OOC: Part 1 of Breakdown series.
DISCLAIMER: The following is a work of fiction and not to be confused as complete or accurate representation of any beliefs, religions, etc. Please refer to research/articles by experts for that.
The Witches of Alden
”Silent”
Black Arrow Neighbourhood
Manhattan, New York
May 12th, 2023
6:38pm
The room was unbearably silent; almost to an uncomfortable degree for Deanna’s ears. It created an awkwardness that gripped her spine, urging her to speak up and shatter it, but too afraid that it would only make matters worse. For while the silence was, indeed, awkward and disturbing, it was a better alternative that confrontation, which was what she feared.
Without a word, she shifted her emerald eyes as quietly as she could around the large table. She took in her three children: Amiliah to her left, her small, adorable face quite animated as she ‘chomped’ away at her peas, Elsianna beside her, who silently ate (the poor child not having said much since her grounding), and David, who was poking at his grilled chicken breast with his fork.
Selena sat at the other end of the table, the platinum-blonde silent as she cut her own chicken with her knife and work, eating the small pieces and drinking her glass of water, which was filled with more ice-cubes than Deanna, privately, thought necessary (though she said nothing about it).
Again, the redhead felt the unbearable weight of the silence. It had been that way since they had returned home from Breakdown. No… it had started before, at the actual event. While the Snow Queen had had the week off to study and prepare for her semi-final match with Ace Marshall, which Selena seemed less than enthused about (preferring to have faced Xander Valentine over the cheating Ace Marshall – which Deanna could understand given recent events) – Deanna had had to fight her first match of the United States Championship tournament against the former world champion, Glory Braddock.
I still can’t believe I won… Deanna thought, her eyes temporarily lost in their dreamish-state as she stared into her pile of untouched mashed potatoes. She had never faced a former world champion in her entire career and come out of it as the victor. Adam Allocco, Owen Cruze, those were the only ones she had faced one-on-one that she could recall off the top of her head. The first had, infamously, pegged stuck with her as “The Five Moves of Doom Match”, which she had still been unable to shake desperate her best efforts in the Elimination Chamber late last year and the other match… truly, it had started all of this. Her wife’s discord with the SCW owner, O. D., the Snow Queen’s growing frustration.
Despite herself, Deanna released an almost inaudible sigh, but it was enough sound for her to look up in concern over it. She spied her wife gazing at her with a raised eyebrow. Immediately, the younger Frost fed herself a forkful of mashed potatoes, immediately throwing a flash of a smile to her wife in response.
It wasn’t that she disagreed with Selena. Far from it. There were a lot of serious problems in SCW. Problems that were mounting like the lack of integrity and desire for ‘pandemonium’. The “Chaos Match” and the PPV tag-title match that had seen the complete end of the House of Frost’s reign as the tag-team champions was proof of that. Yes, there was A LOT of things wrong with SCW that they were trying to fix…
But last Breakdown had been… special for the redhead. She had defeated a former world champion for the first time! She had been so happy, surprised, even the mixed reaction from the audience hadn’t deterred her like it had at the pay-per-view. She had won on her own merit. No tricks, interferences – nothing! Only her skill and resilience – her grit, which is what it had to have been because Glory had, clearly, outwrestled her with her many years of experience over Deanna. She had been so happy that she had rushed backstage, wanting nothing more than to share in a small celebration with her beloved wife, not only for her victory but that they were one step closer to Selena’s prophecy of the two of them winning their respective tournaments and The House of Frost standing in SCW with the two top titles in SCW!
My first with a top-tier title… Deanna thought, the nervous stewing in her stomach and making the simultaneous action of digesting her dinner a little more difficult. However, a mini-celebration of smiles and maybe some ‘intimacy’ Deanna had wanted with a shower in their locker-room was not in the cards.
As she had run through the halls, she had spied her wife before the Snow Queen had spied her, which was why she had seen Selena barking at D.… again. At first, Deanna had been stunned. Had something happened? Had something occurred while her match had been going on like it had a few weeks ago, when D. had insulted Deanna’s credibility? Had there been more developments regarding the sale of SCW? Had something happened that she wasn’t aware of regarding the tournaments? A million ideas had raced through the redhead’s mind as she had continued jogging towards the pair…
And boy bananas had she guessed wrong on all of them! Selena hadn’t been yelling at D. about ANY of that. No, her beloved wife had been complaining – whining – about Deanna’s entrance having a glitch and starting too early. A simple mistake! Nothing more! How many times had the crew of SCW been so spot on in their entrances? Even the grandiose ones like Rise to Greatness that had seen Selena riding a dragon?! Deanna had lost count how guys like Mike, Hailey, Sheila, and Tom had stepped up time and time again… but a crew hand had warned Deanna that it might happen. That they were experiencing technical problems all day! Yes, it had thrown her off to see her leaves way ahead of her during her entrance, her routine of dance/focus off-whack, as it were, but it could have been much worse if no one had told her! She might have overthought it too much and then lost to Glory!
