Call Me a Sinner, Call Me a Saint [Private]

[L.C. Milliner]

[Continued from HERE. Date is July 1st.]

It was a nine hour drive from Vermont to Maryland without stopping, but it has somehow turned into an twelve hour trip. John insisted on stopping in New York for lunch, and that had taken longer than expected because they ate a sit down restaurant and ended up getting stuck in traffic, despite L.C.’s attempt to skirt New York City. Then they got lost Pennsylvania after taking the wrong turn off, which had resulted in them sitting in the car pouring over the map as he accused her of being a bad navigator and she told him to shut up and try it for himself when he could learn to stay on the right side of the road. In the end they worked out where they needed to be and how to get there- but it had taken a good half hour to get back on track. They sat in silence for the most part- she only spoke up when she gave directions. Otherwise she just looked out the window and steeled herself for what was to come.

Not to mention Landover Maryland was a stone’s throw away from D.C.- finding a sign pointing them there was hard with all the signs trying to point them to the capital. L.C. couldn’t believe the carnival had decided to set up so close to the capital on such a big holiday weekend. The place would be swarming with security. Once they entered the town, L.C. tried to find where the carnival was, which was a pain in itself- a sign on a shop window finally directed her to a huge parking lot next to a sports stadium.

Spying the big top as soon as the peak of it came into sight, L.C. sunk down in her seat and frowned, already dreading her decision to come. She should’ve just wired Milly some money. Gulping, she pointed some parking out to John, secluded yet still relatively close to the carnival. Once they were parked, however, she didn’t get out of the car right away. She sat there for a moment, just staring at the scene in front of her. The pit in her stomach grew steadily, and she gulped, worrying her lip.

Realizing she hadn’t said anything to John, she sat up and undid her seatbelt and looked at him. “We’re just going to go in, get Amelia, and leave. That’s it.” Hopefully that would be all and her Mother wouldn’t pounce on her and rip her to shreds, or whatever Anna felt like doing to her long lost offspring. Whatever she came up with, it certainly wouldn’t be pleasant. Then there was Orion, who was just as bad as their Mother, if not worse. He would be the worst problem she could run into, because at least with Anna she could deal with her right away and only have to deal with her alone. With Orion, he’d put her in a headlock and whisk her off to Anna. If that were the case, she’d have to deal with both of them.

Getting out of the car, L.C. slammed the door and looked around, noting the cars of the customers in the lot. The first thing that hit her was the smell of animals mixed with the oil used to cook all the food. Above all, she could smell the elephant ears and funnel cakes. If the mission to get Amelia weren’t so important, she would’ve gone to get one to take with her.

Most people would have gone in the front way, but that would’ve been suicide for L.C. and John. If Mr. Jeffords saw them he’d recognize her immediately and then he’d know exactly where Milly was going. (She wasn’t sure if Milly told her parents she was leaving. She assumed not.) Instead, she pointed to the big top and motioned silently for John to follow, shoving her hands in her pockets before walking across the lot, eyes shifting everywhere.

She hated it here. Every bit of it.

Passing around the back of the large, red and white striped tent (which was older than she was), she passed between the waterproof canvas exterior and the animal pens, noting with passing interest that somewhere along the line the carnival apparently picked up a decent horse act. She ignored where the crowd was and slipped past the ropes sectioning off the customer section and the residential section of the lot, looking around the front RVs for Amelia. She stayed quiet- she didn’t want anyone hearing her calls that shouldn’t.

God, she hated it here.

[John Thornton]

After twelve hours of driving, John was sure of two things. First was that New York was a dirty city, which was forgivable, but seemed to be full of people lazing around on a work day, which was not forgivable. And second was that Lyra was never ever to touch his radio again because he was quite sure she had broken either it or his ears. Possibly both.

She had sulked for almost half an hour when he refused point blank to go through a drive through for some sort of fried thing for lunch (to eat in the car which would be horrible, not to mention the smell, but seemed to be mollified when he took her to a deli instead. They had corned beef, so he was happy, and he bought her a soft drink so she stopped sulking.

