Chapter Text
Karen Wheeler closed her eyes and focused on the sounds around her. The steady thrum of electricity running through the machines and that constant beep, beep, beep. She knew she should find it comforting – a reminder that her husband was still alive, that his heart still beat – but it only reminded her of everything she’d lost. Everything those thugs had taken from her. They might be in jail now but that would never make up for what they’d done.
Ted was gone. And a piece of her had gone with him.
Her children hated her and with her growing reputation as a recluse, she worried her career was stagnating. Just seven years ago, life had seemed so promising. She’d been a successful, happy mother of two, trying for a third. Ted supported her through all of it. Her rock and her lifeline. Without him… Life was meaningless.
Karen felt herself getting choked up and clenched her fists. Not here. Not here…
Her phone started ringing. Karen swiped at her eyes and answered it.
“Hello?” Karen’s voice remained perfectly steady – the result of years of repressing her emotions.
“Uh, hi.” The man drew out the word into several syllables. “I’m Gregory Crane. I’m with Gavin and Cykes Attorneys. Calling about the…”
The man paused and Karen heard papers shuffling on the other end of the line. Karen fought the urge to sigh. She wished he’d just get the point. This was starting to seem like a ploy to get an interview with her. Reporters had certainly tried similar tactics. But before she could hang up, Mr. Crane continued.
“Ah! The Lefèvre Estate!” Mr. Crane announced, sounding exceptionally proud of himself.
“As in Audrey Lefèvre?” Karen asked even though she knew the answer.
“Yes, the same. Er… Are you aware she…” The lawyer cleared his throat, “passed away, recently?”
“I am…” Karen answered carefully, still unsure where this conversation was headed.
“Right! Now… If I can just find the…”
Mr. Crane trailed off, mumbling to himself, and Karen stopped listening.
She had attended Audrey’s funeral a month ago. It was one of the few times she’d left the house since the incident – other than her visits to the hospital.
Karen first met Audrey Lefèvre when she was researching her most recent novel – a romance set in late 19th century Paris. Thanks to her ancestor, Audrey had invaluable insight into Eugène François Vidocq, providing Karen with several pictures and family anecdotes about him. At first Karen only contacted her for business purposes, but their working relationship soon blossomed into a friendship. Audrey was already in her 80s when Karen sent the first email. The elderly woman had never married and many of her family members had either passed or lost touch. The two bonded over their loneliness and before Karen knew it, Audrey was a regular guest at the Wheeler Mansion.
Karen missed her long chats with Audrey over tea. She sighed. Why must she be reminded of Audrey now, of all times? As if she weren’t feeling awful enough already.
“Get to the point.” Karen snapped, interrupting the lawyer’s rambling.
“Of course! Uhm, sorry.” The man cleared his throat. “Ms. Lefèvre left you an item in her will. If you could just come over here and–”
“I’ll forward my assistant’s information and he’ll pick it up.” Karen said curtly and hung up the phone before Gregory could reply.
Karen texted Billy’s phone number to the lawyer and rose from her chair. She slipped her sunglasses back on and pulled her baseball cap lower so it covered her face. Leaning over the bed, she kissed her husband’s forehead. Then, straightening, she turned on her heel and strode out of the room.
★✧★✧★✧★
Mike logged onto tumblr and navigated to his favorite blog, “willthemonsterswin.” He started browsing under the pretense of “needing inspiration” but really, he just wanted to look at the cool drawings of monsters again.
Yesterday Will, everyone called the user Will (that obviously wasn’t their real name though), had posted a picture of this really fat bird whose beak had been ripped off exposing its skull. Will’s drawings were always disturbing yet awesome, but that sketch had bordered on cute and was horrifying in an… endearing way? Mike seriously couldn’t get enough of this person’s work. He scrolled until he saw a sketch from a few weeks ago: a hairy werewolf-like creature with an overly long spine, curling in on itself. Its gaping jaw still dripped with blood. Mike stared at it for a moment. Then something clicked. It’s perfect!
