In a remote location a few dozen or so kilometers away from the nearest city, near the Bialowieza forest in Europe, Briggs had just finalized all of the paperwork necessary to purchase a secluded mansion deep in the woods.
"So here are the keys to the house mister Briggs," a beautiful and short woman with shoulder length hair and thick bangs received the last pieces of unimportant papers that Briggs had been holding off on giving until he could meet this realtor in person rather than over the phone.
"I hope the two of you have a great stay or give our Dream Homes Realtors another chance if, for any reason, you don't find this house to your liking. Oh, and before I go. Here you go little cutie," The real estate lady gave Salimoon a lollipop. Amazingly, even though it had only been only two months and some odd change since her birth, she could already walk. She didn't need to hold Brigg's finger but since she was still relatively small, she did so so as to not make it look awkward.
"You have an adorable child Mr. Briggs," The woman was momentarily entranced by Salimoon's cuteness. Of course, Salimoon had no idea what the woman was saying as she spoke Polish rather than a language that she was familiar with.
"Thank you," Briggs used a tidal wave of charming sex appeal rather than innate cuteness to distract the woman from paying too much attention to the child that already had firmer muscles than some adults.
"No. Thank you and if you need anything at all just call me at this number," the woman gave her business card then blushed when Briggs suggestively said, "Anything?"
"Ahem, I mean anything to do with your home," she put a few strands of hair behind her ear and exhaled hard.
"Of course. I will call if I need anything," Briggs used an extremely effective dashing smile to cause a massive amount of damage to the realtor lady. To her knowledge, he was a handsome, well mannered, groomed, educated, funny, fit, rich, humble, and single father who put everything into raising his kid. That was all that she knew about this mysterious client of hers, that and the fact that he paid for the building in full and in cash.
The woman drove off with a higher expectation of people in general after interacting with this man and his child over the last few days of getting everything situated. If she could find someone just half as amazing as this client of hers, she would be willing to give up her life's creed of avoiding romance. Her new standard would prove to be her life's greatest decision. Salimoon and Briggs, however, almost forgot about her existence as soon as she left the premises as they entered their new home.
It was a two story lodge that was made purely out of wood that carried a fresh pine scent no matter where one went in the building. It was a recently built and modern take on a cabin in the woods with its five bedroom, three bath, four car garage, greenhouse, gymnasium, and indoor pool. The foyer alone was as big as some apartments. Salimoon whistled as she walked into the building holding Brigg's hands. Before she even had a chance to say anything, she was kicked in the back and tossed into a wall 5 meters away where she used an arm to instinctively cushion the blow. There was a sound of a snap
"F*ck! Why'd you do that," Sali yelled. Briggs took off his overcoat and unbuttoned his shirt. The keys he had just received and the silver and black watch on his wrist, were placed in an old decorative glass bowl on top of a small wooden table in the entryway. The home came fully furnished.
"One, mind your language. And two, I am doing this for your own good," Briggs spoke nonchalantly as he took a few steps closer. The bruises that instantly formed on Sali's back turned red then back to golden skin in a little over a minute or so that Briggs took to prepare himself for what he was about to do.
"The hell!? What do you mean, 'My own good'. I could have died. Do you not see how small I am," Sali yelled as she held her limp arm. She winced and held back tears as she let go of her arm and gave the older man a middle finger..
"The power that you hold is addictive, Sali. If you gain the ability to heal at the same rate as what I experienced a few weeks ago, you will lose yourself. In the future, there is no telling what you will do with it. It brings out the worst instincts in people…", Briggs sighed heavily as he helped pop Sali's arm back into place. It wasn't broken, just dislocated.
"Can you tell me that you wouldn't lose your temper and hurt or even kill someone just because you could despite how old you are?", Briggs brought himself to level with the child who possessed an adult's intelligence and wisdom. She caught sight of Briggs' flashing eyes and confronted a blatant truth that had been spelled out for her.
'He was able to see that I would become a battle junkie before I even came to terms with myself. I don't know what I will do with my power. I know that Jack used it to get into fights with different members of his family when he was still with them. He even killed a few in the original story after losing control of one of his blessing perks, the Rage inducing portion. If things go as planned then I will unlock the same perk at some point. I need to be prepared to deal with my emotions,' Sali thought.
"Can you help me control myself if I get out of hand because of my power," she asked Briggs.
"I will do what I can to show you your limits. It will be a learning process for me as much as it will be for you and you might die if I push you too far," Briggs spoke only after a long pause. He was weighing his options.
"Do what you have to do," Sali said.