Until they got lost, through no fault of his own, and a squabble brought the tense silence.

Finally, after a day of driving, which had caused serious creases in his shirt and his trousers, they had apparently found the circus. Or carnival. Whichever. Following Lyra’s directions, Thornton parked and then turned to his companion expectantly, one eyebrow raised over curious blue eyes. Now what?

Apparently, they were going to kidnap someone. Of course. This was Lyra he was with.

”Please tell me she’s over eighteen,” he said wearily, adjusting the rearview mirror so he could fix his tie. ”I have no intention of spending time in an American jail for kidnapping a minor.” Climbing out of the car he frowned disapprovingly as his car door was slammed and shut his own firmly with a like this gesture. He had been her teacher after all.

Then the smell hit him. God, the smell!

”Lyra, what exactly are we doing?” He asked, following the short blond as he tried to smooth the wrinkles out of his shirt, but she seemed to be wanting silence so with a when this is over we are going to have a serious talk look he scowled and followed behind the huge lurid tent. There was dung everywhere, and it was hard for John to follow as he was taking great care to keep his shoes out of all of it. ”Oh for goodness sakes,” he muttered darkly, and was about to ask what kind of animal produced so much shit when he glanced up and was almost face to face with an elephant.

Well, that explained it then.

[Amelia Jeffords]

Amelia had been on edge ever since Lyra called, certain that some astute observer would notice the clothes missing from her dresser or the accelerated heart beat that occurred every single time thoughts of her escape crossed her mind. If nothing else, surely someone would notice just how jumpy she was, twitching at the slightest noise and cringing with guilt whenevr someone called her name.

And yet the day drew nearer, and nobody called her out on her plan and the only person who asked if there was anything wrong was Cassandra, who accepted the mumbled explanation that it was only nerves about the holiday performances.

Not even her father showed any signs he thought her behavior was unusual, and in reality, for Amelia it wasn't; She was such a naturally twitchy young woman that nobody had noticed that she was more jittery.

Only one person at the carnival knew of her impending escape, and she was being helpful. Just because Lyra had said she could trust the contortionist didn't mean she entirely had faith, but Yue-Ming hadn't sold her out just yet, so that was something. Her luggage consisted of one blue-and-green plaid suitcase, stuffed with what clothes she could fit in, and a ziploc bag filled with toiletries. She didn't have much in the first place, but she had even less luggage she could fit it all in. She told herself that was okay; she didn't want to inconvenience Lyra, who might not be able to fit much in her car. If she had one. Come to think of it, she hadn't asked what their transportation would be.

Because she'd hidden her luggage in Yue-Ming's trailer that was where she was currently, hiding away from the aerial hoop act, which was where she was supposed to be. Her spangled outfit was still hanging in the closet in her room, a hateful reminder of a life she wanted to leave and thus she intended to leave it behind with the rest of the carnival.

She perched on the steps of the contortionist's trailer, a half-empty plastic cup of iced lemonade provided by her helper in one hand. The awning above the steps did little to keep the sun off, and the humidity was stifling. She couldn't understand how the mundanes could stand it, wandering around the carnival in the sweltering heat, little provided in the way of shelter and refreshments only offered at exorbitant prices. The smell she didn't even notice; she was used to being around animals and their sweat and excrement, and she herself didn't smell particularly fragrant, not with sweat pouring down her neck and under her arms. She'd pulled her dark hair as far up off her neck as she could, and it still heated her neck and back up too much. Maybe she ought to get it chopped off.

Or maybe she should have waited inside, rather than risk someone spotting her, but she wasn't sure how well she'd be able to see out of the tiny kitchenette window, and she needed to be able to recognize...

"Lyra!" She gulped down the remainder of her lemonade too quickly, splashing most of it down her shirt (which felt nice and cool, so she didn't worry too much about it, though once they were on their way she would want to change into something clean) and leaned down to grab the handle of her suitcase, which she'd shoved under the steps.

She didn't even notice the gentleman following her friend, too intent on this reunion, butterflies filling her stomach at the sight of her beloved and sorely missed best friend.

