Autumn Awakens

by M. J. Padgett

  “Ah, geez. What did the little brat do this time?” Chris asked as he checked his weapon into the safe before heading to the interrogation room. Chris was a far better interrogator than I was, and I was dog tired, so it was obvious he would be the one to question our purse snatcher. Unfortunately, that meant I’d have to drill some sense into our youngest foster brother’s head—again.

  “He stole a two-dollar candy bar from a convenience store downtown. He’s in my office, but this is the last time I step in, got it?” Sergeant Penopolous said firmly, but we both knew she had a soft spot for the youngest of the McMurphy foster clan.

  “Yes, ma’am. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart,” I said, clutching my shirt over my heart and flashing her my best smile.

  “Yeah, yeah, just go and get the kid out of here before I change my mind.” Sergeant Penopolous shook her head and slid a stack of folders toward me. “Here are those files you asked for last week. What on earth are you researching? These things are so old they predate me.”

  I chuckled. “Just brushing up on the old detectiving skills.”

  “You should take some time to brush up on your old English grammar skills, too,” she teased, then went back to her own work. I stacked the files and stuffed them in my bag, then headed to her private office to retrieve our bratty youngest brother.

  The very second I stepped into the room, Jordan put his hands in the air.

  “It was an accident, I swear,” he defended. “I totally meant to pay for it, but do you know that girl I told you about? Georgia Yates?”

  I sighed and dropped my heavy bag on the desk. “Yes, I remember. What about her?”

  “Well, she was in there, and she was all, ‘Hey, Jordan,’ and I was like—”

  “Does this story have a point somewhere that ends with you explaining why you stole a candy bar?” I asked, but I knew it didn’t. It never did.

  “Of course. Anyway, I was like—never mind, that doesn’t matter. So, we got to talking, and she was smiling and all cute. I totally forgot I had the thing in my hands when I followed her out the door. Honest. But hey, I got a date for the fall festival thing.” His statement reminded me to hide from Katie, so she didn’t try to con me into going to that thing, too. “So, we’re all good right?” Jordan asked.

  I blinked a few times, mostly to wake myself up because I was exhausted, but also because I couldn’t believe he thought it was all okay. I loved the kid, but his head was so far up in the clouds his hair probably tickled the angel’s feet.

  “You’re telling me you forgot to pay for a candy bar because a pretty girl smiled at you?”

  “No, I forgot to pay because she agreed to go to the festival with me, then asked me to walk her home. It’s two bucks, Parker. I’ll go down to the store tomorrow and give the guy ten. It was an accident. Haven’t you ever made a stupid mistake before?” he begged. His short brown hair was slick with sweat, probably because Penopolous made him nervous even though she treated him like her own kid. She was a bit scary, especially when she was interrogating you. On second thought, being her kid probably sucked.

  “I have, but it was just one time, and I learned my lesson. You, Speedy, keep making mistakes that end up with you sitting in a chair in this office,” I reminded. He groaned, then rolled his eyes at me. His head drooped, and it made me feel bad, but not bad enough to let it go. It probably was like he said, an accident, but even those had consequences and it was time he started learning to suffer them.

  “You’ll do my chores and Chris’ for one week in addition to your own, then we’ll call it even,” I said much to his dismay.

  “Chris has bathroom duty this week!” he shouted, then said, “Ha, he has the doodie duty.”

  I smacked my forehead and dragged my hand down my face. “Do you know how incredibly frustrating you are, kid? If I didn’t love you, I’d put you up for sale. Go to my office and start your homework, please.”

  He got a guilty look on his face, then said, “About that—”

  “Do not tell me you skipped school today.”

  “I skipped school today, sorry.” Jordan slunk deeper in the chair, just out of reach if I wanted to snatch him up by his collar and drag him over the desk. Lucky for him, Chris was already finished with his interrogation and stepped into the room.

  “What’s up, little dude?” Chris asked as he flopped in the chair in the corner.

  “He’s reading me the riot act,” Jordan said.

