As Mitch styled his hair, trying to get something similar to 90s David Duchovny, he felt a bit of a poser. It’s for the kid. He told himself silently, trying to picture the look of Dollie’s face when she saw him in his special occasion suit and a long dark coat.
What was Scully without Mulder after all?
Finally getting his hair as close as he was going to get it, he turned, pulling out his phone and hitting the speed dial. “Hey Aunt Cordy? Just letting you know I’m about to head your way.”
#
After a few knocks on the door it was opened by his aunt, already dressed in blue scrubs, rough brown hair in a ponytail. She looked sober.
Breaking into a smirk, Cordelia noted, “You’re a little dressed up for trick or treating, aren’t you?”
“It’s for the kid.” Mitch explained.
The kid in question was a nine-year-old dressed in the world’s tiniest gray pantsuit, including heels, a plastic pumpkin on her lap, and a sullen look on her face. At least until she saw her favorite cusion, then her face lit up.
“Excuse me,” Mitch teased, crouching down so that he was about the same size as her, “Agent Fox Mulder, F. B. I. I’m looking for my partner. About yea high, red hair, somehow found the world’s tiniest heels.” Breaking character for a moment, he added, “Seriously, where did you find heels that small?”
Dollie squealed, leaping from the couch, and hugging her cusion, letting her pumpkin fall to the ground. “Thank you, Mitch! Thank you, thank you!” She pulled back, “We are going to have the best costumes ever!”
If anyone even knows who we are. Thank you, local television station, for constantly airing a show that ended before either of them was even alive and being the only channel his aunt consistently got. Maybe he should convince his parents to pay for a decent cable package for them.
“Alright agents,” Aunt cut in, lowering herself to kiss her daughter goodbye, then hugged Mitch briefly, whispering in his ear, “I owe you one.”
“Don’t sweat it.” Mitch whispered back. Was it annoying having to miss all the Halloween parties to hang out with a bunch of fourth graders begging for candy? Yes. But it was Dollie. The kid had him wrapped around her tiny finger.
“Love you both.” Aunt Cordelia said as she headed out as she headed for the door.
Mitch turned to Dollie. “You ready to blow this pop stand?”
#
Mitch spent the better park of the next two being dragged up to every house in town by his ‘partner’ who held tight to his hand. Some people even knew who they were.
“You need some help there?” Mitch offered as they were walking back to the car. The kid had gotten a pretty good hull, and well, she was in heels.
“No thanks, I got it.” Dollie said, struggling to keep the pumpkins in her hands by the plastic strap. “Hey, do you think we could show Noa our costumes?”
“Mmmm, sorry kiddo,” Mitch replied sincerely, “She had to work tonight.” Pulling his phone from his coat, he said, “Tell you what, though. Why don’t we get a picture for her, and I can show her tomorrow?”
Dollie grinned from ear to ear. “Alright.”
Sitting his phone’s camera to selfie mode, he flipped it around. “Okay, scoot in here.”
Dollie complied, and they snapped the picture. “Alright,” Mitch encouraged before examining his handy work. “Nice work. Now, pose for me.”
Dollie folded her arms and posed very seriously.
“Alright, alright,” Mitch grinned getting really into it and he took multiple pictures. “Gillian Anderson’s got competition if they try another reboot.”
Dollie giggled as he took one more picture. “Now, it’s your turn.”
“What?” Mitch responded, needing a moment to realize what she meant.
“I’ll be careful with the phone; I promise.” Dollie pleaded.
“Alright,” Mitch said, handing her the phone, “You remember how to work it?”
“Yeah.” Dollie said, before taking a picture. “Now you pose for me.”
“Okay how?” Mitch asked, “This is your show, remember?”
“Try putting your hands on your hips, like Mulder did in Humbug.” Dollie suggested.
Although he had no clue what she was talking about, Mitch did as he was told. Dollie seemed satisfied with his performance, taking a picture, and then handing him the phone.
At that point, several things happened in very close succession.
First, a red car carrying about five teenagers pulled up. The driver, a blonde young man dressed in black and white suit and clear raincoat spritzed with fake blood, stuck his upper half out of the car. “Hey Campbell! I barely recognized you! What are you supposed to be, a tax accountant?”
“Hey, Russ,” Mitch called out, “How was the party?”
However, before Russ could answer, the second thing happened. Light cut through the night sky, bright enough to grab all their attention and cause the teens and grade-schooler to look to the sky.
High above them in the sky, there appeared to be four large balls of light, swirling around in the sky. They couldn’t see what it was attached to-it was too high up-but they were there, and they were spinning past when the group was parked, causing them to freeze, their hearts beating. However, whatever it was just went over them, continuing through the night sky.
“What in the—” One of the girls in the car, done up in zombie makeup, deadpanned.
However, the world’s youngest X-Phile sprinted away, taking after the lights.
“Dollie!” Mitch called out of her, sprinting after her and manage to grab her, lifting herself in his arms, “What are you thinking?!”
“I want to see where it goes!” Dollie exclaimed, struggling in her cousin’s grasp.
“And then what?” Mitch questioned.
“We’ll think of something then!” Dollie replied, still struggling.
“What do you mean ‘we’?” Mitch responded.
A girl in zombie make up stuck her head out of the car, “Uh, do you need help with her?”
“No, I got her!” Mitch assured them.
Dollie settled down. “You’d come with me, wouldn’t you?”
Mitch froze for a minute, then sat her down. “Of course, I would, “He crouched down, so he was at her level, “but we’re not exactly prepared here, are we? And you’re not even old enough to drive. I’d be a pretty sucky partner if I just took you off into danger, wouldn’t I?”
Dollie seemed to think about that for a minute. “I guess.” She admitted rather begrudgingly.
“Sorry, agent.” Mitch said sincerely, “You’re not ready for this mission yet.”
#
The next day, the lights were all anyone could talk about.
Everyone at school had a story about it. How they saw it coming home from trick or treating. How their mom called the police, or their dad pulled out the telescope. How the neighbors had come over. Everyone had a theory. Half of them involved aliens.
The teachers talked about it when they thought they couldn’t hear. But Dollie had always been very good at listening.
She was drawing pictures of the lights when the bell rang to go home.
“Alright,” Her teacher said, “Don’t forget about your math homework.”
Dollie went to the front of the school building with the others, looking for her mom’s car. She had been working the night shift at the hospital, so that meant she was picking her up. Then Mitch would get her after practice.
Only she didn’t see the car. Had Mom forgotten her again?!
Dollie was old enough to figure out her family unit wasn’t exactly normal. It wasn’t normal for your mother to have weird glass bottles in her hand all the time. It wasn’t normal for her to fight with your aunt about it constantly. It wasn’t normal to get shuffled back between your house and your aunt and uncle’s. It wasn’t normal for a nine-year-old to be obsessed with a classic 90s Sci-Fi show.
It wasn’t normal for you to have no dad at all. Even if he didn’t live with you, he was supposed to be somewhere.
Eventually she admitted the ugly truth that her mother wasn’t coming and sat down by the curb to wait for Mitch.
