Chapter 4

"Hey, Dimitri! Did Max make it home okay?" Ellie asked, skipping up to said boy. Dimitri sighed as he took off his shoes. Dimitri nodded and walked past Ellie grabbing his head in pain. "You good Dimitri?"

"No, Vincent and Alexei are arguing," Dimitri grumbled as he sat down in a chair in the family room. "Wait, when did I get here?"

Ellie hummed, grabbing a book, and sitting next to Dimitri. "What are they arguing about?"

Dimitri grabbed his head with both of his hands and curled in on himself. "I don't know. Their words are overlapping." Suddenly Dimitri stilled, not focusing on anything at all. His jaw went slack, drool slowly dripping off his chin. Ellie noticed, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a handkerchief, catching the drool in it.

Ellie leaned back as she saw his eyes focusing again. "Hey there, who's fronting right now?"

"Vincent. Thanks, Ellie." Vincent turned and smiled at her, looking at himself he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Dimitri was fronting last, right?" Ellie nodded and Vincent groaned. "Why did he have to take Papa's fashion advice? I look like a monkey."

Ellie shrugged and threw her handkerchief in the laundry bin under the banner. "Dimitri said you and Alexei were arguing. Do you remember if it was about the incident at dinner?"

"It most likely was. I do remember everyone yelling at her during her lecture from you and Mama." Vincent looked down at the book Ellie grabbed. "Was that book for Dimitri?"

"Yeah. By the way, I have a question." Vincent nodded along as he picked at his fingers. "I've noticed that you are very attentive around Max and ignore everyone else. Do you like him or something?"

"What? Ellie, why would you ask that? No, I don't, he's just an accomplice." Vincent stuttered looking away when he started to feel heat on his face. Ellie smiled; she was going to tease him till the day he dies.

"You are acting the same way I did when I found out I was in love with Sophie." Ellie giggled as Vincent flustered about. "Come on! Just admit it! You like him!"

"I don't want to like him! You know what will happen in our line of work! I just don't want him to get hurt!"

- - - - -

It was week three of the assignment Max and Vincent were paired up for. They got most of their work done, just needing to finish one more paragraph; but they were snagged by Alina and Eleanor for dinner. After the first dinner Max had with the small family, he started to get used to Alina's amazing food that Ivan helped with, surprisingly. Max even caught a few small smiles directed his way.

Tonight, they were eating Solyanka, Veal Orloff, and Vinegret. Max loved these recipes; it was like his tastebuds were dancing with joy. Alina looked up at Max, swallowing the last bite she began to speak. "Max, since you've united with us, I think it would be fair if we've become acquainted with your family!"

Max stilled, his fork hitting the plate. His father never stopped hurting him, it had especially gotten worse ever since he found an unknown camera in the cross. Max chuckled nervously, "I don't know. We recently found out that someone was spying on us from our cross, by far the weirdest place to put a camera in my opinion."

Eleanor's face darkened as she turned away, unbeknownst to Max. Alina cast a petite smile and leaned her head to the side. "Well sure that can be concerning, but what you say about your family doesn't really seem that important to anyone. Whoever is spying on you must have realized this and stopped paying attention! Anyways, we'll mostly be in the foyer and dining room, we won't step foot in your living room."

"How did you know our cross is in the living room?" Max asked, his suspicions rising again.

"Well, that seems like the most logical place to put it! Besides the Family room." Alina argued, now resting her head on her hand. "I remember Vincent saying something about a bratty baby sister who wears a lot of pinks."

"Delilah? Yeah, she acts like she's more important than everybody else. I've heard that she's been bullying some kids in school. A little bitch she is." Max grumbled, the mere thought of his little sister making his blood boil.

"Really? Seems like she's arrogant. In my opinion, she needs to get knocked off her high horse." Eleanor verbalized, sounding a bit heated.

When Max put on a confused expression, Vincent leaned over to whisper in Max's ear. "Her girlfriend was bullied as a kid." Max's eyes widened, first off, he didn't know Eleanor was a lesbian! Well, apart from the hair she looked sort of like a dyke, wait was that offensive? Maybe he shouldn't call her that. Second off, what does her girlfriend look like? Maybe he could meet her. But he did agree with Eleanor, Delilah really needs to get knocked down a few pegs.

