They arrive at their home

Author's note: Hey guys. This is an alternate, slightly lighter branch that might become the main branch. Depends on what I decide would be more fun to continue writing.

Liam

As we drove down the neighborhood, the streets were eerily quiet and empty of people. It seemed like most people had bunkered down in response to the event. And I couldn’t say I blamed them. Certainly not after seeing the chaos downtown, the total breakdown of normal moral behavior. Now, any woman was up for grabs. Now, they were objects made to be stolen and taken away from their loved ones. To be remolded to fit their owner’s needs. People had a responsibility to protect their families. And now, so did I.

I felt a pit in my stomach as my eyes met Mom’s in the rearview mirror. She had changed. She still looked like the caring, nurturing woman I had known all my life, but beneath it all, I knew something about her was different. Her eyes lingered unusually, seemingly analyzing my face for any small sign of stress or discomfort. Her smile seemed more passionate and unrestrained.

“Are you alright, honey?” she asked as she noticed me staring at her contemplatively. “We’ll be home in a sec. Don’t worry.”

“Yeah… It’s just…”

“We’re alright, Liam. You did what you had to do, what we wanted you to do,” Ashley added, clearly more perceptive of what was troubling my mind.

I couldn’t help but notice her changes, too. Her voice sounded more caring, more confident, more relaxed than it had ever been towards me.

“You sure?” I muttered. She fiddled with her round glasses, her blue eyes peering at me with concern. “You just seem… different. I don’t know how to describe it.”

She leaned over, putting her hand on my thigh, a warm smile on her face. “Of course, we’re different now, Liam. You’ve claimed us, and I guess that we're yours now. But that’s okay.”

“It just means that we really want to make you happy now … That we care a lot about you. There’s nothing wrong with that. Nobody is getting hurt.”

She trembled at the words coming out of her mouth. Her eyes widened nervously as she gazed earnestly into my eyes.

“It’s still us. We’re still your family.” She took my hand, squeezing it softly. “We still love you, Liam.”

“Nothing has to change, honey,” Mom added. “We just want you to be happy.”

“Okay … I just want to be sure that you’re alright and … comfortable,” I said, squeezing Ashley’s hand. “Please just tell me how you really feel if you’re unhappy about any of this.”

Ashley held my hand tightly, a soft smile on her face as she nodded quietly.

“We will, Liam. Don’t worry,” Mom answered as she looked into my eyes in the rearview mirror, her voice stern and assured yet warm and caring in a way I recognized instinctively. Even after claiming her, she was still my mother, I thought.

Her eyes darted back to the road. “Oh shit,” she muttered suddenly as we neared our house. “Someone’s at our door.”

My sister and I quickly leaned forward to look, noticing a red pickup truck that I didn’t recognize parked in front of our home. A middle-aged man and a young woman who looked about Ashley’s age were standing at our front door. The man was clearly frustrated, yelling and knocking on the door furiously.

“I think it’s Brett,” Mom remarked as the car drifted closer. “Abby’s dad.”

I knew Abby as one of Penelope’s friends, of course. But who was the girl next to him? Her sister? With her olive skin and long dark hair, she didn’t look much like blonde Abby.

“He’s probably here to pick her up,” Ashley added.

“Yeah, but what should we do?” Mom and Ashley looked towards me, expectantly.

“Ehm… Let’s get out and talk to him. He’s just here for Abby, don’t you think?”

I unfastened my seat belt, my heart pounding as we pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. Noticing us, Brett composed himself as the young woman said something to him in a low voice before walking briskly toward us.

Mom spoke as he got closer. “Hey, Brett. What’s—”

He suddenly grabbed Mom’s wrist. “I claim you.”

His expression quickly shifted from cold determination to visible confusion as Mom pulled her arm back and slapped him. “How dare you! I’m already claimed, asshole!”

“Well, shit.” He chuckled as he looked at us in shock, his eyes finally turning to me. “You claim her, kiddo? … Can’t say I blame you, I guess.”

My sister stepped between us, her voice low and shaking with fury. “His name is Liam. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

He ignored Ashley, looking directly at me with a wide smirk. “And your sister, too, I’m guessing? Nicely done, Liam.”

“Just tell me what you’re doing here?” I asked, trying my best to sound tough.

For a moment, an awkward silence hung in the air as Brett looked me over.

The young woman behind patted his back and stepped forward. “I think we got off to a bad start. I’m Isabel, Brett’s … coworker.”

She adjusted her hair, smiling nervously. “We’re just here for his daughter, Abby.”

“Yeah. And her friends in there won’t let me in.” Brett added. “They think I’m going to harm her or something, you see?”

“Why hell did you try to claim my mom then?” I yelled.

“Hey, I’m sorry, I apologize … I just need to get in there and get my daughter before someone else does!”

“You should know how he feels, Liam,” Isabel said. “Brett just wants to protect his family.”

Ashley let out a bitter laugh. “Why’d you claim your coworker if you just care about your family?” He looked away in shame as she glared at him.

Isabel answered for him, the tone of her voice clearly colder. “It was … an accident. He didn’t know it would work.”

He facepalmed. “I promise you. I just want my daughter … I’ll claim her, of course, for her own safety.”

I didn’t trust him one bit, not after what he tried to do to my mother. But what were we going to do? It didn’t seem like he was going to leave without her daughter in tow.

“Sweetie, we should talk to Penny and the girls before you decide anything,” Mom whispered to me.

I couldn’t help but notice her odd choice of words. She truly believed everything was now my decision to make.

“I’ll go talk to them. It’s Abby’s decision if she wants to leave,” I said.

“You better not touch her, kid,” he growled, stepping closer.

I tried to ignore his outburst and walked over to the front door. I knocked on the door and yelled. “Hey! You there, Penny? It’s Liam.”

I held my head close to the door as I heard what sounded like whispering voices on the other side.

“Yeah! I’m here, and so are Abby, Hana, and Maria. Are Mom and Ashley okay?” Hearing my sister’s voice again, a feeling of relief flowed through me.

“Thank God, you’re alright!” Her question made me pause as guilt reared in the back of my mind again. “Ehm … Yeah, they’re alright.”

I looked awkwardly to my side. Ashley and Mom were standing right beside me, smiling.

“We’re okay, Penny!” Ashley added. “But you need to know something … Liam claimed Mom and me.”

The revelation seemed to set off an explosion among the girls on the side of the door. After a moment, my sister’s voice returned. “What the fuck, Liam?!”

“I did it to protect them, Penny! Ashley asked me to,” I answered earnestly.

“You’re lying!”

“Penny, I promise you I’m not!”

“Penelope, this isn’t important right now,” Ashley said, fiddling with her glasses. “Abby’s dad is still here.”

“Well, he’s not getting her! She doesn’t want to be claimed, and we’re not going to let her!” Penelope exclaimed, her voice shaking with anger.

I wondered what to do. I knew she couldn’t keep either Brett or us out forever. We had the keys to the house, and Brett could just break the windows if he was ****. I didn’t trust him and certainly didn’t want to give Abby to him… But maybe it was the only way?