Out of the meager memories Michael had gained from Hunter, none were as prominent as his childhood home in Easter.

The small concrete block house sat weather beaten at the end of Eggs Road. The dull pink exterior faded from years of relentless sun and heavy rains. To the side, a car port leaned half filled with various junk and old tools. The car that it once sheltered had been sold off a long time ago as Michael drove into the gravel driveway that circled around the front.

The stony grey was broken up by little island of green grass that was half dead under an ancient fountain that slowly trickled water into a manufactured bunny pond. The plastic of the solar panel was brown with age as creaks run through it. Yet that little fountain still ran. Much like the rest to Easter. Even as age, weather and neglect beat it down, the town kept moving along as it swayed with the flow of time.

Gravel crunched beneath his boots as Michael left his car and took in the house. For what he expected, it looked pretty good. The only things that stood out were a few creaks in the paint and the messy car port, otherwise the exterior was well taken care of considering the circumstances.

With each moment of admiration, new memories cascaded in. While not his own, Michael enjoyed them as scenes of lost summers and warm winters filled his mind.

None of them grew up with money. In a forgotten place like Easter, everyone had to help each other out, even the children. Hunter never had a ton of close friends, but it didn’t stop the neighborhood kids from stopping by on the weekends to do work for his mom in exchange for snacks and drinks. There was always something to be done and the kids, especially the boys, were happy to help.

Occasionally adults would come by and ask for his mom’s advice. Hunter would then be promptly tossed out to get some ‘fresh air’, while she went about her adult business. Even to this day, he had never figured out exactly what the questions were. But people came around at least once a week for it.

Sometimes on the hottest day, Delroy, who had lived four houses down, would convince his mom to let him hook up the sprinkler. The entire street would play in the cold water under the burning sun. Only a few houses had pools, so to really cool down, they would head to the community pool to mess about. It became a game among them on who could annoy the lifeguard first. The winner was always the one who made them so red that their sunburn couldn’t hide it.

As they got older, they would ditch old summer favorites in favor of the woods and abandoned buildings that surrounded Easter. Trouble they got up to out there would remain a secret for fear that his mother would have beat his ass until it was blue. But bored teenagers could get into all sorts of misadventure when there was nothing better to do.

“Good.” Michael let out a sigh as he adjusted his backpack. Everything was progressing smoothly.

The persistent worry had finally been relieved as his setting fell into place. Since he entered, even though he had given Hunter friends and a family, they had been on the back burner while he dealt with everything. Even on the drive to Easter, he had a difficult time picturing the faces and personalities of these close relations, let alone the town of Easter. They were all rough outlines and single concepts. Even Hunter, as a person, was no more than a stack of ideas Michael was precariously acting out. But now, Michael felt it. This place was real. The people were real.

A few neighbors sat out on their front porches chatting. When they saw him they were quick to give a glance and then a wave before returning to their own little world. These older folks had all grown up here. They knew him, and they knew his mom. Generations and generations who had been here since the town was first founded. Now they made up most of Easter’s population as a lot of the youth had left for better prospects on the coast.

Michael gave them a wave back and finally gathered his courage.

Readying himself, he knocked on the white door. An arched glass cut out showed a blurry image of the inside as he saw a figure get up and head towards him.

The door opened and a woman who looked in her mid-40s stood there a bit confused. Her deep brown eyes looked off into space as she scowled. Dark brown skin matched Hunter’s tone as strong beautiful features made her both an imposing figure but also approachable. Her black hair streaked by silver was pulled back into a simple braid that roped over her shoulder. She half leaned on a worn wood cane as she tried to figure out who had come over unannounced.

“Hey Mom.” Michael felt a surge of emotion as he put on a wavering half smile. Tears pricked at his eyes as his character setting somewhat overwhelmed him.

“Hunter?” The name was said in almost disbelief, as Penelope Clarke reached a hand forward to grab her son’s shoulder, then face. She was nearly as tall as him at 5’9”. Her hand patted against his cheek as a look of worry and joy overcame her. Dark freckles rose with her smile as she pulled him into her.

“Hunter!” The hug was stronger than he expected as he let out a hiss of pain but tried to downplay it with a cough. “My baby.”

“Missed you too, mom. Sorry it’s been a while.” He awkwardly mumbled.

That was an understatement. It had been three years. Hunter hadn’t returned home in three years.