"Anyways, I don't see any reason why we should not meet your family, Max!" Alina said clasping her hands together. She smiled fully at Max, and Max felt his heart sore. Max's brain was so full of Serotonin that he pushed all his worries to a dark corner of his mind and agreed. He could feel everyone's eyes on him as he nodded.

- - - - -

"E524! Что так долго?!" She winced as the voice yelled at her. She jumped off the windowsill and landed in the bushes underneath her, her mask slightly falling off showing dark skin. She growled as she reached up for her earpiece.

"Would you shut up Omen? You just made me make a lot of noise!" She whispered shouted, putting her tools back in the duffle bag she brought with her. "Sweetie, can you help me out here?"

"Sorry babe, but I have to side with the boss here. You have about 20 minutes before the Smiths come back home." E524 gasped, putting a hand over her heart. How could her love betray her like that? E524 huffed and started pouting. "For some reason, I feel like you're pouting."

"Просто заткнись и иди в их дом! Войдите в одну из дверей!" Omen yelled again, breaking both girls' eardrums.

"Let's just remember we are in this situation because Omen can't keep his hands out of his pants for the boy living here," E524 grumbled, getting up after grabbing the lockpicking kit and going up to the back door. Kneeling, she opened the kit and grabbed two of the lockpicks, and started to get to work. Within the few minutes- which would have only taken a minute if Omen wasn't screaming in her ear the whole time- she was in.

"I got in, no thanks to you, bastard," Eleanor grumbled. She reached in her pocket and grabbed a small camera and a bug. "Now where should I put this S963?"

"I think the Living room would be acceptable. It's where the most foot traffic is located." E524 nodded and adjusted the mask sitting atop her face. "You'll have to traverse past the Kitchen, make a right then it's down the hall on your right."

E524 followed the instructions and found herself in their living room. Looking around, E524 found the cross with Jesus nailed to it. She smiled under her mask maliciously as she took it off the wall. "Looks like this is a religious family." She grimaced, turning the cross over finding the golden cross hollow, the eye cut out. On the wall behind it, there was a peeping hole.

"Да, они глубоко религиозны. Теперь заткнись и делай свою работу!" Omen shouted once again. E524 groaned once again and hastily put the camera in its eye and put it back up before running out the back door.

- - - - -

Oh god, this was a terrible plan! Max thought as he practically ran back inside the house. "Mom! I need to talk to you!" Max shouted as he hurriedly took off his shoes and left them at the door, sprinting into the dining room. Luckily, his mother was already sitting at the table trying to draw in Delilah's old coloring book, keyword: trying.

"What's wrong Maxwell?" Rebecca asked, somewhat looking in his direction. Max noticed briefly that Delilah was sitting next to her, handing her colored pencils but that wasn't important.

"Alright. Do you remember Vincent a few weeks ago?" Max asked, relieved at her nod.

"Yeah! Wasn't he the one who disrespected me?" Delilah cried, sticking her nose up in the air as she leaned back. Being overly dramatic.

"Delilah, shut up," Max stated with a little more aggression in his voice than meant to be. "Well, his family wants to come over for dinner to meet you all. And I agreed without even thinking! They said they'll be fine with whatever day we can have them, but still! Dad's going to kill me!"

"Calm down! Calm down, Max! We'll figure it out. Alright?" Rebecca said, trying to use calming motions through her hands. Putting the colored pencils down, Rebecca dropped her plump body to the ground. Grabbing her white cane, she walked the short distance to Max and hugged him. "I will try my best to stop him from hurting you again." Max hugged her back, and they stood there for a minute or two.

Delilah looked at them from afar. She curled in on herself as she started to put the coloring pack away. Rebecca pulled away, cupping Max's face in her hands. "Let's find a solution to our problem, okay?"

Max nodded before leading his mother back to the table. "Delilah move, we need this space," Max said, slightly pushing her coloring pack away.

"No! I was here first! Move to the other side of the table!" Delilah shouted, holding onto the chair with her feet. She tried to keep the book where it was but found it hard against someone stronger than her.

"Delilah! Move! I don't have time for this!" Max shouted, starting to push her as well.

"NO!"

