A Restless Night (Open)

[lycan]

Faith was tossing and turning in her borrowed bed. It wasn’t because she was uncomfortable, far from it. The bed was soft and welcoming, better than what she was used to from the facility. It wasn’t because she was in a strange place, because it is right where she wanted to be. It wasn’t because of the events of the previous day, they were of course trying and informational. It wasn’t the return of Chris into her life, although she welcomed it.

She tossed and turned because of her memories. The ones that refused to stay locked up when she slept. They plagued her nights, and they caused her great misery. It wasn’t just one memory, but a collection of them that tormented her at night. It always involved Baptiste, and her getting hurt. Sometimes the memories were of her killing people that entered her mind and haunted her dreams, and those were the worst nights of her life. Then there were the dreams of Chris and his comfort, but they always ended badly as well. She had never slept through the night as long as she could remember.

Tonight, her nightmares involved all of them. Her mind made her dream it as if she was watching a horror film that she couldn’t leave until it thought she has had enough. She jerked awake with a soft scream ripping from her lips, her claws extended from her knuckles in her frustration and sweat beaded her skin. Even though the room was kept cool, it still happened. She then swung her feet over the side of the bed and placed them barefoot on the floor. The cold floor didn’t bother her the least as she hardly felt the temperature on her skin. She then leaned forward for a moment trying to calm herself, and force her claws back into her forearms. When she had succeeded, she then stood up and paced the room for a bit. She could feel the need to work out her frustration onto something as she paced.

Faith couldn’t take it any more. Without bothering to put on anything to cover her borrowed shorts and tank top she was using to sleep in, she went over to the door and opened it. It took her some effort to keep from tearing it off it’s hinges, but she had managed. So she knew that Chris had to be in the immediate vicinity of her in order for him to calm the raging storm within. She stepped out into the hallway and listened for anyone else to be up at this hour, and when she thought everyone had stayed in bed she made her way to the room she had saw down the hall. Her destination was the gymnasium for the punching bags hanging inside. She will have to remember to keep her claws in so that she doesn’t destroy the equipment in her rage.

Faith stepped into the room and took a close look around as she took in all the equipment that was there for everyone to use. She felt the need to rip something to shreds creep up on her, but she forced it back down. She didn’t know if there was a safe place for her to do that nearby, so she approached the nearest punching bag. She balled up her fists, took her stance and started to punch it…hard. The bag was nearly torn off the chain as her fist hit it, and she sighed. It wouldn’t last long with her in one of her moods, like the one she was in at that moment. She thought of going back out to the forest to chop more wood with her claws like she felt like doing.

She shook her head to scrap that idea, and punched the bag once again. This time a bit softer, but still hard enough to rock it nosily on the chain. She didn’t really care if the noise woke anyone up or if it alerted anyone to her whereabouts. She hoped she wasn’t breaking the rules by being up at this hour, but she had deep feeling that she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.

[logan]

Logan couldn't sleep at all that night and from everything that's been happening lately, it wasn't unexpected. There were plenty on his plate to keep him awake throughout the night. Such as Magneto and his little fan club coming and moving into the mansion. Then he finds out that Kitty went and risked her life to get a file on him. A file that detailed his entire life describing small bits and pieces here and there. Then it seemed that Charlie came back to try and prove her innocents. Which wasn't really his problem per say but it effected Jean a lot. And he knew he had to talk and comfort her at some point during the week. But that wasn't the last, the last was possibly the worst. It was finding out that Weapon X was experimenting with his DNA and trying to make copies of him. And in which they succeeded in doing so and made his daughter Faith, and a clone named Baptiste. But he didn't mind Faith because at least she went and told him the happening and escaped from that hell.

But as he couldn't sleep he decided to go out side and smoke a little of his cigar. He wished that possibly the smoke would calm him down possibly a bit and he could finally fall asleep. However he knew once he did it would be a marathon between him and his dreams. They were becoming so vivid he could even detail some of the surroundings around him. Such as one where he's in a beach, there's bullets flying at him everywhere. He's running towards a bunker with someone that was as fast as he was. Logan shoot the men while the guy next to them turned there torrents on the enemy. After the screams stopped they realized they over took the bunker, but no more then that seeing as that's when he woke up. It's been like that since he could remember, but now..now they are getting more intense with each passing day.