[L.C. Milliner]

It was funny, what one’s subconscious could do. Even after years of being out of the carnival, L.C. still did the same things she did when she was in it. While John fussed and skirted around animal dung, she missed it entirely without even looking down, because she kept close to the side of the tent to the point where the canvas was being pushed inward from her going around it. Any carnie inside the structure would have seen it and dismissed it as another one of their brethren coming back from a cigarette or booze run. It was amazing, how much she could get away with.

Rolling her eyes at John as the elephant seemed to stop him, L.C. patted the trunk of the creature idly and directed its snout to some hay. Once it was happily eating, she pulled the dumbstruck Englishman along. “She’s a year younger than me. So yes, she’s eighteen.” John had a tendency to forget that she was nineteen, and she had to wonder if it was because he saw her as a child or if she really did look younger than that. “And even if she wasn’t, they wouldn’t call the police anyway.” A dark look crossed L.C.’s face and she had to turn away so he wouldn’t see it. “They didn’t call for me, anyway.” She muttered, not realizing she had said it aloud.

She had trouble spotting Yue-Ming’s trailer because the contortionist had replaced it- she was busy looking at the banged up trailers she remembered seeing as a kid. She paused when she saw an RV on the far side of the lot and bit her lip as she looked at it- that was Murphy and Harold Wayne’s old trailer. Amelia told her that Harold had left, but she wondered if Murphy was still around. It wasn’t unheard of for people to auction off trailers once their occupants died- one of the sideshow fire-eaters had picked up Magda’s old RV when she passed away.

Almost passing by Amelia when she saw her, L.C. was ready to see if she was already setting up to perform in the tent. She did a double take when her name was called, almost ready to bolt, but then she saw her friend and her face broke out into a grin. She almost doubled over in laughter when she saw Milly dump her drink on herself- that was certainly her, alright- but she was too excited to laugh at her friend. Dropping all intentions of being stealthy, L.C. let out a whoop and charged her friend, wrapping her arms around her waist as she lifted her into a hug and spun her around, luggage be damned. “Oh, I missed you I missed you I missed you!” L.C. howled, letting go only to take a look at her friend, all grown up.

Well, she was still shorter than her- that much L.C. could appreciate. Not by much, but there was still some height between the two of them. Her skin was still coffee-colored and her hair was still a wavy mess, even when put up in a bun. Her face was a bit different- she had lost the baby fat on her cheeks and her eyebrows were thinner. She was most definitely a performer. “Aren’t you just the prettiest thing this side of the river? Look at you, all grown up and stuff. The boys must be following you around like flies, hmm?” It was just like the old days. L.C. had already fallen into the habit of teasing her, and now that she was back in her element her southern accent was even kicking in once again, having been absent while she was in Hammel.

Realizing that John was still behind her, L.C. turned, throwing an arm over Milly’s shoulder. “This is John Thornton, my lovely British chauffeur.” Snorting at her joke, she continued. “Nah, he’s a teacher at Hammel. He offered to help me get here. Otherwise I’d be hitchhiking. I’m surprised you were waiting for me; when does the act start anyway?” Now that they actually had Milly, L.C. was much calmer- she figured her mother was out preening herself for her show and her brother was out doing whatever drugs he could get his hands on. They could waste a little time before they left.

Everything was going so well.

[John Thornton]

The problem with Miss Milliner, Thornton had decided, was that when he was with her he was constantly called to react to things that were as foreign to him as the reason why the Japanese ate raw fish. Here was another example. Lyra was obviously upset by the fact that no one had called the police when she'd run away, yet seemed to think this was how things worked. He was missing something, and she was clearly upset, and he honestly had no idea what to do.

"Well," he started, then, realising he had no idea what to say, turned to inspect the cuffs of his jacket for possible dirt or marks or something that was extremely important.

And then, within the space of two minutes, it happened again. Two girls reunited; he'd seen his sister greet her friends enough to know that this display was normal, but he was also aware of how, well, awkward it was to just be standing there, watching, like some sort of lecher.