"Delilah sweetie, please. You can move to the other side of the table or your room. I know you have a desk there. We can draw another time." Rebecca said, calming the situation quickly. Delilah stared at her in awe before quickly turning back to anger.

"This is not fair!" Delilah whined, stomping up the stairs. Honestly acting like a three-year-old. Max pushed her coloring books to the other side of the table. Delilah stood at the top of the stairs, contemplating, then turning around. "I hope Dad beats you both to a pulp tonight!"

Max and Rebecca flinched hard, then flinched even harder when Delilah slammed her door. Max stared at the ceiling in shock, as if he could see that smug brat through the walls. "She's bluffing sweetie. Calm down and let's brainstorm some ideas to break it to David."

Max mumbled under his breath, "Can't even believe she's a 13-year-old." As he sat down. He turned to his mother and looked into her eyes, smiling.

- - - - -

An Azure Borealis danced across the night sky, the night sky painted with colors of green, red, and purple mixed together. It was certainly a sight to see. Susan walked across the grassy field towards her homestead. She could see her father chopping up the last of the wood right by her house. She smiled as she thought about Max, he should be in massive trouble right now. His father is one of those Christians.

Susan could see her chimney letting grey smoke flow freely through the air. She smiled as she sniffed the air, smells like Venison. She walked past their plow but did a double take when she saw a shadow sitting in the driver's seat. No one should be in the plow right now! They cannot do anything until after the ground thaws a little bit! She stood in front of the plow, hands on her hips as she squinted to try and see if anyone is messing with her.

The plow roared to life. Susan gasped as the blades started spinning. The blades were not on the ground, they were in the air. Pointing at Susan. Susan screamed as the plow started to drive toward her. She ran but slipped when her heel got caught in a tuft of grass. The headlights were peering down at her. She could faintly hear her dad calling out for her. She reached down to her feet, desperately trying to unbuckle her heels. Her hand went warm. Then her feet. Then her legs. She screamed, she couldn't feel anything, yet she felt everything.

"Спящий крепкий укол." The dark figure slipped out, running across the fields to a camped-out truck. Susan's father fell to his knees in front of his daughter's body. Blood pooled around her; her make-up was ruined. Her skin was cold and pale, her eye's wide as dinner plates. Her father teared up as he combed through her hair. In a last effort to deny her death, he screamed at her to blink, to speak, to move a little, to just do anything to make sure she's not dead. Tires screeching across pavement barely drowned out his screams.

- - - - -

David slammed the door open, looking more sorrowful than his usual angry. Delilah ran down the stairs stopping right in front of David. She leaned to the left, smiled, and put her hands behind her back. "Welcome home father! Did you get your paycheck today?"

"Delilah not now. Where are your mother and Maxwell?" David asked, his voice tired and full of sadness.

"Oh, in the dining room, I think. I haven't seen them since Max came home." Delilah said pointing down the hall. David sighed and pulled out his wallet, taking out ten dollars. He handed the money to Delilah and left down the hall.

He arrived at the dining room seeing Rebecca and Max sitting down and talking to each other. "Maxwell, we need to talk." Max stilled and looked at his father in horror. He knows that if your parents say that line, you are fucked.

"Would you mind if I stayed? Me and Max need to speak to you as well." Rebecca said, trying to look in her husband's direction. David sighed and nodded as he sat down opposite of Max specifically.

"Max, it turns out Susan was murdered tonight. At 8 o'clock someone ran her over with her family's plow." David said running a hand through his hair. He looked back up to Max, seeing if he'll give a reaction.

"Wow. Are you serious? Like, she's really dead?" Max asked, his eyes widening a little at his father's nod. "Huh, didn't think that'll happen to her. Who has that much hatred to kill her?"

"Why can't you show more emotion?! She was your childhood friend?! What's wrong with you?!" David yelled, slamming his hands to the table as he stood up.

"David, please. Max is probably just in shock! A lot of surprising things have happened to him today!" Rebecca said, standing up and putting her hands on David's arms trying to calm him down. "So please, please just calm down. We need you to calm down, please."

David looked at Rebecca with hostile intent, before sighing and sitting down rather forcefully. "Fine! The hell do you want to talk about?"

Max looked at his father, then looked down at his feet. He doesn't want to see his face that could turn out to be disappointed depending on his reaction. "Uhm, my friend; the one I've been hanging out with a lot lately, wants his family to meet ours over dinner. They're really nice people, just a little bit intimidating."