After a few puffs here and there from his cigar Logan put it out and placed it in a silver container. He sighed a bit as he got up from his sitting position and decided to go inside. But before he could do anything he heard a yell. The yell came from the direction where the guest rooms where and from it he could tell it wasn't a danger yell, but a scared yell. He then sniffed and could smell the beads of sweat and the scent of Faith mingled into it. It seemed she was experiencing the same things he was but unlike him she did know what those dreams where about. After the screams stopped he heard light foot steps and then a door opening towards the gym. Logan didn't wait for another sign and started to walk towards the gym to see what was going on.

As Logan then reached the gym he could hear one punch and then a raddled on the chains as it seemed the bag almost broke. As far as he could tell she was angry hence the lack of control on the hit. Logan watched as she pulled back again and punched the bag again, this time lighter then before but still pretty rough. He then leaned up against the wall and folded his arms. "Couldn't sleep huh Faith?" he asked as he looked to her. It seemed she was bothered and he wasn't one to leave a girl like that. At least not unless he could help it, and on the plus side she was his daughter.

[lycan]

Faith continued to hit the bag, as her need to destroy something rose in her. She was about just about to change it up with some kicks, and some combinations of punches and kicks when she felt someone enter the room behind her. She had stepped back and lifted her foot to make contact, and released it. She sent it sailing toward the bag and felt it give under impact, but it didn’t help the need to do some damage to something in her.

”Couldn’t sleep huh Faith?”

The question broke through the haze that clouded her mind, and she paused in her attack of the innocent bag. Her fists were balled up at her sides, not so that she could attack him but so that she could attempt to control the anger that was rising up in her from her memories. She breathed heavily, her chest heaving from her control of her emotions. They did this to her, they wanted her like this, and they got want they wanted. She was barely able to control herself at times, and she had to remember that now those around her do not necessarily want to harm her. Just like her father leaning up against the wall with his arms across his chest.

Faith closed her eyes so that she can calm down enough to answer him. ”I’ve never been able to sleep well. Too many nightmares, and too many things that I have done…” She told him and turned back to the bag before going at it again. She only wished that there was some way for her to forget about the things that haunted her at night, and everyday. The only way she was able to work through her sleepless nights was to workout her anger in some way.

As she continued to lay punches and kicks, she could tell that he wasn’t going to leave her alone, and she asked a question of her own. ”I’m not the only one that sleep keeps evading, am I?” She asked as she landed another punch kick combo upon the poor bag in front of her. She pulled back her fist for another punch, and her anger got out of control for a moment as he claws in that hand extended. However she paused and reeled it back in and her claws before landing the punch.

[logan]

Logan looked to Faith as his question seemed to break her out of her trance of her continuance of hitting the bag in front of her. He observed her, looking towards her hands to see it balled up into fists that were more in a controlled way then a fighting way. Her breaths were heavy at an attempt to control her anger and to calm herself. He listened to her rapid heartbeat as he guessed the adrenaline in her body rushed through her veins. Logan wondered if it was Weapon X who had done this to her, but then again she was his daughter. Anger, rage, the animal instinct to fight, to shred, to rip, it was all part of who he was and apparently her too. Though what they did to her could have added more to the flame that is her animal side and his as well.

Logan then listened to Faith as she seemed to explain to him that she never did sleep well from her nightmares that haunted her dreams. She wasn’t alone in that department; he had nightmares presumably before she was even born. But then again that was a guess, seeing as he can’t fully remember his life before that the. The day that he awoke in a destroyed factory, looking around to try and figure out why he was there. She then started to punch the bag again which broke his train of thought of his own dreams.

He looked to her as she seemingly asked her question in a different way but was basically the same question he asked her. “Oh I most likely have been having these problems before you were even thought of being made. Though most likely you know what your dreams are about while I have no clue what so ever”. As he told her this she kept on punching that bag with no mercy, getting her anger and rage out, or at least trying to. He noticed that she finally extended her claws at the bag but stopped herself before she punched a hole into it. “You know there is a special room where you can take your anger out. It’s called the danger room though it would have to be tomorrow that we’d go down there, could give you the wraparound of it. We could actually see what your made of in there, plus it would be fun to watch” he told her with a smirk.

