Trembling With the Strings

Puppet Master II: The Sequel

I did not expect to see Robbie standing in the bedroom where Kai was, but it happened. Darius gently pushed me forward and moved past me, placing a hand on my friend’s shoulder and turning Robbie around. He had an unsettling look upon his face, as if he was afraid to keep his back turned on the child sitting quietly on the bed.

“What exactly are you doing in here?”

“I just wanted to see Gracie’s son,” he said quietly, daring to glance back. “It was a mistake. I’m sorry.”

He pushed past me and out of the room entirely, as if he needed to be somewhere else. I did not blame him.

“Kai, baby, can we talk?” I asked, sounding more like a beggar than a mother.

“About?” he asked, his hands folded neatly in his lap.

“Kai,” Darius stated firmly, striding up to the bed and looking down on his child. “You know that you are a very special child.”

“Yes.”

Dray smiled, looking back at me once before gesturing me over and sitting on the edge of the bed. I sat carefully beside him, gripping his hand.

“I have a question, too,” Kai told us, staring only at his father. “How can you forgive your wife for cheating on you with your best friend?”

I winced as Dray’s hand gripped mine tighter. “That is not of your concern, Kai. It’s over. Stop changing the subject.”

“I bet you wanted to kill her,” he breathed, continuing on carelessly. “I would have. I know that you wanted to strangle her pretty little neck. I know that you tried.”

My jaw dropped, and I pulled my hand out of his and stumbled to get away from him. “You tried to kill me?” I screamed, shaking my head furiously. “Darius! You tried to kill me!”

“You sick little bastard!” Darius screamed at Kai, trying to hold me. I pushed him away, backing up and shaking my head. “Baby, stop it! You know I love you!”

“Do I? How do I know you won’t slip a knife in me when I’m asleep? Because I don’t!”

“I didn’t do anything! Do you know how many times you annoyed me to no end? But I didn’t do anything about it! You said yourself that our son is possessed, so why are you listening to him over me?”

“My son is not possessed!”

“Oh my God, shut up!” Kai screamed, jumping to his feet. “Do you see how bored I am? This is my only form of entertainment. Playing puppets is not so fun, you know?”

“Get out of my face,” Darius demanded, staring down at the little boy. “Before I act on my thoughts.”

He shrugged, walking leisurely out of the room. Darius pushed a hand through his hair before pulling me into his arms. “Baby, I love you,” he promised, kissing me feverishly. “I wouldn’t dream of harming you. You know how terrified I was of losing you! You know!”

I choked, holding him as tightly as I could. “Is it too late to give him away?”

“You shouldn’t say that,” he mumbled, his eyes focused on the open door. “Don’t say that.” But he said nothing about wanting to keep him.

“Is this normal?”

“I’m not sure, but I do know one thing. You have it better than Drakken did. He had to put up with me mostly by himself; this time you have me. But it’s not going to be easy.”

“So Drakken was right?”

“Unfortunately.”

I took in a shaky breath, pulling myself out of his arms and staring up at him. “Did you really try to kill me?”

He sighed, looking away from me uncomfortably. “I’m sorry.”

“When?”

“What?”

“When did you?” I muttered quietly, watching his face carefully. I was torturing him, I could tell.

“I mused about it. A lot.” He grimaced suddenly, and he finally met my gaze. “I love you so much, but I couldn’t stand you before I realized that I loved you.”

“Please, Dray. When?”

“I only thought about it for a while, you know? At times, you were actually nice company. But there was one time when I just couldn’t stand the thought of having to put up with you for any longer. It was when you were asleep. I was sitting awake in bed, just watching you. I hated how you could sleep so soundly while I was unable to sleep. It wasn’t too long after you came to me; it was the night after you read my notebook entry regarding my biting my cousin. You had been so sure of yourself when you came up to me, but I hadn’t. And I hated you for that.”

“Then? But I thought we were on good terms! You asked me if I loved you the next morning. I don’t understand.”

“I know,” he nodded, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear. “I hated that I was getting so soft. I thought you were to blame, and the only way to fix things would be to go back to who I used to be, by killing you. I mean, you made me actually want to be a father; you made me actually care about someone other than myself; you made me fall in love. I didn’t ask for any of that. I had been perfectly happy. I’m glad I didn’t go through with anything, though, baby. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“Okay,” I breathed, kissing his cheek softly. “Is that the only secret?”

“I think so. Why?”

“Kai can’t have so many things to dig up. Next time, we can’t fall apart like that. He needs to learn that manipulating people by using their insecurities does not always work.”

“Lyndell was a cheap shot,” he told me, growling low in his throat.

“But it’s in the past,” I promised quietly. “Do you know how far we’ve come, how much we’ve gotten through?”

“A whole damn lot?”

“Yes, a whole damn lot. And I’m not going to let our lovechild ruin that.”

“I’m just glad we’re done with the whole having a baby thing,” Darius murmured, resting his hands on my hips and kissing me softly. I nearly choked. “So no more secrets?”

I nodded. “No more secrets.”

He grinned, kissing me urgently. I smiled nervously, praying my son had been messing with me in that stupid dream last night.

“Guess what? It’s a girl.”
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You know when life just gives you more than you're ready for? As of late I am absolutely drowning in essays and work of the sort. It hardly leaves time for even thinking--let alone acting on the impulse!--about writing for enjoyment! God forbid I should take a five second nap every now and then, but that's ambition for you, I suppose.

English term paper is our entire grade; follow-up--20 minute presentation. Ayn Rand=amazing writer, but so much to analyze! My paper, which is supposed to be 7 papers after we are finished, is already past that and I have only typed 5 paragraphs of the 15! Let alone this persuasive argumentative letter I am writing! And I've been wanting to write all day, but I had to work, work, work!

But I digress. My day was great, it truly was. Despite my strange new boy, who is certainly a character (a good thing lol) I'm trying to focus though my brain is positively scattered! Why do I ramble so much? I've been so talkative lately, but I do apologize for the lack of updates. I have no excuses, and as such I will not invent any. Supportive as always, and I love that :) This was for you, "little people!" And as for the drooling thing in the book store from the last update... I'm certainly a character, too!

Until next time, which I will try to make soon :D