David seemed to be contemplating, Max hated not knowing what his father was thinking. David looked back up at Max, his eyes cold. "What do the parents do? More importantly, why haven't this guy you've been hanging out with moved out already? Is he just as incompetent as you are?"

"Well, apparently Vincent has Dissociative Identity Disorder. That's probably why." Max knows he comprehends absolutely nothing about Vincent's disorder, but anything will be better than nothing. He needs to make him feel a little bit guilty which is hard to do. "I think they have to take care of him, maybe their job is something related to that. But I would assume they have a lot of money."

David's eyes lit up at that, of course, he would only care about the money. Max discreetly rolled his eyes and looked back at his father. "I mean, as long as you make the meals for them."

Max nodded, turning his head towards the hallway, seeing Delilah peek her head in. She looked concerned, before running back up the stairs. David realized this and turned around to the hallway, "Delilah come back down here!"

Almost sheepishly, Delilah turned back around and walked down the stairs. She stood in the doorway trying to keep herself invisible. Delilah slowly looked up at her father as she played with her thumbs. David snarled as he looked at his daughter. "Were you eavesdropping little girl?"

Delilah nodded her head as she looked down at her feet. David was about to get up when Max stopped him. "Dad, she was just worried. She liked Susan as a friend too! Anyway, she knows the basics of what I needed to speak about with you. So, I didn't have a problem with her listening in."

David grumbled and relaxed back down into his chair. He gestured at Max, eyeing him fiercely, "Go on. Is there anything else about this elusive family?"

"Well," Max began, wringing his hands together. "They are Russian. I'm sure that they have just moved to America."

David looked confused, again gesturing to the air. "Okay, but how the hell is this information going to help me? Why did you even say that? Do you just want to seem culturally intelligent?"

"Do you want to see them?" Max said, pulling out his phone. He knew he took a photo of them somewhere, he just needed to find it. "See look, that's them." Max slid his phone across the table to his dad. He caught it and looked at the screen.

Eleanor took the photo after she stole the phone from Max. Eleanor held it up in a selfie as she stood on the table during dinner. Max scrambled over Vincent as he was trying not to laugh, Alina held a stern look as she was pointing to the table screaming at her to get down. Ivan was just eating, just sitting there, ignoring everybody else.

"What's with the sheboon with your phone? Did they adopt it or are they friends with that thing?" Abhorrence seeped through his teeth. Max gasped and snatched his phone back.

"Dad! You can't say that! Do you even realize you're being racist right now?!" Max screeched turning off his phone. He sighed at his father's lack of sympathy, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And no, she's their- their housemaid…"

David smiled as he looked away, crossing his arms across his chest. "Serves it right! Those people should be grateful we even keep them in this country! They all should go back to whatever land they came from!"

Max's blood was past boiling. He kept his hands glued to the table, his nails creating indents in his palms. Trying to keep calm, Max gritted out, "They don't like- never mind. Are you alright with them coming over?"

"I already said this, but I don't see why not. You guys will make the dinner though." David said as he got up. Taking Delilah's shoulder, he led her up to her room. Max sighed as he looked at Rebecca. Smiling along with her.

- - - - -

Max closed the side door as he breathed in and out slowly. The night was as beautiful as it could be, the snow finally starting to let up as they reached the beginning of April. Blades of grass poking up for the first time since October was a sight to see. Max sat down on the small porch and ran his finger through his hair. Tonight, was stressful, to say the least, finding out the perfect meal to impress those who've impressed him for days on end with their cuisine was hard. Not to mention his father getting aggressive after one drink.

The sliding door opened; Max quickly turned around finding Delilah there with a small med kit. She looked sort of concerned before turning to arrogance. "I told you daddy would hurt you tonight."

"Oh, shut up Delilah." Max groaned pulling his knees up to his chest and hiding his face in between his arms. "Why are you out here anyway. It's too cold out."

"If it's too cold for me then it must be too cold for you too," Delilah said sitting down next to him. Max scoffed and turned his body away from his baby sister. It was silent for a few minutes, the quiet sounds of the city sounding far away. Delilah looked at Max then looked at the med kit. Groaning she tapped on her brother's shoulder. "Give me your elbow. It's still bleeding."

