The Calling (DrTrollinski & Zhai)

[Zhai]

"I think we should just leave her alone." Mia felt sorry for the woman - not because Carl had irritated and upset her - but because she knew how it felt when someone kept coming back to ask how you felt. Sometimes self soothing was just easier sometimes. She remembered when she first entered puberty, the first grueling and torturous days she spent in bed, not being able to confide in anyone. Mother continued poking in and asking if she was okay, if she needed anything; however as innocent as the gestures were, Mia was overwhelmed, irritated, and wanted Mother to piss off.


She felt bad for it now.


Mia was listening to Carl, still taking her time walking back to their home. "The Police won't file a missing persons report unless its been two days. It hasn't even been twelve hours." It was getting alarming that by now there were no phone calls, texts, or better - their appearance. On the way towards their house, Mia couldn't help but look directly across the cul de sac to Marcus's house, where his driveway was still empty and the boy was constantly looking outside and then back in doors.


The Donald's home was also quiet, the housekeeper also doing the same as Marcus - casually standing on the porch, looking left and right, and back in the home. Otis home didn't seem too out of place, but then again the wife normally answered the door; and if she was missing, Mr. Otis didn't seem too concerned about it. He was calm and collected when Mia spoke to him, but maybe that was just his way of worrying. Father was a silent worry wart. Mother was just more vocal about her fears.


Mrs. Greene had probably long since retired back into the house, because Mia couldn't see her straw hat bent over anywhere in the yard. Buttons was still in his yard, resorting to consistent barking and loud whining to announce his presence.


"We could just wait for them. Maybe they actually went somewhere." Mia suggested calmly, trying to buy into her own assumption to subside the building alarm inside.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I'm not saying to just go over there to ask her if she's okay. I mean, I'll just apologize for bothering her like that. By tomorrow, she won't have a screaming baby on her shoulder, and she'll be a little less emotional than she was today." He explained. "We'll see. If I go over there, I promise that I won't bother her." He said.


He also thought back to the times of puberty and when it first struck, would you believe it. Him talking about that made him think otherwise about the situation, only because his transition had been smoother. Yeah, he felt a little rough and he spent half of the week in bed and watching TV, but his dad did speak to him about it. He didn't really want to, but it didn't hurt too much. It actually helped out - at the age of thirteen, having changes like that was scary, even after sex ed and so on.


And then Carl figured out... Something else... That he could do after puberty hit. Now, that was fun, wasn't it? Anyway. After dad spoke to him, he didn't actually mind when his mother came and offered to bring him stuff.


And then there was the part that made him cringe.


Two days. In most circumstances, after forty-eight hours, the said missing people are usually dead rather than missing.


"We'll have to keep calling them when we have the chance." He sighed. "Other than that... We just have to hope that they come back. If they don't answer their phones." He said whilst shaking his head. He put a hand on Mia's shoulder and patted it gently. "Love you, Sis..." He sighed. He looked sincere this time, and didn't look like he was about to crack a joke. He was just worried about her - he knew that they'd both start to panic if and when they didn't come back after two days AND didn't answer their phones at all.

 

[Zhai]

"Carl, come on now." Mia presented a firm smile despite the circumstances of people missing left and right for no reason, and her hands patted her brother's shoulder. "I'm not the one freaking out here. I'm worried but we can't pull our hair out over this. Mom and Dad are adults, y'know. I'm sure they're just getting adult space away from us."


One shoulder drew up slightly and dropped. It was an occasional, spur of the moment thing she expected adults with children to do. Escape their home life, especially if the children were older or had a Mrs. Greene around, and do something spontaneous. Their phones weren't in the house so that could affirm Mia's suggestion that they were merely escaping the married with children life.


"We can just call them. Send them a text." Mia continued thinking of alternate ways to communicate with her parents, but that was the extent and best that could be done for now. Mrs. Greene was back on the porch, beating a rug that was folded over the railing of the porch. Dust and debris floated from the fabric with each smack of the broom against it. This was probably Mrs. Greene's favorite chore, as Mia secretly amused herself thinking Mrs. Greene got out all of her anger beating the carpets and that's why she was humble.


