Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
Shaun was numb and it was not as comforting as he remembered it. It had been something worth wrapping himself up in, it had helped to some degree when he'd buried Tracey. It had helped when he had to call her parents, inform them. Helped him so much and now it was a crushing weight that threatened to silently drown him. It was only by some good grace that with Stephen's prompting that he actually got up and started functioning. It was almost robotic as he cleaned up the mess that had been brought on by the sheer amount of people dragging Jace out of the house.
He blinked, finding himself staring at the kitchen sink. He'd done that a few times now, just randomly found himself stopped and staring but he simply shook his head and continued what he was doing. The washing, ironing, folding completed, the dishes washed, the bathrooms scrubbed, beds stripped and remade. All those monotonous things that served no other purpose than to fill in the silence. He hadn't even thought to really clean himself up until he caught his reflection in a mirror.
And as the day wore on, the more and more his stomach began to feel like lead had settled in for the long haul. He hadn't had to call a family meeting in a while, and the few in the past he'd drummed up, only half the clan had been able to turn up. But this - this could not be avoided. The last thing he needed was someone to get some kind of wires crossed. He didn't need or want to be ambushed by the boys because he failed to bring it to their attention immediately. Dinner itself was nothing too crazy, nothing like his wife made, but still more than enough for the clan but even so it worried him that he was providing them with knives, pitchforks and piping hot gravy boats to throw at him. He wouldn't blame them anyway. Couldn't. He was the bad guy after all.
Link had been at the end of his shift when he’d received the message in the family chat from Stephen. Something big must have happened for their father to call a family meeting so suddenly. The last time their father had called a family meeting was after their mother had died. He’d clocked out of work begrudgingly quickly, unable to stick around and chat with his co-workers/steal leftover pizza like he normally did in order to get home on time for the first family dinner they’d had in a long time. Link usually tended to have dinner in his room or just eat after work. During his walk home, he called his younger brother to find out if he knew what was going on and got a brief summary of the shit that had gone down this afternoon. Reaching his house, Link inhaled deeply and headed inside, dumping his backpack on the banister before walking into the dining room where his father was. ”So. .what the fuck happened today then?” He asked.
16 - smart ass - hyperactive - high school - single
he knew that keith had come home for a reason. his older brother didn't seem to do anything that had anyone's best interest at heart, unless it helped himself in some way. the selfish bastard. he hadn't gotten the whole story from the stuff he'd heard from his brothers and father but he was forming a picture in his head and he didn't care if it was wrong. keith had fucked his family over and that was something he didn't think he should be allowed to do, considering he wasn't part of it anymore. he'd left work early when his father had called the family meeting. he'd had the late shift at work, sorting the horses out for the evening and helping settle them in but his boss had let him go without question.
he walked inside and kicked his boots off, making sure to at least leave them tidily at the front door to put away later, even when things were happening his mother's influence was still there. the house didn't feel right, and that was saying something. if you'd have asked him yesterday if the house could have felt worse than it had after their mother died, he'd have laughed but today, he didn't know what it was but it felt wrong. "and how the fuck are we going to make keith pay for it." he said as he walked into the living room, catching link's comment as he sat lightly on the arm of the couch.
there was a guilty feeling pulsing through his heart as he pedaled his bike home as fast as he could. he hadn't much time at home since his and nash's fight. he'd been staying at friends, getting home as late as he could and doing his best to stay out of everyone's way. he could feel his hockey stick tapping against the wheel, it was almost falling out of the bag but he didn't care. there had been trouble at the house and he needed to get home. as he rounded the corner of the driveway, the stick finally slipped from where it had been hanging on for dear life but the problem was it caught the back tire on it's way down and sent him skittering to the gravel.
as soon as he hit the ground he was up though, his sneakers sending gravel flying as he got to his feet and ran the rest of the way to the door, ignoring the stinging in his now grazed up hands as he pushed his way through it and almost ran into the room where the rest of his family were. he didn't know the full story, just what he'd read from the messages from nash and then his dad telling everyone to come home. that's what had scared him, the last time they'd all rushed together like this was when their mum had died. no one had died this time but one of them was gone and that needed to change. he heard link and mav but he ran past them and went straight over to his dad.
he was breathless from his ride across town and his dash across the yard but he let the words just tumble out of his mouth as he stood before his father, his hands bleeding, everything disheveled and more than a little wide eyed. "so jace is gone? where did they take him? was it keith!?" he managed to take someone of a breath. "can we go get him? they can't stop us right .. i mean we're his family and this is his home .. they can't just take him! they have to let us bring him back"
As if the morning had not been fucked up enough, this family meeting his father had insisted on having was happening. Dinner with the family had been something from the past for pretty much all of them because who needed to be around dad and jace’s bullshit anyways though Nash wasn’t sure if wished back those chaotic nights right now. He wasn’t even hungry but anything was better than the tension that had whirled through the house earlier and that was still lingering in pretty much every room. HIs brothers arriving and firing questions didn’t help much either. Yea, this was going to be so much fun….not.
