by Rue Volley
“Now, I will not assume that you knew that the cookie jar was empty.” He said as he tilted his head.
“No.” Gracie said as she held back a grin.
“Uh huh.” Theo said as he stood up and grabbed his coat too.
“Okay, now listen Gracie… we will go, but only to the store… no deviating from the plan.” He said.
Gracie looked up at him, with her teddy bear’s hood on… her little fuzzy ears poking up from her head and smiled big.
“Cookies.” She said.
“Yes, focus on that.” He said.
Gracie reached up and he grabbed her hand and smiled. Gracie was an expert at getting out of the house for one reason and turning it into something completely different. Theo knew it, we all did. She was the master of hooptydoodle, as I call it. One time she had Josh and me out for hours, with the initial plan being, to buy her a new coat. She really wanted a day out, as any child would I guess, but she is not a normal child and we are normal people and we can’t just go running around all over the place… you never know what waits outside, as I so know and wish that I didn’t.
Theo closed his eyes and drew energy into himself, letting it pass from him to Gracie and she giggled as it tickled her hand and ran up her arm. Theo looked at her and grinned.
“Just a little protection.” He said.
“Tickles.” Gracie said as she laughed.
“Yes, that it does, but we must be weary.” He said.
“Daddy says to kick ass first and then figure it out.” Gracie said.
Theo reached down and picked her up, placing her on his back. She wrapped her hands around his neck and hugged him.
“So he is Daddy?” Theo asked her as he laughed.
Gracie laughed and hugged him harder.
“You behave Gracie, no tricks... okay?” Theo asked her.
“I love you.” Gracie said.
Theo sighed, knowing that was a bad sign… the whole ‘I love you’ thingy she pulled. That means, I love you but I will do what I want… just like Rue and Josh.
“Okay then.” Theo said as he opened the door and the cool wind hit them both in the face. “The quest for cookies begins.” He said as she laughed again and held on tight.
Theo stepped down from the porch and Gracie looked to the left into the woods. Theo walked towards the car and she tapped him on the head.
“I wanna walk.” She said.
“Gracie, it would be best if we drove.”
“Nooooooo.” She said as long as she could.
Theo stopped and looked at the car and then tapped her hand on his neck.
“I know you.” He said.
She laughed and then put on frowny face.
“Gracie?” he asked.
She hopped down from his back, like the graceful kitty that she is and took his hand.
Theo looked down at her and she looked sad.
“No, do not frown little one.”
Gracie looked up at him, blinking all cute.
“Gracie Barrington, I am thousands of years past the trickery that you are spinning here.” Theo said as he held her hand.
“Pweeeze.” Gracie said all cutesy.
“Oh for craps sake.” Theo said as he looked at her and then at the car.
Theo leaned down and held her by the sides, staring into her face.
“Listen to me, we will walk… but you get on my back and let me get us there quickly.” He said.
“Oh…” she said as she looked at the forest and broke from him and flashed into it.
Theo stood up quickly and tried to keep his eyes on her.
“Oh shit.” He muttered as he flashed after her and into the woods.
Now... Gracie is fast. I always thought that I was faster than anything on the planet… but she is not only fast but graceful. She is not all clumsy like me. I trip on dirt and she just moves over and around everything so quickly it is hard to track her sometimes. We found that out when she was one and started to walk. Well, more like flash around the house. I still laugh thinking about Josh trying to keep up with her… I was the only one who was able to catch her and that was luck, I am sure. Or maybe she was just being nice to me… who knows.
Theo stopped and looked up at the air as it swirled with black and blue, yes Gracie is two colors… another new thingy in our world. I wasn’t shocked by it really, but everyone else acted like it was crazy. I didn’t though, because I am blue… the only one and now I have passed on ‘blue’ to my Gracie, and it makes me smile.
“Gracie Barrington?” Theo called out.
He heard her laugh behind him and he turned quickly to only see a quick flash of red.
“Uncle Theo would like to get cookies.” He said, hoping it would bait her.
“I’m not hungwy.” Gracie called out… adding her ever cute ‘w’ to her words.
“You said you wanted cookies love.” Theo said as he continued to scan the forest.
“Hide and seek!” Gracie said as she flashed by him and laughed. Theo spun around and sighed as he realized that this was the beginning of a very, very long day. A Gracie day, as we all called it. Well, a ‘Sara day’, but not now that she changed her name. “Let me hide love… you find me.” Theo said.
Gracie laughed somewhere off in the distance and started to count.
“One… two… frweee...” she yelled out.
Theo smiled as he flashed through the forest and sent out a bubble, a protective one that rose up over the forest as an added security to her safety and his own. It rose up, making the air look like it waved like water and settled high overhead, like a dome… a somewhat invisible one, shimmering in the sunlight. If one thing was true, it was that Theo took absolutely no chances when it came to her safety and protection, that is why I felt comfortable leaving her with him. I knew that he would move heaven and earth to protect her as we all would.
Theo stopped and rolled behind an old log and laughed, feeling more like a kid than the old protector that he was.
