The Parent Trap (Closed)
Posted: 20 Sep 2016, 00:06
“For the love of…” Jamie’s voice trailed off as he turned his back on his mother, adopting a pose he’d likely picked up from Enver as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “When I told you to clean yourself up, I didn’t think I needed to tell you to get dressed.” With an exasperated sigh the ever dutiful son then made his way into the bedroom.
Jamie had had enough of his parent’s silliness and was determined to do something about it since he’d let things play out for several months and had yet to see any improvement in their relationship. If anything thing’s between the once seemingly love struck couple were deteriorating and now that he was back studying to obtain the future they wanted for him, he wasn’t around to distract Keara in her darkest moments.
Finding his mother curled up, naked in the corner of the room sketching was sadly par for the course these days. He did his best to watch over her but it was difficult playing the parent, as Keara was so out of touch with reality that she barely spoke and need to be reminded to do the simplest of things such as feed, dress, shower, etc. The formerly formidable female wasn’t the only one missing Enver’s presence, even the dogs were acting weird. Mainly Gizmo, but he’d swear the whole pack seemed more depressed these days. The puppies were grown and spent most of their time in his room or roaming the halls of the Asylum. Gizmo and Leeloo, tended to stick close to Keara. As it was, he’d seen the white ***** snuggled against Keara’s hip in the brief before he’d headed off to the bedroom. Gizmo had been cuddled up against one of Enver’s shoes that the strange mutt had taken to sleeping with, with his little head resting on the cap of the slightly chewed leather footwear. It was partially due to all this, and partially because he too missed his larger than life, doting father that he’d concocted the plan he had for tonight. As he moved about the bedroom, looking for an outfit for his mother he once again reasoned with himself that his plan would work.
A small twinge of doubt ran through him as he began gathering up all the sketches that lay strewn around the bedroom. He piled them as quickly and as neatly as he could before dumping them in the corner of the room with the others. This was another of Keara’s quirks. She’d been locked up in her cell for far too long and had let her inner artist run wild, meaning that she drew almost constantly with her mind almost exclusively on a single subject. It didn’t take a psychiatrist to understand that she missed Enver, as almost every picture she drew was of him. The pictures were everywhere and almost every style; some were done in charcoal, others pencil, some in colour, some painted. The worst of it all was that they littered almost every available surface. The walls, floor, ceiling even in places, were covered in images she’d fixed to the wall. The woman had quite simply lost her mind, so an asylum was a fitting pace for her to be staying as she frequently resembled a mental patient in both look and demeanour. He honestly preferred when she drew Enver though as she was calmer then, hence the reason he kept bringing her sketchpads, canvas, etc. Occasionally she crossed into a darker place where she seemed to draw self-portraits and those were the ones that scared him. The images she drew then were dark, violent even, never in colour and with so much shading at times it was difficult to even find the image lost within the darkness.
With a brief shiver of remembrance, Jamie laid the black steampunk-esque style skirt on the bed along with one of Keara’s simpler black corsets. He found her boots in the bathroom and placed them next to the bed, before grabbing a robe and returning to his mother’s side. Taking the pad and pencil from her hands, he placed the robe over her and began what was arguably the hardest part of his plan: getting Keara dressed and looking presentable. No child wanted to see their parent’s in their birthday suit but it was a sight he was unfortunately all too familiar with. The only thing Keara wore with any regularity was her jewellery which she never seemed to take off. The same rings adorned her fingers, the same necklaces wrapped around her wrists. Of course he knew the story of each item as on her more lucid days she loved to talk about Enver. She’d tell him the strangest stories. Silly things that most people would keep private or not really bother reminiscing over. It was mainly due to one of these stories that he’d chosen today of all days to put his plan into action.
Today was anniversary of Keara and Enver’s first ever non-date. The story went something along the lines of him publicly declaring his interest in her and asking her to meet him in their place under the city. Keara, not being big on the whole vampire community message boards at the time hadn’t even seen it but she’d been waiting for Enver when he arrived. Jamie thought it was kind of sweet how the two had kind of gravitated towards one another and hoped that that natural attraction would be enough to keep them together. That night Enver had kept one of the screens in his theatre free so that he could spend time alone with Keara, and so that was what Jamie had arranged for tonight. He’d asked Enver to book out a theatre for him and his friends, claiming it was a start of semester celebration. It was one of the perks of having Enver as a father and something he’d done in the past. Of course he’d made sure that Enver would be there, after all, as he’d explained to his father, he wanted to spend some time with him too. Now all he had to do was get Keara ready, get them in the same room and then hope they listened to him when he told them it was time to talk things out. The old saying about leading a horse to water flickered through his mind but he pushed it away, as he was sure deep down that this was something they both wanted.