“A while?” Even though her tears, Mama Clarke’s hearing was sharp as she pulled back to give him an unfocused glare. Her grip tightened on his arm as she pulled into the house. “After three years, you come to the doorstep with no phone call and just say it’s been a while.” Her tone was soft, her rhythmic Jamaican accent easily hiding the scolding he was about to get.

“I’m sorry. It was short notice. I got injured at work-“

“Tsk, what did they do to you?” She cut him off as she felt at her son. “What happened? Who did it?”

“No one, Mom. It was an accident.” It was hard to lie to the woman in front of him. Even if Michael found lying as easy as breathing, this was the power of a character setting. Hunter was a big child when it came to his mama. He could barely say a half-truth as Michael tried to find a work around.

“What kind of accident?” She checked for his limbs and happily found them all there. “Sit, you’re gonna explain me what they did to my boy.”

Goldie followed each of his mother’s steps. The golden retriever rarely left her side even as he got up in years. He looked at Michael with calm brown eyes before moving an item out of his mother’s way as she pushed him down onto the couch.

“Stay.” For all her talk of wanting to know what happened, she quickly raced off into the kitchen. It took Michael a second to understand what she was doing, as he went to stand.

“Mom, I can do that-“

“I said stay.” Michael froze as the woman shot him a commanding glare. She could fix water in her own house. If she couldn’t then she should have gone off to a home by now.

So, Michael settled back onto the old leather couch. Well it wasn’t that old compared to the rest of the house. Shelly and him had found it five years ago at a Garage sale since the last one kicked the bucket after 20 years of service. It was a bit worn but still sturdy as Michael took in the interior of the house.

Not much had changed. The biggest difference was how orderly everything was. Even the collection of old compasses and star charts were placed neatly upon shelves, leaving a clear walkway through the open houses. The coffee table in front of him still had the scratches and scuff marks of their shoes as they always put their feet up when Mama Clarke wasn’t looking. Ha, that had been one of the fastest ways to get a slipper to the head. Putting your boots up on her coffee table. Oof, that was taunting death.

A cool cup tapped down in front of him as Mama Clarke went to her parallel armchair.

“Now, what happened to my baby?”

A slight cringe ran down Michael’s spine as he forced himself to adapt to the term. It was always hard to hear the pet name from anyone, but Alexander as Michael took a sip of his water and began to think up his lie. It wasn’t grand, but maybe that was a good thing. His excuse was that there had been more to exterminate then was first assumed. Hunter had told his mother that the job he worked was an extermination gig that paid well but required a lot of travel. It wasn’t a great lie. But when you’re coming back with broken ribs and giant cuts it was hard to make a good excuse. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Mama Clarke couldn’t see how he looked as he went on to say that they had been hired to deal with one trouble and found another. He excused his ribs as the result of a slip and fall while crawling through the house’s roof.

Mama Clarke’s frown grew deeper the more she heard. “Are they compensating you?” She wasn’t even sure what to say. This wouldn’t be her first time dealing with workplace injuries, but it was harder to swallow when it came to her son.

“No worries.” Michael nodded. “They are.”

“Good, if not I would have to go down there myself and get it.” She gave a swift nodded.

“I’m actually thinking about switching work.”

“To something closer.” The words were said without hesitation, like she had been waiting this entire time as Michael gave a short laugh.

“It supposedly has remote work options.”

This seemed to satisfy her somewhat as she nodded. “Have they called you back?”

“I still need to apply.” Michael played with his half empty glass.

“Why haven’t you, yet? What is this job exactly?” In her joy she nearly forgot the most important thing.

“The job is archival work and tracking population numbers.” Close enough. He wanted to get Hunter an Archive job and he figured keeping an eye on supernatural population numbers were par for the course.

“Does it…” Her question stopped there as a bit of awkwardness set in. Michael could guess what she was about to say though. Does it require a degree?

One of Hunter’s biggest mistakes? No, it wasn’t a mistake. It was a necessary sacrifice. But he had never gone off to college. There were a number of reasons for this, but prime among them was his mother’s sudden injury and inability to work. He became to sole income at 17 and with bills to pay he had to put away the thought of college and use those savings to help keep their house afloat. He still wanted to go to college if possible.

“I-it could. But because of my previous jobs, I should be able to negotiate.”

“Extermination?” Her doubts were clear as Michael drank his water.

“Yes, it seems what I used to get rid of is a topic of interest for this place. With my five years of experience, I figured I might offer a fresh perspective.” Not a lie, it was technically not a lie.

“What is the name of this company?”