Defeated, Max just let his sister do what she wanted. They both didn't say anything as Delilah cleaned Max's skin and put a bandage over the wound. "Why are you doing this? I doubt you'd listen to mom if she asked you to do this."

"I-I don't know. I just remembered when you used to patch me up when I was still learning how to ride my bike, alright?" Delilah said, flicking his upper arm.

Max laughed silently as he moved away from Delilah's hands. "Oh yeah! Man, you absolutely sucked! You'd fall over right after I let you go."

"In my defense, I told you to not let me go." Delilah and Max shared a chuckle. Crickets chirped next to them as they sat, staring at the stars. Max's eyes gleamed, stars dancing in his eyes. He looked towards the main area where he thinks Vincent's house is, finding no lights coming from that area.

"Did I ever take you to see the northern lights?" Max asked, looking back at Delilah. Delilah shook her head no, resting her head on her knees. Max smiled, "I think I've seen a few driving back from Vincent's house. I should take you some time." Max sighed as he got up, "Come on Delilah. It's getting really cold, and it will be really stressful tomorrow."

Max held the door open as Delilah walked inside, the stars still making a show above their town.

- - - -

The night was silent, huge grey clouds obstructed the stars. Max could almost feel something horrible creeping over his shoulder. Max put down the knife he was using to cut vegetables and turned around, only to see his father on the other side of the kitchen holding a Vodka bottle. Max gulped as he went back to the task at hand, the voice in the back of his head whispering, "Something horrible will happen today."

Delilah was sitting in the living room when the doorbell rang. She got up, smoothed her light pink dress out, and answered the door. Outside was the Popov family, Alina was wearing a plain blue dress with thick sleeves going under her shoulders. She also wore a dark blue dress jacket and black leggings to go under her white heels. Ivan wore a light blue shirt, khakis, a light brown sweater, and some dress shoes. Vincent wore something like his father's; he wore a Burgundy gingham dress shirt, a plaid necktie, a red V-neck sweater, a black leather belt, grey dress pants, and polished calfskin dress shoes. His hair was pulled back into a half bun half down hairstyle.

Delilah stepped to the side and let them in. Max quickly rounded the corner pushing some of his orange hair out of the way. He looked out of breath like he just sprinted to the door. He wore a green button-up shirt, a brown leather belt, khakis, and brown dress shoes. "Hey! You guys are here! Go ahead and keep your shoes on," Max turned to Delilah, looking her in the eye. "Delilah, can you go get Mom from upstairs?"

Delilah groaned a little bit before begrudgingly going up the stairs to fetch her mother. Max turned back to the three people staying in the foyer, just staring at him. "You guys can follow me. Me and father just need to finish making the plates, then we can start dinner." Vincent, Alina, and Ivan nodded starting to follow Max to the dining room.

"Max," Vincent whispered. Max turned slightly, just to see the boy behind him. "Why couldn't we invite Ellie? She's part of our family too."

"Dad is racist. That's why." Max whispered back just as they reached the dining room. Max quickly turned around clasping his hands together, "You guys can sit anywhere you want. But we do say grace whenever dad's here. Just letting you guys know!"

"Thank you, Maxwell. We'll be sure to acknowledge your principles." Alina nodded, watching as Max smiled before walking away. She then quickly looked towards her husband, "Они явно сфабриковали весь семейный пыл." Ivan nodded and turned his head when he heard two sets of footsteps coming closer. All the Popov's watched as Delilah and Rebecca walked into the doorway.

Delilah stopped when she saw them and immediately scowled. "How did you guys know we were coming? Did you see us through the wall or something?" Vincent scoffed, turning to Rebecca instead; seeing that she was having trouble finding the table without Delilah's help.

Vincent walked up to Rebecca taking her searching hand. Rebecca wore a yellow and white Sunflower patterned dress, with a sunflower also in her hair. She wore white knee-high socks and brown boots. Vincent still finds wearing shoes in the house weird. "It's nice to see you again ma'am. May I say you look exquisite."

"Винсент, это та самая слепая, о которой ты говорил?" Ivan asked, staring at the two. When Vincent nodded, Ivan and Alia looked at each other. Having a silent conversation.

