at Harvey. “You lost? You need help finding a seat?”
“No, I found one. You’re in it,” Harvey said. He adjusted his glasses before taking them off altogether to clean only to put them back on. His features were always so staggering to see with his thick brows, curly lashes and expressive eyes that suddenly blinked black. “Are you going to get up or do you need me to move you?”
I snickered as the man got up with his things. Harvey promptly sat down with his knee crossing over the other while hepropped his elbow on our shared arm rest. Isis leaned forward to wave before digging into her phone to distract herself. I just stared at him, seeing his eyes were still black as he looked around.
