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Ram growled, paws clawing at the floor. His beady, tinted eyes staring at the perpetrator, he never relented in his gaze. He slowly approached them, quietly shimmying through the darkness like a snake stalking through the brushes, fangs bared and ready to bite.
He knew that the human felt they were being watched, but by who, or rather what exactly, they didn't know, and Ram was going to make the most of it.
Nodding his head at Type and Beam, he stiffened his tail, pointing it downwards, and with the signal, they began their rush. With a great loud howl from Ram, the other two leaped at the kidnapper, and he followed suit.
✴ - ✴ - ✴
Ram’s eyes were dimming. His bright ocean-colored orbs were slowly turning to a melancholic, distorted, and deep blue. Exhaustion washed over the dog, the moonlight beaming from the window reflecting his blood-stained fur. He could barely feel his paws and he let out a pitiful whine. His ears drooped.
He stared at the youngest Theerapanyakun whose eyes were wide, and body was frozen. He let his head hit the ground and weakly held out his paws to Macau who shakily reached out to him with a tremble. Ram let himself relax at the touch of human skin on his tousled fur. His eyelids began to close, and despite the yelling and shouting he heard coming from the hallways, his vision went black against his will.
Macau yelped as he awoke from the nightmare. He took a peek at the clock and sighed.
He needed to get some fresh air…
Macau staggered in his steps. His breath hitched as he took small steps down the steps. Arms crossed, nails digging into his skin, he shuddered as the brisk wind hit his skin as he opened the sliding door to the spacious garden. He exhaled deeply and saw one of the canines of the household staring up at him. He blinked in surprised and lowered himself to the dog’s eye level and gently pat its head.
The dog leaned its head into the touch. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you and the others up?”
They tilted their head and shook. “That’s good…sorry, I just have a lot on my mind,” he whispered, laying down on his back. “Let me know if I need to go, alright, Ram?”
They licked his hand in response.
Ram curled up next to the boy, head laying on his abdomen, as Macau stared up at the twinkling stars in the night sky. He wondered which ones were watching over him and pondered how weightless and burdenless they all were. Perhaps he would be able to become one when he passed away.
Tine continued to latch onto the man’s arm even as they pulled out a taser and attacked him. The light in his eyes reflected something of determination. Macau was frozen. He couldn’t move.
It was supposed to be a one-time thing.
It wasn’t.
It happened again,
Macau woke up and rushed out of the house. The tears streamed down his face, and he choked at the tightness of his throat as he let out small coughs periodically. He stared at his twitching hands.
Maybe it was time for him to leave the family.
It wasn’t like they didn’t notice. Vegas was Macau’s older brother and knew nearly everything about Macau and his quirks and mannerisms, Tankhun had the natural brother instincts that came with being the eldest, Kinn learned how to read others through his training of becoming the head of the Theerapanyakun Family, and Kim was just naturally observant with a keen eye.
So perhaps Macau should have anticipated that eventually, they would confront him.
Confront him about his purposeful avoidance of them, his odd eating habits, the way he winced when anyone got near him, but especially his own family; the way he became less talkative and energetic; the bags under his eyes that slowly began to appear.
“No, I don’t want to talk,” Macau stated with an even tone.
“Macau, please. We’re worried about you,” Kinn grit out with a pained voice.
Macau snapped.
“It’s not like any of you cared about me!” Macau cried. “Vegas only takes care of me because he has to, not because he actually wants to. Tankhun and Kim hate me, and you, Kinn never bothered to get to know me! So, no, I could care less about what you four think about what I’m doing. It doesn’t even matter. Because everything I touch fucking breaks. It dies.”
Macau stormed off, and when they tried to follow, Type growled at them, Sean and Leo standing in front of them, blocking their way. Ram stared at them and turned his body to trail after the youngest Theerapanyakun. Vegas winced and got on his knees, knowing that there was no other choice. Macau was his younger brother and meant the world to him. “Please let us through,” he whispered desperately.
Type continued to glare at him before he swiftly turned the other cheek and strutted off, the German Shepherd and Belgian Tervuren following in his steps. He stopped and glanced at them once more and proceeded to leave the area. Vegas made a follow-me motion and they heeded it.
They spotted Macau sitting on the marble edge of the fountain. He had his face blocked by his palms and his older brother took gentle steps toward him. “Macau,” he gently called out. “Can we talk? It seems like you have more than we thought on your mind.”
Macau let out a weak scoff. “I wonder why,” he muttered.
Vegas pulled Macau to his body and gently ran his fingers through the younger’s hair. “Listen, I’m always here to listen. We’re always here to listen. Maybe you don’t want to talk about it in-depth right now — if that’s the case, then okay, we won’t pester you about it. We just need to know that you’ll be alright…”
“I’m fine.”
“Macau, just come clean,” another voice intoned. Turning their heads, there was Porschay leaning on the trunk of one of the Ratchaphruek trees. “If you don’t tell them, I will. ”
“Do it, you fucking won’t.”
“I will if I have to. Don’t make me do it — don’t test me.”
The two glowered at each other before Macau clicked his tongue, breaking eye contact. “Fine. I’ll explain it.”
Chay made an approving sound and walked away before Macau shook his head and turned to stare at his relatives. “There’s something I need to come clean about, but I’m going to need you to not interrupt me,” he stated.
They all made a nodding motion and Macau pursed his lips, thinking about how to begin this talk.
“So, ‘Pa wasn’t the greatest — we all know this,” he started off. “He, um, had a tendency to sorta down talk Vegas and I. He used the other as leverage when he wanted us to do something. In my case, he wanted me to go to some meeting but I said no, and completely abandoned it; ran away, if that’s how you want to put it. He wasn’t happy. He blackmailed me, sorta, in the sense that he said he’d make Vegas’ life a living hell if I didn’t come back,” he whispered. “Naturally I went to the business deal meetup—” his fists clenched. “—I killed a man for the first time there. It spiraled and ‘Pa continued to force and coerce me into… dealing with people. I hated it. I abhorred it. I didn’t like killing, and never have and never will. I know it’s not too bad compared with your childhoods, but yeah, that was the gist of mine.”
He heard multiple growls and stared at them oddly. “Can you all…calm down? It wasn’t even that bad…”
“Oh, yes it fucking was. I’m going to kill Father,” Vegas snarled.
Kinn aggressively nodded and Kim cracked his fingers, sunglasses now laying on top of his slicked-back hair.
“That was not okay of him. What he did to you, what our father did to us. Neither of them was okay. They raised us up to be machines and not humans,” Kinn smoothly said.
Kim got up, eyes drifting to him curiously. He stood in front of Macau and pat the boy’s head, arms wrapping around the youngest’s back. “I don’t hate you, idiot. I left home, but that never meant I stopped caring about you four dumbasses.”
“You didn’t give me any reason to believe otherwise.”
“I know. I have a lot of things I need to make up for. It’ll take a while, but it’s okay. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“I…I’m sorry too. I took out my anger on you all through rude comments and shit.”
Tankhun spoke up. “It was annoying but now that I have context, I can let it go.”
“Thanks, Phi.”
The eldest hummed in acknowledgment.
“Anyways, so when are we killing Uncle?” Kim blurted out.
“You are not going to kill him, Kim!” Macau yelped.
Kinn gave a thoughtful look. “Kinn! Not you too!”
“I personally think we should visit him late at night, what do you all think?” Vegas hummed, turning to the others as they nodded.
“Oh my fucking god. I’m right here. You four will not be killing Father!”
“We are,” Kinn deadpanned.
(Macau didn't have those terrible nightmares anymore.
He wondered if they were telling him something...)