At last, he could not take it any more and cleared his throat. Whether it was due to that, or because she had finally realised he had been left standing there like a well dressed tent pole, Lyra finally introduced her friend to him. Allowing himself only a tiny glare at the blond girl over her little joke, he nodded his head in greeting and offered a short, "Pleasure,". The englishman let out a slight huff at the very idea of Lyra trying to hitchhike, then cleared his throat again and picked up the solitary suitcase.

"Ladies, shall we?" he prompted in all seriousness. He was eager to escape the animals, and the smells, and the dirt, as quickly as possible.

[Amelia Jeffords]

Amelia let out a shriek as Lyra picked her up, heart racing at the closeness of her best friend. She'd never forgotten how beautiful the older girl was, though time and boarding school had treated her well. She almost felt as if she were in a romantic movie, where the love interest returned after what seemed a hopeless amount of time only to reunite and rescue the princess.

She rested her hands on her friend's shoulders as she was twirled around, taking in blond hair and large, expressive eyes. Lyra was a woman now, not the young girl who had escaped the carnival without her best friend all those years ago. They ha promised, and she had broken it, but now, reunited with her champion, Milly couldn't hold it against her.

"Thank you." She could feel the heat rush to her cheeks at the compliments, heat wholly unrelated to the oppressive summer temperatures. Her smile, wide upon seeing Lyra again, twitched into a frown at the mention of boys. She didn't have anything against them, exactly, or at least not anything more than she had against people in general, but they did on occasion seem to believe she ought to be swooning over them.

Not a chance.

"I guess a few of them are, yeah." She grumbled as she was lowered back to the ground, obligatory examination and greeting over. She felt a twinge of sadness, as if she'd allowed the mention of boys to distract her from an opportunity: the opportunity to be romantically reunited with Lyra, to fling her arms around her and kiss her. And then they would go get married. Her childhood dream had yet to be crushed completely.

But before she could rectify this she was being turned about to be introduced to....

a man.

An attractive (if stuffy looking) adult man.

She narrowed her eyes at him during Lyra's introduction, scrutinizing him with transparent suspicion. "That was nice of him." She offered, her tone plain that she was sure he had some ulterior motive.

She nodded at his acknowledgement, returning it with an equally curt though less polite, "Hey." before turning her attention back to Lyra, and her question regarding the act she was supposed to be participating in.

"I'm supposed to be getting ready right now." She admitted, scuffing the toe of one shoe into the dirt awkwardly, "So I guess we'd better go before I'm missed."

Which was essentially what John was suggesting, as well, though she wasn't going to give him the pleasure of adding that she agreed with him.

[L.C. Milliner]

Orion S. Milliner

Nothing in the world could make this moment better in any way. L.C. was reunited with her best friend and they were going to run away just like they promised each other they would. They were going to live together and work real jobs that were safe and had steady pay. They were going to go to college and get degrees and make loads of money, and buy houses and get married and have kids, and all of the other normal, so wonderfully normal, things that adults did. The carnival was history. It could keep going along without them, and it would, as always. If Mr. Anderson was anything, he was a cunning businessman.

Amelia’s suspicion was lost on L.C. completely, and she couldn’t help but nod. “Yeah, it was great, even though he wouldn’t let me pick the radio station.” With a grin, she let John take Amelia’s case, looking at it with a raised brow and a frown. “That’s all you’re packing? I don’t suppose you have winter clothes, do you...” She didn’t know how long it had been since the carnival had actually gone North for the winter- most years they stayed in Florida and Georgia during the winter months. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll just hit up Goodwill in the fall.” She said quickly, remembering how Amelia had a tendency to take things the wrong way.

Both of them reminded her of the mission, and she realized that they were right- the less time they spent in the carnival, the better. “Oh, yeah. Well, I guess you’ve said your goodbyes and all that.” That at least explained why Yue-Ming hadn’t come out to greet L.C., she was probably doing her stretches in the main tent. With a jerk of her thumb, L.C. pointed the way back to the car, ushering Amelia to go ahead. “John, if you would please?” She asked, pointing him to head back the way they came.