Stealing a glance upward, Deanna eyed her wife, seeing the woman take a small drink of her cold water. It was the first time Deanna had… had disagreed with her wife’s actions in SCW. It wasn’t D.’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault and it certainly wasn’t some form of disrespect like Selena was so quick to assume. It just… it happened.
There’s so much pressure on her… Deanna thought sadly, her eyes still on her wife.
And it’s all getting to her…
Deanna had begun to suspect this weeks ago when Selena had to disappear all the way back to Nome in order to ‘clear her head’ and ‘get her mind right’, ultimately, according to the platinum-blonde, a fruitless endeavour. But to see her snapping at O., who deserved a good yelling at some days, Deanna was the first to admit – but not that time. Not because of some technical error. It was… it was unfair.
She keeps so much of it bottled up inside… the thought came to the younger Frost wife as she watched Selena, her mind racing with thought after thought on how to fix this. Selena needed to be focused. If she could win the World title again, not only would she be in a great position to make some real changes in SCW, she’d be able to head to Rise to Greatness in the main-event again. Even with everything going on, Deanna believed, without a question in her mind and heart, that SCW needed “The Face of SCW” in that main-event, especially with a new owner on the way for the company. Someone that defined the integrity of SCW.
Maybe that’s what’s bothering her as well… Deanna thought.
That she knows how close she is… but she has Marshall and then Kandis or Allocco – boy, those are lousy options. Least I have Amelia and, maybe, Bree…
Despite herself, Deanna smiled at the thought. Where her wife was besieged with controversy/controversial figures in her tournament, Deanna was – she admitted – friggin’ lucky! She not only had Amelia, a woman she respected beyond measure for their tag-match at Retribution, but if Bree got past Polly Playtime and Deanna beat Amelia, the redhead would have another former world champion to fight against! A woman with a great past with Selena!
What a couple of matches that will be! She bit her lip, her whole way to conceal her excitement over the possibilities. Why couldn’t they have talked about that after her match with Glory, instead of trying to get Selena to see the rashness in her yelling at the boss over an entrance-error?
Regardless, the situation had caused the Snow Queen to further draw into herself, emotionally speaking. If Deanna could relate it to anything, the Snow Queen was acting more like their eldest, Elsianna, but Elsa’s silence was a response to her guilt over her actions in sneaking out of the house. Maybe it was also guilt Selena felt…
That’s it! Deanna thought boldly, taking a chomp from her chicken breast.
This train is leaving the station! Silence wasn’t going to help any of them!
Time for a tension breaker!
“So…” her voice sounded almost foreign to her as it passed her lips, a little off from lack of use over the last few hours. “Kids… did you tell mother what happened in school on Friday?”
It was a lame question, but it was enough to get Selena to lift her gaze from her dinner and turn her head towards the kids. “Something happened?” she asked, eyeing all three of them. They, in turn, cast their confused glances at Deanna, who merely leaned closer to them to whisper.
“Mrs. Fields made the announcement? Something to do with ‘flowers’?” she hinted.
“I KNOW!” Amiliah declared, her face suddenly bright. “Mrs. Fields said that we’re making ‘flower crosses’ for Memorial Day!” she seemed to bounce a little in her chair. “We’re going to cut out flowers out of cardboard and then the best ones from each class get to present them in an assembly!”
“Each class?” Selena asked.
“Every class is doin’ it.” David grumbled, nowhere near as enthusiastic as his younger sister as he stabbed at his remaining chicken with his fork.
“Elsianna?” Selena tried. “Your thoughts?”
The oldest child shrugged. “Asuna and I are working during class on ours. She wants to use some rainbow colors around the boarder to support the LGBTQ2S+.”
“I like that idea.” Smiled Deanna, though she could only hope the teachers were okay with it. The school, overall, had been very open with such things, partly the reason the Frosts had chosen it for their children, but still… “It’s a great idea, right, dear?” she asked Selena, trying to get the troubled former world champion more involved. It wasn’t much, but Selena did offer a smile and a nod of her head.
