The Calling (DrTrollinski & Zhai)

[Zhai]

Leaving so soon? Mia lingered near the banister of the upstairs hallway, listening to Jen speak to Carl about leaving, and of course Carl offering to walk her home. She continues to listen as the chair's leg scoot across the floor, there's some more movement, and then she sees Jen and Carl emerge into the foyer. Mia watches them stand there, staring at each other like they're too nervous to speak to each other out of the comfort of the kitchen. This makes Mia smile, watching her brother at his weakest and most vulnerable. Gosh! If their parents were here to see this..


When they finally leave, Mia remains in the hallway, staring down at the door for some reason. She guessed she was expecting that bald guy to rush in here, steal the dog, take the cookies, and run out. It didn't happen and she signed at the disappointment and the relief at the same time; it would have been funny for Carl frantically search for his missing cookies.


Buttons came back to her feet, his silky fur tickling her bare feet and his little face looking up to mine. "Don't look at me like that." I debated putting Buttons outside, only having rescued him out of pity but not keen on him staying in the house. Mia learned early - through visiting friend's houses - why her parents consistently said no to pets. They created smells, shed their fur, chewed precious things, made noise, drool, bite, and poop randomly. Mia peek into Carl's room looking for a brown pile or a smell; nothing. In her room she did the same and found nothing. She spent several minutes investigating all the places the little dog could get into to look for poop, pee, or damage. Nothing.


Mia carried the little dog downstairs, through the middle of the house, and out into the backyard. Buttons turned in little circles outside the glass door, but finally ran into the yard, running the perimeter of the gate around the pool.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I'm really glad you came over to tonight." He smiled as he walked along with her. She had the cookies for her little brother in a little sealable bag.


"Me too. It was a good night, definitely." She smiled. "I think it feels strange around where you live, if you don't mind me saying."


"Strange? Strange how?"


"I don't know... There's just a funny feeling around there, that's all." She shrugged a little and continued to walk at his side, quite closely, too. She didn't like walking in the dark, but Carl didn't mind it one bit.


"Hm... Strange stuff's been happening around there, so... I guess it does feel that way." He chuckled. God, after five minutes of walking, they were already over half way there. Carl was actually really enjoying this - he liked being a gentleman, and all that. Right now, she must have been loving him for how much he'd done for her tonight.


Offers for the gym, milk, cookies, laughs, the walk home - the whole lot, right? They kept on walking for another five minutes or so, exchanging casual conversation about... Just about anything.


"This is far enough, Carl... I only live a few houses down this street." She said, Carl nodded and smiled at her.


"Sure, that's fine. Have a good night... I hope Connor likes the cookies, too." He chuckled, she laughed a little and shyly looked away, but the looked back up at him for a moment.


There was a long silence.


And then, out of nowhere, there was a sudden exchange of a kiss. Gentle, five seconds. Unexpected. Carl felt really hot and sweaty all of a sudden.


"I..." He said, jaw-dropped, after she pulled away.


"Goodnight, Carl..." She smiled gently. As soon as she turned away, he gently reached up and rubbed his lips with one finger. A grin stretched across his face, and he literally went skipping and jumping all the way home.


God, this night had gone well so far. Now this is where the weekend began to get shitty.

 

[Zhai]

"Well, it looks like someone's going to have a long shower, huh? It's that right, Mr. Buttons?" When Carl finally showed up back home, Mia was sitting on the front porch, on the straw woven bench her Mother told her not to sit on. Buttons was laid across her lap, her hand slowly caressing the dog's head.


There was a massive smile on her face but not as big as the one Carl had on his face; it was so big she could see the white of his teeth from down the street has he bounced home. It almost looked like his face was going to get stuck in that position. Plus, there was definitely a pep in his step from the way he was practically floated home.


Mia suspected that the walk home at been successful judging him her brother's confident and boosted stride. If she were to tell him his cookies were actually good, the go boost he would have had seemed minimal compared to the ego boost he has now.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Hello there, little sister." He grinned and then bounced up onto the porch, giving her a big old hug before collapsing down onto the bench beside her and then took a few long deep breaths. He slowly wiped his grin off of his face and then leaned even further back, shutting his eyes nice and tight. He was in a dream right now, and a really nice one. He didn't know what Jen's house number was, but providing everything went well and their parents came back tomorrow, he'd make sure that he went to visit her at some point during the day.


God. He got a kiss!





He still couldn't get that image out of his head! That moment when he felt her warm lips press against his own. It was so... peaceful, for a moment, and then his heart started beating, and then (thankfully after she walked away), another part of his body got a little... 'excited'. Heh, Mia was right. He probably would be in the shower for a long time tonight.


"That walk was rather nice, I must say." He smiled warmly and then rubbed the back of his head.

 

[Zhai]

"Oh Carl, this is so sweet I think I'm going to be sick!" Mia leaned forward and pretended to throw up on the porch at her brother's moment. Leaning back and again pretending gather herself after retching, exhaling dramatically and leaning against her brother. "If it's possible for a fourteen year old to be in love, I think you're the first one." Mia's hand patted her brother's chest, a little assure from sister to brother that she approved of this. All of this.


It was refreshing to see Carl in this elated state. It was the calm before the storm - the storm of having to file the missing person's report, explain their needed to stay together, and possibly having to dodge foster care. Mia's smile faded thinking about the impending events. What would happen if their parents just...never returned? If Micheal and Alexandria Jackson never returned to this house? What if their two cars never got driven again? What would happen to Mrs. Greene?


