She began to blink back tears while Namir walked towards the kitchen with his hands on his head trying to think. A toilet flushing suddenly broke the silence as Professor Birdie Jones came out of the bathroom with her son as they took a seat on the couch.
“Okay so what’s the plan now? We can’t just sit in this woman’s house. She’ll have to return some time, right?”
“And probably kill us all,” Bellamy muttered. “Just put me out of my fucking misery.”
“What’s the matter with you?” Namir asked, annoyed. “We’re doing this for you too, you know.”
“No, you’re doing this to satisfy some dog shit ego you have where everything–––”
“He’s scared of rejection from his mommy,” Seth pouted with a poke of his lips. The three began arguing with Birdie attempting to stop it. I quietly stepped back outside into the backyard as the dark night sky began to smear with hues or pink and orange in the distance.
“What did you do with the jar?” I asked. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder to know Trevor was standing right behind me.
“I have it here in my hand.”
He held the mason jar out which looked painted black from the inside. The contents remained hidden as I stared back at the pile of dirt again. The way the dirt slumped down told me there was no longer a body buried.
“We need to leave,” I told him. “Now.”
“What about the body?” He asked as he followed behind me. “Himora?”
“There is no body to collect, and I think Vanessa knew that. She said if the body is still there by sunrise, it worked for the most part.”
“So what about the jar?”
We stepped into the house where everyone was sitting around waiting for the next move. They made themselves comfortable in this woman’s home. The professor and her son were just coming from the bathroom in the hallway. Namir and his brother were in what I could only assume was Maggie Grey’s childhood room. Solomon made himself comfortable with the girls as it was his nature to be surrounded by feminine energy. Harvey stood by the window looking through the curtains while Bellamy openly smoked in the corner of the house, becoming recluse, shrinking himself as anxiety ate away at him about meeting his birth mother.
“We all need to leave,” I said.
“Aye!?” Trevor yelled as he swiped his keys off the counter. “Everybody let’s go! We need to go!”
“Did it not work?” Solomon asked.
“We won’t know until we come back but we need to go. Aye!? The fuck are they doing in there?” Trevor asked as he stormed off down the hall. “Aye!? We’re leaving!”
I looked up at the flickering light above the dining room table and noticed the blinking stove clock 3:33. Adjusting my glasses, I counted exactly 60 seconds. Even with the wrong time, it would still go on as if it was correct, but this just remained 3:33… The sudden surge of power buzzed as the home suddenly flashed like a bright light before bursting as the power shut down, causing the home to go into complete darkness.
“Too late,” I murmured.
“Somebody just pulled up to the house,” Harvey said.
“Shit, shit shit!” Trevor hissed as his heavy footsteps could be heard stomping throughout the house. He grabbed my arm ready to drag me through the back and out of harm's way when the lights flickered for a moment. Providing a brief source of light for everyone to take their places. Bellamy grabbed the little boy who was on the verge of crying while taking the hand of the mother to bring her towards the back of the house. The wolf brothers slowly crept out with one on all fours growing behind his younger brother’s back legs, waiting and ready for whatever now that we’re plunged back into darkness.
“It’s now or never at this point,” Namir whispered, keeping around the corner with a heaving chest. I crossed my arms over my own chest, listening to the keys jingle before they paused. It was the mother, there was no doubt about it, and she knew therewere a handful of people in her house. She just didn’t know how many.
“Let me do the talking,” Souxie whispered. The keys were inserted into the lock as a woman’s voice could be heard on the other side.
“I know somebody’s in my home,” Ms. Norwood said with a warning tone. When the door opened, the shadowy figure of a tall woman with thick curly hair sitting above her shoulders stood in the doorway facing the front yard. The sunrise was taking its time from the east, but you could see her big purse on one arm and a gun aiming down in the other. Nobody moved at first until the lights flickered back on and the startled look on her face couldn’t be described. She stumbled back out of the doorway, eyes wide with her mouth open as she looked at everyone, trying to adjust. She wore college sweats with a large t-shirt, Crocs and silver streaks in combed through her hair. She dropped her purse on the ground. Her eyes were searching through every face, reading everything in real time, taking everything in before managing a deep swallow.
“Who…what…. what is this?” She asked. She was scared and rightfully so. She may not have an aggressive bone in her body, even in her true nature, she was still docile. The fact that she held a gun instead of relying on her own strength was telling enough. She spent more time with humans above ground the same way Trevor did. His attitude towards mythics and his comfort level with the most basic of things above ground was the same.
“Somebody start to say something,” she said. She wasn’t sure who to look at but when Souxie stepped up, she smeared the last bit of tears from her face.
“My name is Souxie Lafayette,” she greeted. “I am a second-year student at Drew Collins University and your daughter…”
“Maggie,” she said, finishing the sentence for her. “What about her? Is she alright? What’s going on and how did you all…”
She stepped back into her house and I can tell she was feeling dizzy just from the way her eyes suddenly looked around. She held on to the door just as Solomon crossed the room to help her. Namir immediately came to the other side of her before closing the door, but her eyes naturally fell on a quiet Bellamy who held the whimpering child against his chest. Seeing as Souxie was incapable of leading a conversation let alone completing a sentence, I decided to step in.
