Little Green Stars

Chapter 54-Mr. Freaking Hundrek

"Principal Hundrek?! What are you doing here?" Jaxson asks, his face literally couldn't get any more surprised.

"Your mom called me a couple of hours ago. I didn't see it until about twenty minutes ago. I thought something might be wrong..."

"Did she say anything?!" I demand, running over to the door.

Mr. Hundrek looks me up and down, unsure how to react to my reaction. "No, I missed the call, and she didn't leave a voicemail. What's going on, kids? Jaxson, what happened after you picked up Silas? Where is Maeve?"

Maeve, why is he calling her Maeve and not Ms. Shamrock. "Why would Maeve call you?" I say, returning Mr. Hundrek's suspicious look.

"Well, you see, I'm very predictable. I'm known for always being available and trustworthy and—"

"Please stop, I can't even with your speech right now," I say, turning to Jaxson to discreetly say, "Jaxson, we need to find her, we need to find her now. Malcolm tricked her."

"Who is Malcolm?" Nosey Hundrek intrudes.

"Our dad!" I yell, annoyed. I don't have time to catch him up on all my family drama right now.

"Kids, do I need to call the police? Is Maeve in danger?"

"Just a minute," I say, slamming the door on Hundrek.

"Vel, what the hell is going on?!" Jaxson says.

"When you guys left, we all made a plan. Malcolm would buy the house back, and then my soul wouldn't be split anymore. He got us all to go along with the plan, expect he tricked us!"

"I freaking told you he couldn't be trusted, Vel! " Jaxson yells, as his hands grip his head. "SHIT!"

"He tricked Maeve into doing the spell, except he had her tie my soul to HIM!"

"What the—"

"But that's not the worse part. The spell immediately split my soul away AGAIN. Now Malcolm is trying to use Red Lady to travel into the spiritual world and kill Grandpa Shamrock!" My god, even hearing myself say it, just sounds insane.

"Grandpa is already dead?!"

"Apparently not his soul?"

"This is insane!" Jaxson yells, throwing his hands in the air in response.

"I CAN'T EITHER! BUT IT'S REAL, AND WE CAN'T IGNORE IT!"

Several hard knocks grapple against the door.

"What the hell are we going to do about him?" Jaxson asks, nodding over to the door.

"All I know is we need to find Maeve, and we need to find her now!"

"Goddamnit," Jaxson says, his shaky legs beginning to pace. "Where's that asshole now?"

"Malcolm? He's in the basement. Maverick hit him with a frying pan..."

Jaxson's eyes go wide. "Maverick? You can't be serious. I had to leave, but fucking Maverick, the douchebag gets to stay and protect my family?!"

"Jaxson, we don't have time for this. We need to find Maeve!"

"Vel, Jaxson?" Hundrek calls from the door. "You two need to start talking."

My mind races as Jaxson and I stare blankly at each other. As the knocking on the door continues, a soft cry comes from upstairs—Silas.

"SHIT!" Jaxson and I say at the same time.

"Is that Maverick Kurt and Cece Bundt in the car in the driveway? It's 4:30 in the morning! What are you kids up to?"

"What?" Jaxson says, leaning over to look out the blinds. "What the hell, Vel, how much did I miss?"

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do," I say, thinking fast on my toes. "I'm going to calm Silas. You are going to track Maeve's phone. She always shares her location with us. Open it and find out where she is."

"And Hundrek?"

"Well, we're going to need a babysitter, aren't we?" I say as a smug smile moves across my face.

I run over to the door and swing it open to reveal a very perturbed Hundrek. He crosses his arms and shakes his head as I assume my inner Maeve.

"Look Hundrek," I say. "This is a family matter. If you really want to help, you'll watch Silas while Jaxson and I get Maeve. Turns out her car broke down, and she just wants someone to pick her up."

"You know I'm a principal, right? It's my job to know when kids are lying," Hundrek says, not taking the bate.

"Look Hundrek!" I yell. "Do you want to get on Maeve's good side or what? Just watch Silas, and tomorrow Maeve will be so grateful she just might give you that date you're always so desperate to get."

"I...uhh...I'm not desperate," Hundrek says, squirming a little.

"Oh, sure..."

Hundrek looks like he's considering my offer as his eyes shift in thought."Okay," he finally says. "If it'll help your family, I'll come in and watch the baby."

I smile, stepping aside to let Hundrek enter the house.

"I'm going to go give Silas a bottle and then we're leaving. All you have to do is sit here and watch TV or whatever old man things you do."

"I don't do old man things. Vel, are you sure you don't need my help? Are you positive everything is okay?"

"Yes, watching Silas is honestly the only way you can be helpful right now." I wish there was some way he could help me, but this is up to me now. This is my mess, and I need to clean it up.

"Alright," He says, and sits down on the couch, fumbling with the RV remotes.

With Hundrek settled, I race up the stairs towards the cries. I open the door to Silas's nursery, and he wails as soon as he sees my face.

"Silas Bear!" I say, rushing over to him as his little arms reach up to me. "What's wrong, buddy? Did all the loud noise wake you up?"

"Wite. Wite. Wite," Silas says in between gasps.

"Your light?" I ask, trying to decipher his words.

He nods his head up and down as little tears drip down his chubby cheeks.

I walk him over to his nightstand and pick up his elephant light. I click the on-button, and it beams for only a couple seconds before going dark. Shit. The batteries must be going dead. Sila's tears begin again as soon as the light drains from the elephant.

"Hey," I say, bouncing him on my hip. "It's okay! You know what? I have a nightlight that you will love! I say, setting Silas down in his crib. "I'll be right back."

I rush out the hallway, as Silas sniffles in his crib. Getting into my room, I grab my stupid nightlight off my tabletop and head back to Sila's room.

"Vel!" Jaxson calls, following me into Silas's room.

"What?" I whisper.

"I found where Mom's phone is."

"Thank God, where?" I say

"Here's the thing," Jaxson says, his worried eyes meeting mine. "It's still at HillCrest House."

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