The lights were finally off across the way at Marcus's house but there was a flickering, like a television glow. Matter of fact all of the lights around the entire circle were off, except the few lights in their house.


"I think we should get to bed." Mia lightly patted her brother's knee, rose from the bench, and went into the house, ushering Buttons through the door as well. Inside she debated putting the pooch back in the backyard but was against it, realizing that if Mrs. Greene saw him she'd probably have a heart attack. The woman loved kids, adults, cooking, cleaning, and sewing but hated animals.


Mia put the cookies away in the microwave and lightly cleaned the kitchen, turning out the lights and closing the curtains on her way out of there. She did a lap around the lower level of the house, checking doors and windows, before meeting the dog back at the stairs. Mia went upstairs, did another lap through the rooms before retreating to her own.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Aha." He chuckled. "I think anyone can fall in love, just... On different levels." He smiled, and then stood up when she did. Nodding in agreement to the 'bed' comment. One thing, though, one thing that had been digging at him for the past few hours and now was really urgent. Mia had actually scared him, to be honest. He was worried about her peeking under the bathroom door in his room and listening to whatever he was doing. Dad didn't let them have locks on their bedroom doors, for some odd reason - He said that 'if you do anything you can't talk about at the dinner table, it's wrong.'


Heh. Bit late for that one, dad.


But still, no locks?


Yeah. Right, whatever. Still, Carl needed to... To be blunt about it. He needed to shit, in other words. He was going to use this as a mean to tease Mia, though, in the nicest possible way. He knew a way to reminisce about their childhood. Ah, he had rich memories of this sort of thing. He remembered the innocence and strangeness behind it all, too. He knew it would be weird if they still did it now, but as far as he knew, neither of them still did.


He went upstairs to Mia's room and pushed through the door, smiling at her for a moment. "Let's hope that dog doesn't shit in your room tonight, eh?" He grinned and then closed the door, leaning against it. "Speaking of which... I need to go and do the same. Just not in your room, obviously." He laughed a little. "And please, don't come and stand by the door and listen, because I know what you're like." He smirked and winked. "Don't try to act all innocent on that statement, either. I still remember when we were four or five years old, and whenever I was in the main bathroom, sitting on the toilet like a sweet and innocent little kid, I'd sometimes hear you laughing and giggling outside the door whenever you heard anything, and don't you try and deny it." He said, and then opened up the door and stepped out, but poked his head back in. "Goodnight, sis. Love you." He smiled.

 

[Zhai]

"Oh come on!" Mia's hand tossed up in the air dramatically and she flopped back on her bed. "That was one time and you were being so loud it was hard not to hear! You do forget your bathroom is close to my room." The whole memory came back to the front of her mind even when she tried to suppress it; Carl's noises coming through the door, louder than the shower's spray, and his fist hitting the wall at what she assumed was the finale. It wasn't her fault Carl was loud!


"You need to quieter!" She sprang off her bed, playfully pushing her brother out of her room and blocking him from coming in. "Love you too. Goodnight." Mia smiled, waved her fingers, and shut the door on Carl.


Buttons was trying to jump on her bed, his little legs failing him as he continued to jump over and over again. Mia ignored him, changed into something bed worthy, and braided her hair; she was in bed in less than fifteen minutes after kicking Carl out. It was hard to ignore Button's whining and Mia ended up giving in, lifting him onto her bed; he ran across the length and then up towards her pillows, making himself comfortable.


********


Next Day


********





Buttons was moving around, whining again and licking her face despite her efforts to deter the small dog. There was more noise coming from somewhere upstairs, like a a whirring noise. Mia laid there in bed adjusting the to light in her room and still pushing the determined dog away, and finally she figured that Mrs. Greene was at it again, vacuuming the upstairs. That means it must be some time past seven or eight in the morning. The woman was always up and cleaning around the same time.


At some point while Mia was making her bed and showering, the vacuuming cleaner stopped. Ah! Please Mrs. Greene! Please don't start cooking breakfast yet! Rushing through the rest of the shower, failing to dry her hair, and rushing to get dressed in the first things she found - Mia took the stairs down two at a time and stopped short when she saw the old woman standing outside on the porch through the front door's glass. Slowing down and moving to the door, Mia continued staring out the middle of the door, trying to decide who would be here this early in the morning.


Instead of opening the door she went into the kitchen nook and pulled back the sheer curtain to look out front. "Shit..." There were police cars everywhere. There was one or two at each house in the cul de sac, including their house; there were two parked in front of their house. One of the cars had the driver's door open, an office sitting in the open door looking down at something. Writing or something. Mia couldn't tell.


The other car was empty. Mia continued searching what small part of the front of the house she could see from the window. There was an officer circling her parent's car with a notepad in his hand; he paused at the back of her Mother's car, wrote something down, and spoke into a shoulder radio. Looking to the right, Mia could see a part of the porch. Mrs. Greene was now sitting on the far end of the woven bench, two officers standing in front of her. Mia couldn't tell her they were doing the talking or Mrs. Greene was, but then the old woman's hand lifted slowly to her chest, over her heart as usual; but this time it was different. There wasn't the usual drama that went with it. Something...something is wrong.


Mia nearly - literally - broke her neck trying to rush around the kitchen table to the front door; wrenching the door open, she interrupted the officers in the the middle of explaining something. Mrs. Greene had tears pouring out of her eyes again and was ushering Mia to come sit down.


