The Calling (DrTrollinski & Zhai)

[DrTrollinski]

"I'm hardly naked." He smirked. "What can I say, there's just more of me to love now, isn't there?" He grinned at her, but his comment sent Mrs Greene off into laughter. He smiled at them both again and then looked out of the window - it was a nice day, but it felt far too hot for an outside run - If anything he'd go to the gym, but seeing as it was Saturday, there was no hope of him doing that.


When Mia brought the coffee, cream, and sugar over, he sighed and took a deep breath, but still gave her a smile.


"I'll ruin you if you do that again." He joked, winking at her and then chuckling a little as he poured some of the cream into his coffee, and then dropped three - make it four - sugar cubes into it, and then quickly stirred it around. He took a sip of it and then shrugged his shoulders a few times. "Meh. I guess I'm not too bad at this... Won't ever beat Mrs Greene's cup of coffee, though." He smiled at the old woman and then took a deep breath. As soon as he saw that she was frying sausage meat, he figured it was high time that his parents got up.


"I'll go wake mom and dad up. It's no good if they miss breakfast." He said softly, chugging down some of his coffee before standing back up and trotting back out of the room. He jogged up the stairs and then made his way through towards his parents' room. When he got back to his room last night, the mattress was back in place, as were the pillows and blankets, and all of his clothes were piled up on his bed. The armchair in his room was propped up again, and all of the broken glass was gone. He only had to fold up his clothes, and that was it. All done. He loved his parents even more dearly after that night, and he realized that maybe Alexandra - their mother - wasn't that bad, after all.


He opened the door, and saw nothing. The bed was neatly made, no clothes were on the floor, and every seemed in place. With a sigh, he made his way back out of the room and then went over to his own room. He stepped inside, pulled out some black slim-fit jeans and slipped them on, and then put on a white t-shirt, too. That was better than nothing, for sure. He put on his blue slippers, and then made his way back downstairs to rejoin Mrs Greene and Mia.


"They're... Well, they're not in bed, so... They must have went out, but--.." He looked towards the front windows beside the door. "The cars are here... Hm." He said with a sigh, he rubbed the back of his head and went back over to sit down and drink his coffee. "Perhaps they went into town to order that glass that got broken again? I don't know, but if they didn't take the cars, they must have done that." He said with a shrug. ".. I'm sure they won't mind if we eat without them - They would have left a note saying otherwise if they wanted us to wait. Missus Greene... Find any notes from them?" He asked.


"No, dear." She said simply.


"There we go, then. They went to that personalized objects store, or something." He said.

 

[Zhai]

"Carl," Mia started in a casually matter-of-fact tone, "Mom barely likes walking through the backyard, so its highly unlikely that she would walk - what, two or three miles - to go to that store."


When Mia said it, she realized the irony of her words - Mother didn't like to walk and she wouldn't walk that far. The cars were still there. The keys still hung on the hooks. Even Father's loafers were still neatly coupled at the front door, now that Mia thought about it. Based on the fact that Mother was gone, too, Mia had to assume they couldn't have gone far; if it were just Father, then she could believe he up and walked to the store. He was like that. Father didn't mine breaking a sweat if it meant he didn't have to drive, Mother was the complete opposite.


"Let's just...eat, I guess." She shrugged, stealing another piece of fruit from the fridge and evading Mrs. Greene's threat to hit her with a wooden spoon. Mia slunk out of the kitchen, sitting in the chair off to the side of Carl, and reaching for his mug; she sipped and her face nose wrinkled at the sweetness. "Ugh, Carl! Don't become a Barista." Mia laughed despite the overpowering after taste of sugar, sliding the mug back to him.


Mrs. Greene - lovely Nan - set their plates in front of them; eggs and sausage. The woman continued making trips back and forth, setting down a basket of bread, a plate of butter and a small dish of jam. Mia took the opportunity to retrieve the slice fruit from the fridge and pick up the tumbler of orange juice. Mrs. Greene made the orange juice herself. She even grew the oranges herself in their yard.


