WTTM x The Traveler AU

◇●°• Chapter 5 •°●◇

Part written by Jen Says Hi

I stared out the window watching the trees blow in the wind.
I was so fucking tired I could fall asleep standing up. I was leaning my head up against my arm and I caught myself falling asleep a few times.
Every so often my head would fall and I'd jolt awake again only to drift off to sleep a few minutes later.

I was so bored. It was only 30 minutes but every second without Yenzo felt like an hour.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. 7:45 am. He should be home soon. I should call him to tell him Noah's home. I was happy to see the kid but damn this was not a good time.

Yenzo told me we don't need to lock those damn kids in here. Everything seemed to be locked up tight. But I was worried about that one kid. He seemed a hell of a lot more violent than his sister.
He probably could break the windows. Or kick down the door.

My worrying got the best of me and I jumped up to check on the guest bedroom.

I stood outside the door and leaned against the wall. I didn't hear anything from inside.
Suspicious.
I didn't want to risk opening the door to check on them because they might sneak out.
I walked over and leaned against the door. It opened outward so I could block it just by leaning on it. No way those scrawny kids could push the door open now.

I stood awkwardly half asleep and lost track of time.

I opened my eyes quickly.
Had I fallen asleep?

Fucking hell. I really could fall asleep standing up. I looked both ways down the hall for no reason since I knew those kids were in the room I was blocking.
I sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

Something bright red caught the corner of my eye. I didn't rush to look though. The last thing I wanted to do was scare it away.
The thing disappeared around the corner and I slowly turned to look in that direction.
For some reason I didn't panic. I was so tired I couldn't even care if the cops came to investigate the property.

The red thing peaked around the corner again, and this time I saw what it was.
A young fox girl was staring at me with her big blue eyes. She looked worried, then scared. Then shocked.

She froze as she saw me looking back at her. She looked only 6 years old.
My eyes softened as I looked at her. Damn this soft spot for young kids. 

Take care of my kids for me.

It echoed through my brain.
This kid somehow escaped the room. Son of a bitch.
But that makes me the bitch.

I pushed off the wall and started walking towards her.
Without hesitation she bolted down the hallway.
I didn't sprint after her. She would eventually come to a dead end and I didn't want chase her when I knew could catch her later. It would only scare her even more.

I slowly walked down the hallway and tried on my kindest look I had. I wasn't used to looking nice so I was worried my attempt could scare her.

I looked down the hall at the closed curtains. The fox girl had climbed the curtains and was trying to get open the window. It was locked.
She whipped her head around when she heard the creaking of the floor boards and fell off the windowsill.

She was breathing heavily and trying to find a way out. Her cries stabbed through my heart. She wailed and screamed trying to get away from me.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP," I heard Noah scream from his room.

The girl fell dead silent.

I was going to yell back but she would fucking die if I did that. So I decided not to be stupid.

I stopped. She reminded me of myself when I was her age. Living with Silver took a toll on me. As the girl scrambled around looking for an escape, my memory ran back to my childhood trauma.

◇●°•______________•°●◇

I was standing at the end of the hall staring Silver in the eyes as she approached me with the fire poker. She was breathing heavily from chasing me.

"You fucking clumsy waste of space. I'll teach you not to run away from your punishment."

◇●°•_____________•°●◇

My mind cleared. I stared down at the fox girl curled up in a ball in front of me. Tears were pouring from her eyes.

I kneeled down to be at her eye level.

"Hey kid."

She hid her face in her knees.

"You're OK. I'm not gonna hurt you."

I listened to her sobs and tried to recall how Yenzo talks to children.

"You want something to eat?"

No response.

Tough crowd.
I crawled towards her and she scooted away into the corner. Sitting on my heels I just looked at the fox girl. I made sure to breath steadily to help her calm down.
I reached my hand out to her and rested it on the top of her head. She flinched so I backed off. She looked up at me with red eyes and a wet face.

I tilted my head and smiled at her a bit.

"Hi," I said in a baby voice. "Whats you're name?"

She stared and me before rubbing her hand across her face to dry it.

I sat down in front of her and sighed. We looked at each other.
I hadn't seen her breath in a while.

"Hey, lets play a game. You breath in when I breath in, and you breath out when I breath out, ok?"

She looked at me with the same face.

"Ready?" I inhaled. Held it for a few seconds. Then exhaled.
She still hadn't breathed.

I inhaled again, and I think I saw her chest move slightly. I exhaled, and she exhaled with me.

"There you go!" I reassured her.

We practiced breathing together for a few more minutes until I was sure she had calmed down.

I smiled at the girl. She picked her head up a little. I reached my hand over to her to wipe away her tears again. She flinched a little, but let me dry her face.

"Com'on, lets go make you something to eat."

I stood up and held out my hand to her. She stood up and grabbed it. Kid was willing to trust me fast.

We walked down the hall together. I forgot how tired I was.

"Who the hell are you?!?" I heard Noah scream followed by the scariest, nastiest sounding snarl I had ever heard.

"What the fu- AH YOU BITCH!!" Noah screamed accompanied by the crashing of furniture.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME YOU PSYCOPATHS!!" Another voice roared.

My heart dropped. They both escaped.