  Chris glanced at me, then back to Jordan. He knew better. “Why do you always lie? Parker and I always get your butt out of trouble, and you lie to us? I thought we were closer than that.” Chris poured it on thick, digging deep to get to Jordan.

  Jordan squirmed a bit, then said, “Alright, fine. I have to do your chores and his for a week all because I got distracted by a pretty girl.”

  “You are not being punished for getting distracted. You’re being punished because you stole a candy bar!” I yelled. Jordan jumped, then glanced at Chris, who only shrugged his shoulders. “You also skipped school again, Jordan. Again! Now one of us will have to go beg Principal Weathers to let you back in. You’re a lot of trouble, kid.”

  “Yeah, I got it,” Jordan snapped, then grabbed his bag and headed toward my office. I instantly felt like the world’s biggest jerk. We’d all heard that phrase before—you’re a lot of trouble.

  Chris heard it the most, nearly all his life. He aged out of the foster care system and found himself homeless at eighteen. If not for Rebecca McMurphy, rest her soul, he would have ended up on the wrong side of the prison bars. Then came me, a fifteen-year-old idiot on his way to Juvie if I didn’t straighten up. Chris remembered me from the group home and talked Rebecca into letting me live with them. The woman was a bit strange, but she was the closest thing to a mother I ever had.

  Days later, I convinced Rebecca to take in my best friend from the kids home, Ophelia, and her little brother, Jordan. And not two weeks after that, Ross showed up on our doorstep. He’d heard Rebecca took us in without question and was only looking for a place to stay for the night. Once Rebecca heard why—his most recent foster father had knocked him around a little too much after a drunken tirade—Rebecca wouldn’t hear of him leaving.

  That was that, instant family for five abandoned kids. It was the best thing that had ever happened to any of us, and even after Rebecca’s passing, we stuck together like a real family. We were a real family.

  Chris looked like I punched him in the face, too. I knew I messed up. “I’ll go talk to him. I didn’t mean it like—”

  “I know you didn’t. Still hurts though, so maybe you ease up on him a little?” Chris asked. The guy was twice my size and the smartest person I’d ever met, but he had a soft spot for Jordan, too. Truth be told, we were all just like Jordan at some point in our past.

  “I suck at this big brother thing. I’ll be back,” I said, then rushed to my office before Jordan lit it on fire or shredded all my files. I found him huddled over a book at my desk. His shoulders shook a bit, and I knew I’d messed up way more than I’d originally thought. He sniffled and wiped his face, then slammed the book closed.

  “I wasn’t crying! I was... I got a stuffy nose.” Jordan shoved his book back into his bag and refused to look at me again.

  “I’m sorry. I messed up, but you must know I would never say something like that... Okay, I said it, but I didn’t mean it like that, Jordan. You are a lot of trouble, but you’re worth it.”

  He glanced up at me, still unsure. He sniffled again, then said, “Don’t tell Chris I was crying, please?”

  I pulled the chair out from the other side of my desk and sat. “Remember that time I smashed my fingers in the car door and said I wasn’t crying?”

  “Yeah?” he asked hesitantly.

  “I was totally crying. Your secret is safe with me. But I am sorry, okay? You’re my brother. I love you, but you’ve really gotta straighten up. If you don’t, you’ll end up in real trouble, kid. I’ve
seen it a million times, and I wouldn’t hound you about it if I didn’t care.”

  Jordan sighed again. “I get it, I do. But honest, Park, it really was an accident this time.”

  Chris knocked on the door frame before stepping in. “Sorry to interrupt, but that guy who helped out is here. Said his name is Henry and you’re expecting him?”

  “Oh yeah. I thought he disappeared.” I stood and glanced at Jordan. “No punishment this time, but stop acting like a doofus, got me?”

  Jordan gathered his things and stood, draping the strap of his bag over his shoulder. “Yes, sir.”

  I rolled my eyes and followed him out of my office and down the hall. Chris followed us outside so we could be sure Jordan got onto the bus to go home instead of getting into more trouble. Just outside the front door of the station, Jordan turned to us with a guilty look on his face. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was on his mind, but I asked anyway.

