-Toxic.
•••• •••• ••••

Saturday's at the Hart's are filled with absolutely nothing. It's the one day of the week where everyone gets to relax and take much needed rest. For Mae, it was the day for her to sleep until noon, and be the lesser version of herself.

And with everything she witnessed the day before, she needed all the rest she could get.

It was now half-past noon and Mae was just getting out of bed. After hours of pushing herself to be her ultimate best at practice yesterday, Mae had been drained. With every step she took the more her muscles ached. She had been so tried, both emotionally and psychically, that she went straight to her room when coming home from her field hockey practice around 6 in the evening.

The teen didn't bother with fixing up her appearance as she dragged herself down the stairs. When reaching the last step, Mae stubbed her toe on the corner of boxes that had been sealed near the end of the stairs. She raised an eyebrow at the odd spot it had been placed at, and began to wonder who didn't finish unpacking when her eyes caught the familiar name written on the side of the box.

Caroline.

All of the curiosity and confusion left her body as soon as she read messily written name. Not wanting to have to deal with anything that belonged to her mother, Mae quickly made her way towards the kitchen.

The only thing she wanted to concentrate on was her mission to gather as much snacks into her arms as she could, and head back to her room unnoticed.

However, her plan soon fell short when she entered the kitchen and saw her grandmother sitting by the marble island, sipping tea.

Mae rolled her eyes when seeing her grandmother's ocean eyes following her every movement, and made her way to the cupboard full of snacks. She grabbed onto a box of pop-tarts and two mini bags of fruit snacks while making her way to the fridge to grab two cans of Sprite.

Then, she heard someone clear their throat.

Dropping all of her food onto the kitchen counter by the fridge, Mae let out a frustrated sigh before turning on her heels. "What, Nana?"

The annoyed teen's eyes fell back onto Lana, who had been wearing an embarrassing look on her face as she narrowed her eyes at her granddaughter while grinning like a madman.

"Mae, dear. We have a guest. You do remember your father telling you how Xavier's new therapist will be coming today." Lana hummed as she pointed at a man standing at the end of the kitchen island.

Mae felt her eyes grow wide as she took in the man's figure. He was nicely built and incredibly tall, so it was a great surprise that she didn't notice the man in the first place.

"Right..." The pink haired teen nodded as she pointed to the gorgeous doctor, "Brad, right?"

The raven haired man chuckled at the common mistake before taking a step towards the girl with his hand held out, "Ben, actually. It's nice to meet you, Mae. I've heard all about you from Xavier."

Confused by what he meant, Mae asked, "You already met with Xavier?" She quirked an eyebrow at the comment but took Ben's hands none the less.

"Yes. We talked for a while, and decided to take a break. I was actually in an interesting conversation with your grandmother, we were talking about the move and-" Ben tried to make conversation but was soon cut off by Mae, who rudely tore her hand away from his grip.

"Why are your hands so cold?" She asked, bringing her hand to her chest in hopes of warming it up. "You feel like the inside of a morgue." She looked up at Ben with questionable eyes. There was something about the man in front of her that didn't feel right.

Mae took notice on how an alarmed look flashed on her brother's therapist face before it vanished, causing suspicion to arise within the young Hart.

"Stop being so rude, Mae." The teen felt her grandmother's bony hand rest of her back, making her flinch at the contact. She shrugged the hand off her shoulder, and sent Ben one last look before gathering her food from the kitchen island and walked out. 

Lana watched as her granddaughter, who was completely unaware of the mood shift she had caused, leave the kitchen. She moved her eyes to Ben, and glanced at his expressionless face before concentrating on the man's clouded eyes.

Clearing her throat, Lana sent Ben a gentle smile when seeing his eyes land on her. "Doesn't she have a perfect smile? Mae's quiet the charmer. The lord was kind when giving her that face, wasn't he?" She softly sighed, fawning over Mae's beauty.

