Fright

Earlier...

Eleven-twenty pm.

The Cahill kids wallowed in silence after the news. They tasted their family's doom on their buds. An ugly reality set in. Lisa couldn't cope. Her brothers weren't coping, either. Marcus tried to prove that he was ready, that the current situation was a cross he willed to carry, but fright wasn't something that could be hidden.

Damien stood and paced around, raking a hand through his hair at intervals. Rule was on his father's side, standing like a sentry. His lips quivered still. He was this close. The tears pushed in his eyes, but he fought it. His father would think him a failure if he didn't.

Lisa said, "What's the plan?"

Damien chuckled. It was loud and mocking. He chimed in from a corner. "You caused everything, yet you ask. I really wish you never existed."

Lisa pinched her eyes closed at the sound of his voice. She thought it had ended but her step brother was still bent on raising a stink and crushing her heart. When she brought her eyes to him, he was already staring. Damien wanted to witness her hurting, like that would be the only thing about their situation that could pacify him. Lisa only stared back with an equally hardened gaze.

"Kill me yourself, if you have the balls," said Lisa. Her menacing voice was in a whisper, eyes dilating with pain.

Marcus Cahill was on his feet before they knew it. He went for Damien with long strides. His son didn't see it coming. He expected it, but the repercussions of his actions had arrived sooner than later.

He punched him across the face. Damien staggered.

Marcus gripped him by the scruff of his neck, stabling him on a spot. He had a rough aim and hold on him. The fear that grew in his son's eyes detailed that this moment was far too familiar for all of them. They all knew what came next. Their father became a different person at that point. He was not the strict family man that they knew. He became the no-nonsense paranormal investigator with an uncontrolled temper.

Lisa could smell blood. Damien had asked for it. His pig-headedness knew no bounds. No matter how tough she could act, it scared her. It always did. She should have felt relieved that Damien would pay for his damaging words, but she knew him well. He didn't mean the things he said. He was only suffering on the inside, and she wanted to protect him. Her chest tightened.

Lisa said before she could hear herself, "No! Don't take him."

Marcus dragged Damien like a prisoner in chains out of the room. His daughter's words fell over his ears. He crossed the hidden door that led to the arsenal and went back into the study. A pleading Lisa followed. Rule wasn't far behind.

She caught her father's wrist, but he shoved her grip away. The wall was next. Her skin crawled as she recalled the terrible memories that came from being inside it. Her heart hammered against her ribcage. Damien didn't want this life. He was dying silently inside him, and had suffered alone for all these years.

Rule's steps began to falter. He didn't have it in him to cross over into a place that held all his demons. His feet couldn't take him further. He looked after his brother's receding figure down the narrow pathway. A tear slipped free because everything in his life was about to go wrong. A minute later, he stood alone within the space.

The wall opened for them. Lisa watched Damien finally struggle to fight back. She heard his cries, but it was aimless now. The wall was a place that shouldn't exist. But for centuries, every Cahill experienced its darkness. Her panicking eyes took in the familiar calibre of torturing tools hanging on the wall facing her. She knew their names, their purposes and the extent of the pain each of them could deal. It wasn't a wide space. It had dim lighting. This was where Marcus had formed all of them, inside this hell.

Marcus spoke his first word since the arsenal. "When will you learn?"

Damien was on his knees. Marcus stood behind him. His hand was still on the scruff of his son's neck, digging his knees into the chipped concrete below. A small bathtub was before them. It brimmed with water and a stopper sheathed its drain. The silver grey liquid inside it was there to stay.

"Is my family a joke to you?"

"No, father. It is not." His voice sounded small. The crack detailed his fear. His chest rose and fell at rapid rates.

Marcus dunked his head.

He didn't wait for him to finish speaking. He pushed his head down, drowning him in the bathtub filled with a poisonous liquid. Damien struggled. Lisa was screaming for her father to stop, but she wouldn't dare approach. Nothing could help her brother, except their father's decision to save his life.

"He needs air." Her voice heightened. "He can't stay like that for long. The arsenic would kill him."

"What your brother needs is to learn his lesson once and for all," Marcus said, remaining with his steely grip.

A minute passed. Damien still struggled to reach the surface. His palms gripped the edge of the tiles, but he couldn't pull free. Lisa imagined his eyes shut tight and his nostrils begging to breathe. She felt his pain.

She begged again, coming forward. "He's dying!"

"Step back!" Marcus refused.

Lisa stopped at his command, sucking in and holding her breath. Her legs grew restless. Her eyes filled even as she tried to quell the emotional reaction. She saw that Damien's movements lacked energy with each passing second. Time moved achingly slow.

Marcus freed him.

Damien landed on the ground at his side, choking. He clutched the cool ground, trying to stable himself. The skin of his face turned red and swollen. They all knew the poison had kicked in. When Lisa came to his side, he gripped her hand tightly and whispered. "Th—urk antidote."

She rushed to the shelves at once, fumbling through the many bottles housing there. Lisa read through the labels and after another long minute, she found it. She grabbed a syringe and made her way back to him. Crouching at his side, she withdrew the serum from the bottle and plunged the needle into his skin. It was only then that she could breathe, when his eyes cleared.

Marcus saw he was fine. He summoned Rule next because he wanted them all in the room.

Rule came in at once, dragging his feet. Lisa saw the look on his face. It seemed like he didn't want to be anywhere near the wall, but it was a crucial time and pleasing his father mattered most.

"Check with the Boston police department, Lisa. If there's anything, it will reach their ears first."

"You, infiltrate the Boston Paramedics, and keep everyone updated." Marcus walked over to his son and helped Lisa get him to his feet. He was a father now.

"Rule and I would follow up with the media."

They all noted down their individual tasks in their mind, nodding their heads. This was the first step in the plan for survival. The Cahills had to put themselves in a position of control.

Rule said in line, "There's something urgent you should know, father."

Marcus faced him with questioning eyes as Lisa supported Damien's arm on her shoulder, handling him like an eggshell.

"It's about the dead accountant. Nathaniel Ashford."

For two weeks, they had tracked Ashford's case. It was their pending investigation before these series of events came up. His body was discovered at the bottom of a ravine with his skin shrunken and dried. It was the work of a demon, but one they didn't know had existed in their city until now. Before the mark, Rule had wanted to discuss this.

"Do you have a lead on the case?"

Rule rocked his head in approval. "Isla Foster, she was his girlfriend of four months and was last seen with him."

"So I've heard. What's new?"

"The Fosters are related to the current Mayor and somehow, the men around Isla always end up disappearing."

Tension stayed. His face tightened. Marcus Cahill was thinking.

"Follow me," he said, and his youngest child did as he was told.