  “What is it now?” Chris asked. At the same time, I asked, “What else did you do?”

  “Nothing, I just wondered, are you guys gonna tell Ophelia?” Jordan asked, knowing well our sister—his biological sister—was at her wits’ end with him. I knew the kid just wanted attention from anyone who would give it to him, but he was fast approaching an age that required he find better ways of being seen or end up spending actual time in jail.

  “Jordie, if we keep this from Ophelia, she will beat us to death with a stick. A tiny stick so it’ll last longer, and she can enjoy our pain,” I said.

  “Not if she doesn’t find out! And stop calling me Jordie. I’m not five anymore,” Jordan whined.

  Chris chuckled. He knew as well as I did Ophelia always found out. There wasn’t a single secret we could keep from her, except one—that time Chris and I stole her diary, but I was pretty sure she knew that, too. I shook my head at Jordan.

  “Fine, but this is the last time, Jordan. The last time. Chris and I can’t keep covering for you when you mess up. You said yourself, you’re not five anymore. Act like something resembling an adult from here on out please.”

  Jordan rolled his eyes. “I’m seventeen. Can you at least try to accept that I’m not a baby anymore?”

  “But it’s so hard,” Chris teased. “Look at those cheeks.” He pinched Jordan’s cheeks as we approached the bus shelter. My phone rang, prompting me to glance at it. Our other foster brother, Ross, only sent messages when he wanted food. Otherwise, he locked himself in his room coding all day for some software company I had never heard of. Honestly, I hadn’t heard of any of them, but I tried to keep up when he talked about it.

  “It’s Ross. He wants us to pick up a few pizzas on the way home. Guess Ophelia’s not cooking,” I said. “Which means—”

  “Crap, she already knows,” Jordan said, glancing around for an escape route.

  “You got that, right!” Ophelia snapped, coming out of nowhere. The woman had a habit of popping up in the right place at just the right time, a skill I was sure she learned from our late foster mother. Jordan squealed like a piglet and tried to get away, but Ophelia grabbed him by his ear and dragged him down the sidewalk to her car.

  Chris looked at me as I watched our little brother struggle to get away from his sister. “I’m glad I’m bigger than her,” he said.

  “I’m not sure it matters. I think she can take you,” I admitted, unashamed to admit Ophelia could probably beat me senseless while doing a little light reading.

  “You’re probably right. So, you gonna question our witness, or should I?”

  I’d almost forgotten about the Good Samaritan who helped us nab the bad guy. “Nah, I got it. Shouldn’t take long, then I’ll meet you at the house. You got the pizza or should I—”

  “Um, no. I’ve got it. The last time you brought pizza home, it was stuck to the top of the box. You have the attention span of a flea, which makes me wonder how you’re such a good detective.”

  “Must not be that good if we’re chasing down petty thieves,” I commented, annoyed that our boss put us on the street for a week. Truthfully, it was an information gathering stint, but somehow, we kept finding ourselves in the right place at the right time and had made several arrests that had nothing to do with our primary task.

  “It’s not a punishment, Park. We just need more eyes and ears on the street if we want to make any headway against The Grim Reapers. Bodies keep dropping, but there’s not enough evidence to arrest that son of a—”

  “Quinn, Walker, you two gonna talk to this guy or leave him and his friends standing in my lobby staring at me?” Sergeant Penopolous called from the door.

  “Friends?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah, he brought other people with him. Sorta weird, actually. Maybe we tackle this together?” Chris asked.

  “Eh, it’s just a witness interview. I got it. Go ahead and get the pizza. I should be out of here in a half hour or so.”

  Chris nodded, and we went our separate ways. He went to get dinner, then to our house where he’d settle in like a normal person might after a long day at work. I, on the other hand, went back inside to question Henry and his friends. If I had any idea how that conversation would go, I might have asked Chris to stay with me while I made sure I wasn’t dreaming.

