Mythfits

31- Ella

"Rose!" not caring whether or not anyone hears me at this point, I race up the stairs to the attic. Afraid that I will enter the attic to find Rose surrounded by the diamond statues of whoever came to catch the "raccoons", I throw open the door, shielding my eyes with a hand in case Rose doesn't have her glasses on.

"Ella?" Her voice even more gravely than usual from sleep, "What's going on? Are you alright?" 

"Do you have your glasses on?" I ask, wanting to be sure

"I do now," Rose replies, after scuffling  around for a moment.

Removing my hand from in front of my eyes, I start gathering things into a small bag- her blankets, shells, and assorted diamond cockroaches. "Rose,  I told Dad that we had raccoons in the attic when he heard you moving around. Now he's called exterminators to come and take care of it, and we can't let them see you."

"Then where are we going" Rose asks, staring up at me, her posture puppy-like.

"I-" I pause, not having thought that far yet, "I don't really know. Maybe to Christines? Or what if we find you a half decent cave?" Rose tilts her head inquisitively, " What sounds good to you?"

Rose sits down and looks up at me hopefully, "A cave would be nice, all dark, and damp, and cool." She grinned, showing off her sharp puppy teeth, "Then I wouldn't have to live in a clearing, or in your attic with all that dust."

"Well there is that." I nod- our attic is pretty dusty, though why I found her in a clearing in the woods instead of a cave was beyond me.

Sneaking out of the house and into the woods as quietly as possible, I flinch at every snap of a twig. So when my phone rings, it startles me half out of my skin.

"Ella are you alright? I saw you leave class an hour ago and you're not back yet. Whats going on? Do I need to come help? Is it about Abby? Are you in trouble?" Christine's non-stop flood of questions hits me in full force when I answer her call. When she finally slows down, pausing for air, I reply.

"I'm fine." I mutter, my face flushed with embarrassment, which I'm glad she can't see. I never did get used to people checking in on me, or caring enough to ask after my well-being. At least, no one other than Dad, and he was mostly away for work. "Just a little problem- some people were coming to get rid of our raccoon problem, and I didn't want them to find Rose."

"Since when do you have a raccoon problem?" Surprise was evident in her voice.

"Ever since I told Dad we had raccoons in our attic after he heard Rose moving around." I grimace, "Not my best of choices."

"I see. And do you happen to know where Steve is? He left just after you, and I haven't seen him since."

Chuckling awkwardly, I catch myself tripping over a small rock, "So funny story," I begin, picking the bits of gravel out of my palm.

"Ella. Where's Steve?" Christine demands, her siren's song still potent over the phone.

"He may have followed me here, and I may have trapped him in a birdcage." I wait for the inevitable reprimand sure to come. When she's silent for a moment, I ask, "Christine?"

She makes a sort of strangled choking noise, that takes me a moment to realize is laughter. "You- birdcage- Ha!" Is all I am able to make out of her words.

"It's not that funny." I protest, slightly put-out, "He was following me, and it was getting annoying."  

" I'm coming over as soon as school's out. You'd better be there." She instructs, finally pulling herself together.

"Sure," I shrug, though Christine can't tell over the phone, "I just need to find a place for Rose to live in the meantime. She wants a cave, and I was thinking, maybe the Luray Caverns?" The Luray Caverns are a nearby system of caves that are predominantly used as tourist attractions, meaning that during the school year, there would hardly be anyone down there.

"That's probably work." Christine agrees, "There's a small stream with crayfish and small fish and things running through it, so she'd have some food. Anyway, ,Lunch is almost over, so I've got to run, but I'll meet you at your house after school. Bye." She hung up, and I shrugged once again.

"Well, Rose," I looked over at the young basilisk who was happily jumping through a pile of leaves, delighted at the crunching noise they made under her paws, "Let's go get you situated."