Avoiding the clouds emitting from the carpet, Mia ducked past Mrs. Greene and into the house, holding the door open for Carl.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I know, I know... It's just..." He sighed and shook his head and then stepped in through the door, frowning a little. "They wouldn't have left without at least telling Mrs Greene. You can't even deny that." He took a deep breath and then sighed through his nose, wandering off towards the stairs.


"I'll be up in my room if you need me." He said softly, and then wandered upstairs without another word and went to his bedroom and collapsed onto the bed once he'd closed the door over.


Sheesh, Mia. An 'I love you too.' Would have been nice, you know.


Despite feeling like he'd been speaking to a brick wall, he tried to brush the feeling of sadness aside and then pulled out his iPod from his drawer, flicked it on, and then started playing some music.

 

[Zhai]

It's hard to tell sometimes if Carl is irritated because their parents are gone or if he's irritated because he hasn't figured out where they went yet. Mia let him disappear up the stairs, watching his slow climb to the top and his disappearance thereafter, only hearing the soft whining of the floor as his weight shifts above.


Mia supposed she was on her own from this point; and to start, she sent her parents both a text, quieting to listen for the ding! of their cellphones. Nothing. Then she called them herself - both times listening for the chiming of an incoming call. Again, nothing. So the phones aren't in the house. They must have taken them. Mia considered it a favorable sign, even if they hadn't answered. She left a voice mail after each tone. "Just...when you get this call us back. Please....Um, love you."


Mrs. Greene had disappeared somewhere in the house, likely upstairs. Mia stood in the foyer listening to the soft whirring of a vacuum, knowing Mrs. Greene was probably singing to her heart's content with the noise to cover her tune. Carl hadn't moved in awhile.


Mia lingered at the front door, peeking through door's glass center and the thin glass on either side of the frame. On her clock, the time read just a few minutes past noon. Again, her eyes canvased outside the house. "Okay, okay , okay." Mia coached herself softly, opening the front door just enough for her body to slip out, close it behind herself, and stand on the porch. What'd she have with her? Phone. She only really needed her phone.


Across the street, Marcus was also standing on his porch. Mia crossed the street quickly, not knowing why she felt rushed, but needing to get over there. Marcus's smiled foolishly, leaning against the railing of the porch, "You're back for me." Mia shut her eyes and angled her body, prepared to leave. He was such an asshole for several unknown reasons, but whatever he said to her next question, would determine a few things.


"Marcus, look I'm not here to play games. I need to know something." Marcus's demeanor changed, now more serious and attentive. "Have your parents come back yet? Did they call you? Have you heard from them?" Marcus was for once - silent; his eyes were to the ground and his hands were uncomfortably rubbing together in front of him,


"Well?" Mia wasn't rushing, but her words were impatient.


"No, they...uh...they just up and left this morning. Didn't even say a damn word to me." Marcus's voice elevated and his hands balled in tight fists.


"Sorry." Mia cleared her throat. "Um...Thanks."


"The Police said if they don't come back in 48 hours, they have to file the missing person's report and abandonment of a minor. It'll happen to you, too." Marcus finished is words plainly, returning back to his house.


Mia lingered on the porch a while longer and finally made her way back to her own residence. Take us? Abandonment of a minor? What happens then? Do they take the children?


What happens to us?

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl was sat up in his room, or, lying up in his room, rather. He was just lying there on his bed and listening to music that was quietly playing. A bit of Rock, a bit of Country (I mean, come on, they lived in Georgia, of course he listened to Country music). He didn't really know why, but he always felt a little nervous in his bedroom - since a young age, too, which was quite sad, seeing as bedtime was meant to be a great time for a sleepy child, and an even better time for an exhausted teenager.


For him, though, many years ago. It was a living nightmare, but he could never really figure out why.


He always had to bury himself under the covers when he was younger, naturally, too. He never actually understood why, but he always felt unnerved when he was lying in bed, and often cried out for his mom or dad (and sometimes Mia) when he was lying in bed at night and felt like something bad was going to happen - his parents always searched every inch of his room to put his mind at ease, but they never found a single thing, nor did they make him feel any more comfortable about it.


He just hid away his fear and said he was okay.