"Wha-What's going on?" Mia lingered in the open door, aware that something was amiss. Maybe it was about the missing people. Looking past the officers she could see Marcus getting into a police car. There were more officers and unmarked cars that showed up to his house after the car he was in pulled away.


"Mia Jackson?" One of the officers thick, southern accent broke Mia's attention, and she looked back at him. He was looking through what seemed to be a file of some sort.


"Yes." Her voice sounded really shaky, like she was working too hard to keep a decent balance between calm and hysterical.


"When was the last time you saw or made contact with your parents?" The officer was direct. No bullshit. He knew that Mia knew this was what they were here for.


Mia couldn't answer the question. They probably already knew the answer.


"Where is Carl Jackson?" The officer spoke again, louder now.


"He-He's upstairs." Mia walked onto the porch, closing the door behind her.


"We have a warrant to search this house and the premises. We're going to have to ask all of you to come down the Police Station." He shut the file and ushered Mrs. Greene to stand, slowly walking with her off the porch, down the walkway, and to a police car. He even opened the door for her.


"Mia? Come on." The other office held his hand out for her. A third officer, the one who was sitting in the car before, walked past her and slowly opened the door, entering the house. He left it open behind himself and Mia turned to look into the house before feeling a hand gingerly grasp her elbow and lead her off the porch.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl was actually just finished getting dressed just as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. They weren't Mia's or Mrs Greene's footsteps. He was worried now, so he quickly slipped his sneakers on and then made off for the door after slipping on his black and mid-blue jacket. As he exited the room, he saw a police officer. Oh god. Why was he here?


"Carl Jackson?"





"Uh--.. Yeah." He replied, nervously, and then quickly patted his pockets to make sure he had his phone. He did, thankfully. The police officer stepped up to him and looked down at him with a stare. This guy towered him entirely.


"You need to come down to the station with us, alright? Follow me."





Carl sheepishly and nervously followed after him, and then as soon as he saw the front door wide open, he started to panic. He quickly walked ahead and looked around, noticing that Mia and Mrs Greene were nowhere in sight. Oh god. What had they done to them? He didn't want to go any further, so he stopped, and then let the officer walk ahead of him until he also stopped and turned back.


"Where's my sister." He demanded.


"She's in the car, now hurry up." He said. He was clearly not a very patient one. And then he did something that completely made Carl flip shit.


He grabbed his forearm.


Carl gave the most dirty and angry look to the officer and then quickly snatched his arm back from him, holding it close to his side.


"Don't touch me."


"We don't have time for this, Carl. You're failing to comply to a police officer's orders. You don't want to do that, do you, son?"





"Don't call me 'son'! You're not my dad!" He snapped back, and then began walking again, looking away from him. As soon as he was at the gate, he felt the same man's hand grab his shoulder and stop him where he stood. He turned around, and then did something that he immediately regretted. "I said don't fucking touch me!" He yelled, quickly turning and giving the man a harsh shove to the gut. He took a few steps back, but before Carl could turn and walk again, he felt something jump up and hit him straight in the back, and he suddenly went down with a loud scream of agony, his whole body locking up.


Another officer had fired a tazer straight into his back, without warning. Were they even allowed to do that? All Carl knew was that he hit his head on the concrete of the sidewalk, but before he could react, he was dragged to a car and thrown into the back beside Mia. God, he knew he wasn't in for an easy treatment. He was sobbing, too. That tazer shot really did hurt, but he was happy to see Mia again, his face just didn't show it. Only pain.

 

[Zhai]

It's so hot in the car Mia shifts uncomfortably every two seconds, trying to avoid touching the hot interior directly but trying to catch just a small bit of the air conditioning blowing only from the front of the car. The car Mrs. Greene was put in drives away while the car Mia is put in stays put. They must be going to get Carl. There's silence in the car and Mia still can't hear anything from outside, only the sound of her breathing and the cracking of the leather underneath her. One officer is leaning against the car she's in, but she can't see what he's doing. Maybe just casually keeping a watch on - what? - a fourteen year old girl? God forbid she made a run for it.


Since the other car is gone with the other two officers, Mia can't imagine what's taking so long in there to get Carl out. As she thinks of all the possibilities of what could be taking them so long to get Carl out of there, the officer leaning against the car straightens up like he's been shocked in the ass. He immediately presses his hand to his holstered gun and steps forward toward the house, cautiously walking in.


Mia leans towards the other side of the car, looking out of the window so close her breath fogs up the hot glass. In moments the officers come slowly out of the doorway with...with Carl in their arms! What the hell Carl?! Mia starts panicking. What if they shot him? No...No they wouldn't drag his dead body outside. What happened then? Stun gun? Rubber bullet? Tranquilizer?


When the officers are closer to their car Mia tries to open the door, just trying to be helpful but there's a lock. Instead she slides back to the far side of the car, watching as they fold his body into the seat, shut the door, and get in their seats in the front.


"Carl?" Mia's hand shook her brother violently, watching his eyes barely open and roll around in his head. He looks...drunk? It must have been a stun gun. There's a small line of drool coming out of the corner of his mouth, tears pouring out of his lulling eyes, and labored breathing. Carl's moans confirm Mia's suspicions of a stun gun, and she doesn't question why. She knows why. Carl was probably a pain in the ass to get out of the house; he probably said something smart or started something with the officers.


She remains quiet for the duration of the ride, only focused on Carl, hoping he regains consciousness before they make it to the station.