Ben furrowed his eyebrows, confused about the woman's statement but nodded in agreement nonetheless, "Yeah. You have very beautiful granddaughter, Ms. Hart."

"Don't fall for any of it." Lana retorted. Her tone harsh and void of all the gentleness it held before. "That girl is the queen of manipulation. She can talk her way into and out of anything."

Ben cleared his throat, hoping that the action can cut away at the newly arise tension. "I don't know why you're telling me this, Ms. Hart."

"Because I don't give a rats hiney what my son says, Mae is going to see you too. After Xavier, you will have sessions with my granddaughter and try to fix her because she's needs professional help." Lana replied. Her response implied that she was not going to take no for an answer, and even if that wasn't the case, Ben wouldn't try to turn his back away from Mae.

There was something about Mae that didn't seem normal, and Ben is making it his priority to find out what it was. That's why he pretended to be in the neighborhood Thursday morning and introduced himself to Parker as a psychologist. Vivien had informed him she overheard Parker trying to find a new doctor for his son, one that could work from inside their home, which had been a perfect job for the man.

He wanted to get close to Xavier, and figure out why Mae was able to see both Violet and Tate when they were invisible. He wanted to know how the girl was able to take Beauregard's ball off the premises. Ben wanted to know about the fire, that everyone in the house heard was mostly likely caused by the young beauty.

The pinked haired teen had caught everyone's eyes and peaked all of their interest, bringing a little bit of curiosity and excitement in their dead lives.

••    ••    ••    ••

It had been an hour later when Mae found herself entering the kitchen to get a book she had left on the breakfast table the day before.

For the past 60 minutes, not only had she eaten all the snacks she gathered, but Mae had freshen up a bit.

Her, now washed-out, magenta hair had been tossed into a sloppy bun on the top of her had. Her dark roots were starting to make themselves known to the outside world, and although she wasn't pleased by the look she didn't care that much to retouch them. She swapped her comfy pjs, for a pair of Nike shorts and a matching tank top as she thought about maybe going for a jog later in the day, but first she wanted to find her book.

Mae made her way to the table and grabbed onto the novel she had been looking for when she heard voices coming towards her.

"You've got to be kidding me." She muttered under her breath. She can't get a break.

Mae presented a forced smile when Ben, followed by her father and Lana, entered the kitchen. However, the smile soon fell from her lips when she saw her father's tired expression, and Ben's uncomfortable one. The latter wore a  look she's seen on the face of many before.

Her father and grandmother must have gotten into an argument and Ben must have been pulled into the middle of it.

"Mae. The person we wanted to see." Parker sighed as he placed both of his hands flat onto the kitchen island. He released a deep breath, his eyes falling onto the polished floor. "Me and Nana thought it would be best if you see Dr. Ben, too. Just for a while."

Mae's eyes never left from her father. She continued to stare at the man, who seemed to already be crumbling, with her childlike eyes. She knew to remain silent, because the longer she stays unresponsive, the more guilty her dad will feel and the more likely he is to give in to her.

Lana cleared her throat, causing Parker to shaking head and mutter incoherent sentences before he became confident enough to speak again. "It's final. Go wait in my office, I'd like to talk to Ben real quick." Parker ordered, causing Mae to gape at the authoritative tone he held. Although, he was still refusing to meet his daughter's gaze, Mae could tell that her father was being serious. She wasn't going to be able to get herself out of this one.

Mae walked towards her father's home office with the cloud of defeat looming over her head. Her mind ran wild with all of the subjects that Ben might bring up in their impromptu session. When entering her father's office, Mae took the time to scan the large room and fawn over its beauty. She didn't even know the room existed until this very moment, but now after seeing it, it is by far the most beautiful room in the house. It wasn't due to its ageless designs or the stained glass balcony doors that are almost a century old, but because the room had been in the most secluded area of the manor.

A knock was at the door and without waiting for a reply from the teen, Ben entered the room with a notepad in hand.

"You ready?"