"Ah thank you again, Vincent. You really are a gentleman!" Rebecca said as she was led to a chair. Vincent hummed as he moved back to his parents. He turned his back to the wall and found himself in a staring contest with Delilah. He just needed to wait for Max, then he can ignore Delilah like the plague. Speaking of the devil, Max and his father walked through the Dining room door carrying plates of food. It even looked like the father was swaying a bit, did he drink while making food?

"Delilah, can you come help us? Just need you to grab the plates." Max asked, setting down the pots on the white tablecloth. He set down a Honey baked Ham in the middle while his dad set down some mashed potatoes on the left and cornbread stuffing on the right.

Delilah groaned, stomping her foot on the ground. "But I already helped bring Rebecca down! You baked cinnamon apples, why can't I carry that?" The father moved back to what Vincent assumed was the kitchen.

"Because it's hot on the bottom and I know you'll drop it." Max retorted, pointing a finger toward Delilah. "Dad needs to carry in the drinks and kids can't touch them. So, please go grab the plates."

Delilah grumbled, looking over to the side and finding Vincent's fierce eyes. Almost as if a flip has been switched in her head Delilah started to follow Max's orders. Quickly going into the kitchen and grabbing paper plates and setting them down in front of every seat. Max and his father went back to the kitchen, Max bringing out the cinnamon apples and his father bringing out bottles of different alcoholic drinks.

"Okay!" Max clapped his hands looking down at the food on the table. "You guys haven't met my father yet. Vincent, Ivan, Alina. This is my dad, David. Vincent already met Rebecca, and you could guess who Delilah is." Ivan and David shook hands and Alina waved at Delilah. "I guess what's next is to do the prayer."

- - - -

The strained atmosphere was almost too much to take. The table remained quiet after the prayer and it was killing Max. God, won't someone say something?! Max looked at his father who was refilling his fifth cup of gin. God, please don't get drunk and embarrass us, Max thought. Max looked over to his sister who was glancing nervously at David and the Popovs. Max then looked over to his guests, Alina was cringing at David's drink. Did she think he was taking so much, or was it a tradition David was breaking? Ivan was glaring at David, his eyes slightly going back to his wife every now and then. Max looked over to the person sitting right across from him, Vincent. God, he was staring right at him. Why was Vincent staring? Did he have something on his face?

"You know what? It'z too quiet." Max's eyes widened in horror as he looked at his intoxicated father. God, no! Don't ruin this for us! "Why is nobody talking? You!" He pointed at Ivan, quickly taking another swig of his drink. "Why are you staring? You gotta problem or something?"

"Honey, please. You had too much. Why don't we drink some water yeah?" Rebecca said like she was talking to a child. She put her hand over David's free hand.

"I'm fine! I know when I have too much! Now back to that asshat over there." David pointed back at Ivan who started to growl. Max jumped up to defend his mother and possibly save this night.

"Dad that's enough! Please just go to the living room and take a nap or something!"

"No! Not until he explains himself!"

By now, almost everyone was standing up, Delilah, David, and Alina still seated. "What's your problem?! My Dad did nothing to you! He was just looking your way and you decide that's offensive in some way?!" Vincent yelled, slamming his hands on the table.

"Vincent, dear. There's no reason to shout. David is just drunk; you should know that alcohol disorders with your brain perception." Alina looked up at her son, trying to keep the peace.

"David, please. I've said it once, I'll say it again. You've had enough, let's just go into your room, yeah?" Rebecca made a move to try and reach out for David's drink. Stopping short when Gin was spilled all over her.

"I know when I've had enough! You just shut your mouth you ungrateful bitch!" Max could see his father going in to hit his mother.

Three things happened in five seconds.

Max ran up to protect his mother.

Vincent and Ivan jumped over the table.

And David was stopped before he could do any damage.

Max opened his eyes, seeing Vincent in front of him. He looked around Vincent's body to see Ivan holding David's wrist in a death grip. David looked at Ivan in a mix of awe and anger, quickly looking at his wrist and then back up to the ebony-haired male. David's mouth opened and shut, gaping like a fish. Ivan growled, his emerald eyes looking down on David dangerously. His eyes quickly looked over to Max, and if Max flinched, he wasn't going to say anything.