"Maybe they went to a neighbor's house?" Mia simultaneously poured juice and piled various pieces of fruit on her plate.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Ah, wonderful looking breakfast once again, Mrs Greene." Carl smiled at her and then took some bread and a knife, and then started to butter it, followed by putting some strawberry jam on it as well. He smiled and took a bite of it, and then took a sip of his sweet coffee once again and then took a deep breath.


"And don't you say a word about my Barista skills, okay?" He grinned at her. "I'd be the best at that job, I assure you." He chuckled a little and then started off on the sausage meat, quickly scooping some into his mouth after dipping it in the egg yoke. It was good, as per usual. "I bet they've got to a neighbor's place, like you said... I couldn't imagine why, though. Mom and dad don't usually go out and visit neighbors. They don't always need to." He explained, and then took a bite of his bread and jam.


"Unless the neighbors have got some big news, or something." He said.

 

[Zhai]

"Mom hates the neighbors." Mia reached over and plucked Carl's bread from his hands before he took his next bite, knowing he hated it but she still did it. Today, she felt like she needed to let Carl know - through her actions - that their relationship was still rock solid. She would still annoy him as normal, be causal as called for, and all-in-all not let last night affect them.


"I bet if you let your coffee cool down, it'll turn into a coffee sugar cube." She laughed, cracking her own self up at the thought and barely containing her self enough to continue chewing. "You could be a model. You're wandering around here half shirtless and what not."


Mia had long since finished her pile of eggs, but was slow with her sausage. Since a few years ago, she had barely consumed any meats. It was a matter of time before she would probably decide to just go full vegetarian. Her fork poked and rolled the little sausages across her plate, lifting the same piece multiple times and nibbling, and dropping it back to her plate. Instead she finished more than half a plate of fruit and several glasses of juice, feeling bad inside for not showing interests in the meat.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Haha. I'm sure it would. You should drink more of my coffees, trust me." He said, and then sipped his drink again. He reached out to take the bread from her when she picked it up, but by the time she had it, it was already too late. He sighed and gave her a look, but then shook his head and laughed a little. "Some things never change, do they? The only the thing that's really changed is that we don't take a bath together anymore like we did when we were younger." He laughed a little and then shoved a whole sausage into his mouth, and then drank down the rest of his coffee.


He quickly started on the eggs, and used a fresh slice of bread with them. He scooped egg onto them and gulped it down with ease, 'mmm'ing' in pleasure as he did so. Carl was always a strong eater - he'd eat so much all the time whenever he had the chance, even as a kid he'd do it - when he was five, he could clear out half the fridge on his own if he wanted to.


"So, if they hate the neighbors, where are they?" He asked.

 

[Zhai]

It's true. Their parents - well Mrs. Greene - used to put them in the same tub, out of convenience and for that simple fact that it was easier to bath two young children at once. Bath times were long - even longer if they had toys; it all stopped when either one of them out too curious. Plus, Mia started growing boobs and Carl had his own thing going on.


Mia slid her plate towards Carl's plate, forking the rest of her sausage on his plate, and then rising from the table. Mrs. Greene attempted to take her plate, but Mia lifted it higher than the small woman and kept going to the sink. She rinsed her dishes and stack them on one side of the sink, knowing Mrs. Greene would feel like she was out of a job if she didn't have their dishes to wash.


"Maybe they're having sex in the basement." Mia was casual about her suggestion, but smiled sheepishly hearing Mrs. Greene gasp and once again grab over her heart like it would burst from her chest. "Sorry."


On her way out of the kitchen Mia pinched Carl's cheek again and took off running up the stairs to her room. She got out of her sweats and shirt, standing in her closet staring into the floor to ceiling mirror. Her hands roamed over her hips, stomach, and chest - there was a girl in her class that had huge boobs. Mia stood there staring at herself, pouting selfishly at her lack of development in the past two years, and secretly blaming her Mother, who also had a petite frame.