Gracie has a way of making you feel that way with her purely childlike nature. He sat there, controlling his breathing and felt her coming. He smiled and waited for her to ‘boo’ him, so he could pretend like she shocked him, although you can’t really. Not Theo, who can feel everything around him. He waited, but nothing. He leaned over and she stood there, with her back to him staring out into the forest.
“Gracie?” Theo said as he stood up and then saw what she was staring at… it was another child, a little boy who looked tired and dirty. Gracie took a step towards him and Theo flashed in front of her and placed his hand on her and moved her back. He tilted his head as he stared at the small boy and knew immediately that he was indeed human… or so he felt that way.
“Hello.” Theo said as he stared at the boy. The boy swayed on his feet and fell to the ground and Gracie squealed and flashed around Theo and fell to her knees, next to the small boy. She touched his face lightly and Theo picked her up and wrapped his arms around her. She wiggled in his arms and Theo looked at her.
“Gracie… we do not know where he is from.” He said.
“He’s hurt.” She said as she pushed on him.
Theo looked at the boy and felt his energy… it was faint, explaining why he hadn’t noticed him coming… although that did strike him as odd.
“Oh dear.”
“Help him Uncle Theo… pweeeze.” Gracie said, looking at him.
Theo sighed and placed her on the ground, holding onto her hand.
“Stand right here.” He said as he looked down at her.
Gracie crossed her arms on her chest and stood there like a grumpy bear. Theo bit his lip and looked at the small boy, shivering on the ground.
He leaned down and touched him, memories chopped up and confusing… coming through to Theo. He raised his eyebrow and picked the boy up and his head fell back.
“He is starving and cold.” Theo said.
“Can we keep him?” she asked.
Theo looked at her and smil
ed. “He is not a kitty, love.”
Gracie frowned and Theo shook his head at her.
“We will feed him and give him shelter and then he will have to return to his family.” Theo said.
“Ah.” Gracie said.
“Settle down. We will make sure that he is well.” Theo said.
Theo adjusted the boy over his shoulder and held his hand out to Gracie who took it and looked at the boy.
“Okay.” She said, giving into Theo as they walked back towards the house.
***
The plane was enormous, as well as the airport itself. Everything outside of Calvary was bigger than big… the trains, the planes, the schools. I guess with each year that passes the humans make things bigger and bigger, not a shock really. I mean the bigger it is, the bigger they feel. It is weird though… I would think that making things bigger would just make them feel smaller, but doesn’t seem to be that way. We stood in the airport and I looked up at the tall ceilings… a few birds flying around that had obviously slipped in and made it home. The walls were covered in moving advertisements for anything and everything you could imagine and every now and then a voice… a non-emotional girl’s voice echoed throughout the huge building, telling everyone what was on time and what wasn’t. I stood there and then felt Josh’s hand slip into mine and we started to walk towards the escalator. Johnathan walked behind us, dragging his rolling black bag and I glanced at him noticing that he really wasn’t really looking around at this amazing place. I sighed, knowing that this was so not an enjoyable trip for him… but I was buzzing. I love to travel, could do it all the time if the threat of crazy rogues didn’t loom over us. Maybe I would be more prone to do it if Gracie was not with us yet… but I so wouldn’t trade her for a lifetime worth of travelling.
We stepped onto the escalator and I turned and looked back as it lifted us higher and higher to the second floor of this massive station. I looked up and stared at the skylight, watching the clouds float overhead and felt Josh touch my face. I looked at him and he grinned at me. I guess I looked happy, I felt that way anyway, and guilty at the same time.
“You look beautiful.” He said.
I grinned and touched his face as he lifted me, helping me avoid falling down as the escalator dropped us off. I would have so bit it if he hadn’t; because I paid no attention to my feet or the fact that we were nearing the end. Josh set me down, and I turned and looked out at all the people… humans, going this way and that… holding tickets, and looking around to find their terminals. Johnathan stepped off the escalator too and started to walk, like he knew where to go. Josh and I followed him until we rounded a corner and saw a huge line of stores and restaurants leading everyone towards the main terminal, where all the “airships” readied themselves on the runways. I smiled and Josh squeezed my hand as I looked around and grinned.
“If you are hungry, we can grab something now.” Josh said.
I smiled and looked at the back of Jonathan’s head as he continued to walk.
“Johnathan?” I said.
He stopped and turned to me.
I looked at him and smiled.
“Food.” I said.
He looked up at the spinning burger and dancing fries to our left and then back at me.
“Sure, sounds good… we still got some time before we need to check in.”
“Sweeeeet!” I said as I pulled Josh towards the restaurant and Johnathan followed us, although he probably isn’t hungry at all.
We stepped in and I looked around, smelling the burgers and pretty much everything deep-fried. My stomach did the growly thingy and Josh hugged me from behind. I bit my lip and a girl, dressed up like she was from the fifties rolled up to us on roller skates and popped a bubble. I blinked and looked up at Josh and grinned.
“How many?” she asked, as she placed her hand on her hip.