 

[DrTrollinski]

It took five minutes, and then Carl was back in the thick of it and strapped into the back of the chair. He was delightfully surprised that he didn't get cuffed, so that was a good start. As soon as he saw Mia, he leaned over and hugged her in the most defensive way possible, despite being the one who just got a tazer shot to the back. The officer that tazed him was actually sitting in the shotgun seat, but that was it. He wasn't saying anything to either of them.


Carl still felt a bit dizzy, but there was nothing else left to do. He was sat in the back of a baking-hot car after having 50,000 volts shot through him. God, he was sure that that had crippled something. Eh, it was probably just the after-effect of it, or something like that. He kept Mia tightly locked in his arms, and then finally wiped the tears away from his eyes by rubbing his face on her shoulder.


"The bastards shot me with something..." He whispered to her, taking a long deep breath. ".. I guess this is finally it, huh?" He said, and then sighed a little before leaning back against the chair, but keeping one arm wrapped around Mia's shoulders. He needed to keep cool now, and perhaps he even had to apologize to that police officer for pushing and shoving him. That was assault on a LEO, so he was very surprised that he hadn't been cuffed and shipped off to a detention center.


"They didn't hurt you, did they?" He asked, finally. That question was bound to spring out of his lips at one point or another.

 

[Zhai]

The car stopped in a line of other cars and before Mia could respond to her brother, both of their doors opened and each of them was ushered out of the car. Separately, Officers walked Carl and Mia up the stretch of stairs into the Police Station; inside the Officer with Mia went left and the other with Carl went right. As she was pulled along, Mia kept looking over her shoulder, trying to look around the officer's body and the crowd of people in the hall. She could barely see Carl anymore by the time she was walked through another set of double doors. Her last look of Carl's face was short before the double doors closed again.


From that point on she looked forward investigating everything; there were people sat in chairs along the wall for several feet. Some of them were handcuffed to their chairs and others weren't. There were officers in uniform walking in and out of doors, standing against walls, and speaking with distressed people. There were people in business attire, maybe officers out of uniform, who were also doing the same. It's very business in here and Mia was overwhelmed more by the crowd in here than having being dragged out of her house, into the police station, and walked down these halls.


"In here. Please stay calm and quiet. Someone will be in here shortly." The officer turned a sharp corner to a nearly empty hallway, opened a steel door, and waited for Mia to walk in. The room was empty, cold, and plain; there was a steel table and two steel chairs on either side. One bottle of water was on the side of the table she guessed she was supposed to sit at. There was no trick mirror on the walls that suggested this was a serious interrogation, but there were cameras in each corner.


Mia slowly walked in, standing at the wall just beside the door. "Where's Carl?"


The Officer didn't say anything, only nodding his head towards the chair and pulling the door closed with him.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl didn't like being separated from Mia. He didn't like it one bit. When he was forced to sit down in a chair in a room, he felt even more uncomfortable. There were no trick mirrors in here, but, just like Mia's room, there was a small camera. He gulped as he watched the officer sit down at the opposite end of the table as him. He slowly reached over and opened up the bottle of water, sipping on it for a short while before capping it again and putting it down on the table.


Oh, better yet, it was the officer who he'd shoved.


".. I'm sorry for pushing you... I just--.. I don't like it when people grab me like that... I have a bit of an anger issue, and it just came over me." He said. He almost cringed when he was trying to apologize to the man that actually got him tazed. The police officer simply smiled at him and nodded. "Am--.. Am I gonna' go to prison?" He asked out of worry.


"Of course not, Carl."





".. Why am I here, Officer... Taylor? Where's my sister?"


"Your sister is fine. She's in the next room, and you can see her once we're done here." He explained. Carl instantly felt a string of relief shoot right through him. "Why do you think you're here?" He asked softly, Carl sighed and bowed his head.


"It's because of our parents, isn't it?"


"That's correct... Do you think you can tell me the last time you saw them?"





"Of course... It was on Friday night... I got--.. Well, I flipped out after I went out to see a movie with Mia... My dad just kind of--.. He ignored me, really, he was really focused on work - I tried talking to him, and when he didn't even give me the time of day, I went back to my room and smashed a load of shi-- A load of stuff up..."


"Okay. What happened after that?"





".. I just... Well... I was crying for quite a while, and then my sister came in and spoke to me for a while. Soon after, both my mom and came and spoke to me again, and then when I stepped out to speak to Mia after I'd apologized to them... I came back to find they'd cleaned my room up for me. Well, most of it, at least. They went back to work after that, and I went to bed not too long after."


"Are you still angry at your parents?"





".. No, no, of course not... I couldn't be angry with them for them putting up with me like that... I hit my dad, pushed my mom over... After I flipped out, I mean... But... After that, I was really apologetic, and I couldn't stop saying sorry, I just..." He paused and took another sip of the water, quickly wiping his eyes. God. He couldn't start crying here, not now. ".. I didn't know what else to do other than apologize..." He said.


"Okay... When did you discover they were missing?"





"Well... When I got up the next morning, my sister and Mrs Greene were downstairs, and Mrs Greene was making breakfast for us. Our parents' cars were still on the driveway, though, but when I went to wake them up, they weren't in their room. We figured that they'd gone out to the store, or something, but then a load of crazy stuff happened on the Cul De Sac... Which you probably already know... And... I and Mia went out to check out a house on the corner where Missus Parker lived... We checked if she was okay, seeing as she was alone..." He explained.