He had spoken and texted with a few of his brothers as the afternoon went on but it had seriously cut into this time with Eva. He had tried to keep the state of affairs at home on the downlow as much as he could because there was no way he was going to let her know how royally fucked up the Breckahs really were if she wasn’t aware just yet. It was a miracle people were still talking to him.
Nash slouched down into one of the chairs, waiting for act two to start when Creven ran in sounding and looking completely dazed and disorientated. Shit. Was he okay? At any other moment he would’ve probably asked the other boy about it but things had been strained between them lately after their falling out.
”Mate, you’re bleeding..” he almost mumbled under this breath. Pretty sure his younger brother was fully aware of that. It was hard to keep his mouth shut when Link, Mav and Crev started their inquisitions. ”Fucking Keith apparently made himself Master and Commander of this family when he’s not even in charge of the damn ship.” Oh, there was so much more. Elise. Mum. The bombshell and revelations of Keith’s words and emotions about his perception of his upbringing in their family was something he wasn’t even going to touch until dad would.
Today almost didn't seem real - that literally hours earlier they had the police department and some medical profession facility storm their house like a castle and drag his seventeen year old brother out. What was even more heartbreaking was that there was nothing he could do about it, and Stephen Breckah had been so shellshocked by it all, it more or less had rendered him useless. But what was done was done, and the day had to move on. The family meeting was scheduled, and truth be told, the young man wasn't looking forward to it. Having to rehash this all would suck, and he had no doubt that emotions were going to be running high. He would just have to take his lead from his dad.
Stephen had been a little annoyed with Shaun, maybe if he had understood the severity of getting Jace to these doctors appointments, he would have tried harder to reason with Jace after whatever weapon of choice was thrown at him. The young man knew that Jace wasn't bad all the time, even when he was having issues, that night in the graveyard proved that. Deep down, Stephen knew to a degree that his seventeen year old brother needed help, significant help, that went beyond what this family could offer him. What he didn't appreciate though, was how it went down. Keith had handled that like shit, there was no sugar coating it. Jace was probably going to be afraid of cops for the rest of his life now.
And Keith, well, that was a topic that Stephen wasn't even sure on how to handle either. At a certain point during his blow up at their dad, he found himself who this situation boiled down to - was it really about getting Jace the help he had needed, or was it about Keith's need to air out dirty laundry and hidden feelings. His older brother had been so robotic when he had met him at the diner in Willow Bridge, Stephen realized that maybe he should have seen something like this coming. Didn't matter though. He had to keep his head on straight for the next few hours, he was even ignoring his phone. At least he had gotten the place cleaned up, and his father functioning again - best yet, no beer or liquor had been brought out.
Soon, one by one, he heard the door to the house open and slam as each younger brother came home. Taking a deep breath and then exhaling, Stephen went to join them. They were already talking and yammering away, demanding answers. Holy shit, he hopped Derek would come so that he wouldn't be the oldest one here besides their dad, "Just let dad speak." He said flatly, loud enough to be heard over everyone as his green eyes fell to Shaun Breckah.
Save your lovin' arms for a rainy day and i'll find comfort in my pain
thanks aofie!
TWENTY ONE . JOURNALISM STUDENT . CRUSHING ON VIOLET YIEL OLSON CLAN BRECKAH ☠︎
Derek had been away for a week, which seemed odd for him to say, but it had been needed. He'd been invited to a tattoo convention up in Birmingham by another artist, and he'd jumped at the chance, taking some much needed annual leave from his bouncer work and enjoying life up North for a brief time. It had been weird, getting away from it all. He hadn't realised when Hickstead had begun to feel like home, but apparently it did now, and being away from it felt odd. Like it had crept up on him. Still, it had been refreshing to spend time in a hotel, not worrying about cleaning or feeding himself, going out for dinners and drinks, and spending some days wandering around the exhibits, seeing the artists at work and being a part of the panels.
