Rion sighed. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I’m just…not equipped for this.”
“I don’t think anyone—except maybe mental health professionals—are equipped for this.”
Rion poured them coffee and returned to her stool. “You don’t have to hang around here today. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do.”
Shep shrugged. “Not really. I’m caught up on class work. And…I don’t want to leave you alone with this.”
Rion knew she should say something, but she left the words hanging between them. She didn’t want to encourage him. But she also didn’t have it in her to discourage him either. Shep’s shoulders slumped a little and he sipped at his coffee. A trickle of annoyance ran through her. Why is he doing this now? Of all the times—this has to be the worst. At least I have a good excuse to discourage him.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do today.” It was a casual statement on any other day. She didn’t know what she was going to do with Beckett. She needed to get her out from under the bed. She needed to get her to eat and shower. Rion thought of all the cobwebs and cat hair under the bed and shuddered. If Chambers showed up now, her taking Beckett away would be the least of her worries. The social worker would probably have her jailed.
“We’ll figure it out,” Shep reached out and patted the back of her hand.
It took a moment, but Rion finally made herself pull her hand back. “How am I going to get her to eat?”
“A good question.”
“I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get her to the therapist too.”
“Any luck?”
“Not really. Pretty much everything rests on her coming out of this.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Rion raised her shoulders helplessly. “A giant cat carrier?” she tried to joke but neither of them laughed.
A loud thump caused them both to jump and turn towards the bedroom. But, a second later, they realized the sound came from the other side of the front door. Shep stood and hurried towards the door while Rion followed more slowly. “What was that?” she whispered when she drew next to him. She had no idea why she was whispering—no danger had presented itself from outside the apartment.
“I don’t know.” Shep reached back and pushed her behind him.
She scowled at him, but didn’t complain. “Maybe you shouldn’t open it,” she forced herself to stop whispering.
Shep looked through the peephole before glancing back at her. “I don’t see anything.” He put his hand on the knob but she stopped him.
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s weird considering…but it’s probably nothing.”
“What if it’s Bernie?”
The landlord was old, Rion conceded. “You’re right.”
Shep unlocked her door and turned the knob. He eased it open with one hand and with the other he held her back, putting himself between her and the doorway. “Shit!” he exclaimed and threw the door open the rest of the way.
Around his shoulder, Rion could see what had alarmed him. A body was crumpled at the top of the stairs. Her blood went cold and she froze for a moment. Then the blonde hair finally clued Rion into what she was seeing. Kerry was on the floor, her bony body twisted into a heap.
“Kerry!” she darted out after Shep.
He leaned over her and Rion dropped to the other side. “Kerry,” Shep grabbed her shoulder.
Rion assumed that Kerry was passed out after having wandered home from some drunken, drug fueled shenanigans. It wouldn’t be the first time, Rion admitted. But when Shep rolled the girl onto her back, Rion gasped.
Kerry’s left eye looked like Rocky’s at the end of the first movie. It was swollen shut and dark red near the inner corner, and deepening to purple in the outer corner where it met a tiny cut. Her lip was also split and caked with dried blood. “Oh no!” Rion choked. “What the hell?”
“Stand back,” Shep shifted to get in better position to lift Kerry. When he picked her up she moaned and tried to push him away, but eventually gave up and let him carry her into Rion’s apartment.
Rion couldn’t do anything but follow Shep inside and lock the door behind them. Her whole body vibrated with panic and alarm. “What the hell?”
“Kerry,” Shep ignored Rion as he laid the unconscious woman on the futon. Kerry groaned and rolled onto her side. He backed away and looked from her to Rion.
“What happened?” Rion asked stupidly.
Shep shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. She was attacked?”
Rion began to feel sick as she surveyed Kerry clothes. She was wearing a black skirt and a skimpy red top, but she was dressed and her clothes weren’t torn. From the angle she stood, and the way Kerry’s legs were bent, she could see under her skirt enough to know she was wearing panties. Some of the nausea passed. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Rion ignored the voice in her head. “What do we do? Call the police?”