'I don't want to be swayed by my emotions like Jack or animal instincts like Briggs,' she wanted nothing to do with Jack and his inability to control himself. The problem was, and she knew it, that he was as much a part of her as she was a part of him. Before she had time to think, she was already punched in the face and tossed down the hall by the sledgehammer-like force of Brigg's strike. She had a few teeth but they fell out from the punch and her nose was at an angle.
"Can you wait," she spat blood on the floor and screamed. She blinked and instinctively crossed her arms over her chest upon seeing a dark figure approach. With a violent and sickening crunch, she felt the bones in her right arm snap and crunch as her arm folded over the other as she flew down a hall. This time, it was certainly broken. Before she could register the pain beyond the shock, her mind opened up the system and immediately brought up her status. In an instant, her mind locked onto the idea of expending charges to reduce the amount of pain that she felt by repairing the damage as quickly as possible. The mere idea used her charges in an instant.
"Ahhhh," she screamed as her limp arm regained rigidity in seconds. The pain sent her nerves into overdrive as her vision turned hot white. Steam, evaporated sweat, encompassed her body. Briggs frowned and murmured, "So those runes were something only special to me huh."
He took out a stopwatch from his back pocket and counted the time until Sali stopped screaming and calmed down. Once she healed, he once again kicked and punched until she was broken and bruised. This type of training was something that he himself had gone through. It would just be expedited since she could heal at an inhuman rate.
It took two years of being beaten, two years of constantly running away and not knowing where she was or how to communicate with people. Two years of being stuck with Briggs. It was only two years of abuse later that Salimoon unlocked the perk that she feared about the immortality blessing.
*ACTIVE: Divine Boon (1x Charges Expended/ Per Second)
Enter a dangerous rage where all powers are [Doubled] in exchange for [CHARGES] and sanity. Increasing the [CHARGES] spent improves the boon proportionally but it also increases the expenditure exponentially
The day it activated was just like any other except for a split second where she wondered why she couldn't hit Briggs despite being only slightly slower and weaker than him. She fought back for the first time and released the same power that Briggs had shown years before. With her small body, Runes appeared all over her skin. She was capable of ripping and adults' flesh straight off the bone just as Briggs had been capable of when he was undergoing his transformation. Briggs withstood all of the attacks and subdued her with a broken leg, shattered arm, and cracked ribs. The problem was that the gymnasium that had been their base of operations was torn asunder.
After putting Salimoon asleep after a deadly encounter, he just so happened to find the tattered card of a company called Dream Homes Realty and called the lady that he had become familiar with over two years ago to purchase this home in the woods.
In a small apartment in Hajnówka, a woman with short hair and bangs ate a noodle soup while staring at the news on her tv. A new war was the talk of the town recently, a war in the middle east due to some terrorist attack that occurred the year prior in a major nation. That was only a few months ago now as she stared at the snow that fell beyond her window. She briefly stared at a suit and dress that had been dry cleaned and hung up on her open bedroom door.
"Buisness has been slow these last few months. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to strike it out on my own," the woman ate her soup with a sour expression. Her eyes clouded over for a moment until her clunky phone began to ring. She did not recognize the number but she still accepted the call since she was grasping at straws.
"Yes. This is Taylor Andersen, how may I help you," Taylor listened to the voice on the other side and tried to place it but no matter what she couldn't. That was until the man on the other side said what house he had purchased and the date. She was immediately reminded of the button of a baby that she met and the handsome father.
"I see. I can be there tomorrow to discuss our options after the roads have been cleared, is that okay with you," Taylor put down her noodles and put on her most sincere face as she tried to convey professionalism through only her voice.
"No, thank you Mr. Briggs. Until then, have a wonderful evening and morning," Taylor hung up the phone, took in a heavy breath then roared out loud. She completely ignored the past due rent papers that had stacked up on her counter top next to the cup of noodles that she had made for lunch/ dinner. She immediately got dressed and headed to the nearest library so that she could look some things up and print out some papers for a potential sale. She ran out of ink for her own printer and couldn't afford new cartridges.
When Taylor pulled up to the manor a day later in a rental, she nearly couldn't believe her eyes when she spotted Briggs with a makeshift sling of ties and and a towel around his arm and a makeshift splint made of an old wooden mop that was split in two with duct tape around his leg.
"What happened to you," Taylor got out of the car and uncharacteristically walked over and held Briggs up. She would usually keep a distance from her clients but there was something about him, even after all of these years, that made her lower her professional guard. Perhaps it was how meek he looked against the snow and large wooden house that was at his back.
"I fell down the stairs recently," Briggs smiled at the woman.
"When," she pressed.