Now it was back to earth with a bang. He'd stared at the group chat message for a good ten minutes, debating. It sounded harsh, that he didn't instantly jump on the bike and take off. The problem was, there was always something with this family, and it hit that much harder after a week of peace and normal. He'd switched his phone off for a while, and even when it had been on, he'd muted notifications, needing a break from it all. It had been perfect, just what he needed, and then there was this. Back to the shit. He felt guilty for it, he would never be like Keith and abandon his brothers, he just couldn't do it, didn't have the heart to, but it still hurt to have to come back to shit sometimes.
It seemed he was the last to arrive, though he shouldn't have been surprised, he hadn't exactly hurried. Letting the door shut loudly behind him to announce his arrival. There was a chatting chorus of voices, all battling over each other, and he let it buzz around him until he heard 'let dad talk', just as Derek entered the room. He took stock of the faces, ranging from anger to concern and fear, he propped a shoulder against the frame, trademark frown already settling over his face. "Someone care to fill me in?"
"And how the fuck are we going to make Keith pay for it?"
"So Jace is gone? Where did they take him? Was it Keith!? Can we go get him? They can't stop us right .. I mean we're his family and this is his home .. they can't just take him! They have to let us bring him back."
”Mate, you’re bleeding..” ”Fucking Keith apparently made himself Master and Commander of this family when he’s not even in charge of the damn ship.”
"Just let dad speak."
"Someone care to fill me in?"
Shaun got up from his chair and went over to Creven, gently ushering him over to the sink and turned on the tap, "Put those hands under the tap Crev, please."
He moved over then to the fridge and pulled the first aid kit from on top of it and went back over. He took a deep shuddering breath as he collected his thoughts - they were all a massive jumble, so many questions that wanted to be answered by boys who felt the need to either leave or go to war over the situation.
"I will condense the explanation on account there are some things that should be left out due to younger ears, as well as the fact that in the bigger picture does not need immediate family addressing," he said as calmly as he could manage whilst making very clear he would not be budged on that - there were just some things that needed not come out right now, "The last two months, I've been trying to get Jace to go into a doctor - really, anywhere that would be able to assist; and there are two main reasons for that. The first being that Keith decided to put a deadline on everything, as well as the fact that Jace has... at least three times previous, knocked me unconcious and acted out in overly violent ways - more so than usual."
He rumagged through the first aid box, trying to keep his hands busy, "Today was the end of deadline and Keith had told me he would bring in his own form of help, which he did. Multiple police and medical professionals entered the house and removed Jace by force, and I won't deny my temper was there to boot. After Jace was taken out of the house, Keith informed me that he had full Judge permission to remove Jace, and that the only way we can go and visit him is by contacting Keith... who will determine who can visit and when..."
Gently he ruffled Creven's hair, "So yes, Jace is gone and there is currently no way of getting him back - Keith decided to step in. Under no circumstance whatsoever are any of you to start head-hunting Keith, and I mean it - first one to stir shit up with Keith is going to be in bigger trouble with me. I understand if anyone present wants to leave or otherwise step away from the family as a whole, I will not hold it against you. And if you do decide to step away from this entirely, you are still a Breckah and no Breckah gets left behind."
Link dropped down into one of the chairs, glancing sideways as Maverick followed him into the room, asking how they were going to make keith pay. He’d only met his oldest brother a couple of times throughout his life and he didn’t care to waste his energy on making the guy pay. All he was concerned about was Jayce. They may not have gotten along all the time but he still loved him, even if he was a giant pain in the ass. He turned his head as a breathless Creven barrelled into the room with his hands bleeding and a million things falling from his mouth. ”Jesus Crev. . what did you do?” He asked the panicked kid, watching as their father sorted him out. It was Nash’s turn to say something then, turning his attention away from the youngest Breckah to the second. He was about to ask him to explain but Stephen beat him to it, telling them to wait for the head of the family to speak. His brown eyes landed on Sean waiting for the answers to all of their questions when a familiar footsteps followed by a voice filled the silence. The last of the clan had arrived. It felt like it had been forever since they had all been in the same room together. Well. .nearly all of them.
He listened to his father’s explanation, a mixture of emotions appearing on his face as the story went on. He hadn’t realised Jace’s outbursts had become so violent towards sean. He’d been to busy keeping himself away from the house and the memories that filled it and the nightmares that plagued his room. Maybe if he hadn’t been so focused on himself he would have saw what was happening at home, could have done something to stop it. His face was set in a frown the second Sean mentioned what Keith had done. He didn’t know him well enough but he was pretty confident his brother was a conniving prick. Sean’s last words threw him. ”What!? Dad no-one’s leaving..” He looked around the room at each of his brothers. ”No one else is leaving this family. .” He couldn’t lose anyone else. His gaze lingered on Derek for a little longer than the others. He knew his relationship with Sean had been strained since their mother passed and if anyone was to leave it would most likely be him. He took a few silent breaths to calm the rising feeling of anxiety. He wouldn't have an attack in front of them. "please." He said softly.