Judgement and self-loathing time was over, as she dressed in a pale yellow dress, white sandals, and grabbed an enormous white hat from her top shelf. She hated the damn thing. Still, she tried to find opportunities to wear it because her Mother bought it for her. Standing in the mirror, Mia groaned, looking at her reflection - the hat looked like an enormous white umbrella on her head. Ditch the hat.


She opted to leave her hair in its overnight dried state of loose curls, only throwing the length all to her back and off her shoulders. Back downstairs, she sauntered back into the kitchen, going back for the unfinished plate of fruit.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"The question is, what am I going to do today aside from sit at home? I might go to the gym, come to think of it... I'm waiting for mom and dad to get back, though." He said as he shoved the food into his mouth, of which was the food that Mia put onto his plate. "So, where are mom and dad if they hate the neighbors, Mia?" He asked. "It doesn't make sense for them to do so, unless they're going there to shoot someone, or something." He explained, shrugging.


"They don't hate the neighbors, dear..." Mrs Greene said.


"Oh, I'm sure they do. Mia had a good point." He said softly. "So, Mia, any ideas? Aside from the basement - I'm not going down there to check, okay? I don't want to see what sort of dungeon setup they've got going on down there, I'll be scarred for life." He looked at her seriously for a moment and then grinned, but then shivered at the thought. His parents having a sex dungeon? God, no. That's a hideous idea.

 

[Zhai]

"Well I'm going to go see the neighbors, pay them a nice visit." Mia knew of only three neighbors that her parents mildly associate with, and that is only because they have kids that go to Mia and Carl's school - and of course, the occasional barbecue someone around here might be brave enough to host. The last time someone hosted an open house event it ended up in the wife catching the husband with the neighbor's newly divorced sister who was staying with them, the family dog humped one of the kids, and the food burned on the grill in the wake of all the other events.


Mia pinched Carl's cheek again and rushed out of his reach, leaving out of the front door in a hurry and closing it behind her. Damn, it's hot out here. There's an infrequent breeze that barely makes a difference in how she felt as she walked down the path of their house, down the sidewalk, and just one house over from theirs. The path to that house was black stone, and Mia felt like she was walking hot coals in a circus show. Underneath her thin dress she felt like her skin was melting away from her muscle and tissues.


Finally in the shade on the porch of the neighbor's home, Mia knocked calmly on the door, wiping a thin layer of sweat from her nose and forehead before the door cracked open.


Mr. Otis - a tall, older man with silver hair and barely a wrinkle on his face! He was at least in his mid-fifties but still moved like he wasn't a day over forty; the man had invested in several real estates in the county and his wife also had her hand in several lucrative projects. Mia remembered last time she saw them, their sixteen year old son was staying with them for the summer, having chosen to go visit his father that year instead of staying with his mother upstate.


Mia smiled pleasantly, politely declining Mr. Otis's invitation into the home, although the air conditioning that was escaping the open door and onto her skin was a blessing. Mr. Otis closed the door behind himself, also aware of the escaping comfort, and opted to stand outside with her.


"What can I do for you?" His voice was as deep as ever, his hands in his pockets and his smile accommodating. Not wanting to take up his time, Mia got right to the meat and potatoes - parents. Has he seen them? Mr. Otis declined, commenting not seeing their parents since a few days ago and in passing only. Not defeated entirely, Mia smiled and excused herself.


To the next house. Exactly beside Mr. Otis's residence. Again she knocked and waited; the housekeeper and frankly the Mister's mistress, answered this door. The woman was as tall as Mia, big breasted, fair skinned, and ultra sexy. She was about in her twenties, unmarried, and had been the housekeeper for awhile. Mia remembered her asking to work in their home, but Mother declined without missing a beat. Mia didn't know her name and hurriedly inquired about her parents. Nothing, housekeeper hadn't seen them.


Next and final house. The son, Marcus, came to the door; he was seventeen, tall, and horny. On several occasions Mia dismissed his forward suggestions, including a blunt one she'd rather forget. He smiled wide, leaning against the frame and eye balling Mia. "I knew you'd come around, Mia. You look gorgeous."


Mia's rested a hand on her hip - annoyed and impatient, "I didn't come for you. Is there an adult I can speak to?" Marcus paused, but continued smiling stupidly. "My parents aren't home."