"Yesterday night," Briggs recalled the bloody fight between him and a Salimoon. It felt like he had been fighting a demon rather than a real person. He could only lament that all those years ago, those assassins were probably thinking the same thing about him as he tanked bullets that would have killed a normal person a dozen times over.
"Do you want me to call an ambulance or someone to come look after you," Taylor let herself be used as a crutch as they walked back to the house.
"No. I patched myself up as you can see. I heal fast and I don't want to distract the doctors from the patients that really need the help," Briggs opened the front door and revealed a spotless interior. Sections of the house were religiously cleaned on a schedule by Briggs since he had nothing better to do with his time other than train Salimoon.
"Hmm. I don't like it but who am I to tell you what to do," Taylor scrunched her nose and sighed as she helped Briggs to an armchair in the generous living room that had a white grand piano in the corner.
"Thank you for respecting my decision," he said.
"Where's the baby," she asked about Sali. She could still remember the smile that the little one had given her when she gave a lollipop.
"Upstairs in her room. She is sleeping. Or at least she has been since the last time I checked," Briggs heaved a sigh of relief. It was better this way since he was injured and couldn't keep up with Sali. He wouldn't be able to chase her down if she ran away again in his state so he hoped that she would be asleep for a much longer period of time.
'Who lets their young kid sleep until the evening', Taylor chewed on the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from giving parenting advice to a single father who was doing his best and refocused on what he had just said.
"You went up these stairs like that," her eyes turned to saucers.
"I have no choice. I have to make sure that she is okay even when I'm not," Briggs smiled bitterly. He made it a habit to check on the kid at least once every three hours to make sure that she hadn't run away. In the two years that they had been together, she had never left when it was winter, but she could choose to switch it up to keep Briggs aware that they were only together because of convenience. Taylor felt her eyes becoming moist as she thought all sorts of things about this stubborn and doting father.
"Are you sure that you don't want me to get an on-call physician? There are doctors that come straight to the house nowadays," the woman asked.
"No, I'm okay. With a little bit of rest and time, I will be okay. I just need help with a little issue that my daughter and I have run into," Briggs eased Taylors worries by lifting his leg onto a nearby ottoman.
"Yes, of course. May I," Taylor motioned toward the sofa that was across from the armchair.
"Please. Do you want some water or something to eat," Briggs looked as though he was going to stand up.
"No! I mean. Don't stand up. Rest. I don't need anything, just tell me what the issue is so I can solve it to the best of my ability," Taylor suddenly blushed out of embarrassment as she realized that all of her prepared paperwork was left in the car.
"Right. Do you remember where the gymnasium is," Briggs asked with a sincere tone.
"It was just down the hall and to the left, across from the garage if I'm not mistaken, why," Taylor recalled what she reviewed last night and smiled professionally. She didn't need her paperwork that much if it was something like an issue with the building. She could call someone for that and get a referral payment.
"You will see the issue once you go into the gym," Briggs matched her smile but he seemed a bit more sad.
"Okay, you wait here, I will go check," Taylor, a bit concerned, walked down the hall only to feel that the heat of the house was on the fritz.
"It's cold. Is the heater broken? That couldn't be why he called me though," she was about to turn left when a smell of chemicals washed over her. She turned right slightly and stuck her head in an open door to the garage. There was a pickup truck in the corner of the four car slot but there was also a bunch of wood set around a workbench and a small CNC machine. Rather large totem of a bear carved out of a wooden post with a bucket near it. She realized that the chemical smell was probably something that came from whatever crafts Mr. Briggs was doing in the garage.
She turned around to open the double doors to the gym only to pause her steps and shake her head. It appeared as though a bulldozer had been through the house. The window wall on the far side of the gym that had a view of the forest was completely smashed.
"These look like footsteps," She whispered to herself as she looked at holes that were all over the floor, it was as if someone had dug at the polished wood with a drill. She ignored the treadmill, bench, stationary bicycle, and rack of weights that was spread along the far wall.
"And is this blood," there were stains and trails around pockets of warped wood all over the walls and floor. Her mind was flooded with nonsense as she cleared her throat and thought about the weird father and daughter. This seemed unnatural. At first she assumed an elk or bear burst through the glass but her guess was quickly cleared up by the insanity that was in front of her.
"There is no way," she approached the shattered glass wall and scanned the path that had been made in the snow. There was a trail of blood but it stopped after a few meters, meaning nothing came from the woods and broke the glass. That, or whatever came from the woods had its trail covered up by the snow. She didn't know if it snowed last night since she had been asleep but she just assumed that it did and Mr.Briggs fell down the stairs because he was responding to the accident that occurred in the night. What most likely occurred flashed in her mind as but there was an intrusive thought that left her breathless as she let the it fester
"Did something inside the gym cause this damage," she imagined that Mr. Briggs was some kind of superhero like in the comics that she used to read as a child and couldn't help but laugh as she imagined some shadowy enemy that he fought to protect his child.