 

[Zhai]

Much of the same questions were being spilled out by a female officer, who'd eventually come in after several minutes of Mia sitting in the room. The woman was the same height as Mia, with short blonde hair and minimal make up; her attire was a white flannel shirt, female slacks, and short heeled shoes. There was a badge and gun on her hip, a file in her hand, and a small smile on her face. The questioning went on for several minutes and when Mia thought it was over, the woman over turned over a few pages in the file and continued. All business.


"So after you discovered they were missing, did you contact anyone?"





"Um..No. We went to look around the street. We were asking if any of the neighbors had seen them, but no one had. We went to each house, y'know? Just casually asked if our parents had been there that morning but all of them said no." Mia replied calmly, after a moment of thought she decided against disclosing that everyone else was missing people. And she didn't say anything about the crazy Parker woman. They probably already knew all of that.


"When were you going to call the police to file a missing person's report?"





Mia sucked in a shallow breath, feeling like she'd been caught in the act of something. After another short pause, she spoke. "I didn't know we could file one so soon, it hadn't even been a full forty eight hours. We were just going to wait for our parents to come home before calling the police."


The woman stared at Mia for several beats, her eyes flickering around as if she were inspecting Mia's face. Then she spoke again, closing the file and folding her arms on the table. "You should have called us sooner. Your brother and you are minors, Mia. Your in a house with someone who is not your legal guardian. As the circumstances stand right now, both of you will be placed into temporary custody with Child and Social Services until your parents can be located or a relative."





Mia sat there, staring at the woman. It was a surprise to Mia that she was so speechless against the woman's word because she had already known that this would happen.


"Mia, do you understand?" The woman sounded more strict now, more business than before.


Mia nodded slowly, leaning back against her cold chair's back and staring down at the edge of the steel table. Social Services was coming to get them.


"Wait here. If you need something, just knock on the door. I'm going to get the Case Worker." The woman lifted easily from her seat, taking the file with her as she walked to the door, knocked twice hard, and was let out by an officer standing outside.


Mia continued to sit there, waiting quietly and patiently. What else can she do? She had been too overwhelmed with the woman's questions and statements to ask about Carl.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Carl... I must tell you now, until we can find a relative who is willing to take you in, yourself and Mia are going to be going into temporary custody with Child and Social Services. Do you understand that? Do you have any questions?"





".. I do." He choked, looking down at the table. It hurt a lot more to hear it from someone who knew about all of this - It looked like it was really happening after all. "Can't we just stay with Missus Greene...? She's been there since we were born... Can't she take care of us?"


"I'm afraid not, Carl... She's not a registered legal guardian of the two of you. There's no way around this."





Carl was silent for a long while. He was devastated. "Are we--.. Are we going to get to stay together? And can we go home to get some of our stuff?" He asked, his eyes welling up with tears. "I'm so sorry..." He whimpered, quickly wiping his eyes. ".. I just--.. I've been trying to stay strong for my sister, and--.. and I never really thought this would happen." He said, continuously wiping his eyes. The officer quickly handed him a tissue, and he took it and shoved it against his eyes, wiping all the tears away from them. ".. Can--.. Can I see Mia?" He asked. "Please? I won't run... and... I need the bathroom." He said. Yep. He did. He hadn't been when he got up this morning, and his bladder was beginning to feel like it was about to explode.


"Slow down, pal... It's all going to be okay, alright? I know what you're going through is rather frightening, but I assure you we're doing everything we can, okay? I'll need to escort you to the bathroom, but you're free to do that... After that... I'll take you to Mia... You both need to meet your Case Worker, alright?"





Carl nodded, and he was soon escorted out of the room and right down the hallway to the restroom. Carl wasn't exactly happy with having someone watching him pee, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He was grateful that they actually let him go to the bathroom. If he pissed himself in front of everyone, that would be humiliating. Once he was done, a chair was carried through to the same room Mia was in and he was then lead inside. As soon as he sat down beside her, there could only be one reaction:


One hell of a hug.


He was so happy to see her again.


".. Thank god..." He whispered to her, his head on her shoulder. ".. I heard that we're meeting a Case Worker, or something...?" He asked.

 

[Zhai]

The bottle of water on the table was still untouched. Mia hadn't even moved it from between her and the lady officer; but she stared at it as the silence got louder and the minutes got longer. What was going on out there? Mia got up once to pace the room twice, sat back down, and continue calmly breathing as best she could. There was movement and noise outside the door but no one pushed the handle down to come in. There was a man shouting about being innocent, a bump against the wall, and then more of the normal, usual noise. Mia kept looking around the room, staring at the table, and eyeballing the water.


Finally an Officer pushed into the room, bringing another chair - and Carl. Mia straightened immediately but didn't bother standing. She knew Carl would come to her and instead, she opened her arms just as he opened his. Both of them embracing in a tight and prolonged hug. She signed, listening to Carl speak in her ear. After a silent moment she pulled out of his arms, looking around the room again and then back to Carl.


"That's what the Officer said. A case worker is coming but she didn't say what the case worker was coming for or anything. Have you seen Mrs. Greene?" The old woman came to Mia's mind last minute. She hadn't seen the housekeeper since the officer put Mrs. Greene in the car and drove off; Mia hadn't seen her when they came in the police station nor had she been mentioned by the officers, expect during questioning.