Passing by the big tent, L.C. could see the car around the elephant, the muted gray almost matching the color of the beast’s skin. Suppressing a laugh, L.C. smiled and was about to follow close behind when she stopped short, the breeze from beyond the tent carrying a familiar smell on the wind. Taking a deep breath, L.C. was almost hypnotized by it:

Fat Tino’s Funnel Cakes.

Nobody made funnel cakes like him, nobody. She was raised on Tino’s funnel cakes and would swear anything by them. She would give a finger, no, an arm for just another taste of them. He cooked them just right and never over-powdered them of spread the powdered sugar unevenly. They were fried up just right and if they weren’t he would toss them in the reject pile for the animals. That reject pile was always very small too; some days it was even non-existent. Pausing in her walk, L.C. looked back behind her and could see the corner of the stand peeking out from behind the tent, beckoning her. Looking forward again, she touched Amelia’s shoulder lightly and shot her an impish grin. “Be right back. Wait for me by the car.”

Then she was off, ducking into the crowd of mundanes, mingling with them as she skirted the hyperactive children, shuffled around the annoyed parents, and ducked past the rigged games. Reaching the funnel cake stand, she realized how long the line was and groaned inwardly, standing in the back as she pulled a couple dollars from her bag and waited. She could see Tino’s hairy arms through the window and she smirked, closing her eyes to inhale the scent again. It was worth it. It was so worth it.

She made her way to the front and passed the money over, feeling odd. As a child of the carnival, she normally got funnel cakes for free, a privilege she abused more than enough times. It was a feat that Tino didn’t look over and recognize her, but he was obviously too busy perfecting his food. She was amazed he was even kicking- she expected him to have died of a heart attack by now, with all the grease clogging his arteries.

Once she got her funnel cake, she took her change and flashed the biggest grin she could manage, skipping off and, unbeknownst to her, drawing a lot of attention to herself. She felt like she was nine years old again, going off to deliver a funnel cake to Magda. Taking a piece off to bite into, she sighed and felt a shiver run down her spine as the taste brought back memories. She stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes, pausing for a moment to picture it.

Murphy carrying her on his shoulders as he walked her home after her act. Lying in the grass with Magda, learning the constellations. Playing soccer in the mud with Helena while Amelia watched from the sidelines, safe from the rain under an umbrella. Getting grabbed by Orion and having his thumb pressed into the dip under her hair where her head met her neck...

Wait. Ow. That was painful.

“Hey, Lyra.”

Oh hell. Oh damn. Oh shit. Oh, FUCK.

She felt her head turn and she came face to face with one of the two people she didn’t want to see: Orion. He grinned at her, revealing one of his molars was half metal- apparently he hadn’t gone to the dentist to get that turned white. The rest of his teeth were yellowed, probably from all the smoking. He reeked of pot and cigarettes and his eyes made it obvious that, while he wasn’t stoned at the moment, he had been earlier. “Missed you, sis.” He said in a sickly sweet tone, steering her in the opposite direction. The thumb pressed to the back of her neck hurt like hell, and she was so focused on that particular pain she didn’t bother to stop him.

“Ow, Orion. Let the fuck go.” She muttered, swiping at him with her free hand. He smacked it and she smacked his, resulting in her wrist getting grabbed. “Ow, OW. Let go, dammit!” She pulled away, and he let go, raising his hands to show he had surrendered. She paused, knowing there was a catch to it- and his smirk (so like hers, it pissed her off immediately) proved he had an ace up his sleeve yet.

“S’all good, Lyra.” He said, emphasizing the first syllable. She gritted her teeth and refrained from punching him just yet. “Go on ahead. But, ah, does Mr. Jeffords know where you’re taking Amelia?” L.C. froze, the pounding in the back of her neck suddenly growing worse as she realized he had her cornered. “I was just wondering. I mean, if so, well, we gotta start training Cassie for that hoop.”

A hiss was issued from L.C. and she dropped her funnel cake without a second thought, lunging at her brother as he snickered and grabbed her flailing hands, putting her in a headlock as he dragged her away from the mundanes, some of whom were staring with passing interest. Once they were certain they both were carnies, they left the two alone. It didn’t even cross L.C.’s mind to use her spikes, for once- Orion was her brother, for one, and she knew that if she tried the spikes on him he’d just keep at it anyway. He was unyielding in his quest to ruin her life.