Even now, he still felt a little anxious. Perhaps there was a ghost in here, or something, but he'd never been dragged out of bed in his sleep or had any strange events occur, at least. Well. Not as far as he could remember. Anything bad that ever happened in here was his fault, and that was all very vague seeing as all of it happened such a long time ago.


He got up and went to the window, only to see Mia walking back from the house just up from them. She looked... Worried? Confused? Thoughtful? He didn't know, but it was enough to make him concerned. He ran back downstairs and went straight to the front door to open it before she could even get to it. He peered out on her and furrowed his brow a little.


"Is everything okay?" He asked.

 

[Zhai]

Mia stopped dead in her tracks, startled by her brother's sudden appearance in the door and his quickly drawn question.


Tell him? Yes? No?


The consideration to keep the information to herself and do more research was tempting. What did 'minor abandonment' really mean for the minors around here? There were several kids under eighteen in just this neighborhood alone, and if all of them had no parents present - what then? Not to mention the issue of filing the missing person's report - what happens when the parents turn up? Does the minor abandonment paperwork get shredded, torn up, burnt and buried?


What about...Mrs. Greene? She hadn't abandonment them and if someone ask her to care for Carl and Mia full time, there wouldn't have the slightest hesitation.. Mrs. Greene was both childless and unmarried; her family was with them. If minor abandonment meant going into Foster Care, becoming a Ward of the State, being taken from their home - Mrs. Greene would lose her family, too.


"Nothing, y'know. I was just asking Marcus if his parents came back." Mia's hand nonchalantly pointed behind her toward the boy's home. Looking at Carl, Mia continued kneading the idea of disclosing the information to him. Her brother. Her literal other half. Only other person in the world who shared her identity in a matter of scientific speaking.


"Carl, I think we're going into Foster Care."

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl said nothing.


He looked at her blankly for a moment, but then he realized she was serious and his brow furrowed a little bit. A bit of a mix of anger and sadness, but he wasn't furious. Why would they go into Foster Care? Couldn't Mrs Greene just look after them?


No, of course not. She was under a contract. She may have been there their whole life, but she wasn't a legal guardian. She was paid to be there, and that was the sad truth. Carl gulped at the thought. Foster care? Away from their home? God, what if they got split up and they could only go out and see each other on the weekends? No. No, that wouldn't happen. That wasn't how foster care and/or adoption worked. If you had a sibling, you went with the sibling. No matter what. It was the law, and to do anything else than that was just plain cruel.


"No... Foster Care? You mean--.. You mean State Care? No... no, no, no... That can't be right." He sighed and shook his head furiously for a few moments. "No... What--.. How? How do you know that? What makes you think we're going to be going into State Care? Why would we?" He didn't know much about the law at all. This was awful news to him, but the fact that his parents were eventually going to be considered criminals was going to be the more shocking part. He knew that this would get to the both of them - both of them were going to have a good cry about this if it really did go ahead, whether it was on each other's shoulders, or when they were trying to get to sleep at night.

 

[Zhai]

Mia gently eased by Carl and into the house, turning around in the foyer and gathering her thoughts. He was asking so many questions when her own mind was developing questions, too. It was overwhelming, yes, to think that in another thirty hours the Police and Social Services could show up here with a van to take them away. All because their parents were presumably abandoning their children.


There was a glimpse of Mrs. Greene's pale green attire ghosting from one room to another upstairs, the vacuuming starting again in the next room.


To Carl, she spoke in a hushed tone, "If our parents don't come back and the missing person's report is filed, they will take us, Carl." The seriousness of her words reflects the seriousness of the situation, and lays out a small pool of options.


Don't report their missing parents to avoid attracting Social Services. Then what? The waiting game for them to maybe come back home or the chance the Police come on their own in the future, asking questions. Or worse - asking them to identify two bodies.


Or...


File the missing person's report. Take their chances with Social Services, plead their case and hope they get a decent Lawyer and a Judge in a good mood.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Jesus, well, with the hope of ever seeing them again, we need to file the report so that they can at least start looking for them, that way we'll eventually know if they're okay or not." He sighed a little. ".. If we don't tell the police, we'll be withholding information from the police, and that's illegal as far as I know. I don't want to go to any juvenile detention center, Mia." He sighed and then rubbed the back of his head and sighed a little.