"What happened with you? What did they ask you? What did they say?" Mia turned towards her brother fully now, waiting for him to answer her multitude of questions.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"They asked me about our parents... I told them about the little flip-out that I had, and I think they think I had something to do with them going missing." He sighed and then rubbed the side of his face. "I explained everything, though... So... I think things are all cool in that field." He lied back in his chair and opened up his bottle of water that he grabbed from the other room before coming here. He sipped on it, a little shakily, and then set it down on the table before reaching out and taking hold of one of Mia's hands, gently running his thumb over the top of it.


He thought about the Case Worker. He hoped they'd have some nice young woman for more reasons than one, at least she'd be easier to deal with. Either that, or some really sensitive middle-aged guy.


"The guy talking to me was really nice, actually... He was the one I pushed outside our house... but I apologized for that." He smiled a little. "He just gave me the run down... I'm gonna' guess that you were told that we're going into Care for the time being?" He asked, sighing a little. He knew that if they were both ready to see the Case Worker, then she'd been told about that as well. Right now, it was just nice to be able to hold her hand and do his best to comfort her like he always had. To just be with her and talking to her felt like having ten years of really effective therapy.

 

[Zhai]

What came through the door wasn't one of the officers - in or out of uniform; it wasn't their parents who showed up at the house, noticed they were gone, and come to explain everything nor was it Mrs. Greene with a legal document making her their legal guardian. It was a short, round, balding middle-aged looking man with large glasses, a brief case under his arm, and a too-tight suit. He looked like he was rushing as he set the brief case down, sat in the seat, and took a deep breath. Mia assumed he must have either ran over here or he was just plain busy. There was no name tape on his suit nor a badge around his neck or waist; although there was an awful lot of sweat building up around the collar of his shirt, staining the white surface.


The man pulled a handkerchief out of his coat pocket, patted his forehead, face, and bald spot on his head before he even began talking. When he did speak he still sounded dreadfully out of breath and Mia was convinced he was going to pass out on the spot. "I am Mr. Patterson and I'll be your Case Worker." He unlatched both ends of the briefcase, exposing a stack of papers and files that had obviously been forced into the small leather case. Mr. Patterson thumbed through the papers and folders, pulled one out just an inch to see the tab, and then fully pulled it out onto the table. Mia signed softly. Another file. She wander what was in it, leaning a little forward as her eyes investigated the manila outside and waited for the Case Worker to open it.


Eventually he did - after stuffing all his papers back into the briefcase and forcing it close - and he quietly read to himself, and then looked up. "Carl and Mia Jackson, identical twins, fourteen years of age. Ah, you've got a birthday coming soon. Another few months." His smile was large and forced, like being nice to them was part of the job; it made his moist cheeks push up and in turn his glass rose a little. "Right, so again, I'm the Case Worker handling your...situation. What's going to happen is that we'll have a court hearing involving further action, such as if you'll be put into Foster Care separately or together. Or if a guardian will be appointed in the event that your parents haven't already appointed one. Right now we're still searching for blood relatives but it does take time."





Mr. Patterson didn't strike Mia as the type to lie and she quietly listened to him, open to all of his suggestions and information. "Um...until the court hearing you'll be placed in a temporary foster home with someone out of the system. It's only for a short time and if we can get you together, we will. Some parents are only signed to care for one child at a time and some can care for more than one. It might be a long wait here at the station. There's a lot of children missing their parents at this time."





What? Mia straightened again in her seat, eyes wide and ears listening better not. What did he say? - A lot of kids missing their parents? Mr. Patterson's eyes also doubled in size, probably realizing what information he'd let slip during his babbling. Coughing to relieve the tension in the room, his finger pushed his escaping glasses back onto the bridge of his nose as he collected the file and briefcase back under his arm.


"I'll be in touch." And he was gone. He didn't even have to knock on the door. Mia could hear just before the door closed that he was being called into another room. Probably with another child missing their parents, to tell them the same thing he said here.


Mia couldn't really move. Couldn't look away from where Mr. Patterson had been sitting. "We're going into foster care."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I'm not leaving your side. I swear to god, I'm not leaving your side, no matter what." He said, and then leaned over to put one arm around her shoulders to pull her close, and then took hold of her hand with his own free one. He was doing it as a big brother. Not as a friend. Not as a parent. Not as anything like that - he was doing it as the brother that was expected to help and protect Mia, the one who, no matter what happened, was expected to always be the one who helped her through what she needed, and always stuck at her side in life as time went on.


He was that kind of brother. He always would be. He'd never let her down. Not ever.


".. I don't care what sort of person we're placed with. I'll always be with you, even if I have to walk across the whole damn country to do so. I promise you." He took a deep and then leaned forward, hugging her tightly. "I'll stay with you. Always." He said. Ah, another 'always' promise. He meant what he said - he'd kill if it meant staying at Mia's side. He couldn't leave her. He could never leave her. He refused to ever do that, and no one was going to get between him and her. Not their parents, not Missus Greene, and not even Jenna.


Mia was his sister.


He was her brother. Her big brother.


That was never changing.

 

[Zhai]

With no words to say back to Carl that he hadn't already said, Mia only nodded in agreement and breathed calmly, blinking quickly to warn off that familiar tingling sensation when tears were on the way. It was the time to cry. Not because they were in a police station or because they were going into foster care; but she didn't want to cry because the situation was already a mess. There was no need for her tears to contribute to that mess. Carl would only get more upset, Mia could cry more, and they'd both be stressed as hell. Mia was already so stressed that it was a surprise grey hairs hadn't started sprouting through the brown of her hair.