That meant her parents weren't there either. Mia swiveled around and walked back home.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Did you find them?" Carl asked as he saw her walk back through the gate. While she was gone, he'd gone up and his socks and favorite sneakers on. He was sitting on the porch and waiting for her. He was just getting some air after eating breakfast - he was thinking about going to the gym or to the local pool, or maybe he'd sit at home and do homework. He didn't really know what he was going to do today.


Maybe he'd just sit on his computer and browse the web. He didn't know what he'd do, though. Facebook, maybe? Nah, that was too boring, and he hated Facebook nowadays. He was so lost on what to do - maybe he could do some writing again. He wouldn't mind doing that for a while. Who knew.


"I'm judging by the look on your face that you didn't, but I'm going to chance it and ask you anyway. Any luck? Any of the neighbors at least seen them?" He asked as he slowly rose up on the porch.

 

[Zhai]

"The Donald's still have a smokin' hot maid and Marcus still wants to sleep with me." Mia's tone was displeased and her hands rested on her hips again, waiting for a breeze to come and cool under her arms. "But no, nothing. No one has seen them."


This was getting really strange. No one sees anything and no one has heard from them. They're just - gone.


"Marcus said his parents aren't home either." Mia debated going back to investigate further but she couldn't stomach spending time with Marcus in or out of his home for a long period of time. She deduced that perhaps his parents had also just up and walked out that morning, like her parents had.


Mia looked around the houses that surrounded the cul de sac and a little up the road. There was an old woman on her first porch also, looking around just as lost and confused as usual. Mia knew the old woman had memory loss and was very old, so it was no wonder she looked confused, but she was never alone outside. From what Mother learned of that house, the owners were the old woman's daughter and her husband, taking care of the woman instead of putting her in a home.


The old woman turned left and right, looking fretful and finally returning into the house, but leaving the door open.


Mia turned and looked to another house; the neighbor's dog was pacing back and forth against the fence, whining and turning in circles. The owners never left him outside alone; he was a celebrate show dog and on many occasions, he's almost been kidnapped. Today though, he was freely being miserable in the heat with no one watching.


"Something's not right." Mia signed and continued canvasing the street.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"You can say that again..." He sighed as he looked around the little Cul De Sac that they lived on and then took a deep breath. Things seemed so... different, in some households. It wasn't right. It was strange. What was going on? At first he thought (genuinely) that his parents had gone for their third honeymoon without saying a word due to the incident that occurred last night, but right now, it didn't look like that was the case at all. It seemed like there was something else going on here.


".. Is there... Things seem really out of place, don't they?" He said as he watched the old woman on the end of the Cul De Sac wander back into her house. On her own. ".. I think we should go and check on... what's her name, Missus Palmer, or something?" He asked. "No, Missus Parker. That's the one. We should go and check on her, I think... If she ever walked out of the house, her daughter would come running right behind her to get her back inside." He sighed a little and then scratched the back of his head.


"Come on, let's do it... Her daughter might have left her asleep while she went to the store, or something... We better go and check and make sure she's alright. She's just left the door open." He said as he took a few steps forward and pushed the gate open. This was the right thing to do - if she was alone in that house, she'd get hurt - or worse - eventually.

 

[Zhai]

"I can't abandon Buttons." Mia followed her brother, but paused and hesitated to keep walking back the gate, watching the tiny dog pace back and forth along the perimeter of the gate. "Ah, to hell with it." Worse case - this was just going to be a fuck up and a mistake if the owners see Buttons missing from the yard. Mia would just say she thought they were abducted by aliens and was saving Buttons from being doggy napped.


Reach over the other side of the gate, unlatching it and reaching opening her arms for Buttons, Mia waited for the hand-held dog to come to her, willingly accepting being hand carried. She closed the gate again and jogged slightly to catch up to Carl, the dog tucked under one arm and her other hand petting his silk fur. "He's soft. We should ask Dad for a dog." Mother would say no, so it was better to ask Dad first and let him fight their fight, which had been lost several times in the past. Mother hated pets - animals of any kind - and didn't like them one bit. Mia and Carl begged for a fish tank as their only birthday gift, a bargain other parents would have taken on in a heart beat - cheap fish that will die in a few months or expensive toys? Mother said no to the five dollar fish and instead suggested the expensive toys.