"Right, I say we wait for them for another two nights or so, and if they don't come back, we call the police - It might not sound good, but I'd rather be away from home for a while whilst they look for them, rather than chancing never seeing them again. We can't look at this in worst case scenario, okay?" He patted her on the shoulder and gave her the best friendly smile he could manage. He needed to make sure she was calm as well, if she was panicking, they wouldn't be able to push through this together.


"Why don't you try giving them both a call again, eh?" He asked. "It could be worth a shot, see if they pick up." He said. He wouldn't deny that he was concerned and actually downright scared of going into State Care, but he was going to stay strong for Mia's sake.

 

[Zhai]

"Whatever we decide to do, we only have until tomorrow to do it."Mia returned her brothers smile, patted his shoulder, and turned for the stairs.


Carl wanted to wait it out, give their parents a chance to show and explain themselves, and if all else failed then report to the police. Sure, that does seem like a viable plan but what if something happens in between that waiting? There were was still a little under twelve hours remaining in today and then the next twenty fours hours of tomorrow. The deadline of sorts.


What if the Marcus called the police? He would surely disclose to them that there was also other minors living across from him that were missing their parents. What about the Parkers' residence? Someone was bound to see that old woman wandering aimlessly outside of her house - everyone knowing she wasn't supposed to be unsupervised - and call the police to investigate. Or that woman and her toddler?; Carl told her they were missing their parents. If she called the Police or the police themselves came back, interested in her case - they would ask if she knew others missing people. She would say their names.


"I need to just...lie down." She climbed the stairs leisurely, her hand sliding against the banister with each rising step. Mia needed to really, fully think about and understand the situation. The severity of it. The consequences most of all, because there obviously weren't any benefits.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl sighed as he watched her walk up the stairs and then took a deep breath once he heard the bedroom door slam shut, presumably. He knew that she was worried about something. It was either their parents, the fact that they could potentially go into State Care, or both. Carl didn't want to be placed with some douchebag parents either, but it might just happen - if it did, they could only help each other get through it, and take any actions necessary to make sure that they both stayed okay.


He wanted to speak to Mrs Greene about some stuff, but he figured that now wasn't exactly the best time to talk to her. He was concerned about Mia now. He didn't want her to worry or think too much about this, especially when there was the chance that their parents might return before the end of tomorrow.


Oh, yeah. They'd come in on a bus with all of the other people that went missing. No such luck.


He decided to follow her up the stairs after a while and went to her bedroom door. Sometimes he did charge in uninterrupted, so he hoped that he wouldn't find her naked or getting dressed into something else, or something like that. That hadn't happened, thus far. So hopefully he wouldn't break the record that he was holding. He went into the room.


"Mia..." He sighed. "Sorry I didn't knock, but... Would it be okay for us to talk for a minute?" He asked.

 

[Zhai]

"It seems that...there is no options for us, Carl."


Mia stood in front of a small mirror mounted atop the dresser, her fingers combing through her hair continuous and slow, her eyes staring into an empty space in the mirror.


"Do you know what they do to siblings in Foster Care?"


Her hand stopped halfway through her hair, leaving the thickness of the mane and moving to support her against the dresser. It's hard to even look at Carl right now, so for ease, she continued to stare at the wood pattern of the dresser. Mia remembered she begged her mother to let her paint it all white instead of leaving the dark, almost black, original wood. Mother said no everyday to Mia for a week straight, until she finally relinquished the desire.


Now, that week of disappointment seemed so small to her, because the disappointment in the present was worse. It wasn't anything like being told no to painting an already original piece of work.


"They split up siblings older than two. We would...go to separate homes."


One of them would be sold off. The other one sold off. Maybe not at the same time. Maybe not ever. It was just the simple fact that they would be put in some shelter for children waiting to be bought or turn old enough to leave on their own.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"No... No, no, no." He shook his head frantically. "No... They won't do that. They can't do that." He sighed and went over and sat down on Mia's bed. "They can't separate those who have a close bond! They've been debating that for years now!" He sighed and shook his head again. "I'm not going anywhere without you. We're twins, we live with each other, and we're close - that's enough justification for the judge to put us into a home together." He sighed, but then grunted angrily.


