Home Alone

by Mel Todd

  ~Always.~ Her absolute assurance helped as he pulled open the door. Even before he stepped inside he knew the place was empty. The only sounds were from the fridge and air conditioner, and his own harsh breathing. He wandered through and stood looking at the gun safe. It held McKenna's gun and he knew the code. They'd had a long talk about it. With everything that had happened, she said she trusted him with the information.

  Should I open it and get the gun?

  ~Charley? You find anything? Is it safe?~ The level of stress in Jessi's voice decided for him. Besides he didn't know how to shoot the gun.

  I won't tell anyone I know how to get in there. Then if I need it, it's there for me.

  ~Come on in and tell me if you smell anything?~

  Before the words had been completed two furred bodies pressed against his legs. The house just felt empty but he moved in with the jaguars at his side. McKenna's phone lay on the counter in the kitchen. They stood listening, but no one sensed anyone there. He picked up the phone and paused, glancing down at the cats.

  "Who do we call?" The sound of his voice echoing in the house made him cringe and he flipped to mental. ~All the people I'd call immediately are gone.~

  ~Carina or Anne? Is that who is Kenna’s friend in the department?~ Jamie offered.

  Charley entered the unlock code, McKenna had told him that his first day, and flipped through the phone. ~I have a number for a Sergeant Ann Holich in here. I don't see a Carina, but your home number is here.~

  The three of them all stood for a minute, then Jessi spoke up. ~Call the Sergeant first. Carina will panic a bit and want to call 911 first.~

  Charley nodded, and with hands that shook no matter how hard he tried to hold them still, he clicked her name on the contact list.

  The phone rang twice, then picked up. "McKenna, why in the world are you calling me at home, on a Saturday, and at five in the evening?"

  "Um, Miss, I mean Sergeant Holich. This is Charley Davis." His voice cracked with stress and he coughed trying to control it. A cat pressed up tight to him and he leaned in a bit, trying to be strong. He could be strong.

  "Charley?" Her voice sharpened and heard movement in the background. "What's wrong?" Her voice cracked out and he swore he heard the jangle of keys in the background.

  He tried to speak but a hitch caught in his chest. Coughing relieved it, and he started to talk, well babble. "Some men came, took McKenna, she told us to run, hide. We did. They're gone, but they took everyone."

  "Who's everyone? I'm headed there now. Talk to me Charley, tell me everything." He heard a siren start up and he sank to the floor leaning against the bar in the kitchen. Jamie and Jessi pressed against him, and he sank the fingers of his free hand into fur, petting and stroking. Normally they never treated each other like animals, but right now he needed the mindless activity and Jamie seemed to know it. Jessi laid her chin on his shoulder, pressing against his side.

  The word flowed out. "They took McKenna, shot her with something. I can't reach her. She went dark. I can feel her even in dreams but I can't now at all. They took Toni, Mrs. Diaz. Jamie and Jessi are here with me." He swallowed a sob as Jamie keened at bit at his mom's name.

  "Where's JD? Did you call him?"

  "They took him too. And another man. I don't know who he was but his car is still here. They screamed at us to run, to hide. So, we did. I'm don't know where they are." Another sob slipped out and he scrubbed at his face with the back of his hand, surprised when it came away wet. With a growl of frustration he wiped his eyes dry, then dried his hand on his shorts.

  Stupid. Crying never fixed anything. Suck it up. You need to be calm for the twins.

  "Charley, listen to me. You did the right thing. Hiding was exactly what you should have done. And calling me was the best thing. Are you okay for a few minutes? I need to call people. I should be there in ten minutes. Don't let anyone else in until I get there. Can you do that?"

  He swallowed hard, pushing down the thick, slimy lump that had formed in his throat. "Yeah. I can do that. "

  "Okay. Keep the phone close. I'll be there soon." She hung up and Charley let his hand drop.

  "You guys hear all that."

  ~Yes.~

  "Why don't you two go change, and I'll find us some food. We bought sandwich meat. I can make sandwiches."

