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Story Notes:
This is a story for the PretenderForsaken 'Four Seasons Challenge' (Autumn Challenge #2 r11; dark/light)
Defining moments
There are special moments defining our lives, moments we'll remember, moments that mean something. Sometimes we'll notice right away, and other times we'll only recognize them for what they are much later, in retrospect.
x-x-x-x
She hadn't always been like this. She'd been a sweet girl once. When she'd told Debbie she'd been born this way, she had of course lied. No one was born this way. No one was this cold-hearted on the day they suck in their first breath. Not even Lyle - and even admitting that in the privacy of her own mind meant something.
Parker shook her head and took a sip of the wine, watching the flames dance around, licking on the wood.
Most of it had come gradually.
The light had dimmed first when her mother had killed herself (been murdered, supposedly murdered, died or not died). Life hadn't been the same afterwards. Daddy had been... well, daddy.
He hadn't cared about her pain and had quickly sent her away. Her light before leaving had been a young boy stuck in the darkness of the Centre. He'd been her safety-blanket, her hold. He knew what it meant to feel pain, to be alone. They'd combined their loneliness and merged it into a strong bond.
She may even have been in love with him. Yes, she guessed there was a pretty good chance that she'd been in love with him. That was until she came back from overseas to find him again.
She hadn't been home in years, hadn't been at the Centre anymore to see her friend. She had always missed him and in the beginning, she'd even sent him letters. At first she was sure they would reach him, but the Centre was... well, the Centre.
She hadn't wanted to leave him alone, really hadn't wanted to and when she came back - lonely still, despite friends at school and frat-boys and lovers - she'd gone looking for him. Finding him had been different from what she expected though.
Parker laughed hollowly and gulped the last of the wine down, wishing for something stronger to purge the old images.
It had been the moment when he had stopped to matter, when she had become his huntress even though he had only broken out years ago. Oh, he never learned she had been there, he never learned what made her turn against him.
Not that she would ever tell him what she had seen...
~~~~
It was one of their usual haunts - had been at least; back then, when she'd still been here often, before she'd been sent away. It was also one of the last places she'd checked, not having found him at any of the other possible locations.
Hearing soft sounds, Parker smiled in anticipation. She was here to meet with an old friend, her best friend. She had missed him. Rounding the corner, Parker was about to call out to her friend when she took in the scene, her mouth falling open at what she saw. She quickly retreated, blinking several times as she waited for the vision to fade away... it didn't.
Jarod was...
She shook her head, leaning against the wall in her back, looking away. Anger cursed through her. She'd used other men, but Jarod had always had that special place. Time and distance had made him to this special... person inside of her heart, larger than life status maybe. Now, he was betraying what they had.
Turning to the sounds again, oddly captivated and at the same time feeling like a... 'pervert', her mind supplied helpfully. Her friend had grown up, grown out of the boy's body into a fine man, muscular and strong.
Their kisses were heated, hands roaming over the other's body, sounds of pleasure loud in the otherwise silent corridor, her senses finely tuned to them. She watched - fascinated - despite her anger. She knew his companion even though they'd never had personal contact. Parker knew many of the others even though she'd always been closest to Jarod, but him and Eddie...
She'd thought she'd come home and find nothing amiss, nothing changed, but Jarod... wasn't Jarod anymore.
Parker turned away from them and left, feeling bereft of the anticipation from minutes ago, bereft of the hold she'd always been able to rely on. She could only rely on herself now.
~~~~
Parker blinked her eyes back into focus, once more watching the flames.
Something had shifted. In the half-light of the corridor on SL-18 she had lost something precious: a friend and the belief in something that hadn't existed anymore.
x-x-x-x
She hadn't always been like this. She'd been a sweet girl once. When she'd told Debbie she'd been born this way, she had of course lied. No one was born this way. No one was this cold-hearted on the day they suck in their first breath. Not even Lyle - and even admitting that in the privacy of her own mind meant something.
Parker shook her head and took a sip of the wine, watching the flames dance around, licking on the wood.
Most of it had come gradually.
The light had dimmed first when her mother had killed herself (been murdered, supposedly murdered, died or not died). Life hadn't been the same afterwards. Daddy had been... well, daddy.
He hadn't cared about her pain and had quickly sent her away. Her light before leaving had been a young boy stuck in the darkness of the Centre. He'd been her safety-blanket, her hold. He knew what it meant to feel pain, to be alone. They'd combined their loneliness and merged it into a strong bond.
She may even have been in love with him. Yes, she guessed there was a pretty good chance that she'd been in love with him. That was until she came back from overseas to find him again.
She hadn't been home in years, hadn't been at the Centre anymore to see her friend. She had always missed him and in the beginning, she'd even sent him letters. At first she was sure they would reach him, but the Centre was... well, the Centre.
She hadn't wanted to leave him alone, really hadn't wanted to and when she came back - lonely still, despite friends at school and frat-boys and lovers - she'd gone looking for him. Finding him had been different from what she expected though.
Parker laughed hollowly and gulped the last of the wine down, wishing for something stronger to purge the old images.
It had been the moment when he had stopped to matter, when she had become his huntress even though he had only broken out years ago. Oh, he never learned she had been there, he never learned what made her turn against him.
Not that she would ever tell him what she had seen...
It was one of their usual haunts - had been at least; back then, when she'd still been here often, before she'd been sent away. It was also one of the last places she'd checked, not having found him at any of the other possible locations.
Hearing soft sounds, Parker smiled in anticipation. She was here to meet with an old friend, her best friend. She had missed him. Rounding the corner, Parker was about to call out to her friend when she took in the scene, her mouth falling open at what she saw. She quickly retreated, blinking several times as she waited for the vision to fade away... it didn't.
Jarod was...
She shook her head, leaning against the wall in her back, looking away. Anger cursed through her. She'd used other men, but Jarod had always had that special place. Time and distance had made him to this special... person inside of her heart, larger than life status maybe. Now, he was betraying what they had.
Turning to the sounds again, oddly captivated and at the same time feeling like a... 'pervert', her mind supplied helpfully. Her friend had grown up, grown out of the boy's body into a fine man, muscular and strong.
Their kisses were heated, hands roaming over the other's body, sounds of pleasure loud in the otherwise silent corridor, her senses finely tuned to them. She watched - fascinated - despite her anger. She knew his companion even though they'd never had personal contact. Parker knew many of the others even though she'd always been closest to Jarod, but him and Eddie...
She'd thought she'd come home and find nothing amiss, nothing changed, but Jarod... wasn't Jarod anymore.
Parker turned away from them and left, feeling bereft of the anticipation from minutes ago, bereft of the hold she'd always been able to rely on. She could only rely on herself now.
Parker blinked her eyes back into focus, once more watching the flames.
Something had shifted. In the half-light of the corridor on SL-18 she had lost something precious: a friend and the belief in something that hadn't existed anymore.
