When Angel left Spiraling Oaks, his room was left empty. The hospital was rather large and there wasn’t much need for it around these parts, only a few insane people here and there.
Well, finally there was a use for the room.
The doors to the empty room busted open as four guards drug in the hospital’s latest patient. Needless to say, he was NOT happy to be here.
If someone in the family went crazy, no one was expecting it to be him.
Maybe Mike, he’d been around for so long and had a rough past, it seemed likely. Hell, maybe Dayton since he was so neglected by his parents. Maybe you would even think Trever, the man who made others go crazy. But someone that fucked up in the head, could easily lose their shit, right?
But it was none of these who was currently curled on the floor, knees pulled to their chest as they sat in a puddle of their own blood.
It was Cade Johnson.
He was one of the last people you would have expected to go insane. He always seemed so normal, despite his family issues. He didn’t have relationship problems, he had a nice little son. His life seemed perfect.
Until the day someone tried to mess with his little boy.
Even before Cade had a child of his own, it was no secret he loved children. The boy was just always around one, even if it wasn’t his. He would have beat anyone’s ass if they hurt any child.
But his own?
That was a completely different story.
*************************************************************************************
Cade hadn’t thought this day was any different than another as he made his way to Trever Murdock’s home. His baby, Leon had become good friends with Trever’s son Joss so they were having a sleepover like they often did. Cade didn’t like his child being away from him at all though so he’d gotten a bit worried and had come to pick him up a bit early… By a bit early he meant like five in the morning.
He didn’t bother knocking on the door. Trever had given him a spare key since he didn’t feel like being woken up when Cade came to get the boy and he knew if Cade banged on the door, it would make Toni shit a brick. He was so jumpy.
So Cade just stepped inside the home, looking around with a frown when he saw Joss covered up on the couch but Leon was nowhere to be found.
Then he heard the scream. His eyes widened and he ran towards the noise, bursting into Trever’s “special room.”
The fuck was he thinking trusting fucking Trever!
The man was hovering over Leon with a knife but he didn’t look to have used it yet. Cade was not about to give him the chance to do it either. He snatched the knife from Trever’s hand, shoving the man against the wall and holding the knife to his throat.
“Leon! Baby I need you to go. Go find Joss.” Cade said softly to his son, his eyes still locked on Trever, blazing with fury.
When Leon left the room, Cade tied Trever down to the bed and called Kelton to come over to get Leon. He then went to find his son.
“Leon, are you okay, sweety?” He whispered. “Did he hurt you?”
“U-um… Not tonight.” Leon shook his head.
“What do you mean not tonight?”
“H-he doesh this every time…”
“Wh-what?” Cade whispered as Kelton walked through the door.
“I’m sowwy..” Leon hung his head.
“T-take him home.” Cade said to his lover. He was turned around, not facing the two of them.
“What’s going on?” Kelton frowned, scooping Leon in his arms.
“Just GO. Please.” Cade was shaking lightly.
“Cade, calm down, what’s wrong?”
“GO!” Cade roared, turning around to scream at Kelton like he never had before.
Kelton flinched, his eyes hurt but he did take Leon and head out the door.
Cade would never have dared to yell at his lover like that… but the thought of his son being tortured night after night… had made something inside him just snap.
Before, he was just going to go off on Trever for trying to hurt Leon. He didn’t like violence.
But now… now he knew Trever had hurt his baby before and that was NOT okay. Cade was no longer okay. You could tell just by looking at him, something in his eyes was different… He had officially lost his fucking mind.
And for the first time in…. well, ever, he was acting like his father…
He needed to get back at Trever. Even though he wasn’t acting like himself, he wasn’t going to hurt Joss. He couldn’t hurt a child, even in this fucked mental state.
So what did he do?
He went for the bedroom where a sleeping Toni was curled under the covers. He yanked the boy out of the bed without warning, earning him a small squeal. He threw Toni over his shoulder, heading back into the torture room where Trever appeared to be relaxed, just lying on the table. He wasn’t worried about Cade hurting him. He loved pain and he didn’t get much of it from other people. He was looking forward to Cade’s attempts to hurt him.
But when he saw the boy with Toni, he sat upright.