“The parent company is called Orion Ltd. They deal mostly in land development. Though they have a conservation branch that helps with illegally imported animals.” Orion Ltd. was the cover name used for the Hunter Organization when the uninitiated asked about their jobs. It was an actual company with a help line, but if looked at beyond the surface level it was nothing more than a shell.

“What would they be paying you?”

“Ah-“ Michael hadn’t really looked at the salary yet since he had spent that last two days mostly sleeping. He actually planned to do that today. “Probably around $40,000?” That wasn’t bad right? Michael’s perception of money was still a bit skewed.

“And this is a legitimate job? Not one of those scams Diane likes. Woman’s always coming around here trying to get me to buy these oils or bracelets.” Mana Clarke half muttered a string of complaints, but her question was valid.

“It is. The person who turned me towards it is a trusted coworker.” He half laughed on the word trusted. But even if Doc was crazy, she did do good work.

“I see. Wait, why haven’t you applied yet then?”

“I’ve been busy-“

“Do you not want to change jobs?” She clicked her tongue, “You’re just saying it to appease your poor mother.” She cut him off.

“No, no! I plan to apply tonight, I swear.”

“Good. Even if you don’t get it you should move back. The house has been so empty without you.”

“Come on Mom, you have Shelly and the neighborhood. How could it be empty?”

“It’s still not my son. I love Shelly like a daughter, but she’s practically married to Easter.”

“What’s she been up to?”

“Working with town council to revitalize.”

“Oh, how it been going?” On his drive in he had been very exact on where he had wanted to go so, he hadn’t seen much of the town yet.

“Haven’t seen.” The words were delivered so flatly that Michael almost didn’t catch it. “But they’ve been going at it for the last three years. Every time she’s over she complains about being exhausted but is up and out by 6 every morning.”

“At least she’s having fun.”

“Don’t worry about seeing her. The moment she finds out you’re back, she’ll drag you on a tour.” There was a pause, her hand massaged the top of her cane as she collected herself. “I’m thinking about working for the city again.”

“Over the Activities Board?” The question came naturally as Michael raised an eyebrow. Before her accident, his mom had been an active public servant. Most of her time was spent designing and running programs for the youth to keep them out of trouble.

“Yes, and the historical society has been asking me back for the last two years. Apparently, the current leadership has been running it into the ground. They want to switch out leaders and believe I should be president again.”

“That sounds like a great idea.” Being cooped up all day was miserable, especially for a woman who thrived around people. Even during her worst days, she would still have one or two visitors over to chase away loneliness. “As long as you feel up to it.”

“I’m not made of porcelain, boy. I’ve been feeling up to it for years. It that girl of ours that’s been the one telling me to finish recovering. It’s been almost ten years. If I’m not recovered now, I’ll never be recovered.”

“Shelly’s just looking out for you.” Michael gave a light laugh.

“I know, but she should be looking out for herself. She’s 29 now and she’s still staying up late and waking up early with her work. But she still has the time to come nag this old woman.” Mama Clarke sighed and shook her head.  

“It would also take some burden off of you.” She lightly added.

Michael paused. “Mom, you’re never a burden.” He stood up and couched next to her chair. With a bandage hand, he took hers. “I love you, of course I want to support you.”

“You haven’t even been able to live the life of a young man. Just like Shelly, your both always running around, working yourself ragged.” She gripped his hand tight as her features became gaunt. A wandering hand touched his face as she felt out his features with callused finger. Hard work ran in the family.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve had plenty of interesting experiences over the years.” Why more than the normal person. “I enjoy working.” Michael laughed.

“Just like how a bee enjoys stinging.” She bit back and then sighed. She kept a firm grip on his cheek. “Look at you, you never even had a girlfriend.” At that she shook her head. “Only work, work and work.”

“Well…” He did technically have a significant other, but he wasn’t sure how she would react. As much as Michael could guess at characters and their reactions, once they started to become actual people, they became unpredictable. It was a debate on whether he should reveal his dating status. He felt there was a high chance she would accept it due to how much influence they had on the world. But there was still chance it wouldn’t work out. Though in the long run, he didn’t plan on being separated from Alexander in this world or living covertly, and by extension Hunter had already taken the same stance.

“What is it? Did you get a girlfriend and not tell me?” She knew her son well, he had never shown interest in any of the girls he had grown up around. Even when they teased and chased after him, he would just ignore it and play with the boys. Only Shelly managed to get close, but they were more siblings than anything.

“Not exactly?”