“I hope mine gets picked.” Amiliah added, still excited. “I’m going to fold the flowers so they pop more when they’re on the cross.”
Deanna gave a nod at the young girl. “What about you, David?” she tried, as if she could get the whole family enthusiastic and out of this funk.
“I don’t know.” David shrugged. “Whatever they tell me to.”
“Oh come on.” Deanna teased. “You can – I don’t know – may the poppies into shapes of hearts? You can make rainbow-boarders like your sister? There’s tons of options!”
“Who cares?” David asked in a huff, surprising both Frost wives.
“Well…it’s important.” Deanna tried, Selena’s expression more surprised than anything else.
“It’s a bunch of dead guys that died years and years and years ago. Who cares?” David retorted.
“Those dead ‘guys’-“ Selena stated through a tightening jaw. “and women are those that gave their lives in the armed forces protecting our freedoms.” She tried to explain. “It’s honoring their sacrifice.”
“By making a bunch of cardboard flowers and crosses?” David asked. “What good does that do? We’re just making trash!”
“No we’re not!” Amiliah retorted. “We’re making pretty things! They’ll like pretty things!”
“They’re dead!” David spat back at his little sister. “They can’t like anything!”
“David!” Deanna gasped. “What has gotten into you?!”
“School’s about lessons and playing sports! Not arts and crafts for dead people! It’s stupid!”
The word caused a shocked-silence between the other Frost members, all four women staring at David in disbelief.
“David said a swear!” Amiliah said in shock.
Immediately, Selena was on her feet, grabbing her son by the arm. “Get up, mister.” She growled, tugging the boy to his feet and pulling him out of the kitchen.
“Selena!” Deanna tried, pushing herself out of her chair and following the two, hearing Selena’s voice along the way.
“I don’t care what you think about it! You don’t use that kind of language in this house!”
“You do!” she heard David spat back and Deanna could see the boy struggling in her mother’s one-handed hold on his arm. “I’ve heard you use it and other words too! You said ‘shit’ and ‘crap’!”
Deanna’s feet stopped at the boy’s tirade, missing a step as she stood on the middle of the stairway, stunned by her son’s use of such words.
“Stop that!” Selena ordered. “You are not allowed to use those words! You know better!”
“SHIT! CRAP! SHIT! CRAP!” David spat in rebellion. “And FUUUUUUCKKKK!” he yelled at the top of his lungs but was silenced at the sound of a smacking sound that was deafening in Deanna’s ears! She was up the stairs before she realized it.
Before her, Selena stood there, glaring down at her foul-speaking son. David’s expression, however, had changed from defiance to absolute shock as his small hand cradled his cheek.
“SELENA!” Deanna yelled in disbelief as she watched David’s eyes begin to mist with tears. Quickly, the redhead marched between the platinum-blonde and David, kneeling down and promptly picking up the boy. Without a word, she carried him into his room, placing him on the bed as she begun to hear his soft cries.
“You stay in your room until I say otherwise.” She ordered sternly. “You know better than to say bad words! Do you understand?” she watched him meekly nod his head before the cries overtook him, the boy choosing his pillow to muffle them out.
Getting back to her full height, Deanna turned around and left the room, closing it behind her. She spotted Selena still standing there, the utter anger and, even, rage on the Snow Queen’s face.
It paled in comparison to Deanna’s.
Without a word, the redhead gripped her wife’s forearm and pulled hard, yanking the former world champion down the stairs, past the main-floor (Deanna shouting a ‘finish your dinner’ to her daughters as she passed) and down the basement steps, through the hall and into the study where Selena filmed many of her ‘Royal Letters’. There, Deanna jerked Selena into the room before closing the door behind her. Without much effort, Selena stopped herself, the platinum-blonde turned around to face her wife.
“I can’t believe he used that kind of language in our house-“
WHACK!
If Selena’s slap was loud, then the one that came out then was like thunder, Deanna’s hand smacking the pale cheek of her wife with the force she normally used on her wrestling opponents! Selena’s head jerked to the side, the Snow Queen crumbling to the floor from the shock. By the time she looked up towards the standing Deanna, the younger Frost could see the red mark her hand had left on the woman’s cheek.
“What the-“
“What the hell?!” Deanna shot back. “YOU HIT OUR SON!”
Angrily, Selena pushed herself to her feet. “Did you not hear him-“
Another shot rang out as Deanna’s hand found Selena’s cheek again. This time, however, the Snow Queen remained standing, though the sound was nowhere less thunderous in the room.
“STOP IT!” Selena barked. “Or I’ll slap you back!”