Mae took a seat on the cold leather couch, and crossed one of her legs over the other as a bored expression found its way onto her beautiful face.

Ben leaned back in his chair and copied the teen's action, raising an eyebrow at Mae's cold demeanor.

"Mae, we have an hour. So, we could just sit in silence or talk." Ben tried one more time. He let out a sigh when she crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. "Let's start with the basics then. The move. How did you take it? Are you situating okay?" 

When the pink haired teen didn't answer, Ben awkwardly clicked away at his pen making Mae's eye twitch. She narrowed her eyes at the doctor's so called 'technique'. It was obvious he was trying to annoy her to the point of her engaging in a conversation with him.

After fifteen minutes of clicking at his pen, Ben finally dropped the writing material on his lap and pinched the bridge of his nose. The sound had gotten to him after the first two minutes, but he did not want to show any weakness and give in.

"You're very tense, Ben. Is my silence annoying you? Are you frustrated?" Mae smirked. Her golden eyes deviously twinkled.

"Excuse me?" Ben humorlessly chuckled. His frosty blue eyes landed on Mae's relax figure and smug face.

Mae straighten her posture, pushing her back off the couch's cool leather. "Look. This is all my grandmother's doing. She thinks I'm sick in the head, always have."

Ben felt his eyes widen, before he flipped open his notebook and got his pen ready to jot down his notes.

"And what is your relationship with your grandmother like? How would you describe it?" He asked the second she stopped talking, as Ben had no idea when Mae would fall silent again.

"She's an 82 year old woman, who was born into money that was centuries old. You know what her family had to do to keep all of that dough? They married cousins, and you know what inbreeding does to a bloodline. In most families, it creates all sort of psychical problems and deformities but with us, it creates unstable human beings with angelic features. My grandmother's older brother was sick. He ended up killing a bunch of women down in Florida in the fifties then killed a bunch of performers at a freak show before the survivors off'd him. Then, she met my grandfather. Took his last name seeing as she decided that it was time for the Mott line to come to an end, with her being the last living member and all, and started her own family." She was sure to leave out the part where the 82 year old faked her own death, so the Mott name could finally die.

Mae's eyes never left Ben as she explained her grandmother's hectic past. She looked closely as his eyes shined with recognition when hearing the story of her great uncle.

He had a feeling that the Hart's were hiding something, but he didn't expected the secret to be that they were related to a notorious mass murderer that shook the early fifties. Though, Ben still believes that there's more dark secrets to uncover about the manors new residence.

He felt he was close to making the first, of many, holes on Mae's sturdy walls. He just needed an in, and now he could see that his 'in' was Lana.

"Interesting, but Mae... I feel like your avoiding my original question. What's your relationship like with your grandmother." Ben repeated his original question.

"Toxic."

"Oh?" He raises an eyebrow while scribbling the word down. "How so?"

"She always favored my brother. Always. She still treated me like a grandmother would treat their young granddaughter, but then I met a boy. Then, my mother left us and I guess because I didn't cry or get some sort of post traumatic stress and anxiety like Xavier did, she saw me as less human. In fact, a few days ago, before we moved, she said I was her brother. Her brother! The psycho killed about thirty people, including his own mother. My great-grandmother." Mae tilted her head back laughed out towards the end of her rant. She then mentally scolded at herself as she felt her emotions slowly unraveling, and she hated it.

"What boy?" Ben suddenly asked.

Mae, who had been staring up at the ceiling, snapped her head back to stare Ben straight in the eye. "What?"

The raven haired man cleared his throat before flipping back a page. Mae had only been talking for a few minutes, and he already filled up two pages of notes on the girl. "Here. You said that your grandmother treated you normally, until you met a boy? This boy, was he a boyfriend."

"No. We were friends. It was a year that my mom left, when I met him. I don't really know where he is now." Mae muttered, she was a little surprise that she managed to let it slip and not notice.

"Why was she not happy about this friendship?"

