Chapter 10: Late night note

Chapter 10: Late night note.

" Of course I do!, he's supposed to be strong so then why did he lose to that thing all those years ago and had to let dad pay the price!!, it should have been him instead, not Dad!!!." She shouted, pointing at Noir as if what had happened all those years ago was his fault without question.

" Why you!!!!!" Molly pointed a trembling finger at her own daughter as if even she felt like she'd lose her mind any second now. " That's it, you've said more than enough!!!."

Molly's eyes flashed dangerously. "Go to your room."

Chloe blinked. "Excuse me?!" her face turning hideous.

"I said go to your room!!!," Molly repeated, voice tight with fury.

Chloe stood there, breathing hard, fists shaking. " Fine!!!!, but you can't protect him forever!!!, one of these days he'll definitely get what he deserves!!!!." She vowed.

Then, with a frustrated growl, she turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs, slamming the door behind her.

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Noir stood there, stiff, feeling like his whole body had been dunked in ice water.

He was used to Chloe's anger. Used to her outbursts.

But this… this was a whole new level of animosity.

For the first time, she truly, deeply believed he was a monster, compared to this afternoon, this was worlds apart!.

Right now, he felt as if his heart was filled with multiple jagged blades slowly twisting and turning continuously.

His fists were clenched as he recalled how weak he'd been all those years ago, even though he had tried his best back then, he still couldn't beat that thing back then until it had taken the life of his brother in-law, causing him to retaliate with rage.

Feeling distraught and aggrieved, Noir slowly sank into the depths of his depression.

Only when he felt a hand suddenly rest on his shoulder did he snap out of his dark thoughts. Noir looked up to see his father, Gregory, watching him with quiet understanding.

" Dad...you don't think that I..."

"Wipe that frown off your face my boy, we believe you had no hand in this." His father laughed heartily, trying to ease the mood.

Noir swallowed hard. "You do?"

Gregory nodded. "Of course, Why wouldn't we you idiot. We know you didn't do this." he ruffled Noirs hair with a broad grin on his face.

His mother, Anna, stepped forward, gently brushing his hair back like she used to when he was little. "Sweetheart, don't let her words get to you, okay?"

" I'm sure Chloe was just emotional, from the looks of it, she probably had some close ties with that young man."

Noir let out a shaky breath. "Yeah…..I guess your right"

Molly suddenly ruffled his hair as well out of the blue. "Brighten up will you, Mom's right, I'm sure all she needs is more time to come to terms ok little bro."

" Ok ok, can everyone stop attacking my hair now..." Noir smiled and nodded, seeing this, Molly's expression eased a little.

" You cheeky little brat" Molly chuckled, ruffling his hair a bit more before smiling and saying. "Now why don't we have dinner, I'm sure everyone's hungry."

_______________________________________

The dinner table was warm and filled with the scent of home-cooked food. Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and steamed vegetables. Noir sat down, his appetite faint but growing as the tension in his chest started to fade.

Chloe obviously didn't come down.

Not that he expected her to after all that had happened.

As they ate, Noir hesitated before asking, "Why are you guys here, anyway?" he said, staring at his parents. " Did something happen at the house?." He asked with a new worried look.

Gregory and Anna exchanged a look before his father sighed.

" Try not to panic son but..." His mother said causing Noirs brows to furrow deeper.

"We sold the house," Gregory admitted. "We're moving to the suburbs."

" Surprise!!!" Madison, Molly, Miles, Anna and Gregory screamed in unison.

Noir's fork paused mid-air. "Wait. What?!."

Anna gave him a soft smile. "We thought it would be better for us. But more than that… we wanted you to stay with Molly and her family from now on."

Noir stared at them.

Stay here? Permanently?

His home, the house he grew up in, where all his memories were—was gone?

A pang of sadness hit him hard.

But before he could sink too deep into that feeling, Madison piped up, "But now you get to live with us forever, Uncle Noir!"

Miles nodded eagerly. "Yeah! It'll be fun!"

Molly smirked. "See? You're not getting rid of us that easily."

"...Seems like it" Noir let out a small, reluctant laugh.

It still hurt.

But maybe… maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

_________________________________________

After dinner, Molly picked up a plate of food and headed toward the stairs.

"I'll bring this up to Chloe," she muttered.

But Noir stood up. "I'll do it."

Molly arched a brow. "You sure?"

Noir nodded. "Yeah."

She hesitated before handing him the plate. "Well good luck." she said with a sigh watching him leave.

Noir climbed the stairs slowly, the weight in his chest returning.

At Chloe's door, he knocked softly. "Chloe?"

No response.

"...I brought you some food."

Silence.

Noir swallowed. "I—I'm sorry about what happened. I know you're mad. But… I swear, I didn't do it."

Still nothing.

He sighed, placing the plate gently on the floor.

" It looks like your busy so I'll leave this here for you ok."

"Goodnight, Chloe."

With that, he turned and walked away.

_________________________________________

Back in his room, Noir lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

The news report played over and over in his head.

The boy wasn't killed outside. He wasn't attacked in some alley.

He was mauled inside his locked bedroom.

Which meant…

Noir sat up.

Something was very wrong.

He needed to know what had happened, Though he didn't want to admit it, it looked like something strange was at foot and while he didn't want to believe it, the clues pointed to the same incident he'd dealt with years ago.

' Could another monster be out there....' he wondered with furrowed brows.

Grabbing a piece of paper, he scribbled a quick note:

"Went out for a walk. Be back soon."

Then, without making a sound, he slipped out the window and into the night.

________________________________________

(AN: For those wondering why Noir came back to Molly's home instead of heading all the way to the woods, to his parents home. It was simply because, although he recalled the way back to Molly's home, getting back home to the forest was far more tricky so he planned on having her drive him home instead.)