“I don’t fucking care!” Deanna roared back. “You slapped our son, Selena!”
“He wouldn’t stop!”
“That doesn’t give you the right to hit him!” Deanna shot back, her anger making her blood boil. “He’s barely seven!”
“He knows better!”
“And he learned it from listening to you!” the redhead countered. “I don’t care how you rationalize it! You’re wrong! You know you’re wrong! I don’t care what you say! You do NOT strike OUR children!”
She could see the storm, the rage, in Selena’s eyes; the sapphires looking more like a torrent-at-sea than the calm jewels Deanna had always recognized and loved. She wasn’t afraid. Selena could hit her back for all she cared. But her wife was NOT going to get away with this!
Before her, Deanna watched Selena’s expression morph. From rage, to anger, to pain… to a slow, dawning, crippling realization. As if waking up from a dream or reality crashing down, Selena’s eyes shifted towards the exit of the study, as if seeing the path where she had just travelled – her son’s room, a dawning horror taking hold. Slowly, the young woman glanced down at her hand, the same hand she had used on the poor boy.
“I…” she breathed, almost a wisp of air. “I hit him.”
She sounded like she almost didn’t believe, and if Deanna hadn’t seen it all with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have either. But she had, and so she could not simple be kind and understanding now.
“Deanna…” Selena lifted her head, her face a mixture of shock, disbelief, and anguish. “What did I do?”
“You hit David.” Deanna growled, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t care how frustrated you are with all of this. I’m not defending you. I’m beyond angry and ashamed of you. I don’t – I haven’t-“ she huffed angrily, at a loss for words. “I’ve always maintained to anyone what a great mother you are! To anyone that asked me, or wondered about two mothers raising a family. And I’ve never doubted that we could… but fuck you, you just made me question it all!”
“I…” she could see her wife beginning to tremble, Selena’s jaw start to shake as she still held out the offending hand. Tears began streaming down her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to…I was so angry-“
“You can’t just explain this away, Selena!” Deanna spat. “I’m not so desperate for you that I will just forgive you for this!”
“I’m not… I don’t want you to…I didn’t-“ Selena fumbled with her words over and over again, breaking apart piece by piece before Deanna’s eyes until the Snow Queen collapsed to the floor, sitting against her sturdy, dark-wood desk, staring down at her hand. “Help…”
The word was a whisper, a mumble that Deanna could not make out. “What?” she asked harshly, refusing to lower herself to the floor, though part of her wanted to in order to hold her wife.
“Help…” Selena cried. “I can’t control this anymore. I can’t do this by myself. I can’t fix this – I don’t know how to fix this… I don’t know how… I don’t know what to do… I’ve tried everything…”
“Oh for Odin’s sake.” Deanna shook her head. “Start by growing up!”
That seemed to get Selena’s attention, the Snow Queen lifting her head up to gaze, tear-eyed, at her wife. “You’re an adult, Selena! Older than me! Start acting like that! Stop crying and whining and losing it and act like a damn adult! Stop losing your temper over all that shit over at work and leave it there!”
Selena said nothing for several minutes, merely looking up at her wife as her eyes pushed out a few of those tears.
“I fucked up…” she whispered.
“You think?!” Deanna huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Ace Marshall could have told you that!”
She saw her wife’s jaw clench at the name, so she spoke quickly.
“You will go upstairs right now and you will apologize to David and you will talk this through with him! You will apologize until he forgives you. And then you and I are going to see a therapist.”
“A therapist?” Selena asked in disbelief. “I…We…”
“No, WE don’t.” Deanna’s eyes narrowed. “But YOU do. I didn’t say much when you lost it unfairly towards D. last Breakdown, but this? There is no excuse for this. You are coming with me to see a specialist-therapist. Do you understand?!”
Selena opened her mouth to speak before slowly closing it.
“Do you understand?!” Deanna pressed, narrowing her emerald eyes at her fallen wife. Slowly, she saw the platinum-blonde nod her head and, even slower, pull herself to her feet, standing taller than the redhead. Quickly, she wiped her eyes of any tears. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it quickly, as if thinking better of it, before excusing herself from the room.
Alone in the study, Deanna tried to breath out the anger she felt towards her wife. Towards everything that was turning her beloved soulmate into…whatever it was she was becoming.
“No title… no tournament… no job… no company is worth this…” she whispered to herself before angrily slamming her fist against the desk, feeling it sting against the wood.
Despite all her anger, all her frustration and sadness over everything… she could not deny how truthful that statement felt in her very soul. And how close she was, in that moment, to leaving it all behind…