"Because he was weird." Mae responded without skipping a beat, "He was different and she strongly disliked people who weren't like her. He was also a bad influence."

"Is this the same friend that killed animals?" Ben asked, making Mae break into a bitter smile.

"My grandmother told you what happened then?"

Ben held back a wince at the teen's tone shift. Right away, he knew he made a mistake.

"She, um, she told me that you were friends with a boy and he killed small animals in his spare time. That's it." Ben clarified, but it didn't stop Mae from staring at him in suspicion.

"She told you that when I was twelve I killed Sprinkles, didn't she?" Mae drawled out, her eyes void of any emotion as she recalled the moment. She didn't need Ben's response, as she already knew the answer. It was clear judging by the look in his eyes when he brought up the subject.

Ben remained silent for a solid minute. He was assessing Mae, trying to figure out which angle he should follow, one that won't lead to her shutting down and boxing him out.

"He walkied me one night because I saw him in the yard next door doing something I wished I never witnessed." Mae broke the silence, catching Ben's undivided attention as she dived into the story.

~

It seemed that she never got a break. Mae stared out her bedroom window with a bored look on her face. Once again, she had gotten in trouble with her grandmother, and since her parents weren't home to protect her from the older woman's reign, Mae was banished to her room.

The young brunette pouted and curled up onto her spot on the bay window. She switched on her walkie and welcomed the usual static background as she brought the large item close to her face.

"Hey." She softly breathed into the receiver.

Her tone match her attitude, and it was easy for the boy in the other end to pick up. "You got in trouble again by Lana, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm stuck in my room for the day, so I can't come out and hang. I'm sorry, Mikey. I'll se you tomorrow." Mae sighed sadly before hanging up. She watched as the blonde pushed down on the walkie-talkie's antenna, and sent the girl one last look before entering the house next door.

~

"So you weren't able to play with your friend, Mikey. Why?" Ben asked, pleased that he had been getting somewhere with the teen.

"Earlier that day I bit Xavier." Mae bit back a smile. She could still remember her older brother's tears as he waved his freshly swollen arm in front of their grandmother.

"Why?"

"Because he annoyed me." She answered. "Anyway, after I told Mikey I couldn't come out and hang, I just slumped around my room for like two hours. Then, I decided to look out my bedroom window to see him killing Mr. Osvaldo's cat. He was doing it right in Ms. Little's backyard, which faced my room, and it was like he knew I was watching because he looked up and we made eye contact."

"What happened after that?"

"He got on our channel and called out to me that night."

~

Mae's eyes fell onto the time displayed on her laptop screen, and chewed on her bottom lip at how late it was getting.

It was a week night and tomorrow, after school ended, her mother was taking her out to buy a dress for picture day that was coming up this Friday.

Though, Mae couldn't sleep even if she tried. Her best friend may have committed a crime, and she witnessed it all. She wasn't sure what the legislation was for murdering a nice old man's beloved cat, but she knew it wasn't praised nor was it normal.

"Just because something is living, doesn't mean it has a soul." She heard the blonde's voice drawl through the walkie-talkie's receiver.

The comment made Mae raise her eyebrows. She was a lover of animals, and she always thought of them to be from the same category of importance that humans were from.

"What do you mean?"

"To murder someone, means to forcibly take someone's live. To take their soul from their bodies and banish them, to heaven or to hell, that depends on the person. But I'm getting off track... It's said in the Bible that animals don't have souls, hence why we kill chicken and cows for nuggets and burgers. It's not murder, it's just survival or in my case, curiosity."

The brunette continued to nervously tug on her french braid as she listened to her friend explain why he killed Mr. Mittens.  Although, a part of her thought that his speech seemed like it was a load of shit, she could see where he was coming from.

And that's where she went wrong.

~

"And that's where I went wrong, I guess." Mae concluded her story as she ran her fingers through her hair that she released from its bun.

"He somehow convinced me