Mia followed Carl to the Parker residence, looking at the ajar front door from the sidewalk. From here, the darkness in the house was an eerie contract to the obviously sunny day outside. It looked like an inky portal to a hellish somewhere. "Well..." Mia said in a here-goes-nothing kind of way, her eyes transitioning between the gate and Carl, suggesting he go first. If the old woman was going to rush out and attack any of them, it couldn't be Mia. She had to protect Buttons from getting his coat messy.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl gulped and then slowly creaked the gate open with a sigh. Mrs Parker wasn't crazy. She was actually really sweet and also quite funny to talk to - even if it had only been a week since she'd seen the two, she'd act like it'd been years - she remembered them only from when they were younger, when they were seven or eight and their parents used to send them over with a fresh pie or a box of all-butter biscuits for her, just as a little gift - secretly it was to make sure that she hadn't died, and she was still well and happy.


By the time Carl and Mia were eleven, she was saying 'It's been years since I've seen you... How old are you know, seven, eight?'


"Missus Parker...?" Carl called out hesitantly as he slowly walked up to the open door and peeked his head inside. ".. Missus Parker... Are you okay?! It's Carl... And Mia! We... We just saw that your door was open, we wanted to come and check on you! Is everything okay?" He asked. No answer. He looked at Mia and then nodded backwards towards the home, and then stepped in himself. The house was quiet. Far too quiet. By now, her daughter would have ran out and greeted them - the whole place was silent. Carl slowly lead Mia through the house and into the living room, where they found Missus Parker calmly sat on the couch. There were two couches facing each other, with a little coffee table between them. Carl lead Mia over to the couch and then sat down, and looked off at the old woman with the fragile and sunken fance.


".. Missus Parker?" He called her, softly. The old woman's gentle eyes slowly looked up and stared at him, but then smiled at them both.


"Carl--.. Mia..." She said, her voice a little croaky. ".. I was wondering when I was going to see you two again... You're always such sweet and polite children." She said, smiling gently, her shaky hands twiddling with themselves. "How long has it been since I saw you? You two must be nine or ten now... It's been years..." She said, completely mindlessly. Carl looked at Mia, unsure of what to say next. It'd only been one week since they saw her last.

 

[Zhai]

Mia hadn't noticed Carl's face looking to hers, because her own eyes were investigating the house. There were plants everywhere, literally pots next to pots in rows and assortments of plants; on tables, mounted on the wall, on the floor, and there was even a drawer open with a bed of soil and small leaves peaking through the surface. Why did they keep so many plants? Where were the flowers? It was all green across the wall, vines and large leaves sticking every which way, and several water pots scattered among the collection as well.


A lone cat - a fat one, too - crept from the depths of a circle of plants on the floor; stalking forward and meowing as rudely and loudly as possible. It's underbelly dragged a little on the floor and its cotton soft paws barely made a noise on the wood. Mia's noise wrinkled unconsciously; she loved animals but never liked the Parker's cat. It was fussy, rude, and loud; at night sometimes it would make a terrible noise in the middle of the street, into the wee hours of the morning until its voice broke and it physically couldn't continue.


Buttons writhed under her arm, but she held onto the tiny dog as securely, hoping the cat would go away.


"Ask her where her daughter and her husband are." Mia finally made eye contact with Carl's question seeking gaze, offering the only question she had for the woman. Leaving Carl to talk with her, Mia left from the living room and reentered the hallway leading to the front door. It was dreadfully hot in the house, humid too, and she searched for the air conditioning controls, finding it near the entry to the kitchen. Mia set it and turned it on, hearing the humming of the vents opening and the first rush of air conditioning escaping the vents.