Mike launched Word and opened his most recent story – “Alric the Courageous.” The story followed a brave and kind man who was searching for the meaning of justice and defeating a ton of super strong monsters along the way. It was the latest in a long series of stories loosely based on his best friend from elementary school.
If he was honest… most of his original stories were based on that friend. They’d lost touch when Mike’s mom pulled him out of school, and there wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t wish he could talk to his friend again. But Mike couldn’t even remember his name anymore. They would never see each other again…No use moping though, he had a story to write, and this wolf monster was the perfect final boss for his hero to defeat!
He described the beast lunging from the shadows and ambushing Alric, tabbing back to willthemonsterswin every so often to reference the sketch. Just as Mike was really getting into the play-by-play of the battle, his phone started ringing.
He answered it without looking. He already knew it was a video call, and he already knew who was on the other end. There was only one person it could be.
“Just lemme finish this scene,” Mike muttered, waving vaguely at his phone.
There was a hum of ascent, and for the next ten minutes, the only sound was the quiet clacking of keys. Finally, Mike finished. The monster was slain and the hero was victorious. He grabbed his phone and held it in front of his face.
“Hey Nancy. How’s Emmerson?”
Nancy was sitting at her desk, her back to the door of her apartment. She leaned back in her chair, looking exhausted. If Mike knew his sister – and he did – she had probably just come home from a morning shift at the pizza place, even though it was a Saturday.
“It’s good… It’s good. I’ve got all my classes for this semester, but I’ve got to take Professor Holloway again. He’s such a sexist ass.”
As his sister talked, Mike watched her roommate ease the apartment door open and put a finger to her lips, tiptoeing up to Nancy. Mike’s mouth twitched for a fraction of a section, almost failing to hold back his smile, but he managed to keep his expression neutral.
“I was really hoping Junior year would be a bit easier. But of course, his section was the only one open and I need this class!” Nancy sighed. “I guess I’ll just sit in the–”
“Boo!” Her roommate yelled, placing her hands abruptly on Nancy’s shoulders.
Nancy seemed to jump a full foot into the air before wheeling around to face her roommate.
“Jesus Robin! Seriously?! What the heck!” Nancy snapped, before slumping back into her chair.
Mike lost it. He burst out laughing and Nancy glared at him. He just shrugged. It wasn’t his fault his sister lacked situational awareness. She was literally on a video call with her camera facing the door. She only had herself to blame.
“Hey Mike!” Robin looped her arms loosely around Nancy’s neck and smiled. “How’re you doing?”
Mike struggled to get the words out and had to wait until his laughter finally died down.
“I’m… not gonna make it…” Mike jumped up from his seat, grabbing his phone and staggered around the room. “Bored. Sanity slipping. End it.” He put his hand to his chest. “Just end it all!”
Nancy rolled her eyes. “Be serious for once, drama queen.”
Mike stuck his tongue out at her and she rolled her eyes again. He sighed and crawled onto his massive bed, fluffing up some pillows and settling in.
“Well… Let’s see. Life sucks?” Mike said bitterly. “Max is starting school soon.”
“Ah.” Nancy frowned, “Sorry about that.”
“Yeah.” Mike mumbled, suddenly feeling a weight settling on his chest.
“Am I missing something?” Robin cocked her head. “Do you hate starting school that much. I mean high school sucks but… It’s not like it’s your first year, right? Wait. Right? Aren’t you sixteen? I thought–”
“Mike’s never been to school.” Nancy interrupted her roommate before she started rambling. “Not since that thing with Dad…”
“Oooh. Right.” Robin grimaced. “The Thing.”
“You told her?” Mike asked, his eyebrows shooting up.
He wasn’t upset about Robin knowing, just… surprised that Nancy had told someone outside of their family. He knew she was really careful and tried to hide her connection to the Wheeler fortune. She may not agree with their mom’s isolationist mindset, but Mike knew that secretly Nancy was just as afraid of someone hurting them as their mom was.
