19 Remains from the Past (1/2)

A yawn escaped Karen when the amateur comedian got voted off from the show stage and gravity pulled her sideways.

Her eyelids grew heavy after this eventful day, which had already taken its toll on her earlier.

The sight on the screen diminished when she rested her head on Sebastian's shoulder, only to be replaced by Jacob's head as he stood up to sneak over to the hallway and peek around the corner.

He seemed relieved when he returned, which changed back to nervous a moment later when he stepped in front of the television.

"Ugh… dad? Can we talk? I… Karen and I want to speak with you about some things."

Karen straightened up at the notion, her mind hazy, and struggled to remember their last conversation.

Jacob's shy eyes locked on her, after they moved from his own feet, in search of the support she must have promised him.

A nudge from Sebastian didn't help her thoughts, either.

"What do you two want to talk about, Karen?"

Sweat covered her hands and heat rushed into her face, while she got put on the spot without a viable answer in mind.

It took a moment to fight through the fog, but his vague questions returned to her.

"I remember… but only that you asked me if I was afraid while doing my job."

Her breathing calmed now that she had regained some resemblance of control over the situation, although Jacob looked like he inherited what she overcame.

"Jacob, please. We can only help you if you talk to us. What is it really that burdens you?"

She leaned forward to hide the shaking of her hands.

That was just a small remnant she could deal with alone. Jacob could not.

He fiddled with his fingers before whispering, barely loud enough to understand with the still running television in the background.

"I don't know if I'm really suitable for this… the training and everything…"

His glum voice caught all of her attention, and Sebastian turned the television off without digressing.

"What do you mean? Is it about your slow progress during the training? Warren told me he will soon get help. You don't need to worry about your evaluation."

It was easy to tell by the way he gazed away, that something else bothered him.

Almost a full minute passed, announced by the loud ticking pendulum clock that repeated its now unnerving rhythm before Jacob's cracking voice answered.

"No, not that. You saw it yourself, dad! I almost… hurt you… I can't control my powers. I'm not fitted to…"

His shoulders sank lower, displaying a deep sitting lack of confidence.

Despite trying his best to recognize his son's emotional needs, Sebastian remained himself, unable to stay serious, even in this situation.

"That you broke the stairs in half wasn't your fault. You just tried catching me. I mean, it's not like I never used my abilities accidentally when I still wasn't used to them. Hahaha…"

Sebastian's nervous laughter died when he saw that nobody had joined in and he scratched the back of his head to fill the awkward silence.

Was that what had caused her to wake up, the sound of Jacob's accident?

Karen put her still jittery hand on Sebastian's back, as it was now on her to stop him from alienating his son further.

"What are you not suited for? Jacob, you can talk with us."

This time came the answer sooner, as if he had gone through that part several times before.

"The military… I… always wanted to help others, protect people… like a hero…"

A slight pause sneaked within his words, increasing the tension she felt.

"But training's not about that… it's all about hurting… and my powers are all about destroying things… I don't want that…"

Before Karen could think about what to answer, what to tell the gentle boy in front of her, returned Sebastian's voice, with a bitter tone that seemed like a relic from a darker time.

"Jacob. It's not that easy in life. We can't always pick our role. Choose what talents we are born with."

She didn't even dare to interrupt the harsh truth that Sebastian must have witnessed himself.

"What you have is a gift, but with it comes an obligation. A duty to protect those that can't protect themselves."

On Jacob's face was similar shock as on her own, nevertheless, despite his obvious difficulties with it, he still voiced his opinion.

"Can I not just… help people differently? I could just be… firefighter?"

Sebastian's next words seemed almost made to break the last glimmer of hope in Jacob's eyes, even though she could hear how much it pained Sebastian to say them.

"You can't possibly keep your powers without passing the training. We can still talk about your future once you went through the basic routine and the final evaluation, but the government doesn't allow any magic users to keep their abilities when they're unable to control them."

What followed was but a whisper from his son, with no strength behind it.

"But…"

Still, Sebastian did not give an inch of way, his helplessness shining through.

"No buts Jacob. I have as much of a choice as you do."

A moment of silence followed, filled only by the sound of the clock, while Jacob's wide-open eyes darted to Karen in a last desperate attempt to ask for support.

But she could not meet his gaze. What Sebastian said was cruel, yet true.

Whatever she might offer, it would change nothing about the situation and, even worse, it might just deepen the chasm between the two.

Jacob turned to leave the room as he recognized he would not get any help from her, his food half eaten and cold.

"You know, dad? Sophie would at least try to understand me…"

[---][---][---][---][---][---][---][---]

A sour taste remained in Karen's mouth after the confrontation in the living room and she continued to brush her teeth, desperate to remove it.

Did she even have a right to tell Sebastian how to raise his children? After all, Sophie had made it clear enough that she was only an unwelcome intruder…

The thought stuck to her, not for the first time, and she reached for the cup of water she prepared, as if rinsing her mouth could do the same with her mind.

Instead ended most of the content in the sink, spilled by her shaking hands.

Karen looked up at the mirror and felt nausea threaten to overwhelm her until a soft squeeze on her arm brought her back to reality.

"Hey, everything alright?"

Sebastian had already changed into his grey pajama pants, his upper trained body free, and the large scar on his chest covered with salve.

Wrinkles formed on her forehead, as she looked at the almost empty box in his hand, while her eyes threatened to close.

"Sure… it's nothing. Do you need help with the other?"

He hesitated a moment, before reaching her the container as an answer and turning his back.

"Do you want to talk about that nothing?"

Karen pushed his concern aside to concentrate on the task at hand.

A look at the inflamed tissue was enough to tell that he still had trouble to apply the medication in the right amount.