“C’mon, little bitch. Mama’s gonna be so glad to see you.”

Squirming like a cat getting hauled to a filled bathtub, L.C. tried to reason with her brother. “Let go! I’ll go away. You can sell all my old stuff. You can give me a black eye. You can cut my hair, even! Just don’t take me to Mama...” She tried to give him a pleading look, but he just snickered at her.

“Oh yeah. This is gonna be good...”

[John Thornton]

"I'm against young women hitch hiking," Thornton snapped in reply to the girl's loaded remark. The way she was looking at him was disconcerting to the point of extreme awkwardness, and he sent a look to Lyra that he hoped read explain to your friend I am not some sort of predator before she tries to lynch me.

Still, she seemed to be willing to give him her suitcase to carry, and while the girls talked about clothes and Goodwill (he assumed it was a store), he started to make his way back towards his car. The animal leavings were easier to spot this time, and he side stepped the elephant with a suspicious glare before spinning around when Lyra announced she was leaving.

"Do you really thing that's a good idea," he started, but the head of blonde hair had already vanished. With a world weary sigh, Thornton eyed the remaining female child with suspicion, lest she too decide to run off to follow some piper or buy some moon shine. Whatever it was kids did these days. "The car is just here," he said softly as he pulled open the trunk and tucked the rather small bag away.

Closing the trunk, the englishman looked at his companion for a moment, then shook his head. "Hop in the car, and lock the doors," he suggested, "I'll go get Lyra." It was hardly the time to go exploring, after all. She'd been the one stressing hase and death and all manner of nasty things that needed avoiding.

Besides, he could buy some of that pink sugar floss he'd seen people with. Kids liked that, right? Maybe that would get this Amelia girl to stop glaring at him. That would be worth sticky fingers on his leather seats.

Within minutes the englishman realised that he had no idea where the fairy floss was being made, nor did he wish to wade through a sea of dirty children to find it. But that was not why he was frowning. Something had caught his ear, and while he had only just been entertaining thoughts about the unkept nature of the children he saw, the sound of someone in distress always triggered the same reaction.

But that was no common, dirty faced urchin. The dark faced man stopped dead in his tracks as he recognised what he was seeing, then surged forward. "Hey," Thornton roared, raising his voice for the first time in weeks, "What do you think you're doing? Let go, now!"

Whoever this man was, it would be in his best interest to unhand John's young friend. Or there would be serious consequences.

[Amelia Jeffords]

Amelia's face fell at the mention of winter clothes. She hadn't thought to pack any, barely had room for summer clothes in her suitcase as it was. "....No, but..." She began defensively, but Lyra was backtracking, so she clamped her mouth shut. Just so long as she wasn't expected to redo her packing.

"Yeah, whatever." There were few people she wanted to say goodbye to. Perhaps Cassie, if she'd thought her sister wouldn't tell, but she didn't trust anyone enough to let them know she was leaving.

"Sure." She followed Mr. Thornton to the car, her suspicion of him transparent. He was attractive and he was with Lyra, and therefore he was probably some old creeper who had taken up teaching to perv on all the nubile teen girls. Yuck.

However, perv or not, he was carrying her luggage, so she mumbled a "Thanks." as he hefted it into the trunk of the car.

However, she was not going to just sit in the car while he and Lyra traipsed off all over the damn carnival. John was safe, but Anna and Orion would recognize the blonde girl in a heartbeat. Of course, they would recognize Amelia as well, and she wasn't entirely sure that hanging out in John's car without him was the safest course of action. Quite aside from burning to death in the sun if anyone saw her they might take her back! Locks didn't matter; they could still try and break the windows or something. Probably. She was pretty sure it would be awful and dramatic, anyway, which was why she did not get in the car, but instead trailed behind John at a distance. Every time he stepped over animal leavings he flinched; it was kind of funny, really, and she had to try not to laugh.

Her heart sped up at the sound of familiar voices, familiar distressed, loud voices, and she hurried to catch up with John.