#
As he felt his head hit the sides of his helmet’s padding, Mitch was starting to question the quality of the team’s safety gear.
The coach had been in a mood ever since he realized one of their safeties hadn’t shown up. In stereotypical high school football coach fashion, he had been taking it out on the rest of them, running drill after drill again.
“On your feet Campbell!” The coach bellowed as Mitch was already halfway up, “Alright, that’s enough for today. Hit the lockers!” As Mitch walked back, he tapped his arm saying, “And Campbell. Tell your buddy if he pulls another stunt like this, he’s benched.”
“Sure thing, coach.” Mitch said awkwardly. Next time I see Russ, I’m going to kill him. I actually might kill him. It’d be the right thing to do.
However, when he saw the raven-haired girl in a beige cable knit sweater standing at the stadium entrance smiling at something on her phone, his mood instantly lifted. As he got closer, she turned the phone around, revealing the picture of Dollie he took the night before. “This is cute. This is stinking cute.”
Mitch tried to smile. “You’ll have to be sure to tell her that.”
As the couple walked up, Noa said, “I take it things didn’t go well at practice.”
“Eh, Russ didn’t show up to practice again.” Mitch admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, “Didn’t put coach in the best mood.”
“How many times is that now?” Noa asked, sounding a little concerned.
Mitch couldn’t blame her; he was getting worried too.
“Fifth.” Mitch said, “And they’re getting closer together. If he wasn’t good, I think coach would cut him.” After a beat, he added, “The thing is, I saw him last night, at least for a minute, just before all that craziness with the lights, he was fine.” After a beat he added, “He’s fine in every other way, he just keeps missing practice.” After another beat, he asked, “Has he said anything to you?”
In the time their conversation took place, the couple had excited the football field and were heading towards a red jeep on the parking lot with dent in the back bumper. The dent wasn’t Noa’s fault, her parents had brought it for her used after she got the MacDonalds’ job. The dent had been from the first owner. As for Mitch, well, he was secure enough in his masculinity to accept rides from his girlfriend.
“Speaking of the craziness with the lights,” Noa said as she got in the driver’s side, “I bet Dollie loved that.”
“Oh, yeah,” Mitch confirmed with smirk, “Kid thought she had her first case…”
#
Noa kept the car running while Mitch knocked on the front door. He waited a few moments. No response. He tried again; a pit began to form in his stomach.
Maybe she just didn’t hear me. He knocked again harder, this time calling out. “Aunt Cordy, it’s me, Mitch! I’m here to pick up Dollie!” Even if his aunt was passed out, maybe Dollie would get the door.
He just hoped Dollie hadn’t seen anything.
By that time, Noa had turned the jeep off and was approaching. “What’s going on?”
“Something’s not right.” Mitch said with a shake of his head. He could feel it. He tumbled for his key, opening the door.
The living room was dark and quiet, the light that managed to get through the tatty, diaphanous curtains illuminated or cast shadows against the faded mid-century furniture, giving the place an eerie feel to it.
And no Dollie in sight.
“Dollie?!” Mitch called out, marching through the living room, “Aunt Cordelia?!”
That was when they heard a groan from the kitchen. Following it, they found Cordelia face down in the floor, groaning as she regained consciousness. On top of a pale-yellow Formica table covered with stains, was a red-stained highball glass and an empty bottle of cherry schnapps.
As the teenagers crouched down on the floor to help the woman into a sitting position, Mitch quickly put together what must have happened, a new panic rising in him. “You didn’t pick Dollie up from school, did you?”
Cordelia rubbed her temples, no doubt hungover and in pain, but the look of alarmed recognition in her face told Mitch all he needed to know.
He lept to his feet, biting back at curse and everything his mother always yelled when she snapped at her sister or tried to get her help. Now was not the time. “Noa, get some coffee in her and call my mom. I need to use your car.”
“Wait, you don’t—” Noa began.
“We’ll worry about that later,” Mitch snapped, “Right now Dollie’s alone, and probably scared, and-and—” His voice trailed off just as Noa tossed him the keys. He tumbled the catch a bit but managed to keep the keys in his hands.
“Thank you.” Mitch breathed, before running for the door.
#
Mitch skidded to a stop in the nearly deserted school parking lot, taking up too parking spaces and barely taking the time to turn the jeep off before leaping out and running through the front doors and up to the front office, startling a young woman dressed in tweed.
“Sorry,” He apologized quickly, “I’m looking for Dol–Dorothy Harris, I’m her cusion, Mitch Campell, my family’s authorized to pick her up.”
“Alright,” The secretary began, pulling something up on the computer, “Let me just double check this and call the teacher on duty. I thought all the kids had been picked up for today…” After looking at the computer, she picked up the phone, “Phillis? This is Natalie from the front office. I got Dorothy Harris’ cousin here to pick her up.” She was quiet for a long moment, then said, “I see. Thanks Phillis.” She hung up and addressed Mitch, “Phillis said the last students waiting was just picked up. Are you sure no one else picked her up?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” Mitch insisted, “Her mom was supposed to pick her up and I was supposed to bring her over to our place but….” His voiced trailed, “It didn’t happen.”
The secretary—Natalie—paled slightly. “Alright, I see here your mom and dad are also permitted to pick her up. Do you have a cell phone?”
“Of course I do.” Mitch answered tersely.
Natalie got up. “Call your parents, make sure neither of them have her, I am going to talk to my boss and see if anyone knows where she is.” After a beat she added, “If we can’t find her, we’ll need to call the police.”
#
Fifteen minutes later, Mitch was sitting in a police station dazed, talking to two officers, a man and a woman, trying to tell him everything that happened up to the point the principle called them.
Missing. That was the word everyone was using. Missing. Dollie was missing. It kept bouncing back and forth in his head. This couldn’t be happening.
“Is this normal for your aunt to forget to pick up Dorothy?” The policewoman, a taller, lean woman with blonde hair pulled back in a bun, asked.
“It’s happened a few times.” Mitch admitted, “Usually she’s waiting by the curb. “After a beat he remembered, “I mean, one she walked home, but Aunt Cordy told her not to do that again, and I told her to call me or Mom if it happened again…”
She knew to call him. She knew that he would always come to get her.
“Has anybody talked to her?” Mitch asked suddenly, “Aunt Cordy?”
“We have officers getting her statement right now.” The police man, a dark-skinned man with close cut hair assured her.
“She—she does love her, you know?” Mitch began for some reason, “She’s just got issues. Dollie’s dad split before she was born, took all the money…Aunt Cordy just had a hard time copping after that, you know…”
Why was he talking like this? This wasn’t important right now! And why was he defending his aunt’s poor life choices? That hardly mattered now either!
But he just couldn’t stop.
“We’re sure she does, Mitch.” The policewoman assured her, “Do you think your cousin might have walked home anyway?”
“No.” Mitch insisted, shaking his head, “No, she’s smart, she knows better. If you explained something to her, you didn’t have to tell her anything more than once.”
“And you explained why she shouldn’t try to walk home by herself?” The policewoman guessed.