16 - smart ass - hyperactive - high school - single
mav watched the scene unfold before him and listened to the explanation his father gave them for the five alarm fire alert they'd all been given which had caused them all to rush home without warning. of course the crux of the problem laid with keith, it seemed that since he'd come back to town to have nothing to do with them, he sure caused a few problems. he thought he was doing okay keeping his mouth shut during the explanation although, he knew he couldn't help the look on his face that kept getting madder and there was no way to hide that.
but then, then his father had, what maverick could only call the gall, to defend keith to them, after everything he'd just explained, he was telling them to leave keith alone. "what the fuck?" he said as he straightened up and stepped forward a little. "he's caused all this and you're letting him off? he's taken one of your sons away from you and that's fine?" there was only a few words he could think of to describe keith right now and even he drew the line at saying them in front of his younger brothers. "you're even willing to loose the rest of us to protect him?" there was no denying that he was pissed and he couldn't deny that there was a part of him that was half tempted to take his dad up on the offer of letting them go. "derek and I have damn near given everything we had to keep this family together after mom died while you were circling the fucking drain .. and you throw it back in our faces because you want to keep keith on your good side?! he walked away from us years ago. he is not family!"
he glanced down at his hands as people pointed out that he was bleeding. he scrubbed them on his jeans again and he just shook his head a little. "they're fine." he tried to brush it off as his father told him to run his hands under the water. he did as he was told to rinse them but it was a half arsed job because he didn't care about them at the moment. he cared about what was going on in their house, with their family and what was going to be done to fix it.
he listened to his dad's explanation and he couldn't quite believe it. they'd been trying to help jace, they'd all been trying to help him in their own way. at least he thought they were. "you mean keith can keep us away from him?" he asked his dad as he ruffled his hair. he knew that the rest of his brothers would probably fight their dad with fire, their reaction would be to fight him on it and this time creven was starting to feel that same fire. "he can't do that, he doesn't even know jace!" he said as he frowned as maverick's voice drowned his out and he looked at the faces of his other brothers, wanting to gauge their reactions in the moment.
“Keith can’t do shit,” Nash looked around at the others as the confidence slowly faded from his voice, “right?” He was wondering how it had even come to all of this, the fifteen year old was pretty sure they hadn’t all been together like this in a room since mum’s funeral. Well, they were missing Jace obviously, and knobhead Keith but that was the latter’s own doing. Like, really, his older brother had chosen to leave and checked out of the family on his own, he didn’t deserve a spot at this table.
He heard his father’s words and they struck like a dagger to the heart. No, he wasn’t going to just up and leave his family. He would never be able to do that, mom needed them to stick together but fuck it was tempting as hell right now.
Nash rolled his eyes as he clenched his teeth together and swallowed hard, “Mav’s right. Way to go. Mum would be so fuckin’ proud right now…”
Stephen folded his arms and leaned up against a wall now, waiting for everything to unfold. He knew his younger brothers, no matter what would come out of their father's mouth now, a meltdown was going to happen. Green eyes remained on Shaun now, watching, waiting. Naturally he gave Crev most of the attention, but soon launched into an explanation of what happened along with the unknown backstory that lead to today's events. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that Keith gave some sort of ultimatum, perhaps in his own fucked up away, the eldest of the son's still cared about them.
To his left, Linc swore that no brother was going to leave his family. To his right, Mav lit up into their father, and sure enough, the others followed suit in their own ways - matching each Breckah brother's personality. Stephen remained silent, even as Nash besides him gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath. His hand raised to place it on the fifteen year old's shoulder, merely to remind him that he was here. It was okay to be mad, but he hoped his younger brothers didn't get scooped up into Mav's fiery anger.
But like everyone else now, his green eyes looked to Derek - wondering what his say would be in all of this. Mav could believe want he wanted to, but Stephen was certain that the eldest brother left in the room had been distancing himself further than anyone could imagine.
Save your lovin' arms for a rainy day and i'll find comfort in my pain
thanks aofie!
TWENTY ONE . JOURNALISM STUDENT . CRUSHING ON VIOLET YIEL OLSON CLAN BRECKAH ☠︎