"For Christ's sake, Mia - They don't just do that. We have a say in that as well, you know!" He sighed and then clenched a fist and cupped it in his opposite hand, sighing a little and shaking his head.


"If--.." He quickly cleared his throat and gulped down his sadness. ".. If they try and do it, we leave. It's as simple as that. We meet each other somewhere, and we clear off." He said. "For fuck's sake, if I lose you, I won't have anything left to live for! And I'll know that!" He said, and then quickly stood up and started pacing back and forth. That last part wasn't really meant to slip out, but it was the truth - if he lost his sister, he didn't see much reason in continuing.

 

[Zhai]

Okay, maybe it wasn't Carl that was freaking out, but really it was Mia. The words she said about being split up, going into Foster care, and basically losing everything - was an overly dramatized version of the truth. Sure, the Police would come in here, do their investigations, take whatever statements they needed, and - Whoa! - see two underaged children living with a sixty year old non-legal Guardian in the home; and oh, no parents to be seen. No close relatives. Not even a family friend their parents trusted enough to name as a legal Guardian.


Watching Carl pace back and forth made Mia think he was about to start pulling out his hair, ripping off his clothes, and running screaming down the street like a mad man. Not liking - or wanting - to see him like that, Mia inhaled and found some sensitivity in herself, "Carl, please."


Off the bed now, Mia rushed over to Carl and interrupted his pacing path, "Stop. I'm sorry I've...y'know this whole situation is shit." Her hands rested on his shoulders, both firm to hold his pace-prone body in place and to offer her comfort; her forehead leaned forward to meet his briefly before leaning away again.


Mrs. Greene - usually having good timing - gasped from Mia's doorway, the vacuum falling from her slack hand so she could cover her mouth. Mia looked over Carl's shoulder to the older woman. "Nan! Please that wasn't...wasn't what it looked like." Yes. It was what it looked like from Mrs. Greene's angle - Carl and Mia, face to face.


Mia rushed past Carl and into Mrs. Greene, taking the woman's soft and worn hands into her own, firmly squeezing. Hurriedly, Mia explained; Nan's eyes softened and her express turned from horror to worried sickness. So now she knew that she hadn't walked in on some freakish sibling stuff, that their parents still weren't back, that other people were missing members, and that Carl and Mia could possibly be taken by the State.


The old woman's tired eyes welled with moisture and a fountain worth of tears poured down her olive skin.


Damn it, Mia. You've done it now.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Damn it..." Carl walked up to them both and put his arms around the two of them, sighing a little as he did so. He hugged Mia a lot tighter than he did Mrs Greene, but he still hugged the both of them all the same. He knew no words would be able to comfort them, but he could at least try and put their minds at ease. He needed to do at least that as the new temporary man of the house, didn't he?


He looked Mrs. Greene in the eyes and then took a deep breath, hugging her tightly this time.


"Missus Greene... Even if we do go into State care... We want you to stay here and wait. I promise you, we'll come back... I don't know how long it will be, but I've got a feeling that it'll be soon. Trust me. Don't leave the house, keep doing what you're doing, and we'll see you whenever we get back - whether it be days or weeks or months. We will come back. Our parents will show up somewhere, they're bound to show up." He said, in an attempt to comfort her. He then turned to Mia and pulled her into a tight hug.


"Mia... I give you my word... No matter what the judge says, I'll do everything I can to be with you. We'll find a good caseworker that's in favor of keeping siblings together, and then we'll figure it out from there... I promise, we'll be together. Always." He said. Ah... That was an 'always' promise, one of those special ones they used to make to each other when they were younger.

 

[Zhai]

"I know." Mia's hands pat Carl's back, softly and repeatedly, until her hands fell out of rhythm. Pulling away from Carl, looking into his face that betrayed all his wild ideas and his elevated emotions, she cleared her throat to break the silence. "I'm going to call them again."


Once and slowly, the back of her hand caressed the flush warmth of his cheek, before stepping away from both Mrs. Greene and her brother. Mia retired to her Mother's upstairs study in the far reaches of the house, separated by just two sliding double doors that were always kept closed. There wasn't even a recollection of when these doors were left open. Mia couldn't even remember going in there, and from that fear, she stood in front of the cream double doors, her fingers loosely hanging in the golden etched handles on both doors.