“Yeah, that she could get hit by a car, and that there are creeps out there.” Mitch explained, starting to get impatient. How did this help them find her?
“Aside from your aunt’s drinking, were there any other issues at home?” The policeman asked, “Is Dorothy the type to run away?”
“The type to—” Mitch repeated, “She’s nine! No, Dollie wouldn’t run away. She—” His voice trailed off as another possibility occurred to him.
“What is it?” The policeman questioned.
“Alright, you know those lights last night?” Mitch responded. Before either of them could answer, he continued, “Dollie’s really into this sci-fi show from the 90s, you know, The X-Files? Aliens, conspiracies, all that stuff.” He paused, needing to breathe. “She tried to follow those last night, but I wouldn’t let her.”
“Just to make sure I understand you right, you think she could have gone of… investigating the lights?” The policewoman questioned, sounding like she couldn’t believe she had to say that.
Mitch wanted to say no. Dollie really wasn’t the type to run off. But he couldn’t be sure she hadn’t. Not after last night. Mitch rubbed his face before saying, “I don’t know. Maybe.”
When they finally finished with his statement, they walked him out to where his parents were waiting, both looking exhausted and stressed. Before he could say anything, his mother had his arms around him. It didn’t feel good. It didn’t feel bad either. It didn’t feel like anything.
When she finally broke the embrace, Mitch asked, “What do we do now?” There had to be something they could do. Search or something.
“Your dad’s been calling around, trying to get a search together, see if anyone’s seen her.” His mom answered, almost vibrating. “We’re going to find her, honey.” She said it like she had to believe it. Like she couldn’t let herself believe there was any other outcome.
Mitch couldn’t let himself believe any other outcome either.
They were going to find her. And she was going to be alright.
#
They trudged through the woods in a group of four, Mitch, his mom, Noa and Russel, all armed with flashlights and calling Dollie’s name.
His dad and Aunt Cordelia, and the team’s tight ends were covering the town, knocking on doors, showing Dollie’s picture to anyone who would talk to them. In case Dollie had gone after the lights after all, the rest of them had taken to the woods, splitting up into two groups to cover it. You find out who your friends are when your cousin goes missing.
“Dollie!” Mitch called out again.
“Dollie!” Noa repeated, shining her flashlight across the woods as the sun set.
“Dollie!” Russ called out, turning his head anxiously.
Mitch couldn’t blame him.
Their cacophony continued, their light carefully shining on everything in hopes of finding clues.
Mitch almost missed it, but then he saw the scrap of sepia-colored wool hanging from the tree. “Hey, stop a minute, I think I found something.”
Everyone froze, the beams of their flashlights going to where Mitch’s beam landed. He stepped closer, pulling it, examining the green stars dotting it. “Mom, look at this.”
He came closer, examining the cloth as well.
“How did you even see that?” Russ balked, color draining from his face.
Mitch voiced what they were both thinking. “Doesn’t Dollie have a …sweater or something that looks like this?”
“Everybody stay where you are, I’m calling Jack and Cordy, they can get the cops here.” His Mom said, taking out her phone.
As she did that, Mitch shined his light on the ground. His boy scout tracking skills were a bit rusty, but he could see smears in the direct and few inches away from there looked to be footprints, a mix of large and small feet, like someone had been being chased.
Mitch’s insides plummeted and before anyone knew what was happening, he started to run after the tracks, shouting his cousin’s name.
“Mitch!” His Mom shouted; a cry repeated by Noa as they started after him themselves.
Mitch didn’t even hear them. He just kept running, shouting for Dollie, looking every which way.
“Dollie, it’s me!” He cried out, “It’s Mitch!” He painted, “Dollie, answer me!”
She was here. She was somewhere in this forest, cold and frightened and alone. He had to find her.
He skidded to a stop as he came to a clearing. “Dollie!” He shouted whirling around, “Dollie!” He could faintly hear people calling after him, something about him losing his mind, but he didn’t care about that. All that mattered was Dollie.
Noa’s voice managed to break through. “Guys look.”
That got his attention enough to follow Noa’s flashlight beam, eyes landing on a large, bumpy and sharp gray rock. A rock that was smeared with someone’s blood.
#
If they couldn’t find the body, she might be still alive.
At least that’s what Mitch told himself, staring up at the ceiling of his room, not sleeping.
After the cops showed up, they cordoned off the aera, and spread out, looking for Dollie. He overheard them saying something about signs of a struggle. Around daybreak they sent the family home, assuring them they would keep them informed of developments. His mom made him go to bed, but he couldn’t sleep. If the lowered, tense voices from behind his door was any indication, he wasn’t the only one.
Even if he couldn’t sleep, he also couldn’t find the will to get up either. His body felt too heavy, and everything around just felt too unreal. All he could manage was just staring up at the ceiling as the world buzzed around him.
“Don’t ‘hey now’ me, Robert! I’m going to kill her! I’m going to kill her and it will be the right thing to do!”
She didn’t mean it. No one ever meant it. It was just a family saying. He didn’t know how it started, but his mom had used it, his grandparents used it, Aunt Cory used it.
“Gracie, I know you’re upset—”
“Upset! Dollie is missing! Maybe even—” Her voice trailed off, and Mitch could swear he heard crying.
As he listened, unable to move, but so desperately wanting to move at the same time, the most random memories started to go off in his mind.
Dollie in her Scully costume, carrying her plastic pumpkin and balancing on her tiny heels.
The musky smell of Noa’s perfume.
Dollie twirling around in her light brown pinafore.
The shocked, shattered look on his Aunt’s face when she heard what they found.
He sat up in the bed, moving his feet to the cold floor. He couldn’t just lay here. It was getting him nowhere. He slowly opened the door, his mom crying becoming louder, even as something about it felt…off. Like this was all some sort of stimulation. Still, he gravitated towards it, the floor still ice under his bare feet. Why was everything so cold?
He found them in the living room; his father wrapped around his mother as she sobbed, the man’s broad back almost completely blocking her from view. They didn’t even seem to notice him for a minute, then his father looked in his direction, eyes glassy, as if he had was trying to hold back his own tears.
Mitch gapped, not knowing what to say. At least, for some reason he said, “Uh, where’s Aunt …” He suddenly seemed to forget his own aunt’s name.
“I think she’s in Dollie’s room.” His father told him, “She’s—well, you can imagine.”
Mitch nodded, slowly turning back around. He slowly walked down the hall, stopping at a closed door, slowly opening it.
Since Dollie was a baby, his aunt had been on swing shift, night shifts, any shift she could get. It led to Dollie spending a lot of nights at their house instead of her own home. By the time she was five, his mom decided to recreate the guest room as Dollie’s bedroom.Right now, the room had an espresso brown painted wrought iron bed they had thrifted and redone, a dresser covered with stickers of different cyrtids and pictures of locations she wanted to go to someday. Glow in the dark stars dotting the ceiling in Dollie’s favorite constellations. A I Want To Believe poster on the wall Mitch found at Walmart and just had to get for her.He still remembered the way she squealed and hugged him. It had made her so happy. He would do anything to see her happy.