“Come on you. Up you get.” He wrapped his hand around Keara’s wrist and helped her to her feet, making sure to keep her covered as he did so. Thankfully she didn’t pull away from his touch like she seemed to do with others these days. “Time to dress up and go see dad, I’ve laid some clothes out for you on the bed.”
If it was possible for the incredibly still woman to freeze up any more, she did. She missed Enver with a passion that made it hard to function and yet the thought of seeing again stole away what was left of her senses. It wasn’t that she wasn’t dying to see him, of course she was, it was that she wasn’t sure if he would want to see her. They’d seen each other here and there over the past few months but things were different between them. Strained. She hated it but didn’t know how to fix it. Unfortunately for her, her issues ran deeper than that. She’d lost touch with reality in such a way that she’d all but reverted to who she’d been when she first emerged from the accursed realm. It didn’t help that in recent months the existence of vampires had become public knowledge and that Enver seemed to be on a one man mission to make sure people didn’t fear them.
“Come on mum. Enough’s enough. If you don’t snap out of this funk you’re in, you’re going to lose dad for good. Is that what you want? Because honestly I don’t think it is.”
Keara cocked her head slightly to left and studied Jamie for a moment. She understood what he was saying; she just didn’t know what to say or do to bring her husband home. The fight had gone out of her, literally. It had been many months since she’d picked up any sort of weapon and went out into the world to hunt. Art had become her life.
Jamie snapped his fingers in front of her face, since he wasn’t sure she was even listening to him what with the near vacant expression on her face.
“Look. I didn’t want to tell you this, as I’m sure there’s nothing to it. It’s sensationalism is what it is but here goes. Dad goes out. He goes to parties. He meets people. And well… a few weeks back he was reported spotted taking some woman home.”
Keara flinched.
“So you see… You have to get over whatever it is that’s holding you back and talk to him. Really talk to him. None of the avoiding shi… stuff you’ve been doing. Work things out. You obviously still love him,” he gestured around the room to the images, “so fight for him.”
That said Jamie shoved Keara in the direction of her bedroom and set about the task of tidying up the living area. Without Keara around he found a couple of sketch pads the woman had filled recently and shoved them into his bag. He wasn’t sure if Enver knew about this disturbing little hobby of hers, but he was going to make sure he knew by the end of the night.
In her room, Keara dressed herself in the clothing that had been left out for her but her movements were almost robotic in style, her usually graceful style seemingly lost along with her mind. She couldn’t appreciate the feel of the silken skirt with all its ruffled layers as it brushed against her skin. She didn’t even note that the skirt was longer than her preferred style. This skirt ran to her ankles, but was pulled up and secured by ties half way up her thigh on the right hand side, leaving one leg exposed. The corset was made of soft, supple leather and had few frills. Her clunky boots with the chunky heel and decorative buckles finished her look. Walking into her bathroom she took in her appearance. The outfit was her. The face however seemed that of a stranger. There was no life in her dark eyes and the mask she usually wore in public to disguise her emotions was long gone. It was obvious to anyone that looked upon her that she was miserable, lost even. She’d once more become a shadow of her former self, only this time the gulf between who she was and who she had been was a lot wider as she knew now what true happiness was.
Half an hour later, Jamie led his mother towards the theatre, ever mindful to keep his fingers linked with hers. They weren’t holding hands in any traditional sense. The fingers of his right hand were loosely curled around the fingers of her left, the back of her hand occasionally brushing against his palm. Even joined as they were, it wasn’t enough for the nervous female that tagged along behind him, her eyes down as she tried not to be seen by anyone. Keara’s free hand had made its way to Jamie’s wrist and the manner in which she trailed behind him wasn’t entire unlike that of a child clinging to a parent in the middle of a busy mall.