Back in the living room, she opted to stand behind the couch Carl was sitting on across from the old woman, finding that the cat had made itself comfortable on the coffee table.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Missus Parker... Do you know where your daughter and husband have gone to?" He asked. She looked at him blankly for a few moments but then smiled.


"I know where they are, dear... Jennifer's in bed, and her father's at work..." She said, Carl sighed. There was no truth to that whatsoever. Her husband had retired years ago.


"No, they're not, Missus Parker... Your husband's retired, remember? Jennifer stays here and looks after you... Do you know where they went?" He asked. She paused for a while, but in the end, didn't speak at all. "Come on, Missus Parker... Do you know anything? Your husband and Jennifer aren't here right now, do you know where they are so that we can call them?" He asked.


"They're not here..." She whimpered, her voice shaking. "I went looking for them, but I couldn't find them... Has John taken my Jennifer away to the darkness?" She asked, her eyes wide. Carl couldn't help but shudder and looked over his shoulder at Mia.


What in the hell did she mean by 'the darkness? It was quite creepy, actually... He didn't know what she meant. He assumed that it was just because she was going senile and didn't really know what she was talking about, but 'the darkness' was never something she actually spoke about before, not in all her years.

 

[Zhai]

The darkness?


What could she mean by that? Had they left in the middle of the night, perhaps? No, come to think of it. The small two seat car was still tucked under the dying tree out front.


Mia was out of ideas for whatever the darkness meant, and could only offer Carl the same bewildered look and shrugging shoulders.


The 'darkness' wasn't the only thing Mrs. Parker had said in the past. Once when Mia and her Mother had seen Mrs. Parker, the old woman patted Mia's stomach - commenting on how small she was for her pregnancy and how lucky Michael was to have such a petite wife. It was weird for Mia and her Mother was horrified - not only thinking Mia was pregnant and confided in a bat shit crazy old woman, but that they shared such a striking resemblance. Mother always denied Mia was a spitting image of her and time and time again, people confirmed that they could be twins or sisters.


"I think we should go." Mia felt creeped out by Mrs. Parker's meaningless words - at least to others - and the back of her neck felt chilly, not from the air conditioning, but other reasons. Cuddling Buttons closer to her, Mia waited for Carl to catch up as she paraded back to the entry way and stood in the doorway.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"No, no, no... Wait." He said. "Missus Parker... Please, tell me what the darkness is." He begged her. She looked at him, her eyes finally going even more wide as she leaned forward and put a hand down atop his own. He couldn't help but shudder when he felt her horrid oily skin touching his own - it felt like old leather, that was the most horrible thing. He sort of liked Missus Parker, but after this...? God. He was going to be staying right away from her - he was really freaked out, but then she said something that made his face flush of color, and made a shiver go down his spine.


"You already know, child..."


Carl slowly retracted his hand and offered her the best smile he could without bursting out into girly tears and running out screaming. "Thank you, Missus Parker." He said. His voice was a weak whisper, she just smiled and nodded at him. Carl quickly got up from his seat and ran over to Mia's side, quickly leading her back out of the house and then running straight down the walkway until they were outside the gate. He made sure the front door was locked, and then he made sure the gate was closed and bolted up, too.


"Holy... Shit..." Carl shuddered, his face still pale. "That was by the far the freakiest fucking thing I've ever experienced. Holy shit." He said, gulping a few times.

 

[Zhai]

"What? What? What happened?" Mia was freaked out because Carl was freaked out. His eyes were so wide she could see the blue color of them perfectly; his cheeks were pale and he was breathing with his mouth open. Button was squirming in her arms again and she could tell he was getting irritated .


Across the street, the house that was newly occupied house - a wife, husband and their two children; on the front porch, the wife was speaking with Police Officers, her toddler thrashing around in her arms and whining loudly. She was crying and her free hand was swiping everywhere, dramatic and quick; her face looks like she'd been crying or she's super angry.