"Orion!" Her voice was a low hiss of hate for the young man. "Let go of Lyra."

[L.C. Milliner]

Anna Milliner

A few years ago, L.C. might have had a fighting chance against her brother. For one, he had been a weakling when he was a teenager; being seven years older didn’t help him much when he had a sister with the temperament of a pit bull and the leg strength of a kangaroo. Plus, a few years ago she would have been angry enough with him and the rest of the world that she would’ve spiked him, and she would’ve made certain it was in a vital spot. But now, He was in his late twenties (twenty-six now, if she remembered right) and apparently was working with the part of the carnival that needed muscle- she didn’t remember him being strong. She didn’t want to spike him, either. Like it or not, he was her brother, after all.

Squirming seemed to be her best bet, because his advancing seemed to slow when she twisted around in his grip. Latching onto her hair and pulling was his way of dealing with that problem- the subsequent yowl of pain from her as she started trying to stomp on his foot in retaliation made him snicker. She realized after a few well-placed kicks at his feet that he was wearing steel toe boots. “That. Is. CHEATING!” She said, trying to elbow him instead. That started a war of bickering between them that was almost painful to listen to, insults flying back and forth as her pulled her hair and she punched his ribs. There were regular repeats of the word ‘scum’ ‘bitch’, and the ever popular f-bomb, which dropped enough to make the most foulmouthed people widen their eyes.

When John found them, L.C. had her face pointed at the ground with one of Orion’s hands in her hair, the other on her left wrist. One foot was harshly kicking his ankle, the other bracing her- her hands were all over the place, flailing and punching whatever was in reach. Both of them paused for a split second as he and Amelia came up, then both gritted their teeth and looked at each other. “HE STARTED IT.” “SHE STARTED IT.” There was a pause and an exchange of incredulous looks, then the yelling and the physical fighting began again, at least until Orion yanked her hard enough to stun her and dragged her back into a headlock while she regained her breath.

Once he was certain his sister was subdued for a moment, he turned back to the two, surveying John for a moment before disregarding him, turning to Amelia instead, grinning in way that could be considered sadistic. “Aw hell, Milly. I just want Lyra-” A kick from L.C. and a sputter of cursing stopped him for a moment, “To see our Mama before she heads off. She’s been missing her something awful, you know.” L.C. rolled her eyes and tried to bite Orion’s arm, but he rolled his eyes at her. Despite being fierce as could be in the punching and kicking department, she couldn’t bite worth a damn.

That was when a shriek came from across the lot, and Orion jumped and released L.C., shoving his hands in his pockets as he tried to make it look like they hadn’t been securely around her neck moments earlier. L.C. looked like she had found herself standing in front of an oncoming train, and she looked to Milly and pointed toward what she thought was the direction of the car, but that was when she was all but pounced on. The woman attached herself to the stunned girl and ran her fingers through her hair as she peppered her with kisses on the cheeks and forehead.

“Oh, my BABY.” The woman yelled, wrapping her arms around L.C., who had a terrified look despite the attention she was receiving. The woman pouted and cocked her head slightly to the side, causing L.C. to lean farther away. “Oh, Lyra, honey. I was SO WORRIED.” Pulled into another hug, L.C. almost looked ready to fall over as the older woman gave something akin to a hiccup and a sob at the same time. “When you ran away, I was so worried about you, and I looked everywhere, but then I got the letter from your school, and oh, HONEY.” L.C. frowned at this, letting herself get sucked into another hug. “But I thought you were mad at me!”

As if she had just noticed the two standing there, the older woman blinked and grinned at them as if she won the lottery. “MILLY. Aren’t you so glad Lyra’s back?!” Something in her voice was off, but that was when she looked to John and she stared for a moment, smile never faltering. “And hello! I’m Lyra’s mother, Anna, you would be?”

Meanwhile, L.C. found she had turned into something akin to marble, and, under her mother’s preening hands, couldn’t help but stare at her and try to figure out if she was being genuine. She gulped and tried to step back, but Anna merely took a step forward and hugged her again, something the blonde girl did not like at all.