Darling, I Want to Destroy You

Six

The rest of the day proved uneventful. They stopped in a park and slept on the benches, something that both Atticus and Jenka seemed relatively accustomed to. Dosie couldn't get comfortable, instead choosing to sit by a small nearby pond the entire night, as though she were keeping watch. She knew that the next day would be way harder without rest, but she didn't seem to care.

The next morning, the group was up at the crack of dawn, ready to go before the hot afternoon hit again. They'd made good time the day before, and from what Atticus kept insisting, it looked like they could made a pit stop by his apartment that day. Their only concern were his siblings, since they needed the least amount of distractions as possible.

They trudged through the morning, Jenka oddly chipper as he watched the sun rise, the sky painted with colors that reminded Dosie of rainbow sherbet. She said little in the early hours, both too tired to speak and finding nothing to say. The people in her mind kept her occupied enough.

They're going to hurt you, they kept insisting, much to Dosie's dismay. They're going to take your prize and run away with it. They're just boys, selfish and cruel to girls like you.

It was all she could do to shake the thoughts away, desperately wishing she had her music back to drown them out. It went on for the rest of the morning, sometimes making her murmur to herself and receive odd looks from Atticus.

"Is she okay?" He quietly asked Jenka when she was a fair way ahead of them at one point.

Jenka only sighed and watched Dosie play with her hair. "Honestly, would you be okay if you were stuck inside an attic for seventeen years?" Atticus said nothing, dropping the matter entirely. She seemed nice enough, even if they'd only known each other a few hours.

The morning came and went, towns were crossed, and finally Atticus seemed to be getting a little antsy. He continuously insisted that they were almost there and expertly wove through side streets and back roads with ease. It was clear this was his hometown from the way he said hello to certain people and made sure to smile at others. Here, he had a name, and he knew people would question his companions.

After a fair amount of stepping on sharp pebbles for Dosie and Jenka almost tripping on cracked sidewalk, the trio was in front of a relatively large apartment building, Atticus already punching a code into a keypad at the door. "If we're lucky, there won't be anyone home. If we're not, just stay in the hall and let me handle everything."

They headed up the stairs because the elevator was broken, Atticus taking them two at a time. The trio made it to the third floor, and once they stopped in front of a door, he held out his hand for them to stop. "Let me see if it's empty. If it is, we can go in. If not, I'll grab some food and water and we can go." Dosie and Jenka nodded in sync, just ready to sit down in the hallway for a while.

Atticus tested out the doorknob, only to find it locked. With a shrug, he pulled out a key and jiggled it around in the lock until he head a definite click, then proceeded to open the door slowly. He poked his head inside and called out into the apartment, "Anyone home?" There was only silence that followed, so he gestured for them to follow, only for the patter of tiny feet to come towards him.

"AtticusAtticusAtticus!"

A small bundle suddenly came crashing through the doorway, leaping into Atticus's arms with a giggle. He was barely able to stay upright, but even so, he was laughing. "Well hello to you too, bud," he chuckled, adjusting his arms so he could hold the child properly.

A little boy with dark hair that hadn't seen a brush in days and blue-grey eyes that latched onto every slight movement peeked over his brother's shoulder, immediately spotting Dosie and her blue-haired glory. "Is she your girlfriend?" He whispered a little more loudly than he might have realized, cupping his tiny hands over Atticus's ear like a shield. "Because she's pretty."

Both Atticus and Dosie immediately became identical to a tomato. He just laughed awkwardly and shook his head, face brighter than a baboon's bottom. "No Talon, she's not my girlfriend. But I'm sure she'd like it if you told her yourself."

Talon only hid behind his older brother again, suddenly shy in the view of strangers. "Xana took Jannie and Thalia shopping," he said, immediately changing the subject. "So I was alone. But now you're home and now I'm not!" He smiled brightly at Atticus, a dimple appearing in one of his squishy child cheeks. "Let's play dolls. The girls never wanna play dolls with me." He slid out of the iron grip, grabbing his brother's hand and dragging him inside. Atticus shrugged and let the small child lead him along, Jenka and Dosie awkwardly following.

The apartment would've been nice if it wasn't for all the naked Barbies and their matching clothing strewn across the floor, which Talon immediately began gathering and placing into a pile near the couch, which was where Dosie was headed. She hoped that no one would mind if she laid down for a while, just needing a bit of time to sit, but the second her head so much as touched a cushion, she was out like a light.

Jenka just shook his head at her and settled down on the floor beside the couch, moving a slightly mutilated Ken doll whose head had been stuck on with duct tape to somewhere he couldn't sit on it. "So what's with the small child?" He asked Atticus, occasionally glancing at the tv where Curious George was playing, the volume down low.

"My little brother, the one my sisters think is taboo for whatever reason. He's a sweetheart, just  a little," Atticus looked over at the boy, who he now realized was shedding glitter, "more flamboyant than other kids his age." He was smiling regardless as he reached out for the child, pulling Talon into his lap as the boy giggled. "But he's my dork, so I think I'll keep him."

The three were just getting comfortable, playing with Talon's Barbies as though there was nothing amiss in the world, when Curious George came to a halt, a news anchor appearing on screen.

"We interrupt this program with breaking news," the woman with too much blush and a plastered-on smile said, tapping a pile of papers against her desk in an unnecessary fashion. "A local girl has been reported missing. Seventeen-year-old Theodosia Moss from Corona was said to be missing from her home this morning at approximately eight-thirty this morning. She is seventeen years old, about five feet and three inches tall, has grey eyes and," she squinted at the teleprompter, as if unsure whether the information on the screen was correct, "long hair dyed blue. She has schizophrenia and depression, both of which require medication. If you see her, please contact Corona police-"

Atticus made a grab for the remote and shut off the poorly made up anchorwoman, hands shaking as he dropped it to the floor. He glanced at Jenka, who in turn glanced to the tiny sleeping girl behind them, her hair trailing to the floor. "So how the hell are we supposed to hide this?" He asked, picking up her blue braid and waving it slightly. Talon clapped his tiny hands over his ears at the sound of his brother swearing. 

Jenka sighed and reached for the backpack he'd dumped on the floor, rummaging through until he found a wallet covered in dragon stickers. "There's a drugstore down the street, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Atticus raised an eyebrow, adjusting his grip on the small child in his lap. "You don't think-"

Jenka just shrugged and laced up his beaten old Converse. "Hey, anything's worth a shot. We already smuggled her out, how hard can it be to keep her hidden in plain sight now?" He straightened up and reached for the door, wallet in hand. "I'll be back soon. If she wakes up, explain everything." With that, he was gone, leaving Atticus with a little boy and a sleeping girl with an Amber alert on her head.