Mia rushed back towards the Button's yard with Carl, opening the gate just enough to usher the dog into the yard, and closing back. Throwing the lock in place, Mia waved to the already whining pooch and continued walking back to the house with Carl in tow. Mrs.. Greene was outside, knelt at the gate's perimeter, watering the flowers and carefully watering them.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I shit you not. When I asked her what the darkness was, she... Jesus Christ... She said that I 'already knew' - She might be insane, but that... was fucking terrifying." He said, shivering a little and then using his hands to rub the opposite arms. As they wandered back towards their house, he took a deep breath and then looked over at the newly occupied place that had the family in there. Hm. There were police there. He needed to confirm something.


"Mia... I want to go over there and ask one of those officers something, alright? Are you going to come with me, or do you want to go back in the house? I really need to ask them something, though. Something really isn't right here, and I don't like what's going on. I need to find out if--.. or what's going on in this place, and now look at that woman--.. Crying kid - only the one kid, police at the door, no sign of the husband or the other kid? Come on. This is really getting fucked up." He explained quietly.


He needed to go over there, just to ask a simple question. He needed to know. Maybe he could get a word in with the woman after, too, providing that she wasn't too upset to speak to him.

 

[Zhai]

"Carl..." Mia wasn't calling her brother, but rather having a dilemma on whether to follow him or not. She was freaked the hell out as it was and hearing more freaky news from the Police or the neighbors was just going to send her into a freaked out coma. She might not come out of her room for the next week if she heard more shit about the 'darkness' and people disappearing and whatever hell else other freakish stuff was going on.


Finally she exhaled raggedly, rushing to catch up with Carl, finally reaching him just before he reached the neighbor's gate.


"What are you going to say?" Mia was interested in Carl's approach. Was it going to be casual - 'Morning, has anyone in your house gone missing in the last 24 hours? Your baby is really cute'


Maybe he was going to be all business - 'Has anyone gone missing? Do you know what the fuck the darkness is?'


The woman's baby was still thrashing in her arms, its eyes so red and tear filled that from here it looked like the baby was trying to sleep. It's apparent she was having a hard time controlling the child, her emotions and conversing with the Officers. The Police, from the way they were standing, were either annoyed with the child or bored with her story. Maybe they'd heard it before, several times just this very morning.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Officers!" Carl called out, waving to them as they approached. Both of the officers rolled there eyes. For fuck's sake. Another annoying kid that was going to come along and drill his voice into their brains. Oh wait, there were two - such fun! "I hate to interrupt, I just--.. I have a question... for..." He nodded at the woman, feeling a little awkward seeing as he didn't even know her name, He just hoped this wouldn't look odd for her, or make her go mental. He looked at the screaming baby and gave a sigh - he wanted to offer her a hand, but that would just be weird.


".. Ma'am..." He looked at the woman with the screaming child. "I'm really risking sounding absolutely crazy here, but just hear me out... I need to ask you something." He sighed. ".. Has--.. Did you wake up this morning and find that anyone was missing from the house? We did, and we're really freaked out about it.. And... Has anyone mentioned something called 'The Darkness' to you yet? If the answer to one of, or both of the questions is 'yes', I really recommend that we sit down and talk about it, because right now, this whole area's gone crazy and we're kind of lost on who to turn to here." He said with a gulp.


The police officers just looked at each other. They were silent. They didn't actually have anything to comment on this time.

 

[Zhai]

Not beating around the bush on this one was he? Mia stood just behind Carl listening to his up front interrogation. Hell, even Mia thought Carl was being a just a little too harsh with his questions.


The woman stared at Carl through tear swollen eyes, taking the time to cuddle her child closer to her chest and attempt to soothe the fussy baby. "My husband is gone. The car is gone." Another wave of tears threatened to explode from her eyes, already making her face scrunch, her lip quiver, and her breathing shallow. "I can't believe he just leaves like that! I've called a thousand times and he's not here! I haven't fucking killed him!"


The woman's voices rises, more angry towards the end, her head whipping towards the Officers and her eyes accusing them of thinking she'd killed her husband. What time would she have to kill her husband when she had a toddler who couldn't leave her hip for two seconds without losing its mind?