David tried to pull his hand out, "Let me go- "

"Do you enjoy the suffering of others?" A dark, raspy voice rang through the dining room. David stopped his movements immediately, looking at Ivan with fear in his eyes. Brown eyes met emerald in a hostile gaze. "Answer me you Мудак! Do you enjoy the suffering of others?!" Ivan started yelling, punctuating every syllable.

Quietly Delilah got up and hid behind her mother, whimpering slightly. It was time for Alina to stand up, her chair squeaking harshly across the floor as it was basically thrown back. "My husband asked an uncertainty, David. Intoxicated or not, we would appreciate your answer."

David chuckled, sitting up in his seat still trying to get out of Ivan's grasp. "Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. You're not gonna stop me either way– "

David's head was forcefully slammed onto the table, the glass sitting there shattered. Ivan still had his hand on David's head, puffing harshly. Vincent smiled looking down at David's now limp body. Alina walked around the table to her husband, stepping over any broken glass that reached the floor. Once the brunette reached her husband, she kissed his cheek. "Ты сделала это, милая. Вам нужно успокоиться сейчас."

Ivan scowled but let his rigid posture up, picking up David's head as he stood up straighter. Max was at a loss for words, he was still processing the earlier events for crying out loud. Vincent turned and looked down at Max and Rebecca, both still shaking. A small tuft of blonde hair sticking out from behind Rebecca announced that Delilah was there as well. "Are you three alright?" Vincent asked slightly lowering himself, to look less threatening or to look Max in the eyes; it was hard to tell.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so…" Max's voice wavered, his eyes meeting his feet. He just wanted this night to go well. Why in gods name did he mention that Russians love alcohol? Would this night go down a different path if he didn't say anything?

"Max, stop overthinking. You're fine, your father is the only one hurt. Let's be honest, he deserved it." Vincent said as he grabbed Max's shoulders. Vincent saw that Delilah peaked her head out from behind her mother. Was she trying to hide away from her problems, or just her father? Max looked at Vincent's face, finding no hint of lie or hostility. Feeling safe, Max smiled nodding along to Vincent's words.

"Wait, David's hurt? Is he okay?" Rebecca asked, reaching her hand out, letting it rest on Max's shoulder. Max turned around and saw the amount of distress the rest of his family was in. Max felt horrible, was he the reason they did not feel safe? Was he being selfish for feeling safe when they didn't?

"Mom, I- … I don't…" Max couldn't find any words. His heart ached even more when he saw his little sister step out halfway from behind his mother.

"Max? Are we going to be… okay?" Her voice sounded so broken. Max looked into her eyes, memories of when his father first started coming home drunk resurfaced. He remembered how Delilah would cling to him crying, calling out his nickname, begging to know when the screaming would stop. Max started crying, seeing his sister in that same distressed state he wished he would never see again. "Max?" Max fell to his knees, holding his hand to his mouth, hoping to save him from any embarrassment.

Vincent stilled, looking around at his parents. Silently begging for them to help. Ivan nodded finally letting David's head go, his head hitting harshly against the glass still on the table. Ivan and Alina walked to the family, silently pushing Vincent away. Ivan kneeled in front of Rebecca, looking toward Delilah as she hid behind her mother again. "Ma'am, I understand that your husband was abusive. This wasn't the first time he tried to hurt you, am I correct?"

"Well, no. But he's probably still mad about Max coming out as bisexual. I really don't care what happens to me if he doesn't hurt the kids." Rebecca said, wringing her hands together.

"That is not a proper mindset to be in Rebecca," Alina said, stepping away from Vincent who pulled Max into his arms. She stood right next to her husband, seeing his previous anger turn into worry for the family. "Should we help them, Honey?"

It wasn't up for discussion. They already feel sympathy for the victims, seeing how happy Max was when he entered their house. Seeing how depressed he gets when he must leave and when he comes from his house. When Vincent brought up the bruises he saw littering Max's body, they knew what they were going to do. It was the reason why Alina asked to meet them. Ivan closed his eyes as he sighed, getting up slowly. Ivan turned so that he could see everybody in the room.

"This family is broken. With the help of my associates, we plan to fix you all. So that you have a healthier relationship with yourself and others you may encounter outside the home. You will be transported to our home, go pack your clothes, because this will take a while."