She sniffed, not knowing what she was hoping to smell. Mia didn't even know what dead bodies smelled like, but if there were bodies of her parents behind this door - they wouldn't stink yet. Her eyes dropped down, peering over her breast to the carpet that snuck from beneath the door to this side. No blood stains.


Exhaling sharply and erecting, drawing back her shoulders, Mia split the doors. Empty. No bodies. No blood. But not parents either. Mia was foolishly expecting them to be sitting in the white love seat in the far left of the wide room, having a can of Coke and smiling freely. No, it was an empty white love seat. Walking deeper inside, her eyes slowly visually caressed every object in the room. Antique desk Mia remembered her Mother buying but never seeing it in the house. All white furniture, golden framed photos on the wall, no television, a home phone mounted on the wall, and the only window straight ahead covered with sheer cream lace curtains.


Sitting at the desk in a chair that looked too fragile to support her weight, Mia's hands hesitated to touch the soft impressionable wood of the desk, gliding her skin over the glossy surface. Rising from the chair, Mia walked slowly towards the mounted phone, lifting its weight off the jack and precisely pressing each number.


It rings. Twice. Four times. Six Times. Voice mail is full and she can't leave a message. Father's phone is the same - six even rings and a full voice mail.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl was just finished with comforting Missus Greene before he went to stand out in the hallway to wait for Mia. He didn't know what to expect, but he had a horrific feeling that she was going to come back, teary-eyed and pale, being only the bearer of more bad news. If their parents didn't answer this time, he was certain that they were never going to see them again. He knew he couldn't cry, even though he wanted to.


God, being the older brother really sometimes sucked. He couldn't even cry now, all because he loved his sister. It was a sweet thought, and all, but still, it was painful to be bottling up all the emotion like that.


First he went through to his room and instantly began to feel nervous again. He couldn't place his finger on why his room felt so unnerving all of a sudden - it was never usually like this on every other day. It was strange. If he was in the bathroom connected to his room, he wouldn't have a problem. The anxiety and the nervousness went away almost instantly, and that was it, but the moment he stepped back into his bedroom, the feeling came back. Odd, right? Well, he was a little upset, seeing as he didn't actually need the bathroom, but if he did, he'd gladly go in there and spend the rest of the day in there, just to remove that feeling of anxiety.


Carl quickly went back out of his room, the hairs on his spine standing on end as he did so. He quickly followed Mia along the hallway and into their mother's study. He looked at her as he entered, seeing the dreaded look on her face.


".. Neither of them answered... Did they?" He asked, sighing a little.

 

[Zhai]

In her head, she'd explained to her brother her past five minutes or more redialing each number, dialing at a painfully slow speed just to ensure the combination was correct. In reality, she didn't say a word, too focused on dialing her Mother's number, listening until the voice mail came and then immediately dialing her Father's phone. Back to back dialing for another two or three minutes, her eyes flinching between the numbers, and then blankly staring her Carl while the ringing on the other end started and stopped.


"Maybe their phones are off." It had been all day, nonstop calling and Mia considered that maybe the calling and voice mails had eaten their batteries up. Besides, the chargers were still stuck in the wall downstairs, empty on one end of their connected phones. They obviously didn’t have the car charger for their phones, because the cars were still obviously parked.


The phone was retreated from her face and softly hung on its jack, her hand lingering against its back and her eyes staring at the pale white surface. Inhaling deep enough to burn her lungs and exhaling slow, Mia turned around and leaned against the wall of the study, once again casing the interior of her Mother’s most sacred place. The woman’s most prize and private area. It felt like this was her Mother’s diary in physical form, and they were invading it.


“Let’s leave.” Mia pushed from the wall, leaning into her brother until her weight coaxed him from the room, and she slid the doors behind her until she heard their weight smack together quietly.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Mia..." He sighed. "Mom and dad never left the house without their phones on and-or charged... Remember? Just in case work called? When we were younger, we used to call them all the time as kids? They used to get really annoyed at us because of that." He smiled gently, but his smiled quickly faded as he stepped forward and hugged her for a moment, and then pulled away, putting one arm around her shoulders and pulling her close in a perfect brotherly fashion.