"I know, Carl. I believe you." In his embrace, she released a ragged exhalation, the kind that came after a good cry when you couldn't quite catch your breath. Mia stayed leaned against Carl, waiting for - what? - the door to open and Mr. Patterson the Case Worker to come waddling in with his overstuffed briefcase and overactive sweat glands? To tell them what? - We found you a home, but...; or sorry to say this but..


How much time had passed was unknown. There wasn't a clock. Only the almost silent movement of the cameras in the corner, their breathing, and Mia's nail scratching the metal leg of the table. Finally the door pushed open just a little but not enough for someone to walk in nor for them to see out in the hallway. A moment later someone finally came in, Mr. Patterson; he was holding a cup of coffee and smelled like he was still exhaling cigarette smoke right out of his nose. There was no folder or briefcase and the sweat that covered him earlier was nearly nonexistent. Maybe he just needed a smoke break to calm his nerves.


"What did you find?" Mia blurts out, leaning out of Carl's arms and rising from her seat, her hands rested on the table.


Mr. Patterson doesn't even flinch at her sudden movement but instead casually sips his coffee, signs in relief or something, and finally speaks. Even his voice has changed from high pitched anxiety to low pitched business. "We found you a foster family, for you both to go to. I'll have to bring the file back, but it's a woman as the guardian and her teenage son. You'll be..." Mr. Patterson hesitates, rubbing his temple and blowing on top of the steam-less coffee.


"Be back?" The anticipation is killing Mia, her body leaning forward onto the table because her back was so rigid from anxiety.


"You'll be in foster care for about one or two months. Depending on if we get an earlier court date, but for right now it's about two months we're looking at. The cops are going to escort you both to get your things from your residence, and then to the Foster home." It must be a trend with Mr. Patterson to leave after he delivers a blow, because right after that, he rushes out of the room.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Christ..." He muttered quietly. "A teenage son..." He took a long deep breath and then hugged Mia tight once again. He didn't know what to say. He honestly didn't want to go to this place, but as long as he was with Mia, he didn't mind. Not much.


"If that kid gives you any fucking trouble, you tell me. I don't care who he is or how old he is - you tell me if he gives you any funny business, okay?" He said, rubbing her back gently as he did so.


"I love you, sis... We'll get through this together, I promise." He sighed deeply and then gently used his hand to bring her head closer to his chest.

 

[Zhai]

Mia felt like Carl was going to say something about the teenage son and she mentally prepared for whatever he could possibly say. The good reaction. The bad reaction. The I'll-kill-him reaction. When her third guess was correct and Carl brought her in close, she somehow managed to smile despite the situation. "Carl, please. I'm sure the teenage son isn't going to give me trouble. At least we aren't being fostered with Marcus."


Her hand reached up to gently touch her brother's face and pinch his cheek, her usual thing. "Love you too, brother. Don't freak out." Mia was saying that last part more for herself. It she said it aloud and to her brother, she felt like it somehow channeled through him and back to her. Then she would truly be calm.


Mr. Patterson came back into the room with a file this time and no coffee but a doughnut squeezed between a napkin in his hands. "This is the file. You'll have to read it later. I've got officers outside ready to take you home and pack. You must not mess around in the house when they take you. Please be quick. It's already almost two and Ms. Nelson is expecting you soon."





So her name was Ms. Nelson? Mia looked at Carl, hoping he'd caught that. She didn't know a Ms. Nelson, surely not from school or around the neighborhood. Mia liked to think she had fairly good situation awareness and had never heard of a Nelson for blocks.


"You ready?" Mia took her brother's hand, squeezing it tightly and exhaling nervously.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl listened to the man and he couldn't say that he was happy with his attitude. It was almost upsettting - Hell, it was upsetting. Everything he was telling them, I mean. He didn't know what to think or do except just to accept defeat and go along with it. When the man was finally finished speaking, he sighed and gave a gentle nod. He didn't let go of Mia's hand for the whole time, though. He refused to even do so. How could he? He wasn't going to leave her side until they were back at their parents' sides, or at least until he found the opporunity to trust someone that was taking care of them.


"I'm ready, yeah." He sighed and took a deep breath and then slowly rose up, still tightly holding onto Mia's hand. He still wasn't able to convince himself that he was going to be able to just let her go. He'd probably release her hand when it came to leaving, but any other time, he wasn't going to let go of her.


He swore that he was capable of killing for her.


He knew he would and could do so.


Anyone who fucked with Mia was really going to regret it.

 

[Zhai]

Even though Mr. Patterson said he arranged for Officers to escort Mia and Carl - and supposedly who were right outside - the Jackson twins still ended up waiting nearly an hour and half later until someone even opened the door again. The person who opened the door was the lady officer who had questioned Mia earlier, and her opening the door seemed to be a mistake, as she didn't look like she was intending to still see Mia and Carl sitting in the room. Excusing herself and closing the door marked the beginning of more waiting before Officers out of uniform, but with badges and weapons on their hip, sauntered so casually into the room Mia was beginning to think they didn't necessarily take orphaned children or this situation seriously.


The two officers took their time walking Mia and Carl down the hall towards the entrance from before; they stopped to sign off a clipboard, and then take the twins out to a black truck. The ride home went by a lot quicker than before and before Mia can fully flip through the file on their Foster family, the truck is parked just outside their house.


"Make it quick." The Officer in the driver's seat says, not even getting out. Mia thought they were supposed to keep watch or follow them in at the least. It doesn't look like these guys are moving.