[lycan]

Faith didn’t think that he was going to answer her but she continued to take out her anger on the bag in front of her. She so wanted to shred it to pieces, but she knew that she just couldn’t do it. For one, she couldn’t replace it and two it most likely will get her kicked out. What she saw when she looked at that bag was the same face that she saw when she went on a lumber jack rampage earlier. All she saw was Baptiste and his evil smirk. She growled loudly as his face came to the front of her mind, and threw another punch that almost broke the bag off the stand.

”Oh I most likely have been having these problems before you were even thought of being made. Though most likely you know what your dreams are about while I have no clue what so ever”

She paused in her angry workout, and turned to face him. He had just told her that he didn’t remember much about his past. She closed her eyes, and attempted to calm herself once again in an effort to talk to him in what would pass for a normal tone for her. ”I wish I could forget mine…” She finally told him and turned away. It was the truth. She wished she could forget what they had done to her, what they made her do, and more importantly who they made her kill. All for their stupid propaganda, and their pathetic plans for the future of the human race.

“You know there is a special room where you can take your anger out. It’s called the danger room though it would have to be tomorrow that we’d go down there, could give you the wraparound of it. We could actually see what your made of in there, plus it would be fun to watch”

Faith stopped and looked at him. He was actually trying to be nice to her. Help her. Only two people had done that for her in her entire life, and they both were with Weapon X. She walked up to him then, and sniffed the air to see if he was sincere in his offer. She sensed that he was, and she felt relieved at that moment. The anger was still there, but she had found the will to keep a lid on it. He gave her that will, and for that she was grateful. She looked down to the floor and told him just that. ”Thanks.” She mumbled quickly and then looked back at him. She then approached him even more and looked into his eyes. ”You mentioned that you wanted to talk with me in the kitchen…” She stated, not really wanting him to leave her alone at that moment. She didn’t know what she would do if he did, but she needed him to stay with her. What better way than to bring up a previous conversation ending?

[logan]

Logan continued to watch as Faith kept on relentlessly punches her anger and frustration out on the bag in front of her. Whatever they have done to her, she must have still thought about it every day; even must have dreamed about it every day. It brought him back to earlier that day when she was slicing her way through trees like him. She was just like him no doubt about it and that was dangerous seeing as she was brought up the way she was. Logan made it one of his personal duties to teach Faith the proper way to try and control that rage of hers. Although he wasn’t all too good at that either, but restricted it to only certain situation which was good. But then before any other thought he looked to Faith as she punched the bag almost breaking it, throwing the sand everywhere.

He then noticed Faith turn to him pausing from her workout and closed her eyes in an attempt to try and calm herself enough so she could talk. Then she told him what she had to and turned away from him returning to the bag. He would have guessed she felt that way, she was only what, sixteen and that entire trauma wasn’t good for someone so young. The things she’s most likely endured would have most likely put these entire school kids to shame. At that moment Logan wondered what he had endured from the memory he didn’t remember. What did he face, what did he see that he had forgotten and his dreams were trying to let him know?

But that would have to wait because then Faith looked to him, she sniffed the air to try and see if he was sincere about what he had said. Couldn’t blame her though, from where she came from someone being nice to you was a luxury that you were lucky to have. She then seemed relieved and she seemed that she was able to hold off on her anger. Logan then looked to her as she seemingly looked down to the floor and thanked him. He smiled to her and before he could say you’re welcome she approached him and looked into his eyes. She asked that he mentioned earlier in the kitchen that he wanted to talk to her and he did. However he didn’t think the time was right to be throwing questions at her at this time, seeing as she was slightly angry. “Yeah, I was wondering who that boy was and how you happened to know him. I didn’t think they allowed close ‘friends’ there and along those lines I want to know what did they do to you there”.

[lycan]

Faith knew that it was only a matter of time before her anger got the better of her once again. She couldn’t afford to let it out like it wanted, or someone would likely end up hurt. The one person she didn’t want hurt was Chris, and that was enough to give her the will to fight her anger back to the pit where it festered and boiled inside of her. She remembered from the kitchen that he had melted that anger away with his presence, and knew that he would always be there for her.

