The Bertie Mansion

XVIII

Alyssa was awake in her room when Jeremy found her, playing with her toys. Or, more exactly, taking a knife to a doll. Just a butter knife, but a knife nonetheless.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he sat down. They needed to move out but he didn't want to alarm her more than necessary.

Alyssa held it up to show the jagged line scratched into the plastic. "I want to put her head on my dinosaur, but it won't come off. Daddy got them 'specially when he went on a trip to look at dead ones. He said he secretly bought them for himself, and he's happy to share them with me so that Mommy doesn't think he's still buying toys. Mommy doesn't like him buying toys."

"But why?" Jeremy took the doll from her hands and placed it on the floor. "Why are you hurting your father's toys? Do you not like them the way they are?"

"Grand-daddy was mean about my dinosaurs. He says they aren't girly enough. If they have girl heads then they're girly. Grand-daddy can't complain about them when they're girly."

"How about you dress it up? Play fashion or something," he suggested. His mother had used a lot of distraction methods on him to keep him from pranking his brother and friends all the time, and he learned some techniques. "But not now. How would you like to see the stars?"

"But the dress-up!" Alyssa exclaimed with a pout.

Jeremy smiled at her. "You can only see the stars at night. You can do dress-up at any time of day. Are you sure you don't want to see them?"

"No?" she said, shaking her head and then nodding. He laughed, picking her up.

"Outside it is."

Alyssa giggled and squirmed in his arms as he began carrying her downstairs and to safety. He was only halfway down when he found himself in the grounds surrounding the Downy Mansion, rain dripping on him. It was completely dark and he had to blink a few times to make sure it wasn't a hallucination. He was just outside the tree line, the girl still in his arms.

Luckily she had fallen asleep, or passed out in any case. He couldn't be sure he could explain teleportation without revealing the ghost troubles. There was no one else out here and he figured he should head for their neighbors' mansion to meet up with his brother and friend.

The night was much like the time he had spent on the streets and he shivered. He had his cell on him although it was useless out here. Even if he could grab it there wouldn't be a signal. It was how utterly alone he was that freaked him out. No shelter from the permeating wet, no person to go to for help because he was too stubborn and lost to go back to the one man he cared about like no other, and who cared about him in return. The wolves howling was new, and he picked up his pace, following the distant light. He could fight wolves. The government, not so much. He knew he purposefully forgot everything that happened after a certain point, including his knee. Still, he knew enough not to go digging. The government had been afraid of his anger.

Caleb wasn't afraid of his tempers and that scared him. He had gotten so mad, and his friend never flinched once. Caleb was so accepting when he shouldn't be, encouraging when no one else saw him as more than a wolf. Jeremy had refused to get physically violent but he had been on a thin line, closer than ever. Even if Caleb would have invited him back into his home, he would have been too ashamed of himself. The memories he buried tried to come back, all the hurtful words he had said. All the parts of the night darker than that moment. It was over with now, and he sent them away the best he could.

He was once again by himself but at least this time he had Caleb, and Will, on his side. He had something to look forward to, a mission to succeed in: getting back to them. Alone in the city he had had nothing because of his ego, so he shed it. Afterwards he still had his ego in front of others, sometimes for himself, a decent acting job on his part.

Not so much right now as he traversed the shadowy terrain, stripped of all sensation except the burning of his arms, the rain on his face, and his feet hitting the damp grass. His stubbornness would be a gift this time, at least, because it kept him putting one foot in front of another even as Alyssa became heavier in his arms the longer he walked and his vision diminished from the rain collecting on his lenses.

It seemed like forever by the time he reached the mansion. Realistically it had been mere minutes, but he thrived around people; they made him forget. Will came into view and Jeremy immediately brightened to see another soldier in this short war. He brought his brother into a hug despite Alexander's inaudible muttering.

"What happened?" he asked. "Why was I put so far away?"

Will shrugged and gave the Downy Mansion a concerned look. "I have no idea."

"Caleb? Is he still inside? Should we go get him?" Jeremy tried to head for the front door but was stopped by Will.

"You can't. Believe me, I tried. There's no way in."

Jeremy gripped Alyssa tighter to his body.