She grimaced as her heavy fingers moved around the edge of the scar in careful circles.

"You said you would not skimp with it anymore. Why does it then look worse again?"

Her patient twitched when she reached a sensitive place, followed by a hiss as he breathed in.

"Ouch… but I didn't save on it. It's just the stress. Additional training sessions and magic use. Applying more won't do anything either, since I don't know when I'll get more."

While Sebastian turned around and put the rest of his pajama on, placed she the box back in its place.

"Try to sleep on your side, then. I, for my part, am so tired I could sleep standing."

With no more words shambled Karen into the bedroom and slipped under the cover.

Drifting into dreams of unexpected origin, soon after Sebastian followed her.

[---][---][---][---][---][---][---][---]

It was a day like many others, spend below artificial light, in a sparsely decorated office.

Karen's bored eyes drifted away from the conference table, over the windows that gave sight to Barcelona's skyline, onto delicate manicured nails that weren't her own.

She recognized them from an unwelcome memory, just earlier this day.

From her involuntary guest seat, observed Karen through Tatjana's eyes, her meeting with nine other Demons.

A feeling of familiarity and trust filled her as her eyes wandered to their faces and although their words were unrecognizable to her, the feeling of dread that she felt from her host clarified she didn't look forward to the work ahead of her.

Few more tedious moments passed before Karen heard a gunshot from the hallway and her hairs stood on edge, the safety of boredom forgotten in an instant.

She knew what was about to happen, seeing it before in flashbacks, but this time it felt so real that she could no longer separate her own feelings from Tatjana's or simply repress them.

A younger and more heavily armed version of Sebastian stepped into the conference room with his grip around the neck of the security guard, who tried to stop him.

Karen tried to close her eyes, knowing what was about to happen, but Tatjana had her gaze fixated on the desperate man that struggled for air.

The blood froze in her veins while she watched how life slowly left his eyes, while his murderer remained with a stern expression.

All of Tatjana's colleagues in the room had wide-open eyes as Sebastian let go of the limp body and moved towards them.

Cold sweat ran down her neck as one of Tatjana's brethren stood up and tried to reason with the intruder.

The fruitless attempt to reason ended with a simple but deadly punch from Sebastian.

"No prisoners."

His monotone words echoed in Karen's mind, driving tears into Tatjana's eyes.

Silence filled the room as the cold-blooded murderer moved around the left side of the table and Tatjana felt herself ashamed for the relief she felt as he moved towards the women opposite of her.

Her friend broke into tears before falling over as well. Knowing full well she stood no chance against the Ripper.

Albeit Karen didn't know any of Tatjana's brethren, she felt her pain when they died in front of her and her struggle to escape this nightmare grew more desperate with each second.

The man two seats further seemed to see himself as a hero and stood up to attack Sebastian directly.

A woman in between him and his target could barely dodge to the side when the martyr tore the surrounding metal from the walls and table to send it towards their attacker.

It moved agile like snakes before stopping as their owner burst into flames from a precise projectile at his face.

With most of the table destroyed had Karen free sight as Sebastian stepped on the crawling Demon that had barely dodged her aggressive colleague and turned her to ice, before shattering her body into thousand pieces.

Karen felt how Tatjana fell into a pit of despair at the sight, growing assured that she would die here like the others.

Chaos ensued when another one made a desperate run for the door, sprinting over the rest of the table before his body exploded into a hot, bloody pulp that painted the entire room as he passed the Ripper.

Tatjana's memories became more diffuse as the following events got tainted by adrenaline.

The heroic Demon still screamed in pain from the fire, but used his last moment to buy the others all the time he could.

With an ear-piercing sound exploded the rest of the metal in his reach, into a cloud of dust that filled the room and took the sight.

The other three must have seen that as chance too, since fighting ensued and magic filled the room soon after.

Karen watched the dust light up with color from the first actual battle with Demons she witnessed.

Yet Tatjana spared no such heed, instead covering the floor below her with acid.

She knew the composition, so it didn't take long with a little more effort.

Her last friend besides her gave her as much backup as she could, glancing over desperately as the hole grew quickly.

The last Tatjana saw from her colleague were two legs that fell into separate directions as her torso exploded with boiling heat.

From there, the visions devolved into an incoherent nightmare, filled with a chase sequence through the office halls, in which she had to run from a merciless Sebastian, set out to finish his job.

She could feel her muscles burning while running, her vision growing dim as she gasped for air.

All that kept her from death, just the smidgen of distance Sebastian reduced with each moment more.

Then filled a slight brush of his fingers her elbow with agonizing pain.

With her last breath aimed Karen for a window that didn't get closer.

Only to get wrestled to the ground by her pursuer.

Her already frostbitten arm cracking under the weight of her attacker, as she tried to defend herself.

There was no time to think, no place for reason besides the hammer of her pulse.

She could only struggle, kick, punch, survive.

And scream.

The next moment she could hear a voice that pulled on her until she awakened in her bed, her pajama drenched in sweat, the beating heart still echoing loud in her skull.

Still imprisoned in that last moment, Karen lashed out against the afterimage of her attacker, ignoring the phantom pain in her limbs and hitting him straight in the head.

Finally freeing herself.

"Ouch! What the hell?!"

Karen's erratic breathing stabilized when the light turned on and the darkness revealed only an empty ceiling.

She found her body stretched all over the bed after reorienting herself.

Her knee rammed into Sebastian's kidney, and her fist in Sebastian's dazzled face.

The same face that had haunted her nightmare.

Quickly retracted Karen her limbs, and moved away from him, filled with the undeniable realization that she wasn't feeling safe with the man she loved.

And maybe she would never again…