“Yeah, I was wondering who that boy was and how you happened to know him. I didn’t think they allowed close ‘friends’ there and along those lines I want to know what did they do to you there”

She closed her eyes as he wanted to know more about her, and her past. She then leaned up against the wall next to him and took a deep breath as she tried to think of where to start. ”Chris was one of the other experiments there. And you are right, they frowned upon close ‘friends’ between experiments and other test subjects. He had to sneak in to see me. He was there when they first bonded my claws, and held me after the fact. He would even…” She trailed off turning her head to get her emotions under control before continuing, ”He would even sneak into my cell after my ‘training’ sessions with Baptiste. Some times he had to use his ability to pull objects that had broken off in me from the beating. Then one day they took him away, and infused him with dark matter. Then he was no longer there for me during the experiments and beatings…” She told him truthfully, and turned her head again so that he didn’t see the tears well up in her eyes. She didn’t go into too many details knowing what would happen if he did. She knew it would set him off on a rampage, and she didn’t want him to go after them alone.

[logan]

Logan looked to Faith as she leaned up to the wall next to him and took in a deep breath so she could tell him what he wanted to know. Before she even started Logan was thinking of his own things however and what he was going to do with them. There had been a lot going on that had been on his mind that things seemed to keep on piling in on him. Getting a daughter was sort of a huge slap that he didn’t expect in a million years. However he got one and it wasn’t that he mined having a daughter, what he did mind was that she was made under the pretense that she would cause destruction. That wasn’t a life he wanted for a child of his, he’d want them to have a normal life away from this. Or if he couldn’t keep them away from it, at least raise them properly enough so they know the right and the wrong. Faith seemed to know the difference between the two seeing as she regrets what Weapon X made her due. And in that sense he was proud of her, but still in the end he still wished that he could have known sooner and saved her from that kind of life.

Then once he finished his thought she started to talk about the boy, in which he found out his name was Chris. He listened as she explained that he was another experiment there and that he was right in the sense they didn’t allow experiments to talk to one another. She then continued on to tell him that he was there when they bonded her with her claws and held her afterwards. Then she told him that he would even sneak into her cell and help her pull the objects the broken off of her from the beatings. This of course pissed him off already, but before he could say anything she told him that they took him infused him with dark matter and she never saw him again. He knew that must have been hard, seeing as the too seemed to care for each other a lot.

He knew she was keeping details from him, he even knew it was because she had the feeling he would go after them alone if he did. “Faith it seems like you care about this boy a lot, and I’m not one to butt in to other people’s business. But you should catch up to him rather than punching this bag and letting your frustrations on it. He seems the type of fella that would take the beatings for you from what I’ve heard, and he also seems to want to be there and listen to you when you need him to”. After Logan told her what he needed to tell her in response to what she told him he smiled at her a bit. Then like what a father would do he put his hand on her head and looked at her with his smile. “I’m proud that your my daughter Faith, you’re a tough gal, but you hang in there when you need to and that’s good”.

[lycan]

Faith was trying to keep herself from remembering everything that had happened to her. She knew that if she didn’t, her anger will regain control of her and she didn’t know what she would do. She physically worked to push those memories back, and with it the rushing anger. She tried to clear her mind of those memories, and she knew she was doing fine as she let her mind go momentarily blank.

“Faith it seems like you care about this boy a lot, and I’m not one to butt in to other people’s business. But you should catch up to him rather than punching this bag and letting your frustrations on it. He seems the type of fella that would take the beatings for you from what I’ve heard, and he also seems to want to be there and listen to you when you need him to”

She nodded her head in answer to his statement about Chris, but he didn’t know what she knew about his weakness. She turned back to look at him and sighed. ”He is that kind of guy, but I’m not with him right now because I do not know if I can completely control myself. Any kind of radiation and electrical shock can hurt him. Even adamantium gives off trace amounts of radiation, and that can seriously injure him. If I accidentally hurt him, I won’t be able to forgive myself…” She explained to her father as why she was using the punching bag instead of talking to Chris.

“I’m proud that your my daughter Faith, you’re a tough gal, but you hang in there when you need to and that’s good”

Faith was completely caught off guard as he smiled at her and then placed his hand on her head. He told her that he was proud that she was his daughter, and praised her for being tough and how she could hang in there when she needed to. She couldn’t hold it together any more, and the tears came again. This time she couldn’t stop them, and before she knew what had happened, she was pressed against him with her arms wrapped around his middle. ”But it is so hard… I don’t know what to do. Everything was decided for me, from the time I was conceived until I left…” She cried against him. No one had told her that they were proud of her, and she just didn’t know what to do.