Mike had been ten when it happened. Honestly, he didn’t even remember it well; just a blur of his mom sobbing; cops coming in and out of the house at all hours of the day; and suddenly, boom his dad was in the hospital. But Nancy had been fifteen, picking up the pieces and singlehandedly holding the Wheeler family together; of course, she would be paranoid.
“Yeah… I mean, I trust Robin.”
“She was suuuper drunk.” Robin chuckled and Nancy smacked her shoulder. “I am trustworthy though! Geez. Anyway, hasn’t it been a long time since then? You should be allowed to go to school.”
“Our mom is… protective.” Nancy scowled and her expression hardened.
“Yeah, but I mean, there’s protective and then there’s like excessive right?” Robin continued, not noticing how Nancy was fuming with anger. “You’d think that she would’ve let it go by now.”
“You’d think.” Nancy gritted out.
“Anyway!” Mike interrupted before his sister said something she regretted. “My life is boring. What else is new with you, Nance?”
His sister seemed to relax a fraction, and Mike let out a silent sigh of relief.
“Well… I’m still working on my internship. Mr. Bauman hasn’t responded to any of my calls or emails… But! I think if I look up his old assistant–”
“You’re still trying to work with that nutcase?” Robin scoffed.
“He is not a ‘nutcase,’ Robin! His exposé won the Sigma Delta Chi Award!
“Okay but didn’t that company he wrote about prove that the stuff he said was a lie? I mean he’s basically a conspiracy theorist.”
“That’s what powerful companies do when you’re right, Robin. That’s exactly what HNL wants you to think! He must have been onto something, or they wouldn’t be working so hard to discredit him.”
Robin disentangled herself from Nancy and faced her fully, arms crossed over her chest.
“They’re trying to revoke the award, Nancy. And! The dude went off the grid. He hasn’t said anything about it since. You don’t think that’s weird?”
“It’s because he has something big planned! He’s going to come back with new evidence and prove he’s right.”
“I don’t know… I kinda agree with Robin.” Mike said. “He sounds like a crazy person.”
Nancy glowered at him and threw up her hands.
“You know what? Fine! I’ll prove you both wrong!”
Robin raised an eyebrow. “Looking forward to it.”
After a tense silence, Robin spoke again.
“So, Mike. When are you going to actually publish one of your stories?”
Mike’s eyes widened. Shit, not again.
“Yeah, Mike!” Nancy brightened, immediately jumped on the nag Mike train. “They’re really good and it’s easy to submit things. I even have a few literary magazines I could recommend. I found some for horror, fantasy, adventure–”
“Ughhhh.” Mike groaned. “I told you. Never. I will never. Publish. Them.”
“What’s the point then?” Robin asked, making a face like she thought he was being stupid. “Don’t you want people to see them and–”
“No! I only write ‘cause I’m bored!” Mike pouted. He missed when they were arguing with each other – it was so unfair when they teamed up against him.
The two bullied him for a little longer before Nancy announced she needed to get ready for her nightshift and said a hurried goodbye, leaving Robin holding the phone. She frowned in concentration, and after an awkwardly long pause, she spoke up.
“You know Mike… Have you tried asking your mom if you can go to school with Max?”
“There’s no way she’d agree.” Mike shook his head.
“When was the last time you actually… asked her, though?”
Mike bit his lip. It had been years. The last time he asked? Probably when he was supposed to start Middle School. His mom had immediately shot him down and made him feel guilty for even bringing it up. Mike was used to it now – being trapped in his house all day, only interacting with tutors three times his age. He figured there was no point in fighting it. But… it was going to be so lonely when Max left.
Max, although incredibly obnoxious, was his only friend. His life had been awful before Billy Hargrove became his mom’s assistant, and the two siblings moved into the mansion. And it had been hell when September rolled around last year, and she’d started as a freshman. She’d spent all morning and afternoon in school, and then did her homework until evening, and by the time she finished, she was too tired to hang out. Mike hardly saw her until she went on summer break. Now the whole cycle was starting over again. It was really going to freaking suck.
