[Saahs]

(Griffin, alive, human form. This takes place a year or so before his death.)

The room was dark, unlit save for a crack through the trap door above Griffin's head. He could hear something shatter upstairs. Then he could hear Elijah's frustrated cursing come to an abrupt stop. His gut plummeted as Eli and Knox's voices both lowered beyond his earshot. What was going on? What had Eli just broke? What was Knox saying to him? What, what, what? None of his questions, of course, were answered. They never were. Griffin backed away from the stairs and paced around the room. He'd memorised where the floor ended and stacks of books and magic wards began.

[Saahs]

His head turned to look up at the trap door again, his face twisted in a mixture of boredom and frustration. What was the point of keeping him down there while training Eli? Not like he couldn't possibly teach them at the same time. Or hell, let Griffin train him. He was perfectly capable, even for a fifteen year old.

The crackle of building Shadow energy pulled Griffin from his train of thought. That's not 'Li, he realised, brow furrowing with suspicion. There was too much energy to be him. That was... too much energy to be a demonstration.

Oh hell no.

[Saahs]

(Elijah, human form, and Knox Whittle, human form. Using a placeholder for Knox because fuck giving him an official pet he doesn't deserve it.)

Griffin skipped every other step up to the trap door, bursting it open with a blast of Shadow. He turned his head just in time to see Eli backed up against the wall, Knox reaching out with an arm completely engulfed in violet and black sparks. "Leave him alone!" bellowed Griffin, charging towards his uncle.

The thick cloud of Shadow dissipated from around Knox's arm, and Eli's eyes glazed over as his frightened expression faded. Knox spun to face Griffin, raising his hand in his direction and sending a wave of energy that shoved him back. Griffin toppled back onto a table, and the energy held him down against it. Idly, Knox made his way over to him. "What do you think you are doing, boy?"

[Saahs]

Gesturing wildly at Eli, Griffin snapped back, "Whaddaya think you're doin', Knox?! That blast you were stewin' up could've knocked his damn head off!"

"That was the point," Knox rumbled, pulling Griffin in close by his shirt collar. "Years I have spent trying to teach that brat, all wasted. He refuses to learn anything beyond the most simple of spells."

Griffin's lip curled. "Probably because you don't take the time to actually teach him step by step! You ain't got th' patience for anythin' but your own self and needs--"

An insurmountable weight began to press down on Griffin's chest, forcing the air from his lungs. "Don't," Knox whispered, "tell me what I do and do not have, boy. I'm the reason you didn't bleed out with your mother and father--I am why you weren't left for the wolves as an infant. I have more patience than you deserve to have been shown."

[Saahs]

As Knox spoke, Griffin struggled in vain to breathe. Repeatedly he looked Elijah's way, but he still only stood there, staring at nothing and being aware of nothing: he couldn't even see him.

Knox stepped back from him, but he still couldn't move. "That is it for today," he rasped, waving his hand.

Immediately, Eli's eyes blinked, and he peered up at Knox with a look of frustration. Nodding his head, he grumbled, "Yes, sir." And with that, Eli stomped past Knox, not even glancing Griffin's way.

"Eli," he strained to call to his friend, a hand stretched out to him. Even when his fingertips brushed his arm... nothing. He winced as Eli slammed the door shut behind him.

[Saahs]

The room was filled only with Griffin's weak gasping. After eyeing the door for several minutes, waiting, Knox stared down at him. "I could treat him as my own," he offered coldly. "I could treat him as I treat you."

Realisation formed in Griffin's stomach, making him feel sick. "No--" He sucked in what air he could. "Don't you ever touch him."

Knox wandered across the room, humming to himself in thought. "A little respect may be all the lesson he needs--"

He managed to counter the energy pushing down on his chest and he gasped for air before spitting, "You couldn't teach 'im a thing about respect if it'd save your life!"

[Saahs]

"And clearly I haven't taught you enough," Knox thundered, flicking his fingers through the air. Coils of Shadowy energy snaked around Griffin's throat and limbs, and yanked him down from the table with a harsh crackle of static electricity.

Yelping as his head thudded against the corner of the table on his way down, Griffin's heartbeat threatened to tear right out of his chest. At least it's not Eli, he told himself as Knox dragged him down the stairs. Thump, thump, down each step, closer to what he knew was coming, had always come, and would continue to forever come. At least it's not Eli.

[Saahs]

And he continued to tell himself that as prickles of pain began to course through every inch of him. He would never know about this. Eli would never know just what danger he was inches from being in every time he stepped into this house. And if the threats flooding his mind were anything to go by, he wouldn't be able to warn Elijah without just making it worse.

Griffin's face was forced against the floorboards. At least it's not Eli at least it's not Eli at least it's not Eli... His thoughts started to race and became aimless; soon he was spiralling into a corner in the back of his mind, closing himself away from what was happening in the real world. It was something he was skilled at, by now. Blocking out the searing pain, the nails raking down his neck and sides. He could ignore it all with ease.

[Saahs]

By the time he crept out of his little pocket in the back of his head, Knox wasn't there. Griffin was alone in the lightless basement, curled up on the cold, earthen floor. It was a while before he was able to move, everything hurt. As usual. Eventually he crept upstairs; Knox was nowhere to be seen. Again, as usual. Left alone with what sense of relief he could pretend to feel, he washed up, put on fresh clothes, and when he returned to the basement he curled up in one of the room's corners that he was actually able to access. Much of the basement had been blocked off by magic, shielding it from both view and physical access. Which left Griffin with a small space to make his own little world in, to retreat to whenever this happened.

[Saahs]

The next day, he didn't say a word while Knox waited for his pupil. The next day, Eli came through the door with a good expression on his face. Griffin risked a glance back at Knox. His uncle said nothing, boring his eyes into Eli with the blank stare he always spared him, much calmer than the cold but furious glower he would occasionally grace Griffin with.

Elijah smiled at Griffin, waving as he came through the door. He too said nothing, but nothing needed to be said; he was happy to see a friendly face.

And so was Griff. After a moment or two, he smiled back at his friend, hands slipped into his pockets in a casual stance. "Mornin' there, pal."

At least it wasn't Eli.