“Did you get married without telling your poor mother!?” The sudden jump caught Michael by surprise as he went to pull away but found his face firmly caught. Mama Clarke’s gaze burned a hole into him as he gave a wavering smile.

Kind of? No, he couldn’t say that.

“No, no. Um, mom you love me no matter what right?”

Her grip became like a vice as she thought of all the trouble her only son could have gotten up to. He couldn’t have taken after his useless father’s genes, right? “Did you get her pregnant then leave?!” For a moment he wondered if it would be better to return to that blood realm as the situation grew dangerous. He could only shake his head.

“No, mom! There’s no woman involved at all!” He shouted back his face flushing as she took a second to register what he meant.

“I’m gay.” He dropped the truth and hoped the world would be advanced enough to not cause him trouble.

Silence was the immediate reply. Her fingers still pressed red marks into his cheek as she registered what he said. After a full minute she finally let go with a sigh. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Denton’s grandson is around your age and gay. Do you want me to set you up?”

After the initial shock, her mind was still in the same place. Her son needed a partner and a local boy was better than letting him run around Florida looking.

Michael let out happy sigh. “Thanks mom. But I don’t need it, I already have a boyfriend.”

Suddenly, the grip returned as she pulled him closer. “Since when!? Who is this boy!?” His mom was really excitable today as he struggled against the cheek pinch. Really, Hunter had been potentially hiding this truth for over 15 years and she’s asking why he never told her about it beforehand?

“About five years ago, we met while I was at a job. He was a college student at the time. He’s not local.” He quickly added since his mother knew everyone in town and all the gossip.

“Five years! Why haven’t you brought him by yet?” Part of her felt hurt that her son had hidden this for so long. She had always done her best to raise him and show him that he could trust her with anything. As long as he didn’t do something like kill a man, she would support him and even the homicide rule was negotiable.

“We’ve been long distance for a while. We just recently got back together. He also has been having some family troubles.” Each reply was rapid in hopes she would release him.

“If they are angry about you being his boyfriend, he can come move in with me. If you’ll have been dating for so long, it’s got to be serious.”

“Yes, very serious.” He softened his voice as bit. It was enough to make Mama Clarke’s heart melt.

“Ah, what am I going to do with you? First you don’t come home for 3 years and then you tell me you’ve had a boyfriend for so long.” She sighed and released his face. “Invite him over.”

Michael was a bit surprised by how fast this was progressing. “I’ll call him. It might be a few days though, he just moved in with his cousin for a little bit for work.”

“Then you can’t leave until he comes over.”

“Really mom?” He laughed and pulled out his phone to text Alexander about his mother’s request. Even with the alpha grounding him, Michael was certain Alexander would find a work around.

“So, since you’ve decided to keep this secret from your poor mother for so long, you must tell me everything about this boy. Starting with his name, his family’s name and what he does.” 

For the next few hours, he remained stuck to the couch as his mother drilled him for details. When it reached his family situation, Michael was a bit more tactful and tried to hide the supernatural elements of it. Still, when she heard the boy had lost his entire clan, she resolved that Neil had to move in with them. She was more than happy to mother the boy if he was as good as Hunter said.

By the time the interrogation was over, the skies had already grown dark as the daily afternoon thunderstorms rolled in. With no great desire to head out, Michael set about making a late lunch with what was available in the kitchen. He had been somewhat saved by a neighbor who had come over to speak with his mom. They had gone to her office, leaving Michael alone for the first time since he got home. It was a welcome reprieve as he called Shelly while watching his pot boil.

She nearly took off his ear within the first few minutes of the call. A bit more rambunctious than his mother, the woman was ecstatic that Hunter was finally back in town. But annoyed that it had taken 3 years to do so. Also, she had to work the late shift at the station tonight so she couldn’t immediately run over there and give him a full piece of her mind. It took some convincing, but he managed to quell her anger with a mix of promised meals and his own open schedule. Somewhat satisfied, she freed him from the call as he finished up his meal.

Back on the couch, he slowly ate as he finally settled into the atmosphere of the house. This was home. It wasn’t big, it wasn’t grand, but it was comfortable. A perfect place to start his long vacation in the little town of Easter.  

A/N

We're finally in Easter! I will probably only get one or two chapters up this weekend since I got suddenly swamped with work and haven't been able to edit a lot this week.

I'm now also posting on Wattpad too, though I'm splitting the arcs into individual stories to see how it does in the search algorithm. This arc can be found as "The Blood that Binds."