[logan]

Logan looked to Faith as she seemed to be trying to push some of those memories back with regaining her control over her anger. He knew what that was like seeing as he had the same problem years ago that still keeps up with him today. However he knew a few things that could help calm it down and he’ll promise Faith that he’ll teach her one day. He was very proud of her that she learned how to control her anger so quickly. Though she still needed a little work here and there but she tried and that was all that mattered. She knew that she could put people in danger if she was to go berserk out in the open with people, and she learned to calm herself. Faith had self-control and that was one of the many things he was proud of her for.

Then she nodded to him about his statement about Chris, but she looked back at him and sighed, he guessed it had something to do with her and Chris. After his explanation of the situation he got a good grasp at what she was talking about. “Listen Faith, from what I’ve seen and could smell off of him, he doesn’t care for his weakness. He doesn’t care that you have adamantium and he would gladly take a strike from you if it meant to help you calm down. It doesn’t seem like he’s letting it keep him away from you, why should you let it keep you from him”. He smiled to her knowing fully well that she liked him to the point where she was worried about hurting him. But as it would seem, Chris didn’t cared but it was good that she at least kept it in her head that she could hurt him.

As Faith then started to cry and then pressed herself against Logan wrapping her arms around him holding him tight. Behind the cries he heard her tell him that it was hard, that she didn’t know what to do and that everything was decided for her since she was born. Logan smiled a bit ad place a hand on her head and smiled. “It’s okay Faith, I’m here to help you alright, and you don’t have to have people decide things for you anymore. You now have the freedom to choose what you want and what you want to do; you follow your heart Faith”.

[lycan]

Faith didn’t know what she was doing as she hugged him and crying. She understood that Chris would be willing to take slice from her in order to help her, but she still didn’t want hurt him. She almost did when he showed up earlier, and she didn’t know who he was at that time. Hell she could hurt a lot of people, and most of them innocent. She had killed innocent people all because of she was told to do so or suffer sever punishment. She didn’t want to go it alone, but she didn’t want to be around Chris either when her anger is so close to the surface. Or the feral animal that lived inside of her either. She barely has control of it, and when it breaks free of her control there is no telling what will happen.

“It’s okay Faith, I’m here to help you alright, and you don’t have to have people decide things for you anymore. You now have the freedom to choose what you want and what you want to do; you follow your heart Faith”

She felt him place his hand back on her head and tell her what she had already knew. She could even feel his small smile, but she sure didn’t feel it back. She tried to sort through her emotions and follow his advice about her heart. What she found was something startling, as it has been festering for a long, long time. ”My heart is telling me to make them pay for what they did to me… To make sure they can never do it to someone else ever again… To tear them from limb to limb for hurting Chris…” She told him as she looked up at him, anger flaring in her eyes and a tone to match. It was in stark contrast to the tears still falling down her cheeks from her sadness just a minute ago…

[logan]

Logan knew she felt his smile and his hand on her head, he even knows that she heard or already knew what he had told her. Though he got the feeling it was different when your family tells you instead of another adult. He sniffed the air and listened to her heart beat, her anger grew it showed on her, from the rapid heartbeat to the scent she gave off. He knew that she might want revenge and that was ok to want she was only human. Or as close to human as you can get, she still had emotions and she still bleed and breathed like the rest of us. He would however have to teach her more self-control and possibly take her to the danger room to train more. It was a difficult time for her and he knew this, hence why he was there trying to comfort her in the best possible way he could. Although he wasn’t the best at it he tried to get her to relax and calm down.

Her response let him know that he was right, her heart was looking for revenge and he understood why she would want it. Though he felt her unprepared for what was coming, but in the end it was her choice if she wanted to go or not. “I know Faith, I do to, we are only human we want to bring justice to people who has done us wrong. But first you need to know how to control your anger the best you can, because I know how it feels to lose control. I’ll help you with it, and I know Jean would like it that we are preparing ourselves rather than fighting blindly okay”. He hoped that was a sufficient response to her statement of revenge and hopefully calms her down a bit. But if he knows how much of his blood runs in her it was far from over.

[lycan]

Faith could feel her body react to her anger at what her heart wanted her to do. She knew her scent changed and her heart rate increase with it. Her mind was reeling with the anger, and of course she tightened her hold on him slightly do to it. It was like as if she was latching on to him like a lifeline, and she needed it badly. It was like he was an anchor, and she needed to hold on to him in order to keep her grounded. Chris was her anchor before he went away, but now she could easily hurt him in a highly, intense upset state. Her father was going to have to be that for the moment.