  Jessi tilted her head looking at him nodding. With a flick of her tail, she turned and stalked towards the open door. Jamie didn't move, staying with Charley.

  Yeah, I don't want to be alone right now.

  Charley sniffed hard, then slowly stood. "I'll start in the kitchen, we all need food."

  Jamie rose along with him, pacing around the bar into the kitchen. Charley carefully washed his hands and started pulling out stuff.

  "What do you want me to do?" Jessi's voice made him flinch, even in human form she moved quietly.

  "Can you get glasses and plates for me?"

  She nodded going to grab the step stool. They worked in silence, Jamie helping after he changed. They had made six large sandwiches piled with meat, cheese, veggies, and other stuff by the time they heard the car drive up.

  They all flinched. "Stay here, out of sight. I'll check." Charley knew it was probably Sergeant Holich but they didn’t assume anything, not anymore.

  He walked to the door and peeked through the windows to the side. A sigh slipped out as he saw her walking up, her brisk stride conveying purpose and confidence. Charley pulled open the door, nodding at her.

  "Hey, Sergeant Holich."

  "Charley," relief sounded in her voice and she pulled him into an unexpected hug. He let himself sink into it for just a moment before he pulled back. "You okay? Where are the other kids?"

  He nodded inside and let her enter before shutting and locking the door behind her. Following her in, he saw her kneeling in front of Jessi and Jamie.

  "You two okay? You didn't get hurt?"

  "No. Mom told us to run, hide with Charley. So, we did." Jessi said, as Jamie didn't quite hide behind her. Strangers were not his favorite thing.

  "Good." Her sharp eyes swept across all of them. "You did the right thing. Now tell me what happened." She glanced up at the food on the counter. "While you eat. You're all probably hungry."

  The sergeant helped the twins get settled and waved at them to eat. Between bites of food Charley explained.

  "We were having a barbeque, and JD had brought over a guy he wanted us, well McKenna, to meet. He had just gotten here and all of them were on the deck talking, when men came running around the corner holding guns. They shot everyone but it wasn't a shot like a gun. They sounded weird. I came running towards McKenna and she and Toni, their mom, yelled at us in our heads to run and hide. The men yelled at us and he shot at me. It was a needly dart thing, almost hit me. We ran and hid." He shrugged stuffing the last bite of a sandwich into his mouth. "We waited for a long time, then came back here and called you."

  "Can you describe any of the men?"

  Charley shook his head. "No. Men. Adults? Black outfits, like what the swat teams wear. Most of them had helmets and goggles on." Guilt swamped him and he ducked his head trying not to throw up everything he just ate.

  "Charley, listen to me. That is okay. These sound like professionals. You did exactly what you were told and because of that, you're safe." She took a deep breath looking at them. "The question is, what to do with you?" She shook her head walking over to the counter.

  "We should call Carina. She can watch us, she usually does." Jessi said, glaring at Ann, defiance in her voice.

  ~Why are you being so prickly?~ Charley asked, focusing on his second sandwich.

  ~Why do you trust her? And who is she?~ Jessi shot back glaring at him.

  Charley blinked at her and grinned. A bit of stress flowed away as the reason for Jessi's grumpiness and prickly mind flavor made sense.

  ~Oh, that's right. You've never met her. She's McKenna's boss. She came over the night McKenna got us out of that place. She's f
unny drunk. Then she watched me while McKenna talked to the psychologist lady. She knows about the blood and talking mind to mind.~

  "Oh," the word echoed a bit and Anne looked up from where she was making herself some coffee.

  "Is something wrong? And I'll call Carina. You said she can watch you?"

  "She's our nanny or something like that. Mom works nights, so she watches us." Jamie offered.

  Charley really didn't know how to think of her, so he stuck with Sergeant. It seemed safer than anything else. She narrowed her eyes and nodded.

  "Good. Would it be better if I called her or you?"

  Jessi and Jamie exchanged looks.

  "I should call her." Jessi said, a sigh in her voice. Charley unlocked the phone and slid it over it her. Jessi took a minute to work through the phone. "Mom's is different. Oh, here it is."

