Topic: Recipe for a Disaster (In the Meantime...)

Prescott

Date: 2017-08-08 17:44 EST
10-10-2013?12:30AM
Left behind...

The room was dark, gloomy, and almost painfully recognizable upon the birth of his eyes from lids and a few blinks to wash away the blurriness. A hand moved to swipe at his face, but was halted at the wrist by the almost gut-wrenching sound of metal on metal. ?You?re up,? a voice said from across the room, causing Max?s head to jerk in that direction. He could make out a figure, and the slight gleam of light reflecting in the white of a single eye. The voice was what gave him away, one that he?d never forget. Both hands gripped the metal sides of the bed he was cuffed to, and he worked himself into a sitting position, grunting as a sharp pain ran through his side. ?Relax,? he chuckled. ?You?re going to be staying a while, may as well stay comfortable??

?Where?s June?? he hissed bitterly, giving a defiant yank to both cuffs. Memories of the night he was captured were fuzzy, but he could clearly remember tearing away her necklace. How had he survived June, let alone the gunshot?

?I?ve been waiting for you to wake up so that I could ask you the same question,? Reynolds said, raising to his feet and stalking over toward the bed. ??that thing killed every one of my men,? he hissed, bending down into the faint light coming off the monitor and glowered at him with a single eye, the other swollen shut with a gruesome wound cutting over it, tarnishing that infamous snake tattoo.

The smile that twitched at the corner of Max?s mouth couldn?t be fought, he leaned back in the bed and turned those eyes away thoughtfully. ?Good girl??

She didn?t get caught? She?s okay?

And for the first time since he woke up, he felt as if he could finally breathe. It didn?t matter what Reynolds did to him, his daughter was safe. That was all that mattered to him.

The peace was disrupted by the slap of Reynolds? palm to the metal bar, ?Where the hell is the monster, Prescott? I know you know where it is!?

?I would tell you, I really would?? Max softened some and looked over at him. ??if I knew any monsters, I would tell you exactly where they were,? he assured him with a smile. ??but I don?t. Sorry,? with a halfhearted shrug, and got back to relaxing there the best he could.

?Okay, when you?re ready to decide you don?t want to rot in here, you just let me know, Prescott,? he said, jaw clenching as his knuckles whited out from squeezing the bar of the bedside before turning toward the door. ?For now, you?ll just take its place??

As Reynolds started out, he sat up some and turned toward him. ?Reynolds. Wait,? he finally said, watching as the man turned toward him with interest. ?I just wanted to say? June?s not a monster,? firm, unrelenting. ??she won?t be unless people like you make her into one,? he hissed. ?She?s a child, who likes to paint with blue, cries at the happy parts of movies, and laughs whenever someone hiccups.?

?That thing knows nothing but how to kill,? Reynolds responded with a glare. ??and by protecting her, you?re putting countless people at risk.?

?That girl is more human than you will ever be?? Max responded, waving him off and laying back against the bed a final time. ?Obsessive people like you deserve to be locked up?not her.?

Prescott

Date: 2017-08-08 17:45 EST
06-14-2017?12:30AM
After the sendoff?

The iron partition was lifted, causing Max?s attention to shift toward the door. How long had he been in there? It had been years, living a life now in the shoes of his daughter before he had loved her. He was in her old room, and had understood for a while exactly what she?d gone through in the young years of her life, instead of just trying to sympathize. There had been a few escape attempts since, but they only resulted in him getting bested and beaten. His hair was a bit longer, but not a lot had changed in him over the years, aside from paler skin that was rarely kissed by the sun and a toned body out of sheer refusal to go soft. ?Prescott,? barked Reynolds from the other side of the door.

?What?? Max spat, sitting on the edge of the bed and gritting his teeth, expecting the worst considering that Reynolds had given up on their little chats a while ago. Through the years, he?d given him nothing, save for a few details that wouldn?t come close to leading to June. Hopefully, she was long gone by now.

?I thought you?d like to know, if not a little late?? that sickening smile was fat behind the barred divider. ?We?ve finally got a location on the monster.?

That got Max up, ?You?re lying,? he hissed, moving over toward the door, flattening his palms against the iron and glaring through, wishing that the door wasn?t there?a wish that had little to do with his want to escape and more to do with his want to batter Reynolds? face further. ??even if you?re not?what makes you think you can bring her in? How many of your men did she kill last time, again? She?d spot your ugly face in a second?? he hissed.

?Oh, I?m not bringing it in? We got a new guy, and we?re sending him in tomorrow. Real pretty boy, sweet talker, too.?

?She?s too smart for that,? Max growled.

?Oh, but? I don?t think you realize just how helpful your little tips have been over the years,? Reynolds smiled. A picture was slipped in through the bars, and Max took it, freezing upon the image. A girl with silvery blue hair, piercings seen and unseen, and a body stained in ink. She was in an open-air market, carrying a bag, and obviously had no clue her picture was being taken. ?Definitely blossomed. Not bad for a monster, right?? he smirked. Max hadn?t spoken in that moment, he held the picture with two shaking hands. She looked different, even a bit broken, lonely, but it was unmistakably June. ?So, the plan is?this guy we got, is gonna go ahead and be the damsel, let the creature play the hero?? A fat, disgusting grin on his face that couldn?t seem to shake if he wanted to. ?Once he has the monster?s trust, well? You already know how lonely life is? I?m willing to bet it?ll go anywhere with him. Already sent him out monster hunting??

The picture fell to the floor, and didn?t quite make it before Max?s hand slipped through those bars and snatched Reynolds up by the collar. He yanked, yanked, and yanked again, slamming the man?s face against the bars repeatedly. After about the fourth smack, he leaned in against the bars so that his face was barely an inch from Reynolds?. ??her name is June, and if you touch one hair on her head, I?m going to tear you apart with my bare hands!? he hissed.

The footsteps running down the hall signaled the fact that Max would be paying for that?