One 2 Many

Chapter two

Opening the door to find Derek on our front porch step doesn't surprise me like it should.

"Jaxson, your uncle Bryan sent me. He wants me to pick up you and Cali and take you two to his place." Derek says unexpectedly

Uncle Bryan, how did he even find where Cali and I are living?

"Sure, I will tell Cali to gather her things quickly and we will be out soon." I say as I carefully shut the door. Walking up my steps Cali is sitting at the top with a nervous look on her face. "What's going on Jaxson, why is that man here again?" Cali says as she gets up.

"He's uncle Bryan's friend, you probably wouldn't know him since you were just a baby the last time you met him." She nodded. "Cali, why don't you go gather some clothes and anything else that you think you might need, we won't be back here for awhile" I explain as she is walking into her room. I pack my bags as well.

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We have been in the backseat of Derek's truck for over 45 minutes now, Cali is half awake looking out the window. I don't think she got much sleep last night, I could hear her walking around upstairs. She probably had a bad dream and then couldn't fall asleep again.

Another 10 minutes pass and we are driving onto a gravel road.

I shake Cali's shoulder gently, "Cali, wake up. We're here." She slowly opens her eyes. I hate to wake her, I know how tired she always is.

A couple seconds later we got out of the truck, walking along the gravel path. I can see an old house in the distance. It hits me that maybe I made the wrong decision by coming with Derek. I don't know what to think, I know uncle Bryan loves cali and I dearly but what is he going to do with us here? He can't keep us hiding here, he could get in trouble if the government knows he was hiding Cali and I.

We reach the end of the gravel path, now standing right in front of the old looking house, I'm assuming it's where uncle Bryan lives. Even though he's my uncle, I've never been over to his house. My mom would always say that there's no need for me to go to his house, now I think I can tell why. It's so old and creepy looking, it's also in the middle of nowhere. The front porch looks like it's ready to collapse, I'm almost afraid to walk on it. Thankfully Derek takes us to the back of the house so we're safe from walking on the porch. While waiting for Derek to unlock the backdoor I look around the yard, there's a big shed a couple yards away from us. I wonder what he has stored there.

Derek opens the back sliding door and I instantly get a whiff of a horrible smell. Walking through the door and into the kitchen with Cali glued to my side, the smell only begins to grow worse. As I walk further into the kitchen I bump my leg into something, it's a litter box. "Ew" Cali whispers. Maybe that's the reason for the stench but something tells me that's not what's causing it. I crouch down so I'm eye level with the litter box, I don't smell anything coming from it. The smell has to be coming from somewhere else but I can't make out what it would be from.

"Why are you smelling the cat's bathroom?" Derek chuckles.

"Cali and I used to have a cat a couple years ago when we still lived at home. It ran away one day and never found its way back. Cali was devastated" I say as I try to force a laugh.

"Well the cat doesn't really come around much when there's people around, she is very shy." Derek explains. I respond by nodding my head.

The back door opens with a loud squeaking noise which catches Cali and I off guard. We both turn quickly around to see our uncle Bryan walking through the door with a smile on his face.

"Happy to see you kids" he says as he's coming in to hug us both. I feel awkward hugging him but in some way it makes me feel safe. I can't deny that seeing him makes me miss my parents even more than I already do. Uncle Bryan gives Cali and I both a tour around his house. He shows us the room we will be staying in. Fortunately Cali and I are staying in the same room. I hope her staying in the same room with me will settle her nerves and hopefully stop her bad dreams.

When we get back into the kitchen area the smell comes back.
"Uncle Bryan, what is that smell and where is it coming from?" I tried to bring it up in a normal tone so he knew I wasn't feeling suspicious about it.

"Oh don't worry about it Jaxson, I shot a deer the other day and haven't finished butchering it yet. It's in the basement. If it really is bothering you or Cali I can move it outside so the smell goes away." Uncle Bryan explained.

"Oh no worries, I just was curious where it was coming from, would you like me to help you with it?" I offer even though I'm sure I already know what his answer will be.

"No." Uncle Bryan says in a stirn voice. "I mean that would be great but really, I can do it by myself, I wouldn't want to force you into helping me".

"Alright, well if you need help I would be willing to help you. My dad taught me how to do that stuff when I was young and I've been doing it ever since."

"Thanks, I'll let you know if I need help" Uncle Bryan says in a quiet voice.

There was an awkward pause after our conversation, I think Uncle Bryan felt bad for denying my offer to help.

"Well, Cali and I are getting pretty tired, I'm going to go out to the car to get our bags so we can unpack and then hopefully get ready for bed." I explain as I'm walking towards the back door. "Ok, Derek and I will probably try to finish up the deer tonight then after you guys are in bed" Uncle Bryan says.

As Cali and I are walking outside to get our bags, I notice how pretty the sunset looks. It reminds me of our parents, I wonder if they would be happy knowing Uncle Bryan took Cali and I in. Or if this is their way of telling us that we did the wrong thing. I just can't help but feel a sense of regret in my stomach. Cali and I were fine where we were, why did uncle Bryan reach out after so many years?