Taylor's Weird Uncle 3 (Patreon)

Taylor’s Weird Uncle

Chapter 3

-VB-

Mr. Shade came to her when she was really young. Basically, a kindergartener. 

She vaguely remembered how she got hurt next to this mound outside of the city during a field trip. She tripped, rolled, and hit the back of her head on some rock. 

Mr. Shade came to her then, looking down at her instead of being in her shadow. 

He was a lot more transparent then compared to now, and also did a lot of things that didn’t make sense to her. He got better at understanding and people in general, but even still, he still did things that didn’t make sense. 

Like wiggling, woogling, and boogling. 

None of those were how he expressed himself, really, because she heard him laugh (it’s why Mr. Shade was a mister and not a missus) and even grumbled before, but he did them sometimes. Maybe it was because he was bored? Could be, but she wasn’t going to think too much about it. 

It hurt her head sometimes to do it. 

He’s been with her ever since, and the only person who really believed her about Mr. Shade was mom. 

But mom was gone.

Taylor knew what death was. Mom wasn’t the first time she’s met it and she knew that it certainly wasn’t the last time. 

Mr. Shade came to her then, confused and worried. 

He did something for her then, and mom could come back! 

But never permanently. 

Never for long. 

She knew that prisoners had longer time to talk to people than she did, and there was no rhyme or reason to when it happened. 

But she was just happy it happened and thankful to Mr. Shade for the opportunity. 

However, she wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about it. 

Mom said so. Mr. Shade couldn’t “talk” talk, and mom told her that she was basically speaking for him, so she did as mom and Mr. Shade asked. 

Dad didn’t know about this because, well, mom asked her not to tell him about it. 

But Taylor did try… and that hurt Dad more than before. 

Mr. Shade came to her then to make everything right again. 

Dad doesn’t remember That Day anymore, and Taylor wished that Mr. Shade could do the same for her. But if she forgot, then it might happen again, so Taylor didn’t ask Mr. Shade to remove her memories like he did for Dad. 

“Taylor, dinner!” Dad shouted from downstairs. 

“Coming!” she shouted back before shushing Mr. Shade away, who grumbled as he pulled away from her shadow and slid underneath her bed. She looked down to make sure he was there, and she confirmed it when it had all of his eyes there.

She noticed that he got more eyes than before. A few more, actually, and they all did the same thing they did when they first appeared: tremble, shake, be tearful, and keep staring at her.

They got better. They always did. 

“I’ll be back.”

Mr. Shade grumbled. 

She walked out of her room and went downstairs. 

Like most days that she met Mom, Dad had come home early. 

It’s why the days she met Mom was usually one of the better days since she, well, died. Because after meeting Mom, Dad came home earlier and wasn’t as depressed as before. More attentive, too. 

She just wished -.

No, don’t.

Taylor took a deep breath in and paused. “Is that Hao’s Express?” she asked as she skipped forward. 

Because on the dining table was the greasy, fatty, and sweet Hao’s Express chinese food. 

“Yeah,” Dad hummed as he set the second plastic to-go bag down. “Thought that you might like this considering what tomorrow is.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” she groaned. “Finals are going to be hell.”

He chuckled. “Savor it. There will be nothing like it when you graduate high school and college.”

Savor it? Hell, no! 

But she couldn’t help the giggle. 

After dinner, she would study one final time. 

-VB-

Max Anders, the civilian identity of Kaiser of the Empire Eighty-Eight, ran his hands down his face as he finished listening to the report he just got. 

He shivered … in anger. 

He set his hands down carefully on the table. This was not a normal table but a gift from his grandmother; he would murder anyone who even nicks it, something he’s made very clear for the last decade. 

“Who gave them permission to even go near the Docks?” he asked.

None of the capes and the regular lieutenants said anything. 

“Who were they operating under?” 

Hookwolf winced. 

Everyone’s gaze snapped toward him. 

“... One of my lieutenants,” he replied, trying to act casual.

But nobody was fucking casual after what that Thing put them through.

Max took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Brad, am I going to have to put your men through the tests and then purge them myself or are you going to do it yourself?”

Brad grimaced. 

The man absolutely hated the idea of purges, especially among his own “men” when something outside of his own decision dictated it. 

But this was the Thing that everyone was scared of. Even him. It horrified them all enough that they fucking worked with the government dogs on keeping it contained. 

Contained.

Not destroyed or remove. 

Contained.

Because the last time someone tried to remove the Thing by taking care of the Union, the only known people that can cause it to appear, the Event nearly caused the rest of the city to try to kill the Empire after the incident. 

“Find whoever egged those idiots into even looking at the Union’s direction, Brad. I want them found, beaten, and then handed over to the PRT.”

“Got it.”