Inside the house Mia packs her most frequented clothes; on her desk she touches her books, flipping through some of the pages and looking at her personal notebook where she wrote down assignments and deadlines. What about school? She debated bringing the books, and in the end packed her school bag with the books, and was finally done. She's only had one large suitcase that she packed with clothes, hygiene items, and her favorite blanket at least.


The office in the passenger's side was waiting outside the house, ushering Carl and Mia to hurry up as he tapped his watch. Mia felt like she was being rushed off to boot camp rather than a Foster Family placement. Mia and Carl's bags were arranged in the trunk, they were back in the truck, and it drove off.


The way they drove wasn't familiar and Mia stayed away to watch where they were going despite how badly exhaustion was creeping up on her. They left the city at some point and were driving through a back road, country kind of territory. There were barely any houses anymore but more like rolling fields of long grass, horse ranches, farms, and woods. Lots of woods. The truck sped through winding roads, paid little to no attention to potholes and road deformities, and finally turned onto a dirt path that was mostly mud, from rain maybe. The path was long and went through a thin section of dying woods until there was a clearing of long grass and a house. A small house.


It was white and blue painted paneling sitting on a surprisingly lush patch of greenery. There was a garden across the front and sides of the house, so Mia assumed there was one behind the house, too. The truck drove up the circle driveway and stopped directly in front of the house. Both Officers left their seats, walked to Carl and Mia's door, opened it, and ushered them out. There was no one outside on the porch waiting and Mia's eyes flickered around the front of the house; two rocking chairs, a jar on the porch railing half filled with something dark, a set of dog's bowls, a mat at the front door, and glass bottles hung in the corner of the porch. The window shades were drawn down and the front door behind the screen door was still closed.


Mia felt the Officer nudge her with her school bag, and she quickly put it on her shoulder and grabbed her suitcase, taking it up the front steps onto the porch with an Officer's help. Still...no one came out to greet them. Not even the barking of a dog. Mia turned and looked at Carl, her brows low and her eyes skeptical. Both officers stood on the porch with them, one finally reaching forward to ring the doorbell before opening the screen and knocking on the door.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl got the stuff he wanted from the house, such as his favorite clothes and then some other personal posessions that didn't really carry too much value. It was just enough to get him by. He got some cologne and some deodorant as well, and then made his way back out with Mia. When he was in the van, it felt like he was some sort of convict that was being hauled off to some high-security prison - it was quite a daunting feeling, but he was happy that he was with Mia for the duration of it all.


On the way to the house he was cringing on the spot. The countyside. Good lord, why? Why did this have to happen to them? Out of all places, they were going to be going to live with a single mother and their son out in the middle of fucking nowhere. He imagined that the woman would have a shotgun, and he also imagined that he and Mia were going to be forced to do farm work every morning at five o'clock. How fun.


When he saw the house, he only cringed even more. It was small and puny, and surrounded by lush lands. He knew that there going to be insects or mosquitos here that were going to bite the hell out of him at night. When thy came up to the porch and knocked on the door he braced himself. He was ready to meet the rednecks. Sort of. They may have been from a small town themselves, but it was certainly better than this.

 

[Zhai]

The officer knocked again, harder. They were all shifting impatiently on the porch, waiting for something. Anything! There wasn't someone calling from inside asking them to wait a minute nor was there anyone running from the back of the house, making an excuse about being in the garden or something. There was just..silence.


Mia looked around again in the meantime. Now that she noticed it, there was no other car in the driveway or parked around the house. No car that was in use, anyways; several feet away she could make out a car in the long grass. It looked old as hell and probably had long grass growing all over and through the interior and exterior. The hood was up and there was grass inside of it as far as she could see. Maybe it broke down and they forgot about it.


"The Hell? Call in." The Officer closet to the door said, his accent thick but Mia couldn't tell what it was. Not Southern by any means. Maybe he's from the North or something.


The other Officer reached on his belt to a phone click, forcing the phone off the holder, dialing on it, and holding it to his ear. He turned his back, standing more towards the steps and looking out towards the drive, like he was expecting the phone to ring somewhere else? Inside there was the loud, shrill ringing of an old fashioned sounding phone but no answer. The Officer calling apparently didn't hear it like everyone else did, and called again; and was about to call once more until his partner smacked the back of his head.


"Well...Let's just go back to the sta-" The officer at the door was cut off by the loud roaring of an engine working to get up the mud path to the house. Everyone turned to see what it was, and sure enough, it was a pale blue pick up truck barely making it up the last, small hump to the driveway. Once it got over the hump it swerved in the drive circle, parking behind the black truck. Mia's jaw actually dropped a little and her eyes felt like they were so wide open that air was getting in behind her eyes.


What got out of the car was a thin woman, not much taller than Carl or Mia; she had on a pale yellow skirt and a blue plaid skirt tucked into the waist of the skirt. Her boots were all black and her thinning blonde hair was in a low bun at the nape of her neck. There was a brown grocery bag in her hand and a large black dog at her side, licking her hand until he saw people on the porch, and he started barking and ran off behind the house. Out of the passenger's side of the car, her son slowly crept out; he was taller than Carl, wider than Carl, and frankly looked like he had more weight on Carl muscle wise. Mia hadn't exactly seen Carl show casing his muscles in front of her but she was sure he didn't have muscles that looked like he picked up logs all day with his bare hands. The boy wasn't like his mother; he had stark red hair, a thick mask of freckles across his face, and deep blue eyes. His shirt was cut at the sleeves and his jeans were tattered everywhere.


Mia's eyes shifted over the Carl immediately. What the hell had they been put in to?