"What, did he fight some kind of villain Taylor," she shook her head and walked back to the living room. On the way she couldn't help but think back to the blood that was everywhere, the holes in the ground, and the warped wood that suspiciously looked like foot and impact marks.
"Is Mr. Briggs not normal," she put her suspicions on hold due to their wild nature but everything that she saw hinted at a yes, he was not normal.
"He fell down the stairs. There is nothing else that happened. An animal came in and scattered their blood everywhere and the holes in the wood are because of rot or termites," Taylor calmed her raging heart and entered the living room. Briggs was missing.
"Where did he go," she muttered. For some reason, her recently calmed heart started to pound as she realized that she was alone in the woods with a man that she had only met a handful of times and interacted with sparingly. No one knew where she was and no one would care since she lived alone and had no living relatives. Panic started to settle in when she heard the sounds of glass clinking against one another. She entered the kitchen with hesitant footsteps and found Briggs pouring himself a glass of water.
"You should have stayed sitting. I would have gotten something for you if you just asked," Taylor tried to remain calm but her voice came out a few octaves higher.
"I understand. Thank you but I cannot remain still. Movement is good for recovery. I am sorry. I can see that I am stressing you out," Briggs sipped his water.
"I wouldn't say I am stressed," Taylor murmured.
"I am sorry for making a baseless assumption then Mrs. Andersen," Briggs bowed his head with a slight smile and laughed a bit.
"Ms. I am not married," Taylor said defensively.
'I have never even been in a relationship,' she thought to herself.
"My apologies. I assumed you were considering the ring on your finger," Briggs sipped his water again and raised an eyebrow when Taylor looked at her hand as if she were seeing it for the first time.
"Oh. I completely forgot I had this on. I've had it for so long," she laughed and felt the tension in her heart ease up slightly.
"If you don't mind my asking, why do you wear it on your wedding finger if you are not married," Briggs leaned over the table slightly to show his interest.
"It was my mothers before she passed. She always had it on this finger so I thought it was normal to wear it like this. I guess I should have looked up the married finger after I got older at some point," Taylor moved to remove the ring but Briggs reached out and stopped her.
"That is beautiful. Both the story and the placement of the ring on your finger. It's meaningful. You shouldn't change where you wear it just because a strange man brought it up," Briggs chuckled.
"In this statement, I guess I am the strange man," he quickly let go of Taylor's hand and asked, "Do you want a glass of water since I already have it out or are you still okay."
"Ill have some if it's not too much trouble," Taylor tucked some loose hair being an ear to highlight the bangs that framed her face. She cleared her throat and got to business.
"I saw the damage to the gym. Let me get that," she went around the kitchen island and grabbed the glass pitcher from Brigg's hands. She placed it in the fridge for him.
"Thank you," he tilted his head a bit and flashed a dazzling grin.
"You're welcome. But the damage. An animal got in yesterday right," she held onto her fantasy that Mr. Briggs was responsible for the catastrophe even though she came to the most likely conclusion.
"No. Actually, I had to fight my daughter to the point of nearly dying," Briggs stared at Taylor with a blush on his cheeks.
"Excuse me," Taylor nearly spit out her water as she took a sip and listened to this handsome and injured man.
"Sorry. Yes. An animal got in. I heard it last night and tried to see if there was an intruder but I fell down the stairs instead," Briggs looked away in a panic. He didn't know why he just said the truth. It just felt like he shouldn't lie to this woman.
"And the holes. Have you been seeing any termites or similar holes anywhere else in the building," she said.
"Not that I know of but it's possible that they have migrated from the garage. I go out with Sali sometimes to collect things from the nearby woods so it's very possible that I tracked something back," Briggs spoke as if he were trying to convince himself but Taylor was focused on how his eyebrows knit together in consternation.
"I see. Regardless, you called me here for this emergency. We cannot have the two of you just stay in this house, I know some hotels in the city that are nice and some that are cheap if you are looking to repair the damages. Insurance may cover most of the damages but for what's not covered, I know some really reliable construction companies that are good for if you are on a budget or if you are willing to splurge," Taylor smiled as she got Briggs nodding along.
"Thats wonderful Ms. Andersen, I was wondering if you could help with exactly those two things," Briggs put his cup down and opened the fridge. He pulled out some vegetables and premade bone broth that he had made prior.
