Chapter 20

Sigh... What's wrong with you, Kaysi?

Baby said, "Before I left, we need to be on our guard, or, more specifically, I should be on my guard."

What? Why is that? Beck blurted.

Well, as the problem stands from last night's event, that demon bird that got away could very well be tracking us. As I mentioned before, since I assaulted it, it nearly severed its right arm. Fortunately, this new technology will alert us to any nearby activity. I just wanted to give you a heads-up.

After school, should we return to the site and see if we can find any clues Micah added?

No, since even if the police are already aware of what occurred and have completed the investigation, they still deem the location unsafe and seal it off. For now, simply listen to your intuition, stay in touch, and give each other a call if something goes wrong.

When we leave school today, let's take a path different from our usual route.

That's a great suggestion, Micah; let's do that to be on the safe side.

Beck's friend Josh walked up to us as we stood in the hall talking.

Hey guys, how's it going? I wanted to let you guys know that my dad's got some business out of town. His work is supposed to be short-term, and I won't be back until the last couple of weeks at the end of school.

We just got back from spring break! So you'll be gone for the next three months?

Yes, it was a last-minute request from the boss. Since I'll be returning at the end of the school year, they're letting me do something like Virtual School online. I'll be coming back for the last test of the year.

Oh okay... I see... I sure am going to miss you Beck said in a shallow tone.

Don't sound so depressed. It will only be for a little while. Also, did I hear you guys say something about having to leave and walk home differently because of something about needing to keep your guard up? If there's a reason why you don't feel safe, since it is my last day, I could walk with you home.

No, we'll be fine. I jumped into the conversation. We have somewhere to go, I said, not wanting for him to get hurt in the middle if an attack was to happen.

Okay, well, be safe then. I'll see you later. Maybe we can sit at lunch and hang out one last time before I go.

Okay, that sounds like a plan Beck said, yelled back at him.

Man... Girl you have a major crush. I teased her.

N..oo... She stuttered; I am just going to miss him.

For the most part, we had some of our classes together. In the classes that we didn't have together, we would walk each other as close to one another's classrooms as possible, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

It also came in handy that Baby was still our substitute teacher for a while. I'm unsure if it was the large group of people that "they" may be trying to avoid. Or, somehow, the large group of people may have jammed their senses. At least we had some form of cover being here; I was not worried about things anyway for the time being, not until it was time to leave, that is.

Hey, Beck and Kaysi, I forgot to mention that it was my job after school today to clean the Home classroom. Unfortunately, it takes me about an hour to do everything.

If we split the chores between the three of us, I'm sure we could get it done in about 15-20 minutes, so let's work together. That way, we can head out and get home sooner, just like at the end of our shift at work.

By the time we got everything clean and gathered up the trash to take outside, everyone had left and headed home. We walked the new route as we had planned to get to our houses, so hopefully, anything that could have been following us couldn't now.

Micah was the first person to be dropped off; she was always the closest to the school. I was in the middle of our daily routine route, and Beck was at the end.

We go in the same order per person but take different streets and paths along the way.

Soon after dropping off Micah, Beck decided that we would take the longer route around the park instead of through the park. There weren't too many other paths that we could have taken to get to my house, which was close by at one turn and the end of the road.

We only had a few short blocks before arriving at my house; so far, things have been quiet there.

Wow. I am seriously thinking that we're off the hook Beck said excitedly.

Right as we rounded the corner and headed towards my house, a fire truck came racing around the corner.

Did I speak too soon? They are heading to your street since it's at a dead end.

Oh...No.. My mom and Baby should be home by now! I'm going to run ahead and see where they're heading.

No, you're not. I'm going to be right there with you in case that thing tries to come back.

We were almost at the end of the street when a second fire truck came. We could see that there were two buildings on fire one completely decimated and burnt to the ground. The other one was already half gone. As we got closer, I could see that the building was our apartment.

The first building must have caught on fire and taken out our home. My mother and Baby were in there! I ran towards the building to go inside and get them. But a firefighter grabbed me and held me back.

I had to go inside and save my mom, and my dog was in there; I screamed at him!

No, ma'am, we've already cleared the building. Your mother's not in there. And your dog is sitting in the back of the ambulance for giving her a bit of oxygen. Checking her wounds, she had jumped from the upstairs window. Nothing but a couple of scrapes and some mild smoking inhalation, surprisingly.

That's good. Let me call my mom, then, I added. I rang her a couple of times on the cell and couldn't get a hold of her.

Does she have a place where she works? The firefighter suggested.

Yes, I'll try to call there, too. When I called her work, they told me that she had not worked there for a couple of days.

I knew she was having trouble with work, but this was supposed to be her new job. Why was she not there, and why was she not home either?

How old are you? The officer asked me what grade you are in.

I am 16 years old and a second-year sophomore in high school.

Okay, so since we are unable to get in contact with your mother, we're going to have to place you into foster care until we're able to make contact with her.

Oh no, you won't have to do that. Our family is very close friends with her family. We will be able to contact her soon. We'll take her in; we have plenty of space, Beck said.

I understand that, but only family can take her since she is a juvenile, or if she has permission from a standing guardian or other family member.

I can reach my brother; he's not around here right now because he left for work and moved out on his own.

That'll be fine as long as he approves it.

After calling my brother, he said that he'll talk to me more about the situation with Mom and that I should go with Beck for right now—or at least until he has a chance to come down here and pick me up.

The officer agreed, and I took Baby with me to Beck's home.

After Beck told her mom what had happened, she came over and hugged me. She told me that I was more than welcome to live here until we straightened things up.

Afterward, Beck brought me straight to her room upstairs and started me a bubble bath.

Hey, we'll talk about the situation in a little while. Honestly, there's nothing more we can do. I set out some of my pajamas for you and drew you a bath. Go get cleaned up and relax. I'll be out here when you're done.

Honestly, I'm fine; the thing that bugs me the most is what caused the fire in the first place. Was it just an odd coincidence? Or was that demon behind this? Honestly, I can't tell and can't get a story out of Baby yet because she is still resting and exhausted.

As I told you before, don't worry about it. We'll talk about it when you get up, she said as she pushed me to the bathroom.

I could afford to relax a little right now. I feel like I'm just fine. I anticipated something would happen today. I just didn't know it was going to be like this.