Before Shep could answer, a tiny voice interrupted. “No,” Kerry croaked.
“Are you OK?” she asked.
“No. Yes. But, no,” Kerry burrowed into the blankets. “I just need to sleep this off.”
“What happened…to your face,” Shep winced.
“It’s nothing.”
He looked at Rion helplessly. “We do what she wants,” Rion told him. She bumped him out of the way and pulled the blankets higher over Kerry. Then they both retreated to the counter and watched the woman who was now snoring lightly.
“What the fuck?” Shep asked, whispering.
“I don’t know.”
“What the hell is going on?” he asked.
Rion was glad he also felt the same defenselessness that she felt. She could see it in his eyes that were so wide the whites stood out. Even though there was no way Kerry’s situation was connected to Beckett, Rion couldn’t help but feel it was all a part of a bigger plan to drive her crazy. But the thought was immediately followed by guilt. Kerry, nor Beckett, asked for this. And, what’s more, neither did Shep—and he was still here. “Thank you,” she muttered.
Shep turned to her, surprised. “For what?”
“For…for helping.”
“Of course.” They listened to Kerry snore for a few moments.
Rion stared at the girl sleeping on her couch. She tried to stop her brain from guessing all the things that could have happened to her friend. All of them varying degrees of awfulness. She had seen Kerry make a walk of shame before—on more than one occasion. But this was different. She had never known her to come home injured before. Rion’s stomach soured from the lack of sleep, lack of food, too much coffee, and worry. She swallowed and took deep breaths fighting the urge to vomit.
“We should probably check on Beckett.”
“Yeah.” But neither of them moved for a few minutes. Finally, she sighed. “OK.” Shep followed her to the doorway. “You open the door and I’ll look.” She lowered herself to her knees and nodded at him. As the door opened, she laid on the floor and peered into the darkness. “Oh!”
“What?” Shep grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to her feet as if she weighed nothing at all.
She looked at him in surprise. “She’s asleep.”
“Huh?”
“She looks like she’s asleep.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, no.”
“What if she’s unconscious?”
“Well, shit.” Rion’s heart sank again. Her moment of relief faded.
“We gotta get her out of there.”
“Yeah.”
“I have an idea,” Shep stepped into the bedroom.
“What are you doing?” Rion whispered hurrying after him.
He pulled a blanket off the bed, and she noted how far away he stood from the space under the bed. “I’m going to pull the bed away from the wall. If she tries to attack, throw this blanket over her. Grab her and hold her still.”
“And then what?” Rion hissed.
“We…we try to reason with her?”
Rion stared at him like he had grown a second head. But she couldn’t exactly argue with him. They couldn’t just wait for Beckett to decide to come out from under the bed. She hadn’t eaten in over twelve hours. She needed to take a bath. She needed to be clean. She needed to be OK. “Fine.”
Rion positioned herself near the head of the bed and Shep grabbed the footboard. “Are you ready?” he asked.
“I guess so.” Shep pulled and the bed slid relatively smoothly with little noise.
Rion expected Beckett to launch herself into her face, teeth bared and fingers in claws. But, instead, the kid didn’t even react. She remained curled into a fetal position against the wall. Her dark hair was dusty and clumped at the base of her neck and her hands were dirty and curled into fists. Dust bunnies and cat hair coated her clothes. Shep leaned around the side of the bed, trying to get a good look at the kid. “Is she awake?” he whispered.
Rion shrugged. “I don’t think so,” she whispered back. As if her words were a shout, Beckett’s eyes suddenly snapped open.