“I know Faith, I do to, we are only human we want to bring justice to people who has done us wrong. But first you need to know how to control your anger the best you can, because I know how it feels to lose control. I’ll help you with it, and I know Jean would like it that we are preparing ourselves rather than fighting blindly okay”

So she knew that her ‘training’ with Baptiste was only half done as if he didn’t want her to succeed. It shown when she kept messing up, and he beat her nearly to the ground because of it. She knew he took pleasure from those time, and she gritted her teeth at the memories. She also knew that he could hear her teeth grinding against themselves because of it. She closed her eyes again to push the memories back to where she wanted them locked up in her head.

Faith then opened her eyes again and looked at him with a strong will of determination in her eyes and on her face. ”I want to show them I am something more than a pet dog to be pointed at someone and told to “sic ‘em“. I want to be able to not let my anger control me like they wanted…” She finally told him letting him know that her determination will not deter from what she wanted, and revealed a little bit more of what she knew they wanted her to become.

[logan]

Logan felt the tightened hold on him as Faiths heart rate when up alone with her scent which told him she was furious. She was hanging on to him and it seemed she didn’t want to let go, as if he was the only thing keeping her teetered from becoming a feral animal. He knew how that felt, Jean was that teeter for him and she knew it. Though now he learned to control his anger and learned to calm himself more effectively then before meeting her. But he still needed her, he needed to know that she was alright and that understood what he felt. That’s what he guessed that he was to Faith, however he would have guessed that Chris fellow would have been that to her. But it made sense to Logan, seeing as Chris’s weakness was radiation, and of course Faith doesn’t want to harm him.

Then while he thought Logan heard the grinding and gritting of teeth, looking down he noticed that Faith was doing so. He knew she must have all that pent up rage from the one clone called Baptiste and his ‘training’ methods. Those memories must have been permanently burned into her mind for her to continue to see them. Logan felt bad for Faith, he wanted to help her forget about those painful memories, but he didn’t know how. He couldn’t even remember his own past so how could he possibly help her forget hers.

Logan then looked down to her as she looked back up to him, looking dead center in his eyes and what he saw was determination. Her will her strength was astounding and he again was proud of what she had in her. She then spoke to him, telling him that she want to show those bastards that she wasn’t a dog to just say attack. She wanted to gain control over her anger to show them over at Weapon X that she wasn’t going to be what they wanted her to be. All Logan could do was smile at her, “I am proud you are my daughter. You have the fighting spirit and the will to live, the will to be better than what they told you all you were. Faith you will do this I promise you”.

[lycan]

Faith knew that Weapon X had wanted her to be feral, and the first time they forced her to that state it scared the un-feral side of her enough to want her to keep a lid on her anger. She quickly learned that her anger was the key to her rage and the feral animal that lived within her. However when they purposely released it the first time in a controlled environment, it had wanted to be in control all the time since. She could hear the scientific observers of that experiment and exercise mutter that she would be ‘a terror to behold’ on a battlefield to her enemies.

So she knew that they were trying to mold her into an animal or a soldier of some type. She knew that they purposely wanted the animal just below the surface, and they had succeed in doing so. Now she was asking her father to help her push it back down, so that she wouldn’t be dangerous to those around her. She truly didn’t know how to calm the animal inside her that wanted out at every waking moment to shred, rip, tear, and destroy anything and everything around her. She felt herself loosing the battle on her anger, and she didn’t know what to do.

“I am proud you are my daughter. You have the fighting spirit and the will to live, the will to be better than what they told you all you were. Faith you will do this I promise you”

Faith heard his praise once again, and felt his smile on her. She would have tighten her hold again, but she didn’t want to crush him in her grip from it. The praise made her fell better, but she could feel her control slipping as the one memory of them releasing her feral animal echoed in her mind. She buried her face into him and actually whimpered like a hurt and scared puppy. ”I’m loosing it… I can feel it wanting free, and I’m having trouble keeping it under control… It has been that way since they purposely set it free… I’m scared. I always have been of it…Dad.” She finally confessed to him, and without thinking called him ‘Dad’. She wondered if he knew she was talking about the feral animal that always seemed to live just under the surface in her…