The Shadows Fall: Chapter 12

"Blair, we have to face this. We have to," he said, holding the little package in his hand. After bringing all of the gifts home and opening them, he reminded her of the gift that almost sent him back into his safe haven.

  

A few days had past since their return from the honeymoon, and the bad vibes from the gift were still looming. Blair said, "Maybe it doesn't mean anything." 

"Babe, I know you're scared, but we have to do something before it is too late. We have to bring it to John McBain. Right away."

"All right. But Todd, I am scared for you. For us. And don't say 'too late.'" He took her in his arms.

"We will be all right. I just have to let John in on this. In case it gets worse, he will know ahead of time about it."

"I am sorry I am being such a baby about it."

"You're not. It's okay. Let me handle it."

"I want to go with you."

"You don't need to."

"Todd, don't do this. Don't shut me out. I need to be with you."

He hugged her again. "All right, you can come with me. I just don't want you worried, it's not good for you or Moonbeam."

Before she had a chance to rebut his reference to that name, Sam entered the room. "Is the baby okay?"

They both responded quickly to the little boy. "The baby's fine."

"Why aren't you at school?” Todd realized, looking at his watch.

"Oh my God, we must have missed the bus or something," Blair said, scooping up his things and grabbing his hand.

"No, that's not it. I'm skipping school." Todd and Blair both stopped short.

Blair put her hand on her hip. "What are you saying, young man?"

"I said I am skipping school. I want to be like Jack."

Todd said, "Jack? He's at school, if you want to be like him, you have to go to school."

"He's not at school."

Blair looked at Todd and back to Sam. "He's not at school?"

"Nope. I heard him on his phone this morning. He said, 'Let's ditch.' I asked Grandma what that means and she said it could be a big hole. Then, I asked Starr, and she said it could mean to not do something. So, I knew he wasn't going into a big hole, and figured out he was skipping school. Can I stay home and be like Jack? I want to play with Grandma."

Blair folded her arms over her chest and looked at Todd. "No, pal, you have to go to school," Todd said. 

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Because if you go to school, you get good grades." Sam made no response or reaction. "If you get good grades, you can go to college someday." Again, no reaction. "Santa will be proud of you."

"Santa wants me to go to school?" Sam asked, excitedly.

"Of course he does," Blair added, "he loves school, and he sees everything you do."

Sam ran to get his jacket. "Mom, will you drive me? Boy is Jack going to be mad when Santa doesn't like him anymore."

After dropping Sam at school and having a long interrogation session with the little boy, Todd and Blair determined that Jack was most likely at The Mall. They headed there in a hurry, but Todd told Blair that the plan was to pretend they were shopping for baby things and accidentally run into Jack, if he were still there. "This way he doesn't think we were prying, he doesn't think Sam told, and he doesn't get the idea that he'll get away with things like this." Todd said.

"That sounds like a good idea. You act like you've raised a teenager before."

"No, I didn't. You know that."

"Parenthood is really tough," she said.

They went into The Mall, pretending to be searching for a stroller for the baby. 

"Would we really be buying a stroller now? The kid is not even born," he asked.

She answered, "No, but Jack won't know that."

After combing The Mall for a good half an hour, Blair spotted Jack in the music store. He was with two boys and a girl, about his age. They planned to accidentally run into Jack. Thinking of a good way to do so, Todd rolled a ball that he picked up for the baby and yelled, "I'll get it." Jogging toward the same store that Jack was in, he pretended not to see his son at first. Blair watched from a seat near the fountain, and saw Jack's expression as he tried to hide. Todd was onto it, and soon, Blair saw him approach Jack, talk to him a minute, be on the receiving end of some not-so-nice teen angst, and then drag him out of the store by his ear.

Bringing Jack over to Blair, Todd sat him down next to his mother. "Remember your comment on parenthood?"

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Can we ditch?"

The three rode in silence. Jack was the first one to speak. "You didn't have to humiliate me in front of my friends."

Todd said, "Yeah, well, you didn't have to call me Scarface and tell me to buzz off either."

Blair gasped. "Jack Manning! What have I told you about that?"

"Told him about that? You mean, he calls me that?"

"I'm sorry, okay," Jack said, "I used to. I didn't mean it. It just came out because I was mad."