Rion’s skin prickled in shock, but she managed to remain still. She felt like she was faced with a rabid animal. They were both motionless, frozen, waiting for the other to make a move. She didn’t dare look at Shep, but she knew he wasn’t moving either. Rion’s mouth was dry, but she worked up enough saliva to speak. “Beckett?” she whispered. The kid’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t attack. “Can you…” Rion didn’t know what to say. “Are you, OK?” she finally asked. Her sister’s lips parted, pulled slowly back, and a wet hiss slipped through her clenched teeth.
Rion stared at Beckett. She knew the kid’s situation was out of hand. She was rational enough to admit that. But, she also knew that her sister needed help. She might not be the most qualified—but she would be the one to care enough to do it. If she let her go into the system, Beckett would have to deal with person after person. Some of them caring. Some of them just seeing the kid as a case. Her sister could end up in an institution, a hospital. Somewhere she wouldn’t be cared for, just maintained. Just meeting legal standards of being kept alive. Rion shuddered.
“Beckett, you need to get up. I know you are…scared. Hurt. Angry. I know that. And I know there are things I can’t know. But you must get up. You need get cleaned up. And eat. Otherwise, Chambers is going to come and take you away. If you hurt anyone again, the police will take you away. I won’t be able to stop them.”
Beckett’s eyes flicked between Rion and Shep and she swallowed, blinked, and rolled into a sitting position. Rion let go of the breath she had been holding. She didn’t dare risk looking at Shep though. “Come on,” she said firmly. “You need to take a bath.”
Beckett pressed her back into the wall and pushed against it, sliding until she was on her feet. Her fingers were curled into fists and she was still warily looking between her sister and Shep. Once she was standing in the light, Rion could see the dried blood in the corners of Beckett’s mouth, and the wound on her arm began throbbing harder as if seeing the evidence woke up her raw nerves. It was as if the wound missed the teeth that caused them. She nodded at Beckett. “OK. Shep is going to go turn on the water, and I am going to back out of the room. When the water stops, you will go into the bath and get clean. I’ll leave you some fresh clothes outside the door.”
Beckett didn’t acknowledge Rion’s orders, but she also didn’t attack. Rion would take what she could get. Shep grunted but she put a hand up to stop him. She didn’t have time to argue even though she knew he had good reasons for not wanting to leave her alone with the kid. She heard him hurry from the room and once he was gone, Beckett locked eyes with her. Rion shuddered again. Even though she knew it wasn’t possible, some primal part of her told her those weren’t the eyes of her sister. It was the animal instinct that remained after thousands of years. It was the ability to sense the presence of a predator in the dark.
How is this possible? How can a little kid turn into this? She wasn’t a doctor. She wasn’t a psychiatrist. She didn’t know the name of the mental illness that could turn a child into a vicious predator. But she would do what she could for her sister. Until the authorities realize I’m out of my league here. Rion swallowed the hard lump in her throat. Won’t that be the best thing for Beckett anyway? She hated the voice of reason that told her she needed to concede that she lost. That she couldn’t help her sister. She willfully ignored it. No one had fought for her—and she would be damned if she let the same thing happen to her sister. She would help her for as long as she possibly could.
Rion slowly backed out of the room and Beckett’s eyes narrowed as she watched her go. She had made it almost to the futon when Shep turned off the water. When Beckett rushed to the doorway, Rion’s breath caught in her throat. Her body prepared for the worst, but the little girl stopped at the door. She leaned around the edge and sniffed. Rion’s brow wrinkled. What kind of kid sniffs to see if the coast is clear? For a moment, the kid focused on Kerry as if she was studying her battered face. A look that Rion couldn’t read fluttered over her face. When Shep hurried from the bathroom, Beckett drew back. He hurried to Rion’s side, not turning his back on the bedroom. Once the path was clear, the kid darted into the bathroom. She moved like a jungle cat, crouched, with her shoulders hunched. When the door slammed shut, Rion jumped.
“My god,” Shep breathed next to her.
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Me either.”