Entering the building, Jamie’s eyes immediately began scanning for Enver. He didn’t know if he’d have to go up to the apartment to get his father or if he’d be loitering somewhere in the lobby, as he knew roughly what time Jamie and his friends were supposed to be arriving. Whatever happened from here on out was out of the young man’s control.
Jamie had had enough of his parent’s silliness and was determined to do something about it since he’d let things play out for several months and had yet to see any improvement in their relationship. If anything thing’s between the once seemingly love struck couple were deteriorating and now that he was back studying to obtain the future they wanted for him, he wasn’t around to distract Keara in her darkest moments.
Finding his mother curled up, naked in the corner of the room sketching was sadly par for the course these days. He did his best to watch over her but it was difficult playing the parent, as Keara was so out of touch with reality that she barely spoke and need to be reminded to do the simplest of things such as feed, dress, shower, etc. The formerly formidable female wasn’t the only one missing Enver’s presence, even the dogs were acting weird. Mainly Gizmo, but he’d swear the whole pack seemed more depressed these days. The puppies were grown and spent most of their time in his room or roaming the halls of the Asylum. Gizmo and Leeloo, tended to stick close to Keara. As it was, he’d seen the white ***** snuggled against Keara’s hip in the brief before he’d headed off to the bedroom. Gizmo had been cuddled up against one of Enver’s shoes that the strange mutt had taken to sleeping with, with his little head resting on the cap of the slightly chewed leather footwear. It was partially due to all this, and partially because he too missed his larger than life, doting father that he’d concocted the plan he had for tonight. As he moved about the bedroom, looking for an outfit for his mother he once again reasoned with himself that his plan would work.
A small twinge of doubt ran through him as he began gathering up all the sketches that lay strewn around the bedroom. He piled them as quickly and as neatly as he could before dumping them in the corner of the room with the others. This was another of Keara’s quirks. She’d been locked up in her cell for far too long and had let her inner artist run wild, meaning that she drew almost constantly with her mind almost exclusively on a single subject. It didn’t take a psychiatrist to understand that she missed Enver, as almost every picture she drew was of him. The pictures were everywhere and almost every style; some were done in charcoal, others pencil, some in colour, some painted. The worst of it all was that they littered almost every available surface. The walls, floor, ceiling even in places, were covered in images she’d fixed to the wall. The woman had quite simply lost her mind, so an asylum was a fitting pace for her to be staying as she frequently resembled a mental patient in both look and demeanour. He honestly preferred when she drew Enver though as she was calmer then, hence the reason he kept bringing her sketchpads, canvas, etc. Occasionally she crossed into a darker place where she seemed to draw self-portraits and those were the ones that scared him. The images she drew then were dark, violent even, never in colour and with so much shading at times it was difficult to even find the image lost within the darkness.
With a brief shiver of remembrance, Jamie laid the black steampunk-esque style skirt on the bed along with one of Keara’s simpler black corsets. He found her boots in the bathroom and placed them next to the bed, before grabbing a robe and returning to his mother’s side. Taking the pad and pencil from her hands, he placed the robe over her and began what was arguably the hardest part of his plan: getting Keara dressed and looking presentable. No child wanted to see their parent’s in their birthday suit but it was a sight he was unfortunately all too familiar with. The only thing Keara wore with any regularity was her jewellery which she never seemed to take off. The same rings adorned her fingers, the same necklaces wrapped around her wrists. Of course he knew the story of each item as on her more lucid days she loved to talk about Enver. She’d tell him the strangest stories. Silly things that most people would keep private or not really bother reminiscing over. It was mainly due to one of these stories that he’d chosen today of all days to put his plan into action.
Today was anniversary of Keara and Enver’s first ever non-date. The story went something along the lines of him publicly declaring his interest in her and asking her to meet him in their place under the city. Keara, not being big on the whole vampire community message boards at the time hadn’t even seen it but she’d been waiting for Enver when he arrived. Jamie thought it was kind of sweet how the two had kind of gravitated towards one another and hoped that that natural attraction would be enough to keep them together. That night Enver had kept one of the screens in his theatre free so that he could spend time alone with Keara, and so that was what Jamie had arranged for tonight. He’d asked Enver to book out a theatre for him and his friends, claiming it was a start of semester celebration. It was one of the perks of having Enver as a father and something he’d done in the past. Of course he’d made sure that Enver would be there, after all, as he’d explained to his father, he wanted to spend some time with him too. Now all he had to do was get Keara ready, get them in the same room and then hope they listened to him when he told them it was time to talk things out. The old saying about leading a horse to water flickered through his mind but he pushed it away, as he was sure deep down that this was something they both wanted.