"I want the best available company to work on the house since I would also like them to upgrade the gym. We need harder floors and glass installed so if they could be able to do renovations like that. In the meantime, I would like to rent a second home or possibly even buy one outright in the city," Briggs washed the vegetables one at a time as he heated up the broth in a big pot and set a smaller pot to boil water for rice that he took out of the pantry.
"I can do just that. Let me grab my paperwork and we can go over your options," Taylor stood up with a smile and was about to run out when she suddenly paused and frowned.
"I didn't even notice what you were up to mister. You are absolutely not allowed to do this on your own," Taylor guided Briggs to one of the seats at the kitchen island and finished washing the veggies and rice.
"You are too injured to be cooking lunch right now," Taylor took a knife out of the stone block that held them and chopped the veggies on a board that Briggs had previously pulled out of a specialized drawer underneath the counter.
"It was actually going to be Sali's breakfast. We don't make distinctions between meal types in this household," Briggs scratched the back of his head and exhaled heavily as he blushed with embarrassment.
"Breakfast? This late in the afternoon?", Taylor froze for a second, baffled by what she heard.
"I don't want to tell you how to serve your child food but I think it's a bit unhealthy for a growing child to eat something like soups for breakfast. If anything, she should have this for lunch or dinner," Taylor didn't put the veggies away but she did check the fridge for something lighter like eggs and sausage links.
'What the hell?', She pursed her lips upon seeing the inside of the fridge. It was completely empty aside from an empty carton of milk and three eggs and a defrosted packet of chicken breast. The freezer was empty as well, and so was the pantry aside from a plastic container that now had a few grains of rice because it was emptied.
"Where is all of your food? Did you forget to go shopping," Taylor tried not to judge but how could someone who lived in such a place have such little food? She had more than this, and she was on a strict diet of noodles, eggs, and yogurt.
"I went shopping last week, we. Hmm. We go through a lot of food because Sali is peculiar," Briggs chewed on the inside of his cheek as he recalled Sali's diet.
"Ah, I understand," Taylor nodded as she prepared herself to cut the vegetables.
'His daughter is a picky eater, meaning he has thrown out a lot of food. It must be difficult,' Taylor nodded and put the washed rice in the pot with a bit of oil and salt after it started boiling. The Broth was on low compared to the rice pot, which would be brought to low once it was done to keep the food warm.
Taylor and Briggs, talked for the next half hour, about mundane topics at first. At around the 45 minute mark after the soup was set to boil, Taylor left to retrieve her paperwork, which resulted in the talks getting serious. Regardless of what was said and done, Taylor helped Briggs set his sights on a second home right in the city. She also called a construction company and a landscaping business on behalf of her client to fix the destroyed home.
The talks came to a clear end around the same time that the food was done. It was a simple chicken stock soup with meat, potatoes, carrots, yuca, with avocado and rice as a side. Taylor stayed for lunch. Which resulted in a talk about her staying for dinner, which would have just been more of the same soup. She declined since she had to bring the rental back before the time was up. Briggs lamented but did not press as she left soon after lunch was over.
The moment that he waved goodbye from the door as she pulled away, he flinched.
"Having a house date huh, how sweet," Sali crossed her arms from the top of the steps.
"It was not a date, it was work. We have to get the gym fixed," Briggs turned around and winced as he accidentally moved his broken arm.
"You should go on a date, it would mellow you out some," Sali raised an eyebrow at the blushing Briggs.
"Ive never been on one outside of work, how would that even go? And who would be dumb enough to go out with me? I'm not exactly a catch," Briggs scratched his cheek but instead of embarrassment, there was a staunch resoluteness that dictated that he would not think about personal pleasure until Salimoon was completely dealt with.
"Hmm. How are your wounds," Sali rolled her eyes at Briggs as she walked down the steps.
"They could be better," Briggs revealed.
"I see. Just drink some of my blood and you'll be fine, I restored my charges so some can be used on you," Sali left her arm out for Briggs.
"Thank you," without waiting for Sali to renege, Briggs bit down on her forearm and chewed through her skin to reach the bone. Sali made a negative face but she did not shy away from Briggs as he suckled blood from her body like a vampire would from an unwitting victim. In moments, Briggs body was filled with an otherworldly warmth and glow as it regenerated at a rate that was, by all rights, inhuman. He took off his tie sling and duct tape splint and sighed.
"Breakfast is in the kitchen, you can finish the pot. We will go out food shopping after we both get cleaned up," Briggs followed Sali into the kitchen and threw out what he needed to before he went upstairs to clean up in his bathroom.