Now he would just settle for getting her back.
Aunt Cordy was sitting on the bed, staring at the wall blankly. “I thought I could find her here,” She said, her voice hollow and weepy, “I thought that I could come in here and she would be waiting, or I could find some clue and I could find her but…” Her voice trailed off as she started to cry.
Suddenly Mitch felt a horrid rage bubbling in him like poison. He couldn’t even articulate why he was angry, but he just wanted to take the woman and shake her and scream. Was this how his mom felt all the time?
Before he did something he’d regret, he turned around and walked out, slamming the door.
This was going to be a long day.
#
He didn’t recognize Noa and her mother when they came in.
“I understand if you don’t want us to stay long.” Mrs. Bolger, Noa’s mom explained, setting down the casserole on the wrap-around counter in their kitchen, “But I couldn’t just not check in, and, well…” She looked down awkwardly at her casserole dish, “I highly doubt any of you feel like eating but at the same time you need to keep up your strength.”
“It’s a sweet gesture, Eudora,” His mom was assuring her.
While all this was going on, Mitch just stared up at the wall clock just above where Mrs. Bolger had placed the casserole. It was one of those old-fashioned ones shaped like a black cat, its tail going back and forth, back and forth. It seemed as if it was mocking him, just going back and forth, back and forth…”
Suddenly, he felt someone sitting next to him, someone saying, “Probably a dumb question, but how are you holding up?”
He startled a little, going up in the chair.
“Whoa, sorry babe,” Noa began, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No, it’s-it’s—” He shook his head. He wanted to say it was okay, but how could anything ever be okay again?
That was when Noa wrapped her arms around him and just held him.
#
As the sun set that day, two things happened very close together.
The lights came back. Four of them, bright yellow and swirling through the sky. They shone down on the police still coming the woods. They shone down on people in their houses, only vaguely aware of the tragedy.
They shone down on a heavy-set man driving down the road in a rusty blue truck. He slowed, gapping as the light passed over him. Once they were gone, he gunned the gas, wanting to reach the safety of town as quickly as possible.
He was so fast he almost hit the figure that appeared in the middle of the road, illuminated by his headlights. He hit the break just in time, biting back a curse. Then he saw what the figure was.
Standing in what looked like a blue hospital gown of some kind, was a little girl with short red hair, her eyes dazed.
The man pulled over, jumping out of the car, crouching down in front of her, only for her to pull away.
“It’s alright, sweetheart, I’m not going to hurt you.” He soothed, then he realized, “Hey, you’re the girl everyone’s been looking for, aren’t you?”
Dollie just opened her mouth, gapping. “Huh?”
Taking off his jacket, the man draped it around her. “Alright, I’m going to call 911, and we’re going to get you to a hospital, okay?”
#
“There’s not a mark on her.”
This is what Mitch overheard the doctor in the long white coat say, talking with his parents and Aunt Cordelia. He was currently standing in the doorway, trying to hear what was being said, turning his head to look where Dollie was taking a well-earned nap, curled up on top of the hospital bed in an almost fetal position.
The police had called them four hours ago, saying that Dollie had been found. She was scared, confused, in nothing but a thin gown, but she was completely unharmed. Ever since then it had been a litany of tests and examinations and police interviews trying to figure out what had happened.
According to Dollie the last thing she remembered was sitting down to wait for him to come get her, and the next thing she knew she was standing in a small thicket near the road. Everything in between was blank.
“But we found some things that we can’t explain.” The doctor was saying as another doctor in another long white coat took what looked like an X-Ray picture out of a manila file.
Mitch stepped out, trying to get a closer look.
“What’s that there?” Aunt Cordelia asked worriedly.
Mitch leaned in, and he could see on the X-Ray there was a large shadow in a rough circle.
“That’s the thing,” The doctor was saying, “We don’t know. It doesn’t look like a tumor, or an aneurysm. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that the bone was bruised.”
“Can that sort of thing happen?” Mitch’s mother spoke up.
“It’s possible, but…if something like that happened with the skull, you’d expect injuries, brain damage…but there’s nothing. She’s perfectly healthy.”
“If she’s perfectly healthy, can’t I just take her home, please?” Aunt Cordelia asked.
When Mitch saw his mom gaping, he turned to look at Dollie, who started to stir. After a few moments she slowly opened her eyes.
“Hey,” Mitch smiled at her, leaning closer to her, “How are you feeling?”
“Better, I guess,” Dollie answered, uncurling her body, sitting up. “What are they saying?”
Mitch paused, wondering how much to tell her.
“Don’t baby me, Mitchell Campbell.” Dollie snapped, furrowing her brow and folding her arms.
“They said that you’re, okay, physically, okay, that’s the first thing you need to know.” Mitch told him, “But there’s this weird spot on your brain. Now, the doctors say it’s not hurting you, it’s just freaking them out, because they don’t know what it is.”
Dollie shifted in the hospital bed. “If they don’t know what it is, how do they know it’s not hurting me?”
Mitch paused a moment, not knowing what to say to that. However, that was when the doctors in their parents came back in.
#
Sitting in the back of the car with Dollie as they all drove down the street, Mitch gazed at her, not wanting to let him out of his sight for even a moment.
“Mitch, you’re staring.” Dollie told him, turning to him and looking annoyed.
“Sorry, kid, it’s just…” Mitch began, trying to think of way to explain what he was feeling in a way to explain that she would understand. “I’m just not ready to take my eye off you yet.” He knew it was ridiculous, but he felt as if, if he would turn his head away for even a second, she would disappear again.
That was when they pulled into the driveway. Everyone, him, his parents, Dollie got out wordlessly, herding together as they headed to the front door, surrounding Dollie without even meaning to until they got to the front door.
“Are you hungry, baby?” His mom asked Dollie as she unlocked the door.
“Um, yeah, I guess.” Dollie said awkwardly.
Mitch didn’t think Dollie knew what to do with herself, with all this attention on her. Not to mention how shocking and confusing whatever happened had been.
“We can order pizza, or we have some leftover casserole…” His mom was saying.
Dollie’s face lit up. “Can we go to MacDonalds? Please?”
Taking the hint, Mitch explained, “She wants to see Noa.” After a beat he added, “I can take her.” He knew they had to be just as exhausted as he was, if not more.
“We should still go with you…” His dad began.
“Actually, Robert, maybe they should go their own.” His mom said, “We have some things we need to talk about.”
Mitch wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that. And from the look on her face, neither did Dollie.
#
Noa’s manager must have heard about what happened, because he didn’t say anything when Noa rushed from her spot behind the cash register, meeting Mitch and Dollie at the door, before crouching down to hug the girl.
“You’re squishing me!” Dollie protested, squirming in the older girl’s grasp.
“I’m sorry,” Noa responded, pulling away and running her fingers through Dollie’s hair, “I’m just really happy to see you. How are you?”
“Hungry.” Dollie said.
Mitch couldn’t help but smirk a little, and Noa chuckled. “Okay, well, I think we can do something about that.”
After paying for the happy meal and sitting Dollie down with it in clear view, Mitch updated Noa on everything.