“Come on you. Up you get.” He wrapped his hand around Keara’s wrist and helped her to her feet, making sure to keep her covered as he did so. Thankfully she didn’t pull away from his touch like she seemed to do with others these days. “Time to dress up and go see dad, I’ve laid some clothes out for you on the bed.”
If it was possible for the incredibly still woman to freeze up any more, she did. She missed Enver with a passion that made it hard to function and yet the thought of seeing again stole away what was left of her senses. It wasn’t that she wasn’t dying to see him, of course she was, it was that she wasn’t sure if he would want to see her. They’d seen each other here and there over the past few months but things were different between them. Strained. She hated it but didn’t know how to fix it. Unfortunately for her, her issues ran deeper than that. She’d lost touch with reality in such a way that she’d all but reverted to who she’d been when she first emerged from the accursed realm. It didn’t help that in recent months the existence of vampires had become public knowledge and that Enver seemed to be on a one man mission to make sure people didn’t fear them.
“Come on mum. Enough’s enough. If you don’t snap out of this funk you’re in, you’re going to lose dad for good. Is that what you want? Because honestly I don’t think it is.”
Keara cocked her head slightly to left and studied Jamie for a moment. She understood what he was saying; she just didn’t know what to say or do to bring her husband home. The fight had gone out of her, literally. It had been many months since she’d picked up any sort of weapon and went out into the world to hunt. Art had become her life.
Jamie snapped his fingers in front of her face, since he wasn’t sure she was even listening to him what with the near vacant expression on her face.
“Look. I didn’t want to tell you this, as I’m sure there’s nothing to it. It’s sensationalism is what it is but here goes. Dad goes out. He goes to parties. He meets people. And well… a few weeks back he was reported spotted taking some woman home.”
Keara flinched.
“So you see… You have to get over whatever it is that’s holding you back and talk to him. Really talk to him. None of the avoiding shi… stuff you’ve been doing. Work things out. You obviously still love him,” he gestured around the room to the images, “so fight for him.”
That said Jamie shoved Keara in the direction of her bedroom and set about the task of tidying up the living area. Without Keara around he found a couple of sketch pads the woman had filled recently and shoved them into his bag. He wasn’t sure if Enver knew about this disturbing little hobby of hers, but he was going to make sure he knew by the end of the night.
In her room, Keara dressed herself in the clothing that had been left out for her but her movements were almost robotic in style, her usually graceful style seemingly lost along with her mind. She couldn’t appreciate the feel of the silken skirt with all its ruffled layers as it brushed against her skin. She didn’t even note that the skirt was longer than her preferred style. This skirt ran to her ankles, but was pulled up and secured by ties half way up her thigh on the right hand side, leaving one leg exposed. The corset was made of soft, supple leather and had few frills. Her clunky boots with the chunky heel and decorative buckles finished her look. Walking into her bathroom she took in her appearance. The outfit was her. The face however seemed that of a stranger. There was no life in her dark eyes and the mask she usually wore in public to disguise her emotions was long gone. It was obvious to anyone that looked upon her that she was miserable, lost even. She’d once more become a shadow of her former self, only this time the gulf between who she was and who she had been was a lot wider as she knew now what true happiness was.
Half an hour later, Jamie led his mother towards the theatre, ever mindful to keep his fingers linked with hers. They weren’t holding hands in any traditional sense. The fingers of his right hand were loosely curled around the fingers of her left, the back of her hand occasionally brushing against his palm. Even joined as they were, it wasn’t enough for the nervous female that tagged along behind him, her eyes down as she tried not to be seen by anyone. Keara’s free hand had made its way to Jamie’s wrist and the manner in which she trailed behind him wasn’t entire unlike that of a child clinging to a parent in the middle of a busy mall.
Entering the building, Jamie’s eyes immediately began scanning for Enver. He didn’t know if he’d have to go up to the apartment to get his father or if he’d be loitering somewhere in the lobby, as he knew roughly what time Jamie and his friends were supposed to be arriving. Whatever happened from here on out was out of the young man’s control.