  Chapter Two

  The second I stepped into the interview room four pairs of eyes settled on me. Henry stood behind a chair, but the others sat comfortably around the interview table. I hadn’t noticed before, but Henry’s stature commanded attention just like every military guy I’d ever met. His hand rested on a woman’s shoulder—long, dark hair, expressive brown eyes that looked a bit like a doe’s, and the whitest teeth I’d ever seen. She was beautiful and taken.

  I took a second to observe people seated to her right. A woman with mocha skin, long, flowing dark hair, and a happy sparkle in her eye, smiled back at me. She was as beautiful as the first, but her eyes held a bit of mischief. I knew that look well. Then there was the other guy. Dark skin and near-black eyes, hulking muscles that made Chris look small, and a look on his face that said he’d rather be doing just about anything else with his time.

  I decided to jump right in so they could get on with their day. “Good afternoon. Thanks for coming—”

  “He looks just like her,” the first woman said.

  “I know. It’s crazy,” the second woman said, leaning closer to me with squinted eyes. “He even has her eyes.”

  I glanced at Henry, who I had thought was quite odd, but he suddenly seemed like the normal one among them.

  “Forgive me,” Henry said. “It’s been a while since—” He cut himself short, then said, “This is my wife, Seline. Jemma and Thaddeus are dear friends of ours.”

  “It’s uncanny. I wonder what his father looked like? I’ll bet that’s where the smile came from,” Seline commented, glancing at Jemma. “But then again, Jeanine does have a nice smile. I’ll bet he drove all the girls just bonkers in high school.” Seline’s smile told me she was probably a bit of trouble, too.

  “Probably. I would have drooled over him more than once,” Jemma replied, then it seemed to dawn on her that they were talking about a guy who was standing right in front of them. “Oh, um, you had questions for us?”

  I knew I had questions, but they had somehow shifted to the bottom of my priority list as I listened to the ladies shower me with compliments. Then there was that other matter. What on earth were they talking about? Who was Jeanine, and why did they believe I looked like her? I tried to force the questions about the purse snatcher back to the front of my mind, but with all four of them staring at me so intently I couldn’t even remember my name.

  “Perhaps about the criminal?” Henry offered. “I saw him running from a fine officer of the law and chose to intervene. I do hope he will be sentenced the maximum penalty for such dastardly deeds?” he questioned.

  “Um, probably just... Who are you again?” I asked. His accent was prominent, but even a language barrier wouldn’t account for his odd ch
oice of words.

  “My name is Henry Noske, and I am the Commanding General for the Salien Royal Guard. I apologize for the strangeness of this situation, but you must understand, I intervened today not only because you seemed to need aid but also because we have a request.”

  I placed my folder on the table and tried to regain some control over the situation. “We don’t do payouts for information. If you’re looking for—”

  “Dear Heavens, no. I would never attempt to bribe an officer of the law. I merely want you to listen to a story, then perhaps you will find yourself willing to help us with a problem we have,” Henry said.

  “Sure, tell me what it is you need help with, and I’ll see what I can do.” I had a feeling I would regret agreeing to listen, but I couldn’t help myself. For some reason, I had to know what they were talking about.

  Seline looked up at her husband and bit her lip. She looked incredibly nervous, as did Jemma, but Thaddeus remained uninterested—except he kept glancing at Jemma when she wasn’t watching. Each time he did the corners of his lips quirked a bit, almost into a smile. He was crazy in love with her, but she had no idea. I scarcely had time to evaluate the situation before Henry began the most insane story I’d ever heard in my life, and I’d heard a bunch.

  “A long time ago, a princess named Rose put a curse on your family. Well, not your entire family. We think she had your father killed, then cursed you and your mother. The details are a bit fuzzy. Jeanine, your biological mother, has been looking for you for a long time, and we were hoping you might like to meet her?”

  “A... A curse? Rose killed my father and—who are you again?” I sighed, annoyed that I’d somehow managed to pick up a bunch of jokers instead of credible witnesses.

  Henry pursed his lips. “Yes, a curse. I know it sounds insane, but you must wonder why you can shift into a wolf, right?” Seline touched his arm, hopefully insinuating he should reign in the craziness before I locked them all up until I could identify them.