Monster Rundown Part One Chapters 1 and 2

Monster Rundown Part One Chapters 13 and 14

Chapter 13

"The police searched everywhere. Smith's gone," Walt said as he drove Mel and Henry to Ellis' house a couple days after they discovered Smith's involvement. Whatever searching they did was slowed considerably by the several feet of snow the blizzard left behind.

The two snow days were nice, even though Mel and Henry spent most of them studying and doing homework after a lecture from Marie and George about grades.

"How much did you tell them?" Mel said.

"I told Willa almost everything, but she just told the departments that he was wanted for questioning."

"Is Willa Smith related to Anthony Smith?" Henry said.

"Supposedly not," Walt said.

"We won't find him," Henry leaned between the two middle seats. Mel, as always, had yelled shotgun long before Henry.

Walt said, "We should search his house after this. They already tore it apart, but maybe we'll see something they missed, and Fay can use magic to help."

Nothing quite like searching through someone's house. "Instead of confront Ellis, we could do that," Henry said.

"Let it go. This is the best plan," Walt said.

Going to Ellis' meant seeing Beatrice, and Henry still struggled with how to act around her. He moved back to the window. Despite the heavy snow, the sun melted most of it once it got its chance. Quite a few stars could be seen through the city's lights tonight, not that it compared to being out in the wild.

He didn't miss it as much as he expected to, however. The orange and white lights reflecting off the street, and different long views that appeared as they crested the many hills in Colorado Springs showed off a different kind of beauty, as random and scattered as the stars.

Driving around like this reminded him of so many rundowns. Squeezing into the car with the Steins, Katherine and Henry drawing faces in the condensation on the windows, their moms yelling at them to stop getting their finger oils on the glass. Hot tears filled his eyes, and he closed them and clutched his head, hoping Mel and Walt would ignore him. They did.

Grief squeezed like a knot. The therapist broke the apathy, but Henry was afraid of what was behind it. It had shown its head before, but now he could feel it with more clarity. Anger pulled the knot, chasing the tears away, filling Henry with a vague and dark feeling of purpose.

"Anyway," Mel was saying, "that's why Britney Spears will always be the queen, in my opinion."

"But Madonna was the beginning," Walt said.

"Even if that were true, just because Beowulf is the first epic story doesn't make it the best."

"I think Gilgamesh was before that," Henry said.

Mel turned. "Help me out here."

Henry squeezed his lips together and nodded. "Carli Rae Jepsen."

"You hipster son of a bitch!" Mel yelled, trying to reach back and punch him.

"We're here," Walt said.

Ellis expected them which meant snacks. Her kitchen, large and fancy with dark marble counters and bright silver lights hanging from the ceiling, was ready with cheese dip and guacamole. The cheese dip was the spicy plasticky kind that was too delicious to be real.

"The kitchen?" Walt said. Mel and Henry were too busy stuffing their faces with cheese to reply, but they rolled their eyes. "What? We don't deserve to meet in one of those fancy offices?" Walt stuck a cheese-drenched chip in his mouth, getting some on his new beard.