"I just need someone to find my fucking husband! Jesus!" Distressed, even more pissed off with the boy's questions and the Officers lack on compassion, the woman returned to her house, slamming the door behind her and throwing the lock.


"Well...Maybe...I don't know." Mia stood out of the way of the Officers as they slowly walked down the path, out the gate and lingered at their car. "No one else has a car missing. Maybe he left or something?"

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. I don't know..." He sighed and then slowly approached the porch, gulping as he did so. He stepped up onto it and then slowly went up to the door, knocking gently on it. ".. Miss...? I'm--.. I'm really sorry for charging up like that, but... Me and my twin sister, our parents just--.. Well, it looks like they just up and left without a word... They didn't leave a note, didn't say anything about leaving beforehand, and..." He paused for a minute.


"I'm sorry for how I just came up like that. It wasn't right... I mean, I know that you're new to the area, and we've never really met before, but--.. Even though neither of us are married or dating anyone, we... Sort of know how you feel, seeing as we've had someone we loved disappear, too... I just--.. I want you to know that... I believe you, alright? I'm not on the police's side here, I'll say that..." He sighed. "Do you think we could maybe--.. I don't know, do you think we could talk for a few minutes? We might be able to figure out what's going on here, because--.. There's more people missing. I swear." He called out to her, hoping that he wouldn't get too much of a crazy response. He was trying to be reasonable now, but he wouldn't be angry or offended if she told him to clear off. He'd just come back later and give a better apology once everything had calmed down a little more.


He looked over his shoulder at Mia and gritted his teeth, and then turned back to the door to listen for a response.

 

[Zhai]

Mia shrugged at her brother's desperate glance back, unable to help him out any more than he was trying to help himself. The woman was obviously distressed and in over her head, singular in the home with an unreasonable toddler. She'd probably had a heart attack when she awoke to see her husband had disappeared but relieved to some degree that her child was still in place. Mia shifted her weight left to right, still wearily looking up and down the cul de sac and further down the road. To some degree, everything looked normal. There were still some people walking the sidewalks like it was an ordinary Saturday, there were still cars casually driving - faithfully stopping at the stop signs and abiding by the speed limit. They weren't speeding around screaming out of their windows about missing people.


Mia's head turned back to the house, hearing the door croaked as it open just barely the woman's face appeared in the space. Her blonde, short hair was frazzled and looked like she hadn't brushed it after getting up in the morning; her skin was blotched as far as Mia could see and her clothes looked like she'd just pulled them from the depths of her drawers, ignored an iron and threw them on.


The toddler wasn't in her arms anymore, but its distressed crying and screaming sounded far off, like she'd placed it in a crib somewhere.


"Please, I just...I don't need anyone to believe me or not. I need someone to find my fucking husband!" The woman's voice rose with increasing emotion and cracked, but her hand flew to her throat, realizing she was losing herself again. "I really don't have anything to say. Please. I'm very sorry." Her face left the space between the door and the frame, and the door closed in her lack of presence.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl, feeling indifferent about it, simply nodded at her before the door could close and closed his eyes for a moment.


"Of course... Stay safe, Miss." He said gently, and then turned around once the door closed. He was trying to be mature about it all, so giving her the best condolences he could was the best that he could do right now. Saying 'I hope you find your husband' would just be rubbing salt in the wound, and he didn't want to test whether or not she'd hit someone else's child. Once the door was closed, he walked away from the house and rejoined Mia.


".. I'll write her an apology letter or stop by tomorrow, or something." He said with a sigh. He didn't really know what else he could do. ".. Yeah... I think going by tomorrow and just apologizing in person would be the best thing I could do." He nodded in agreement with himself and then began to lead Mia back towards the house, where Mrs Greene had now watered half of the flowers in the garden and was now nearing the front porch.


"What are we going to do about mom and dad, though? Shall we wait and see if they come back and then just file a missing persons report if they don't?" He asked as he scratched his head. He had a bad feeling that Mia would end up being upset if the parents didn't return, so he was going to have to hold back the emotion and comfort her when she did - I mean, come on, any fourteen-year-old would cry if they found out that their parents might never return again.