“Anyway, she’s going to be staying with us for a little bit.” Mitch finished, looking back where Dollie was scarfing down chicken nuggets. “My aunt’s bringing her stuff over later.”
“And what about your aunt?” Noa asked, “Does that mean she’s staying with you too?”
“I don’t think so.” Mitch said, looking back at Dollie and then turning back to Noa, lowering her voice, “I think this might have been the last straw for my parents.”
“What do you mean?” Noa asked.
“Come on, Noa, you know how my aunt is.” Mitch began, “She just had to pick up her daughter from school one day and the kid disappeared. Because she—” He could fill that poison bubbling up in him again.
“Babe, breath,” Noa urged.
Mitch took a deep breath, then exhaled. “When my aunt asked if she could take her home, I could see Mom starting to get upset. Next thing I know, Dollie’s coming home with us. Then Mom okayed me bringing Dollie here by myself so that they could ‘talk alone’.”
Noa let air out through her teeth. “Never a good thing when adults want to talk alone.”
“I know,” Mitch began. Looking and seeing Dollie was about finished, he said, “I better get her back home. Thanks for listening, babe.”
“Anytime.” Noa began, “Oh, and have you called Russ back?”
“Back?” Mitch repeated.
“Yeah, he said he tried calling you, but you weren’t answering.” Noa explained, “So he called me. He sounded upset.”
“I’ve had my phone on silent, I must not have heard him.” Mitch said, before turning around.
#
Russ had called him a lot.
Sitting in Dollie’s room while she read, Mitch scrolled through his call history, losing track of how many calls Rus had left him. He couldn’t really blame him for wanting to know how Dollie was doing. Especially after what they found during the search.
Thinking of the rock again got Mitch’s mind turning. If that blood wasn’t Dollie’s, whose was it? It couldn’t have come out of nowhere. That was her cardigan he had found, so why had it been there? And what about the tracks?
Something had happened in those woods.
Mitch sat the phone down. “Hey, Dollie, you want to come up here for a second?”
Dollie wordlessly put the book down and crawled onto her bed.
“Now, I know you don’t remember anything, but” Mitch began, “Do you have any idea why you would have been in the woods?”
Dollie shook her head. “It’s like I told the police lady. I sat down to wait for you and that’s the only thing I remember. “Dollie didn’t say anything, then asked soberly, “They said they found something in the woods. What did they find?”
Mitch paused again, not sure if he should tell her.
“You’re babying me again, Mitch.” Dollie said, crossing her arms.
“I found a piece of your sweater.” Mitch answered, “And then, there were tracks, like….” His voice trailed off. She didn’t need to hear this. Then she furrowed her brow.
“We found tracks.” Mitch said, “Two sets. It was like someone was chasing and then….” He swallowed thickly. We found this rock and it had blood on it. We thought…”
Fortunately for him, Dollie must have caught on. “You thought that it was my blood?”
Mitch nodded.
“But I’m fine.” Dollie insisted, “They all said I was fine.”
“Yeah,” Mitch agreed. Except for that weird mark on your skull. Mulling this over, Mitch reached out, putting a thumb on the sport where the mark was supposed to be. Suddenly, he wondered if it was big enough for the rock to have made it.
“Ah, Mitch,” Dollie asked, “What are you doing?”
Mitch pulled his hand back, shaking his head. “I don’t even know.” That made no sense. If she had been hit by a rock, there would have been a lot more damage than a weird bruise on her bone.
That was when Dollie noticed his phone. “Who are you calling?”
“You remember Russ from the team?” Mitch said, “We ran into him Halloween.” After a beat he asked, “You do remember Halloween, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Dollie said slowly, looking like she was about to puke.
Mitch sat up. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I just…feel queasy all of a sudden.” Dollie said, shifting uncomfortably.
Mitch gestured with his hands. “Come on, why don’t you lie down for a little bit.” It had been a long day for her, on top of whatever had come before. No wonder the kid was sick.
She did, closing her eyes. Her face was still contorted, like she was scared.
His heart breaking, Mitch laid down next to her. “It’s okay kid. You’re my partner, and I’m not leaving you.”
#
Mitch wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, or how long he had been asleep, but when he woke up, it was to shouting.
“You can’t do this! She’s, my daughter!”
As he groggily rose up, Dollie shot up, looking around, alarmed.
“Wait here,” Mitch told her, “I’ll be back, okay?”
Dollie responded by grabbing at his arm, burying her face into his shoulder.
“We’ve been on the phone with a lawyer, and I assure, we most certainly can!”
Okay, maybe I can figure out what’s going on from here. Mitch thought, hugging Dollie. Okay, so it looked like his parents and his aunt for fighting. Nothing much different there. But why was his mom talking to lawyers? That couldn’t be anything good.
He could hear started to speak. “Gracie, this isn’t helping, and the kids are going to hear—”
Okay, so everyone was on their marks. Cordelia Harris in the role of semi-functional alcoholic and ungrateful sister. Grace Darrow Campbell in the role of frustrated younger sister who was constantly cleaning up her big sister’s messes. Robert Campbell as referee.
Still didn’t explain the lawyer.
It didn’t sound like Aunt Cordelia was going down without a fight. “You know what? This is so typical of you! No, you always think you know better than everyone else, certainly you know more about raising my own child than I do!”
For a moment there was tense silence.
Then the explosion that had probably been coming for years happened.
“YOU’RE NOT RAISING HER! We’ve been raising her while you’ve been losing every job I can scrape up for you because either you showed up drunk or you don’t show up at all because you’re passed out! And you think I think I know better than anyone else! Who refused to listen when Mom, Dad, and me were all begging you not to quit nursing school? They were okay with you marrying Henry, even though they didn’t like him that much, just don’t quit school.”
In spite of himself, Mitch’s ears pricked up. He had never heard this part of the story.
“But did you listen?! No! And not even three years later you were knocked up with no qualifications, no job history, and no money since he took it all when he ran off with his mistress! And instead of grieving and dealing with it you fell into a bottle, and I tried—we all tried to get you help, we offered to pay for therapy, I offered to pay for rehab, I drove you to AA, I begged, I pleaded. But your daughter was waiting for you to pick her up and you were passed out! You want to keep making a mess of your life and drink yourself, to death, fine! But I will be damn if I let you take that little girl down with you!”
Mitch and Dollie sat there, in the room, frozen. It was as if the entire world had frozen.
Then the phone rang.
#
How was this happening again?
How was Mitch back in the police station again with more cops questioning him? How had someone else gone missing?
“Had Russ been acting different in anyway lately?” The officer interviewing him asked.
“Well, he had been missing practice a lot.” Mitch said, feeling stupid for even bringing it up. What did that have to do anything? “Coach was getting really angry about it. Said he was going to bench him it happened again.”
There was something different in the police’s manner this time. They were professional, still nice, but there was just…something he couldn’t put his finger on it. And their questions were different too, just a little. Like they thought Russ had done something wrong. Maybe it was just because Russ was older.