".. If it rings, Mia... Their phones aren't off. They wouldn't ring if they were off or dead on battery." He sighed, and then lead her down the hallway and into his room. He walked her to the bed and sat down with her, keeping his arm around her shoulders. "You're over-thinking things, alright? I mean, we don't know that they won't come back. Even if they don't, I know it's a big thing to ask, but try not to worry yourself, okay?" He hugged her with the one arm.


"Think, it could always be worse... You could have woken up and found that everyone in the house was missing. The main thing is, me and you are still together, and even if we end up in State Care... I'll make sure that we get the right person to side with us. They won't just brutally rip us away from each other, I'm almost certain of that." He said, smiling a little.


".. Also, Mia... Do you--.. Do you get a funny feeling when you're in this room? All seriousness." He asked. He said the last part just in case she wanted to make a joke. He remembered that when they were really young, his parents offered to let them switch rooms so that Carl could sleep easy at night - he never recalled Mia being in the same in this room as him, but he refused the room-swap, simply because it felt like there was something that made him want to stay. He didn't know what that was, though.

 

[Zhai]

Mia looked at Carl for a long moment - a few long moments, actually - just staring into his eyes and over his face. She then looked past him, around the room; at the pictures, trophies, books, and other randomly placed objects. There was the broken glass print pieced together loosely on the desk, his shoes he'd worn yesterday laying near the closet, and...a closed closet door that was probably empty. Carl never liked closets and Mia had to assume his was empty, since he never went in it.


Looking back at her brother, she hoped her face didn't betray her, "I don't know, Carl. I don't really get a feeling." Her shoulders shrugged just a little, and her head shook in disagreement to his question again. What was the feeling? What does it feel like, Carl? Mia was tempted to ask but thought better not to. In the past, the recent past, she'd had her own unexplained feelings and thought perhaps Carl was feeling them now, or presumably had already felt them in the past.


Ah, to hell with it. Mia wanted to know.


"What does it feel like?" The flash back of how Old Woman Parker and Carl were sitting face to face talking came front and center in her mind. How Carl looked at the woman, like he'd seen a ghost or something; how Old Woman Parker cackled and taunted him with her meaningless words. Mia still couldn't believe they'd went in there in the first place, but that Carl was spooked by something that woman said. She was old, crazy, and talked nonsensical on multiple occasions. For crying out loud, she thought the twins were still eight!


Mia waited patiently for Carl, searching his face and looking for something to betray something - fear, regret, uneasiness. Something.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. I don't--.." He shook his head a little. He didn't really know how to describe it. It was strange, to be honest. That was a question that he asked himself a lot - no matter what he was doing. Sitting at his computer, playing his PlayStation, doing his homework, lying in bed, watching TV - It was always there, but he'd eventually learned to forget about it. Since he got home, though, or since this morning, the feeling was a lot stronger than it usually was.


"I don't know either, Mia... It's kind of like the feeling that... that I'm being watched, you know?" He shrugged a little and then pulled away from her, kicking his shoes off once again before lying down on his bed and linking his hands behind his head, resting them there. "Like, it's not always like that... It's a really... intrusive feeling, you know? I can't seem to shake it, for some reason... I've always felt it in this room, ever since I was little, but it kind of went away after a while... Now... I don't know, it's come back." He sighed.


His face didn't really tell her much. More confusion, than anything, but there was a little glimmer of fear in his eyes.


"Yeah, that's what it feels like." He said after a while. "It feels like there's someone standing at my window and just looking in on me, or something, and I just don't know it." He shrugged again, shuddering at his own words. "It's weird, though, this is the only room that I feel like that in. If I'm in the bathroom just there, it goes away. If I'm in your room or your bathroom, it goes away." He sighed again. "I don't know, Mia... It's probably nothing... I don't think the room's haunted, because I certainly haven't been ghost-raped in my sleep yet." He smirked.

