Julian laid a hand on Alicia's shoulder and squeezed softly. "...Everything we did was to protect you." Tom shook his head a little, taking a shaking breath.
"No," he croaked. "I'm not buying it. You two are LIARS! How goddamn irresponsible can you be?! To take matters into your own hands like that... Dad, you of all people should know how STUPID that is!" Julian closed his eyes and nodded.
"...I know," he said softly. "And I knew back then too. But I was weak. And I got lucky. I know that."
Alicia looked to Julian but flinched as Tom spoke. "Tom, please, try to understand. I stopped because I loved your father. I struggled long and hard to get to where I am today. But who I was as the phantom... She doesn't exist anymore. I'm not dangerous anymore.'
Lily shook her head. "Mom. That's not how that works. You may not do things as you did but that's still a part of you. Just, please don't lie anymore. To us or to yourselves. What you did... It's unspeakable.'
"You realize that if we didn't lie about me being the phantom, you two wouldn't be here to be scolding us for lying." Alicia shot back.
Lily glared at her. "Don't. Don't do that." She said, shaking her head, trying to remain calm. She looked to Tom as she held his arm.
Alicia sighed, trying to remain calm but her heart was racing. She wanted to get drunk and she wanted to hide. She wanted to be anywhere but here having this conversation. "Alright. Fine. Just sit down and we can talk. After we talk, then you have to make a choice. To keep quiet or to turn us in. Okay? Deal?"
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"We're going to turn you in," Tom said immediately. "At least I am. I'm not going to make the same mistakes as you. And, actually, I don't want to sit down. We can talk just fine like this. Go ahead. Try to justify what you did." Julian covered his face and slightly shook his head, unable to fight his tears anymore now. He wanted nothing more than to disappear right now.
Alicia's face fell when Tom didn't even hesitate. He was going to turn them in. She didn't even try to hide her terrified look. She was afraid of jail and afraid of dying alone. Alicia tried to hold back even more tears as she looked from Tom to Lily. Lily looked at Tom and squeezed his hand. "Tom, wait.... They're our parents." She whispered to him. She didn't want to see them arrested. She knew that her mother was right, she would be killed as part of her sentence.
Alicia took in a deep breath. "Nothing we say with change what I did. You're stubborn like your father, Tom. No excuse or justification will be enough for you." She laughed a bit. "I guess we raised you too well." She grabbed her bag. "Turn us in, Tom. But please don't stop us from leaving. I-I don't want to die. I don't want the phantom to be this family's legacy. To be mine. All I wanted to do was to do some good to make up for what I did. You two kids are my pride and joy. I don't deserve you both."
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"That's right," Tom muttered through his teeth. "Is that what we were, huh? Your redemption?"
"Tom," Julian said softly. "You know that's not all you were."
"How?!" Tom growled. "You two are clearly masterful liars. How can I believe anything you've ever said?!" Julian cringed a little and shook his head.
"...What about what we did? If you two were truly just a cover for us... Wouldn't it have been enough for us just to have you? Why would we have given you everything? Why would we have sat with you when you had a nightmare? Why would we have saved up so much to get you two through university?" Tom was quiet for a couple of moments.
"...To make it as believable as possible," he murmured softly.
"Tom. It was believable because it was true. It still is. Your mother and I love you two more than anything in the world." Tom started to cry, rubbing his face.
"What if I don't want you to?! I feel disgusted knowing that I'm loved by the phantom and her sidekick! What does that say about me?!"
"Nothing! Tom, our past has nothing to do with you two. Please. We've changed. For you. Because of you."
Alicia reached out and held Tom's face in her hands. "Tom. You're our son. We had you... Both of you..." She said giving Lily a meaningful look before looking back at Tom. "Out of love. We raised you so you could live a better live than we did. We wanted you to not make the same mistakes we did. I wanted to raise two beautiful children in a loving and caring home. I didn't get that but I wanted you to have it. Everything... Everything we did... All the mistakes, we hid it so you wouldn't be burdened by this." She pulled him into a hug and held him. "We love you, Tom. Thats always been true and it will never change."
Lily listened as she started to cry. Tom was challenging them. She knew that deep down he wanted to forget. To have this not be true. Or maybe he needed an excuse to turn them in. If their parents truly were monsters still, then he wouldn't feel the guilt.
"Dad.... What should we do?" Lily asked softly. "I don't want you guys to go.... I want you to stay. Stay here. I... I don't want mom to be the phantom. Please, this has to be a sick joke! A lie! Something!" She covered her face as she sobbed. "Dad, I'm scared!"
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Julian walked over to Lily and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her gently from side to side. "...I know," he said softly. He looked at Tom, who was quiet as his mother held him. "We tried our very best to keep you two from learning this... heavy truth. But what's done is done. You know now, and it is, in fact, the truth. I'm sorry." He kissed her hair, taking a deep breath. "We won't lie anymore. In fact, we'll tell you the whole truth," he said, looking at Tom again now. He glanced at Alicia. He wasn't sure she would be happy with this, but he felt the need to get it off his chest right here and now. "...Those men that took your mother when we said she was in California... We knew them. We had contacted them." Tom frowned and pulled away a little.
"...What? Why?" Julian closed his eyes.
"...They could give us information about the whereabouts of Dallas Eray."
Alicia held Tom tightly and rocked him as he remained quiet. Lily hugged her father tightly, trying to not cry anymore but that didn't quite work. When he spoke of the whole truth, she looked up at him questioningly. Alicia looked at him as well with wide eyes, clearly uncomfortable with that idea. She saw the look in his eyes and she knew that he had to, he, like the kids, was tired of the lies. She nodded a bit as he continued, holding Tom tightly so she didn't have to look at him, even as he tried to pull away.
"And we got it.... I got it before I killed all those people." Lily looked at her mom with wide eyes.
"What did you do with that information?" She asked softly, scared of the answer. Alicia closed her eyes.
"You remember Dallas Eray, Tom? He's the man who kidnapped you and took your eye. He escaped... and no one could find him." She took a deep breath and let out a shuttering sigh. She didn't want to continue but she did anyways. "Your father never was right after that. He... Wasn't the greatest husband around and that pushed me into my affair. But in an effort to help.... Fix things...I suggested..." She bit her lip. "I suggested we find him and make sure that he would never hurt you again, Tom."
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Tom looked at her, his face filling with horror. Before he could say anything, Julian spoke up.
"...I killed him, Tom," he said softly, loosening his grip on Lily so she could pull away if she felt the need to. "I'm not proud of it. I was disgusted with myself. I wanted nothing more than to turn myself in. I'm not telling you this to boast, or to say 'look how much I love you, look what I did for you'. I know that you're feeling like shit, and I'm sorry. But I want everything to be out in the open. No more secrets." He looked between Tom and Lily. "You can ask us anything. We'll answer truthfully." Tom slowly pulled away from Alicia and stood up straight, backing up a bit.
"...What the fuck," he croaked, hugging himself. "Are there any MORE fucking bodies we should know about?!"
Alicia let Tom pull away and she hugged herself. Lily pulled away and stood by Tom as Julian spoke. "You.... killed him?"
"We tortured him, actually..." She said softly. "I'm not proud of it. We... Never did that again. That I promise." She said softly. As Tom yelled, she flinched. "Your grandfather... My father. I killed him. He was the one who cut of your father's fingers and toes." She said. "that's it... All the others you know as they are in the files."
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