“Mitch,” The other office, who was the male officer that had interviewed before, began, “How well did Russ know Dollie?”
“Ah, he really just knew her through me.” Mitch answered, not sure that had to do with anything, “Sometimes we’d be hanging out, me and the guys from the team or something, and I’d bring her along. Sometimes I’d have to babysit, or she’d just want to see what the big kids were up to.”
“And when you’d do that, would Russ seem to pay special attention to Dollie?” The officer from before asked.
“Ah, I don’t know what that means.” Mitch admitted, confused.
“Like, would she spend a lot of time with her, or focus on her, maybe even be alone with her.” The officer elaborated.
A pit began to form in Mitch’s stomach. “No, I don’t think so. She wasn’t really alone with anyone…”
“Has Dollie every said anything to you about Mitch, good or bad?” The other officer asked.
Mitch thought about it. “Okay, so, Noa told me that Rus had been calling me ever since you found Dollie, but my phone was one silent. When I mentioned it to Dollie…she got weird.”
“Weird how?” The same officer asked.
“She said she didn’t feel good, sick…”
As he stammered out an answer, Mitch started seeing things in a new light. Missing practices. The calls after Dollie was found. And now he was missing?
All of it was starting to have a much darker tint.
Swallowing thickly, Mitch asked, “You think Russ tried to hurt Dollie, don’t you?”
#
Noa barely had time to park the Jeep before Mitch jumped out, marching towards the house.
“Mitch, you need to talk to me.” Noa insisted, following him. “What are you going to do?” Not for the first time, she regretted agreeing to take him to Rus’s house.
“Someone in that house has to have answers.” Mitch panted, still marching towards the side door that led to the kitchen.
It took a moment to realize what he meant. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Noa said, still following, “You can’t think his parents—”
“Knew their son was pervert?” Mitch cut her off, “Yeah, I can.”
“Mitch, think about this,” Noa reasoned, “If they knew, don’t you think they would do something about it?”
Now at the door, Noa trailed off as they heard a crash from inside. “They found pictures, Clyde! “A woman voice screamed, “Pictures of—”
Noa wasn’t sure if the door was unlocked, or if anger was just making Mitch that strong but he burst through the door with her hot on his heels.
What they found was a scene out of a melodrama. Rus’s mother had her mouth covered, sobbing, frizzy blonde hair a mess, while his dad was standing, his stern, angry, until he looked at the teens with surprise. Shards of pale green jadeite covered the ground.
“I don’t think they knew, Mitch,” Noa said in a hushed voice.
That was when Clyde spoke up. “You’re…you’re on the team with Rus, aren’t you? Micheal?”
“Mitchell.” He corrected him, seeming to have calmed down.
Rus’s mother raised her head, only to immediately start crying again.
Acting on instinct, Noa went over to the woman, gently putting her hands on her shoulders. “Alright, Mrs. Vedder, why don’t we just sit down for a minute, okay?” She pulled up a rustic chair, guiding the woman down to it. “Can one of you get her a glass of water? Please?”
Clyde Vedder cleared his throat awkwardly, opening a nearby cabinet and pulled out a jadeite coffee mug before filling it with water, before handing it to Noa. “Here.” she said, putting it in Mrs. Vedder’s hand.
The woman took a slow, shaky sip. “Thank you.”
Noa felt her heart crack and she didn’t know what to say. How did it feel to learn someone you raised was a monster? But there was at least one question she had to ask. For Mitch. For Dollie. “Mrs. Vedder, I know you’ve had a rough day…I know that’s a gross understatement, but…we’re trying to put things together ourselves, so I need to ask, when you say the police found pictures, what do you mean?”
According to Mitch, the police hadn’t confirmed his suspicions, said they couldn’t talk about an ongoing investigation. But they hadn’t exactly denied it either. Hopefully, even if they didn’t have a clue, they would have been more forthcoming with the boy’s parents.
Mrs. Vedder took a deep breath. “They said…they said…oh gah…it was kids. And they were…” She looked like she was going to break down again.
“It’s alright, we get the idea,” Noa assured her.
“It had to be some sort of mistake,” Clyde protested, “Russel wouldn’t do something like that.” He looked to the teens desperately, “You know him. You can’t be buying this, right?”
#
“Where have you been?!” Mitch’s mother exclaimed when he walked through the door with Noa.
Mitch couldn’t answer. He felt numb again, like he wasn’t in his body.
“We went to the Vedders’.” Noa answered, “We thought Rus’s parents might have some answers.”
His mother’s face contorted into a stricken, fallen look. “Oh. I see.”
Finally, something breaks through. “I’m sorry, Mom.” He said, his voice on the edge of tears. He couldn’t see for a moment; he had to whip his eyes. How could he have not seen this? How could he not protect her? “I’m sorry I let him near Dollie. I—”
“Hey, hey, hey,” His mom cut him off, running up to him and hugging him, “This is not your fault. I know you wouldn’t hurt Dollie for anything.”
What did that mean? Had Dollie been hurt? “Did he…”
His mom pulled back. “She says he didn’t. And when she was found the doctors did exams for…that kind of thing at the hospital just in case, and they didn’t find any evidence of it. “After a beat she added, “She’s been asking for you.”
Mitch and Noa walked into Dollie’s bedroom to see the girl in question sitting on her bed, Indian style. “Hey there,” He greeted her tentatively.
Dollie looked up, her eyes wide and confused.
“Look who’s here with me.” Mitch said, gesturing towards Noa.
“Hey, Noa,” Dollie said with a small smile.
“Hey, sweetie.” Noa said.
“Mitch, can I talk to you?” Dollie asked.
“You know you can.” Mitch assured her, climbing onto the bed.
Dollie glanced over at Noa.
Alarm came as it Mitch that Dollie was hopping to talk to him alone. “Give us a minute, Noa?” He asked, looking back at his girlfriend.
“Of course,” Noa agreed before stepping out.
Mitch turned back to Dollie. “Is this about Rus?” That wasn’t leading, was it? He didn’t know, he hadn’t done anything like this before.
Dollie fidgeted on the bed. “I was telling the truth when I said Rus didn’t do anything to me, but since they talked to me, I’ve been remembering things.”
Mitch’s heart plummeted. “What kind of things?” He rasped.
Dollie furrowed her brow. “They don’t all make sense. It’s like watching a movie out of order…”
“Tell me anyway, as best you can.” Mitch encouraged her gently, “Dollie, it’s me. You know you can tell me anything.”
After a moment, Dollie spoke. “I remember him coming up to me at school. Then I remember running through the woods and being really scared, but I can’t see who’s chasing me. Then I remember being in pain. A lot of pain. Then…” She squinched her face, looking she was actually in pain.
Mitch knew there was something more. “It’s alright. Go on.”
“I was surrounded by this…bright white light, and there were these…people, but I can’t make them out.” Dollie said, “They were talking in some language I couldn’t understand.” After a beat, she said, “That’s it. That’s everything.”
Mitch didn’t say anything for a minute, before pulling her into a hug. “Thank you for telling me.”
#
“What are we doing out here, Mitch?”