"I'm sorry too, I was as mad as you were. But, your screwing up your school career is not a good idea. Sophomore year is important."

"What does it matter? I want to work with you when I get older." Todd suddenly was bursting with pride. "You do?"

"Yeah. I loved working at the paper part time. I want to help with the business and take it over some day."  Blair got that look that said, 'there's a sucker born every minute.'

Todd said, "Well you cannot work for me without a high school diploma and a few years of college under your belt." Jack got very quiet, and watched the scenery out the car window. Todd was sure what they would be doing next was dealing with yet another punishment and trying to convince his son to see Ray. Blair also was quiet.

When the family arrived home, Todd went immediately to the kitchen to get something to eat. Jack plopped himself down on the couch and opened the small gift absentmindedly. "Hey, Mom, what's this?" He held the lighter in his hand. She attempted not to let him see her nervousness. "It's a gift someone sent." 

Jack fingered the metallic case slowly, and then said, "It's a threat. Against Dad."

Todd walked in, eating a sandwich. "It's not a threat, Jack, it's a gift."

Jack said, "Anyone can tell it's a threat. It's just like the lighter that your father used to....oh, I'm sorry, Dad."

Todd ate with gusto. "It's all right Jack. Yeah, it's like that lighter."

"My other Dad, uh, Zeus, he one time burned me. He said it was to teach me a lesson." Todd stopped chewing in mid chew.

"Jack!" Blair was frantic. "When? Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I was only like 5 or 6. Maybe like Sam."  5 or 6.  That's when Peter started...

She interrupted, "Oh my God, the stove burn?" He nodded. Todd was fuming, and his anger was getting the best of him. He had dropped the sandwich onto his plate and shot up our of his seat.  He began to pace, going near the windows and staring out.

Jack added, "He said it would teach me not to touch things I wasn't supposed to. He told you, Mom, and the hospital people that I accidentally put my hand down on a live burner. But I didn't."

"I remember that," Blair was shaking. She went to his side. "I wish you told me, Son."

Jack was agitated and trying to express himself, "I know Mom. It's not your fault, I should have spoken up but I was afraid.  He held my hand over it, and when I started to..."

"Stop!" Todd shouted, turning to them. "Stop, please. I can't. Not right now. Please, Jack."

The color had drained from his face, and his hands were trembling. He appeared faint. Blair ran to him, steadying him with her hands, then called to Jack, "Jack, help me."

The two of them supported Todd's weight and got him to the couch, and before they could seat him there, he was out. He lay on his back, eyes closed. "No, Todd. It's okay, come on. Wake up."

Within moments, he stirred. "I just felt so dizzy, and then I just couldn't stand up anymore."

"Mom, I’m sorry, I'm sorry, Dad."

"No, son, you have no reason to be sorry, none at all. You know I am getting better, but I still have some rusty parts." Todd managed to say.

"Can I do anything, Dad, to help?"

"You can make sure you never call me Scarface again. And, you can go and see Ray."

"I don't need that, Dad. Honest. I can handle this all myself.  That story I was telling, it doesn’t even really bother me anymore, now that…well…" Todd knew his son was wrong, but he told himself, "I'll let this go another day and broach it then."

Blair was still reeling from her son's admission and Todd's near miss. She rubbed her eyes. "Are you two, okay? I'm going to go in the kitchen, if you are?" She needed to get away from it.  Her little boy.  No.  Todd could see her shoulders shaking and knew she was in tears.

"We're fine. You take care of you, Blair, and that little one." Todd said, smiling. 

When she was out of view, his face returned to a more serious one. "You need to get it together, right now, Jack.  Your mother and that baby are very important to this family.  She doesn’t need this kind of stress.”  He looked down, dejectedly.  “I’m enough.  And by the way, you're grounded.”   He called to the boy as he walked up the staircase to his room. "And, hand over the phone."

Jack, rolling his eyes, didn't balk. He walked back down the stairs and handed the phone to his father.  "Anything else?"

Todd put the cell phone in his pocket. "No." Jack turned and ascended the stairs. "I love you, Jack." His son ignored him and continued to climb the stairs.

Todd waited until Jack was out of eye and earshot and grabbed his own cell.  “McBain, I have to see you.  I am afraid my family is in danger.”

 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Our writers like to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment when you read.