“Don’t touch him or you’ll be sorry.” The man hissed. Yes, he experimented on Toni daily but he was the only one allowed to hurt the boy.
Cade said nothing, picking up the knife that Trever had been about to use to do God knows what on Leon and slid it down Toni’s back, taking off a good chunk of flesh.
Trever thrashed against the ropes holding him down. The boy would pay.
Cade did nothing more, tossing the small boy across the room, slicing one of the ropes holding Trever down before exiting the home, storming back to his own house. When he got there, he simply sat on the floor, in a corner, all alone, hiding his head in his knees.
When Kelton walked in and saw this it was unnerving to say the least. But he spoke anyway.
“Cade we gotta talk. Leon told me…”
“I don’t want to hear about it.” Cade said, not looking up.
“Cade damnit we need to talk about it!”
“Well you go ‘head and talk. I’m not listening!” He screamed, slapping his hands over his ears, his body shaking all over.
He was really beginning to freak Kelton the fuck out.
“Cade…”
“GO AWAY!” Cade yelled at the top of his lungs.
Kelton jumped slightly and backed out of the room.
Cade just sat there shaking. He didn’t realize his nails were digging deep into the skin on his thigh until he noticed blood. He began frantically scratching himself all over, leaving huge gashes in his already scarred skin.
This is the sight that met Kelton when he returned several minutes later, Gabriel by his side this time.
“Cade!” Kelton exclaimed, running over and grabbing Cade’s hand only to be shoved roughly away from his lover, nearly knocking him on his ass.
And that right there proved that there was definitely something wrong with Cade. He had vowed a long time ago to NEVER lay a hand on a lover…
So Kelton moved away from him, hanging his head like a kicked puppy. Angel made his way into the room to see what was going on. He squeaked when he saw his son harming himself.
Gabriel was watching, his brow furrowed. He didn’t want to believe it but Cade’s actions looked very familiar… especially when Gabriel noticed his eyes begin flashing different colors.
Angel himself noticed this as well and his heart sunk into his stomach. He immediately blamed himself. He had no clue what had happened but his baby was acting just like him…
What had he done?
He wanted to just bawl and scream and he wanted his son to hug him damnit… But he knew what had to be done…
He nudged Gabriel, handing him a piece of paper with the Spiraling Oaks phone number on it.
Gabriel frowned deeply and said nothing for several minutes until finally, after watching Cade begin ripping chunks of hair out of his head, he nodded, calling the number and explaining the situation. They were on their way.
Gabriel swallowed hard as he watched his son, punch the wall over and over again. He was devastated… Cade was still his baby even if he didn’t act like it. But he had to stay strong now. Angel and Kelton would be hurting. So would Blaine when he heard the news. With one man gone, Gabriel had to be twice as strong.
So Gabriel held Angel in one arm and Kelton in the other while Leon sat upon his shoulders, watching as Cade was driven away.
It fucking hurt. All of them felt at fault in some way, even tiny Leon who wasn’t sure where his daddy was going. He just hoped he was back soon…
So that was why Cade was where he was now, lying on the ground in his tiny empty room, screaming and hollering for his son.
He just wanted Leon. He needed Leon to be okay…
But he was ignored. He screamed day and night until he lost his voice. And when he got it back, he screamed some more. It was a continuous cycle.
He was allowed one visit a week. The family took turns. Kelton had come the first time, then Angel, and now it was Blaine’s turn. He was happy as always, even though he missed his bubba.
He knew the boy was missing Leon, considering that was all he’d said to Kelton and Angel. He hadn’t really said much to them at all, just asked for Leon.
So Blaine had taken one of his favorite teddy bears and glued a black wig to it, putting a tiny fake camera in its paw. Leon…
Cade adored the gift, that much was clear since he took it and hugged it close, not saying another word to Blaine.
He moved to the corner with his Leon bear, talking up a storm to the inanimate object.
Blaine missed his bubba, he’d hoped Cade would have been better and maybe talked to him.
But hey, it was okay… at least he’d made Cade happy.
Blaine stayed for a while longer, watching Cade laugh and play with the stuffed bear before he headed home.
Maybe one day Cade would be better…
But never really would he be completely the same.
Like mother, like son.