The question was asked by Noa as they walked along the trail to where they had found the rock.
Mitch had tried to leave it alone, really, he did. But he couldn’t stop thinking about what Dollie had told him. About what Mrs. Vedder had said. About Rus. Wondering how he had no clue.
“Rus brought her out here for a reason.” Mitch answered following what was left of the tacks after two days.
“Mitch, we’re not the cops,” Noa pointed out, “We could really cause a lot of trouble by being out here. We shouldn’t be out here.”
Mitch knew she was right. This wasn’t some kid detective story. But he thought of Dollie out here alone, being chased like an animal, and his feet wouldn’t stop moving. Couldn’t stop thinking about anything else then then the next step in front of him.
“Mitch, you’re not…” Noa’s voice called out to him, “You’re not going to do something you can’t take back, right? “
That broke the spell that seemed to be over him, causing Mitch to turn around. “I’m not going to hurt him. I don’t even think I’m going to find him. I just…I need to know what happened out there.”
Just then they arrived at the spot where Mitch had found the rock. The rock itself was gone, probably in some police evidence locker, but there were white marks on the ground, and the aera was still cordoned off by police tape. “I can’t believe I’m about to do this.” Noa declared, ducking under it.
Thank you. Mitch followed behind her, ducking under the tape and looking around. This was his first time being out here in the daylight. It looked different, clearer. It should look less ominous, but it didn’t. Not when he thought about what had happened there.
He turned, scanning everything in the aera, when he noticed another trail to the left. There was white paint on the trees, as if the police had marked it. Still, he had to see where it led. He walked towards it, ducking under the tape and slipping through the trees, so close he could feel them pressing against his chest.
#
The best Mitch could figure, they crept through the thin trail for about half an hour. It was a tight squeeze, both of them having to walk sideways. It was just the middle of the afternoon, but the trees were so thick that the only light they had was what could peak through the thick dark green canopy.
“Mitch, I really don’t think this is a good idea.” Noa told him, “We need to go turn back before we get ourselves lost in the woods.”
Mitch sighed. “You’re right. Let’s go.” He turned around when he was a tree on the other side with a large bump in the wood, like a gnarled boil. It looked old and there was something oddly familiar about it.
“Mitch?” Noa asked, sounding confused and concerned.
Then Mitch remembered what seemed so familiar about it. “You know, when we were kids, and we lived in the suburbs on the other side of town, me made this fort in the woods and there was this tree with the…exact…same… knot.” Then hit him. Rus had taken Dollie here for a reason.
“Noa, how close do you think we are to those suburbs?”
#
As they walked down the trail, Mitch’s rational mind knew this was a bad idea. Like, a really bad idea. They weren’t detectives. They weren’t even outdoor enthusiasts. They had no supplies, very little in the way of a plan.
But at the same time, the woods were becoming more familiar. Like there were memories deep in the recesses of his mind that he just couldn’t quite touch.
That was when they came to a tree with a sturdy, but old, dust covered tree house up in the branches, a rope ladder descending from it.
“Oh my…” Noa trailed off flatly, “What?”
Mitch got the impression Noa thought he was crazy before now. “Stay behind me,” He urged, hurrying up to the rope swing.
“What?!” He could hear her say, following behind, “Mitch, it’s time we go back, get the cops…”
“Don’t worry, I did this thousands of times as a kid.” Mitch reasoned, “This rope is perfectly safe.”
“You’re not a kid anymore,” Noa protested, “We found what you’re looking for. We have…errgh!”
Mitch felt a twinge of guilt as he felt the pull of her starting to climb. However, before he could turn back his head broke through the opening, and he found himself in a large one room structure covered with dush and dirt, almost blending in with the room. In spite of himself, he gasped. Except for the fading of age, it looked almost exactly like it did when they were kids.
He quickly got in, offering a hand to help Noa up. “You guys made this when you were in grade school?”
“Well, our dads helped.” Mitch admitted, “Well, my dad helped.” Now that he thought of it, he didn’t remember seeing Mr. Vedder around very much.
They walked forward, the wood squeaking, until Noa froze.
“Mitch, there’s something wrong with this one.” Noa told him.
Noa stepped back and Mitch pulled up the floorboard. Beneath it was a cardboard box. They reached down to open it, revealing pictures. Before either of them could really think about what they were doing, Noa picked one up. Her eyes widened, tears welling up in them. “Oh ….” The tears started streaming down her face.
“Babe, what—” He reached out to take it, but she pulled back.
“No, don’t,” Noa sobbed, “Trust me babe, you don’t want to see this.”
Mitch’s heart plummeted as he realized she was probably right. It was true. All of it was true! Suddenly there was the sound of screaming and his fist exploded in pain. He looked down to see his knuckles and part of his hand, scrapped and bleeding from where he had just hit the wall.
Sitting the box down, Noa walked over, covering his wounded hand with her sleeve. “Come on, we probably shouldn’t contaminate anything.” He looked up at her with concerned, dark eyes, “We need to go to the cops now, babe.”
For a moment they both stared at each other.
“Okay,” Mitch said, “Let’s go.”
They walked through the woods in tense silence until they heard the moaning. “Um, what’s that?” Noa asked, looking around.
Mitch looked around too. “Sounds like it’s coming from over there.” Thinking he needed to see, Mitch ran towards it.
“Mitch, what are you doing?!” Noa called out after him.
“Someone could be hurt!” Mitch called back. He knew that if it had been Dollie out here, he would want someone to come for her.
With Noa on his trail, Mitch followed the sound until he found a crumpled boy with blond hair at the base of a tree groaning, holding onto his leg.
Russel Vedder’s eyes widened in fear when he saw his former friend.
“You bastard!” Mitch screamed, lunging at Rus only for hands to grab him, pulling him back.
“Baby, baby, don’t take do anything you can’t take back.” Noa pleaded.
“Mitch, please!” Rus cried out, covering his face, “I can explain! Please, just let me explain….”
Blind with rage, Mitch fought harder against his girlfriend’s hold. “Did Dollie beg too?!” He screamed, “Huh?! Did she?!”
“Mitch, stop!” Noa shouted, and suddenly he felt himself being pulled away. Then he was flying through the air and falling back on the ground. Suddenly, he was looking out at Noa, her eyes wide, looking surprised and scared all at the same time.
That brought Mitch back to himself. “I’m sorry. I…I…” If Noa hadn’t stopped him, what would he have done.”
“I know,” Noa said, “But we can’t do that. We can’t be like him.”
Mitch nodded shitting up and filling his jacket pocket for his phone.
#
The wait for the cops was horrific. Rus kept trying to talk, to please his case, and Mitch kept screaming at him to shut up. In the end they all just sit on opposite trees, staring at each other.
“Why?” Mitch asked finally, glaring at Rus.
“Mitch—” Noa began.
“Why are you like this,” Mitch continued, barely registering she spoke, “How could you think about a little girl like that? Think about Dollie like that?” There had to be a reason. It couldn’t be a good one but there had to be some reason.