Rion hurried into the bedroom and gathered jeans, panties, and a tee-shirt and laid them outside the bathroom door. She leaned in for a moment, listening for sounds of distress. A snarl directly against the door caused her to jump back. The rumble, still with child-like tones, fluttered over the wood and tickled the hairs against her neck. As she crept away from the door, she heard Beckett finally getting into the water. “I lived in a couple of homes with kids who had special needs. But, I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Yeah. There are a couple of people I transport at work. They are pretty profoundly disabled…but, not…It’s like—like, she’s not human,” he said finally.
Rion’s shoulders sagged with relief. She hadn’t wanted to say it out loud. She didn’t want to admit it to anyone else. She didn’t want to say something so preposterous that Shep began to doubt her sanity. She stared up at him with wide eyes. “That’s crazy though, right? How can we think something like that?”
“I don’t know. I know it’s ridiculous.”
“But, what kind of mental illness does this? Especially to a kid?”
“I don’t know. But, I don’t think we are equipped to deal with it.”
“I know,” Rion agreed weakly. “But, I can’t…I can’t let her go. I can’t let them take her away and not know if she is OK, or being cared for.”
“What are you going to do for her?”
At that moment, Rion hated Shep for asking the question that she couldn’t answer. She shrugged pathetically. “Care.”
“What if that’s not enough?”
Rion felt like her heart was bleeding. “I will fight for her until they take her away from me. And they will have to arrest me to stop it.” She looked at Shep waiting for him to argue with her. His green eyes searched hers without judgment or pity. After a moment, he nodded.
“I get it. I’ll help you as much as I can. But—but I won’t go to jail.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to.” Together, they listened to Beckett splash in the tub. Every so often they could hear faint growls and grunts.
“And I won’t stand by and do nothing, or help, if I think either of you are going to be seriously injured or killed.”
Rion knew, as much as she disliked it, she needed that. “Thank you.”
The doorknob to the bathroom turned and the door creaked open. Both she and Shep held their breaths until a tiny hand darted out and snatched the clothes Rion had left for her. A
few moments later, the door opened again, and Beckett scurried back into the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.
“What do we do now?” Shep asked.
Rion shook her head. “Feed it?” she finally asked. She didn’t realize her slip until Shep put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
Rion made a plate for Beckett. She fixed the kid a peanut butter sandwich and added a handful of pretzels. I wonder I if I should be giving her raw meat, she shuddered and felt guilty for her sarcasm. She set the plate outside the bedroom and knocked softly. “There’s some lunch out here,” she called through the door. As if Beckett could hear her, she waited until Rion had returned to Shep’s side before she opened the door.
She didn’t open the door wide enough for them to see inside, but Rion suspected she was hiding behind the door because the small hand slid around the side like a creeping snake. The hair on her arms stood on end. “At least she’s not attacking…I guess.”
“I wonder why?” Shep asked.
Rion shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s calming down?” She knew it was wishful thinking. And Shep apparently agreed because he gave her a sad glance. She suddenly felt exhausted. Her body was sleep deprived and it felt like her soul had just ran a marathon. It clearly showed.
“Why don’t you lay down? You didn’t sleep at all last night.”
Rion wanted to argue, but she didn’t have the energy for it. She glanced at Kerry—still sound asleep. The woman barely took up any room on the futon. “OK. But, you promise to wake me up if anything happens?”
“I promise.”
“OK.” Rion didn’t even bother changing. She was still wearing the pajama pants and tee-shirt from the night before. She sat on the edge of the bed and slid under the blankets. Kerry’s only reaction was to grunt and roll closer to her. Rion didn’t object, it actually felt nice to have the extra warmth against her side.
When she woke up, she felt like she had been asleep for ten years. Her head ached and her arm throbbed due to the fact that Kerry had rolled onto it. The woman’s blonde hair fanned across Rion’s chest and her head was resting against her shoulder. Her mouth felt full of cotton and she was nauseous. “Nunhhh” she groaned and tried to wiggle out from under Kerry.
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