“Just ask.” Robin suggested, interrupting his thoughts. “Worst she can say is no.”
“Eh, I’ll think about it.” Mike wasn’t about to make any promises.
Nancy called for Robin off-screen.
“Alright just a minute!” Robin yelled and turned back toward the camera. “Gotta go. Take care, Mike.”
“Yeah, you too.” Mike said absently, and Robin ended the video call.
Maybe… It would be worth at least asking. It was better than spending another miserable nine months waiting for Max’s summer vacation. Plus! If he went to the same school as Max, they could look out for each other. There was no way his mom could say no this time!
Mike heard the front door open and leaped out of his bed, dashing down the stairs. This was it! The year he finally went to school like a normal kid.
✧★✧★✧★✧
Gorilla opened the car door and Karen stepped out smoothly, gesturing for her bodyguard to go on ahead. She slipped her phone out of her dress pocket. It had vibrated while she was checking her emails, and Billy’s name had flashed across the top of her screen, she dismissed it in favor of deleting the dozen or so interview requests clogging her inbox. Now, finally with a moment to spare, she checked her texts and saw Billy had picked up a package from that lawyer and left it on her desk. He also said that leftovers from dinner were in the fridge when she was ready.
Karen sighed. It had been a long time since she’d finished her work in time to eat with her son. In fact, Mike probably – no definitely – spent more time with Billy’s little sister than his own mother. She knew she needed to try harder with him but she just… didn’t have the energy.
When she pushed the large double doors open, Mike was there waiting for her. He looked eager, as he bounced between the balls of his feet. She closed her eyes for a moment and felt a headache developing.
“Hello, Michael.” Karen said.
Mike flinched and she realized she must have sounded much colder than she intended.
“I wanted to ask you something…” Mike said, sounding a little deflated.
“What is it?” Karen asked, putting on a false smile.
But the damage was done, and Mike asked his next question cautiously.
“Can I go to school with Max?”
Her smiled evaporated.
“No.” Karen said flatly and stalked towards her office.
Mike rushed after her, right on her heels.
“But Mom, I–”
Karen spun around and glared at him, causing Mike to stop mid-sentence.
“I said, no, Michael.”
She walked into her office, shutting the door in her son’s face. Her budding headache evolved into a full migraine, as she slumped against the other side. Couldn’t the boy just leave well enough alone? She was the only reason he was safe! This mansion and its state-of-the-art security system, their bodyguard, getting every single one of his tutors to sign NDAs, it was all for him. Why couldn’t he see that?!
It was useless. She shouldn’t expect a child to understand.
Karen pushed the incident out of her mind and grabbed the package on her desk. She wondered what Audrey might have left her. Unwrapping it revealed a very familiar piece of jewelry and a poignant little smile curled at the edges of her lips.
It was an elegant yet simple brooch, just a large purple gem with a clasp on the back. The brooch had been one of Audrey’s favorite pieces. Karen had never seen the elderly woman without it, and now her friend had left it to her. The gesture weighed heavily on Karen. Audrey didn’t have anyone else to leave it to and probably didn’t want it sold off to a stranger who wouldn’t appreciate it.
Misty eyed, Karen clipped the brooch onto her lapel. She decided she’d never take it off. In honor of Audrey.
Seconds after she put it on, a sphere of purple light appeared out of nowhere and suddenly there was a little floating… bug? The strangest bug she’d ever seen. It was a moth… probably? It was purple and its head was far too large, almost humanoid. Even though it was clearly flying, its wings weren’t moving.
“Wh-What the hell?!” Karen’s shock gave way to panic, and she scrambled backwards into the large painting on the back wall.
“Hello!” The creature beamed and spoke. “I’m Nooroo, the kwami of transmission!”