“I don’t know,” Rus mewed, “I can’t even remember when it started. I just started looking at them, and they were just so…so…beautiful. I felt things I never had before. And Dollie with that little carrot top, and that little walk she does…She knows what she’s doing man…it can’t be just me…”
Suddenly Mitch’s stomach started to turn. He jutted up, running behind the tree as hot bile crept up his throat, pushing his way into his mouth and forcing his lips open, spilling hot brown mush onto the ground. His knees shaking, he kept puking, barely able to stand. He felt like he was about to buckle under when he felt a hand on his shoulder rubbing his shoulders.
“Just breathe,” He could hear Noa whisper, “I got you.”
Finally, the endless stream of vomit stopped, and Mitch was about to look up. That was when it came into view.
Standing next to a tree, staring at Mitch and Noa with huge, inky black eyes, was a bi-pedal creature about Noa’s height. It was thin, with arms and legs just a bit too long, a bit too skinny, molted gray, a domed head, and too small mouth.
“W-what?” Mitch gasped, not comprehending what he was seeing. The world around him seemed to blur. He could vaguely hear Rus screaming again, could see color, but all he could see what the creature was staring at them. Like it was looking right into his very being.
The creature staired at them and they stared back, for how long Mitch didn’t know. It felt like forever. Then, slowly, the creature moved.
Instinct kicking in, Mitch charged, tackling the creature.
“Mitch!” Noa screamed.
Mitch wrestled with the creature on the ground in a mess of arms and legs, when suddenly—everything stopped, his world becoming white, his body feeling strange. It wasn’t a painful feeling, but it wasn’t entirely pleasant, either.
That was when everything went black.
#
As Mitch came to, he slowly opened his eyes, only to be blinded by a bright light. He closed his eyes for a moment, turning away, only to feel something tight cutting into his skin. Opening his eyes again, he glanced down and found himself laying on what looked like an operating table, a thick black strap across his chest and arms.
Panicking, he began to struggle, trying to kick, but his legs just wouldn’t move. “Help!” He called out, “Come body help me!”
That was when the shadows appeared, five humanoid figures, with long, thin fingers that reached out towards him.
Mitch futilely struggled, grunting. “No!
Suddenly a woman’s voice rang out in Mitch’s mind, breaking through the chaos. Stop. I know this boy.
Suddenly the lights turned off revealing a stark white room, and five beings identical to the one they saw in the wood surrounding the operating table. The doors zapped open, and a sixth creature walked into the room. It took a minute for Mitch to process it, but he realized they were dressed differently from the others. The other creatures were dressed in blue unitard-like outfits. This newcomer’s outfit was bright, cool white.
The creature in white walked up to Mitch, stopping just short of the table, before looking at the others, as if having a secret conversation.
“Hey!” Mitch snapped, still struggling with the restraints. “Care to let me in what’s going on?!”
The creature in white walked over to a consol on the far side of the room, hitting a button. Sudden the strap zapped back, freeing Mitch. He managed to get himself just as the creature in white approached, reaching out and touching Mitch’s forehead. The skin felt cool, but pleasant.
You were in the girl’s head. A brother, I think. A woman’s voice rang out in Mitch’s mind again. Then it clicked into place.
The creature. He was hearing the creature!
“H-How, how are you doing that?” Mitch demanded, still shocked and confused. This couldn’t really be happening.
No, a slightly more distance relation. The woman’s voice rang out again. However, you’re close. She loves you. She wanted you, when the other boy came. The evil one…
That was when it hit him. “Wait, you’re talking about Dollie, aren’t you? You—you know what happened to her. What-what Rus did…”
Mitchel, I think it would be better if I just showed you. She placed a flat palm to his head. This is how our people communicate. See how we saw it.
Suddenly it was like he was floating above the forest. He could see someone running through the trees. He peaked through it and saw a little girl on the ground, blood gushing from a gaping wound in her head, her eyes open, a groan coming from her mouth.
That was when he realized: This girl was dying.
He couldn’t let that happen. He scooped her up and called for the others. Someone prepare the medical wing…
Within seconds he was dematerialized and realized with the girl. There was a new voice, urgently demanding he lay her down on the table, the ship’s physician. His slender gray fingers slid over her white skin, her red blood.
The stabilization field had slowed the process, but the girl was still fading quickly. They needed to do something drastic.
Someone get a needle.
Next there was tube streaming green blood from one of the creatures, the Gree, Mitch realized. That was what they called themselves. The blood from a green was going into Dollie, as the doctor took something that looked like a flat remote and held it about Dollie’s head. Slowly, her bones began to fall back into place.
Suddenly vision cleared, and Mitch was standing in the room, surrounded by Gree.
“She…” Mitch began, “…You….”
The blood bought us time to fix her wound. She shouldn’t have any adverse effects; except she may be able to link into the hive mind.
“When you were done, why didn’t you just…” Mitch began.
We still didn’t want the humans to know about us, but we knew we had to return the girl. So, we left her someone where she would be found safe.
Mitch had to question the logic in that.
You believe we were wrong to do so, I think.
“Um, well, she still could have been hurt…” Mitch stammered, “She could have been hurt…”
Perhaps you have a point there. I gather that the boy who did that to her has been apprehended.
“Yeah,” Mitch confirmed, “We just called the police.” After a beat, it occurred to him they might not know what that was. “Those are the guys who arrest people like Rus.” After a beat, he asked, “So what happens now?”
His answer was another burl of white light, and it felt like he had dissolved again.
When he could see again, he found himself staring up at a dark night sky. But wait…it was the afternoon when they found Rus. Wasn’t it?
“Mitch!”
He looked up to find Nina, his mom and a couple of tight ends from the teens running towards him as he got himself off the ground, dushing himself off. “How long have I been gone.”
“Hours,” Noa said, reaching him, “Babe, what happened?”
He looked around. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
#
“So, I have alien blood in me?” Dollie asked, sitting cross-legged on her bed.
While for good reasons she hadn’t been allowed to help in the search, the poor girl hadn’t been able to sleep, waiting for Mitch to come home. Which meant she was also ready for him to explain everything to her.
“Ah, yeah, I guess,” Mitch replied, not believing he just said that.
At first, he thought he may have been hallucinating. But Noa had saw everything, and confirmed the abduction happened. That part he had to admit was real.
Dollie broke out grinning. “That is so cool! I’m just like Scully now!”
In spite of himself, Mitch chuckled, shaking his head. Only Dollie would think of it that way. “Yeah, sure, let’s go with that.” After a beat he asked, “Have you…have you remembered anything else?”
“Not really,” Dollie answered, “Not about what happened. I don’t think Rus…I don’t think he got to do what he really wanted, though. I think that’s why he hit me the rock.” Just then she yawned, big and wide, stretching her arms.
“Alright, time for all good federal agents to go to sleep,” Mitch told her.
“Alright,” Dollie agreed, pulling back green and brown bedding and burrowing down it. She looked at him, her eyes wide, “Mitch, would you stay? Please?”
“Sure thing kid,” Mitch said, laying down next to her, “It’s alright, kid,” He soothed, “Go to sleep now. You’re my partner and I’m never leaving you.”