  With hesitant jabs, she hit Toni Diaz on the screen, then the speaker button.

  "This is Carina, what's up McKenna?" the cheerful voice asked from the other end, a fast beat pop music playing in the background. Charley recognized what she played when she was working on research papers.

  "Carina, this is Jessi. Can you come over here?" Jessi's voice wobbled, and Charley reached over, putting his hand on her shoulder as Jamie leaned towards her.

  "Jessi? Baby what's wrong?" Anxiety spiked in her voice and the music shut off.

  "Miss Carina, my name is Anne Holich. I work with McKenna. There has been an incident. Can you come over here?"

  "I need the address," her voice tight and controlled. Jessi sagged a bit, her lower lip trembling.

  Anne gave the address to her then hung up, looking at the kids. "You all look worn out. You get enough to eat?" Their plates were all clean and Charley really didn't want any more to eat. He just wanted McKenna back.

  "No, thank you." He shook his head and slipped off the stool at the counter.

  Anne sighed. "I don't know much about kids and I have no idea how all of you aren't blubbering piles of terror. How about I find some sugar and you watch a movie for a bit? I've got calls I need to make."

  Charley glanced at Jessi and Jamie and they shrugged. He could see the low tremors in them and felt their fear rolling in their links.

  "Sure," he said, pulling them to the large beanbag in front of the TV. He put in their favorite movie. Well, the twin’s favorite movie. They loved the animated Jungle Book, he preferred the Lego movies but didn't mind Mowgli.

  They cuddled up in the beanbag, leaning on each other, as Anne gave them a bowl of chocolate covered peanuts. They let the familiar sounds of the movie wash over them as they leaned into each other and Charley tried to sooth them.

  He could feel the stress in their mind links and he tried to help. But he just wanted to be in Kenna's arms and know she would protect him. But she couldn't protect herself.

  ~Don't cry. You cry and I'll cry too.~ Jessi whispered in his mind, so silent not even Jamie heard her voice.

  Charley blinked his eyes rapidly, holding both of them tight, silent as they waited.

  4

  Adults Take Over

  In the last few months the shock waves of accepting new abilities have rippled through our country and others in a manner similar to the race issues of the last century. But amazingly the backlash has been more subdued globally than experts first expected. When following up with Harvard trained sociologist Grace Neman, she had this to say - “One of the reasons shifters have integrated into our existing society so well is they were still a part of it. Their parents, siblings, spouses, and children were there to keep them anchored. It isn’t like they are a new race.” ~ TNN Science News

  "Jessi? Jamie?" Carina's voice pulled them out of the trance of familiarity, and Jessi and Jamie bolted up and ran for her. She sank to her knees and grabbed them both in her arms. At that they both lost it and burst into tears, babbling and sobbing.

  Charley looked away, wanting to be pulled into that hug and wanting McKenna back. He sank down a little farther into the beanbag, ignoring the adults and trying to pay attention to Baloo dancing on the screen.

  Jessi plopped onto one side of him and Jamie the other, startling him. He’d managed to block out so much of the world around him he hadn’t noticed they had quit talking to Carina. Glancing over he saw Carina and Anne talking furiously in the kitchen, Carina’s hands waving as they talked, but their voices were low and he didn’t feel like trying to listen in.

  ~You okay?~ He asked them.

  They shrugged and snuggled down. He welcomed their warmth and just sat back and waited. There wasn’t anything he could do and he just wanted to cry. But that would not be a good thing to do. Not now.

  They ignored the adults, watching the movie until Anne stepped in front of the TV. Charley hit pause and they just looked at her waiting, knowing that whatever she would say it would not be good

  Ann started to speak. “I’ve talked to our captain, Captain Kirk.” She paused as if waiting for something but Charley didn’t say anything. He just watched her, waiting. She took a deep breath and then continued. “He’s on his way over and I’ve called in crime scene techs to take a look at everything. The question is: What do we want to do with you guys?”