“Three.” I said as I scanned the room and smiled at the décor. It was all decked out like an old diner, only all the booths were cars, at least parts of them… and old records dangled from the ceiling, and adorned all the walls. She started to roll and we followed her, until she stopped and opened up the car door, to our table and I slipped in, Josh next to me. Johnathan slipped in across from us and she closed the door, and flipped the lock on it. She leaned forward, letting her boobies… or I guess cleavage pop out and stared at Johnathan. He looked past her and she tilted her head.
“Trip overseas?” she asked.
Johnathan looked at us and then at her.
“London.” He said.
Josh kicked him under the table and he grunted.
“A few places really… break from school, meeting up with family.” Josh said to her.
“Huh… ya all related?” she asked as she stood up and pulled out her virtual pad to take our order.
“You could say that.” Johnathan said as he stared at Josh and narrowed his eyes.
Josh looked at him and shook his head and then back at her.
“What is good?” Josh asked her.
She grinned at him and leaned in.
“The big burger… it’s juicy and you can get it anyway you want it.” She said as she stared at him and bit her lip. Josh grinned and I hit him in the side.
“Well… then three of those and fries… lots of fries.” I said.
She looked at me and kept smiling as she stood up and tapped at her virtual pad.
“I would have taken you for one of those veggie lovers… as small and skinny as you are.” She said.
“Can’t always judge by looking at someone… obviously.” I said as I gave her an ‘f you’ grin.
She gave me one right back. “Uh huh… well how do you like it?” she said as she looked at Josh and then at Johnathan.
“Medium rare.” I said as I tapped the table with my fingernails.
“And how about you boys… you like it juicy like the little girl here?” she asked them.
I moved in my seat and Josh grabbed my hand and smiled at her.
“Yea… make 'em all the same.” He said.
“You got it baby.” She said as she rolled away. Josh turned his head and I hit him and he ‘ow’d’ and started to laugh. He looked at me and shook his head. Then he looked at Johnathan.
“You could totally hit that before we leave.” He said.
“Yea… sounds great.” Johnathan said as he leaned back in the seat and relaxed.
“Seriously, she was like staring you down.” Josh said.
I looked at Johnathan and grinned.
“Johnathan has class; I doubt that he would just hump on some skank at the airport.”
“Oh, I totally have before… but she was not my type.” He said.
“Johnathan.” I said as I laughed and looked at Josh.
“Johnathan is a picky humper.” Josh said.
Johnathan kicked him under the table and he jumped next to me.
I laughed and the girl rolled back up, with three plates on a tray and I smiled at the speed of her return with our food.
“Here ya go.” She said as she placed my plate down and then Josh’s. She pulled Jonathan’s plate off and placed it in front of him slowly as she bent over. He looked at the plate and then at her.
“Thank you.” He said.
She winked at him and slipped him a napkin, folded over. He looked at it and she giggled and rolled away. I looked at the napkin and then at the food.
“Looks like she slipped you something.” I said.
“Yea… offering up an STD.” he said as he pushed the napkin away from his plate and picked up a fry and bit into it.
I laughed and started to eat. It was nice to hear a joke come from him… I didn’t know if he would start talking, if ever.
Josh shoved the burger in his mouth and started to chew.
“Maybe if you had her for dessert, you would get the stick out of your ass.” He mumbled as he chewed.
Johnathan laughed and bit into his burger too and I decided that food was the priority here
… I bit into mine and ‘mmm’d’ when it turned out to be the best burger I had ever tasted in my life.
I chewed and looked around the restaurant and watched all the other people eating too. This place was actually pretty cool, despite skankapuss rolling around, although I guess she wasn’t all bad. I just had a huge problem with girls hitting on Josh… not so much jealousy as much as an ‘I can’t believe you can’t tell that he is mine’ thingy. That girl was all about Johnathan though, which didn’t surprise me at all. I mean he is beyond pretty, I know it… not an ‘omg gotta have him’ to me, but to other girls he would be irresistible. With him being what he is doesn’t help either. We are charming by nature, people… especially humans find us irresistible in so many ways. I mean that is the first step to the hunt. If we all did feed on humans, I am sure that we would be excellent at it. I set my burger down when that thought crossed my mind. I stared at it and felt guilty for even thinking it in the first place.
“Are you done already?” Josh asked me.
“Yea, I think so.” I said as I pushed my plate away from me. I looked over at a family, laughing at a table and I suddenly missed my boo bear.
“She is fine.” Josh said as he nudged me and I grinned at him.
“I know… I trust Theo.” I said.
I sat there staring at that family and wished that Josh and Gracie and I could travel together, but the world was so dangerous and she was so precious to me that I found myself weary of letting her see the world, although I knew I couldn’t keep her tucked away on hideaway drive forever. Look at what it did to me. I ended up slipping through time and living god knows how many different lives before I finally claimed the right one. I didn’t want that for her. I wanted her to know everything that waited outside the town and beyond, so she never looks at Josh and I as cheating her out of happiness or opportunity. I swallowed and then grabbed my glass of water and chugged it down.
“We should go.” I said as I placed the glass down and Johnathan took his last bite and chewed. He glanced at his watch and wiped his face with the napkin, containing the roller girl’s number.