 

[Zhai]

Mia's head turned slowly - left to right - her eyes inspecting every single object in Carl's interior space. Back to looking at forgotten elements of the rooms like his old little league jerseys folded and forgotten on a corner of a shelf; a glass snow globe she remembered him receiving during Christmas from a still unknown girl; a teddy bear dressed in a police outfit, Mia had the same one, sitting face down on a stool piled with books.


Eventually she looked at the windows, squinting to better examine the paneling and the curtains. What was she supposed to look for? Nothing in here looked bugged or chipped, nothing reflected a weird light from any angle she looked at, and there wasn't an pulsing red recording light. The windows look fairly normal, too. The outer drapes were the same as the rest of the house, a heavy material that the Sunlight couldn't even invade, so how was the human eye supposed to? Who would take the time to peep on Carl, and for what? Mia never felt that way in her room. Only a few times in the night would she know someone was watching, and it was always their parents watching them briefly through the obvious entrance - their bedroom doors.


Hearing her brother's banter about being assaulted by a ghost, Mia had to smile as something else jumped forward in her thoughts. "I'm sure all that time you spend in the shower is actually with your ghost girlfriend. And now she can't leave you alone." It humored Mia enough that she had to contain an upcoming burst of laughter, knowing that her comment about her brother's obnoxiously long showers could go two ways - he'd be embarrassed or he'd be humbled.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Hey!" He whined, grinning as he reached out and playfully shoved her shoulder. He lied down on his bed again and then looked away, his face going a bright red. God. That was humiliating. Ghost girlfriend? Carl took a moment to actually think about that - he thought for a while, pondering that specific thought in his head. a ghost girlfriend?


In the shower, that could actually be pretty good because--





No. Carl. Stop it.


He slapped himself gently in the head and then sat back up, looking off at her, but his eyes continuously broke contact with her. He looked around the room, just like she did. He saw the little league jerseys that she'd also seen. Ah, that brought back good memories. Soccer, mostly. He remembered being only six years old when he started playing for a little soccer team - he loved it, even more so when he got the number '13' printed on the back, with the name 'Jackson' printed right underneath it. The ones his team used were blue, red, and white - of course, there were some tears here and there when he was running about in shorts and a sports jersey in the colder months, but the coach was nice enough to let them wear sweatpants when they were practicing, and a jacket if it was too cold.


Carl always wanted to get those framed, and then he wanted to get the ones framed that he got in his later years. He stopped playing for his team when he was twelve, only because he'd gone as far as he could get and decided he didn't want to continue it anymore, especially seeing as he'd just started Middle School. He was really sore about quitting, too, but he got over it.


"What I get up to in the shower is none of your business... How do you know I--.. I didn't have a real girlfriend in there, huh?" He asked, smirking a little. He didn't know if that joke was going to remove the obvious sign of embarrassment, but he hoped it did at least something. Everyone knew that Carl got up to something else when he was in the shower for so long, and it certainly wasn't getting washed.

 

[Zhai]

"Well a real girlfriend would stalk you in more noticeable ways. A ghost can do it silently, without you even knowing it!" Mia returned her brother's humor, joking back with him to relive to tension of his being found out. It wasn't as if no one in the house didn't know, except maybe Mother and Mrs.Greene, but Mia remember inquiring to Father about it once. The look on his face betraying young boys' secrets from generations before and coming; she remembered his paled face, nervously proud smile, and the way he sat back in his chair.


It was like Father was silently patting Carl on the back in his mind, and Mia soon figured out what he was up to. A chance moment outside the bathroom when Carl was supposed to be showering, and hearing a faint groan and a fist hitting the tile - then she knew. It didn't bother her seeing as they didn't share showers, but in the back of her mind she knew. It was her secret about Carl who thought it was his secret alone.


"Nothing to be ashamed of, brother. I'm sure Jen's brother does the same thing. She probably already knows you do it." Mia's eyes widened and her teeth clicked as her mouth abruptly shut, her lips pursing so tightly she felt like they were going numb. If Carl wasn't embarrassed enough that his sister knew about his Shower Time, then thinking that Jen also knew was equally worse.


"Just kidding." Again to alleviate any of Carl's future worries, Mia hugged her brother and pinched his cheek as she normally did. "Your secret is safe with me." She smiled and patted his cheek.