  Before any of the kids could respond there was a knock at the door and Anne stood back up.

  Charley watched her walk away and sent a quick thought to the twins. ~Do you guys care if I come with you? I really don’t want to stay here. At least I know Carina.~

  Jessi‘s response was instant. ~Of course you’re coming with us. Where else would you go? You’re going to stay with us until our parents get home.~ She stuck her lip out and glared at him and he knew that the matter had been decided regardless of what any of the adults thought.

  He shifted his attention back to where a man talked to Anne. He didn’t recognize him but that didn’t mean anything. Charley noticed a gun on the man’s hip and an odd air of command.

  That must be the captain she was talking about.

  He needed information about their chances of finding McKenna and the rest. Charley pulled himself out of the beanbag shooting a quick thought to the twins.

  ~Just stay here. I want to talk to him. He probably won’t tell me anything, but you know I have to ask.~

  He felt the assent in his head and headed over to the three adults. Carina with her arms crossed and a familiar mutinous expression on her face

  So that’s where Jessi learned it.

  The thought made him half smile even as he shifted his weight standing in front of the adults. The man, McKenna’s captain he assumed, turned and looked at him and smiled. It wasn’t a friendly smile but it wasn’t an unfriendly one either. It struck him more as the smile of a man who didn’t know what else to say to someone hurting. That was okay, Charley didn’t know what to say either

  “I want to let you know that we’re looking for McKenna now. Trust me, we have all resources available looking for Officer Largo.” His voice was meant to be reassuring but Charley heard more in it.

  “You’re going to find her?” Charley hated the fact that that his voice cracked as he asked but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

  “We’re going to try our best to find her, yes.”

  At least he didn’t lie to me.

  It was an improvement over most adults he’d known. He just nodded, trying to figure out what he wanted to ask but the man talked first.

  “Charley, can you describe any of them? Did you get a look at the cars? Did they say anything you remember? Did they use any names? Did you see how they got here?” The questions came out rapid fire and all he could do was shake his head at each question. As his failure became more and more obvious he hunched his shoulders and clenched his hands in tight fists.

  “Captain.” Anne said softly, stopping the stream of unanswerable questions. The man paused and sighed.

  “Sorry. This is why I don’t have kids. So, you don’t remember, or can think of, anything that might help me find my officers?”


  Charley wanted to protest, to say they were their parents, and that if he knew anything of course he’d say something. Before he could say anything, there was another knock on the door.

  The sergeant answered it and a bunch of people with yellow suit‘s and boxes and all other sorts of equipment that he had no idea what it would do, stood outside the door.

  “We’re here about the crime scene? Sergeant Holich called us in? She wanted us to take a look at something?” Anne nodded to them, then looked at Charley.

  “Charley, will you show them where it happened? Tell them what you remember, so they can review the area and see if there’s any evidence?”

  He shrugged, headed towards the back. It wasn’t like he was going to say no but what was he supposed to tell them?

  With a quick reassuring thought to the twins, he led them out back and pointed out where he thought he saw McKenna fall with that needle the men in dark clothes shot at her. The only thing he did actually manage to tell, or show them, was the dart that they had fired at him and missed. When the crime tech picked it up he was very glad that dart hadn’t hit him.

  “Thanks kid, you did good.” With that they dismissed him and instead started taking lots of pictures and talking about things that not only did he not understand, he just didn’t care about. All he cared about was that it might help them find McKenna.

  Charley walked back into the kitchen and looked at the three adults, well that’s how he thought of them, as the adults--the captain, the sergeant, and Carina. All three turned to look at him and he shuffled uncomfortably.

  “Yes?” he asked suspecting that anything they told him wouldn’t be good for him.

  Carina turn to him. “Hey, you want to come home with us? Stay the night? We can order pizza on the way home. That work?”

  Charley gave her a funny look. Like he was going to say no to pizza. “Sure. That’s fine.”

  Carina gave a triumphant glance towards the two police officers, as if to say See?“ “Okay Charley, go grab your stuff and we will leave here in a minute.”