Chapter 9

Small hands, short height and clothing that suited the sweltering heat. I recalled all that wasn't and was. I thought about the school years ahead of me. My journey from USA to England. My mask came to me this now and brought me a lifetime previously I lived. It still has a creak on the left lower chin area and a creak at the forehead. It's dark in the shade that car is parked in but its so hot. I can see the air dancing and patterns lifting off the melting tar road outside. I am soaking hot myself, a humidity with the window did nothing to breeze the car. My skin was baking on the car seat leather, my but lifted off with child's car seat. This isn't my mom's car or any car she had before. I don't remember how I got in, this was wrong. I belted my seat buckle and tried the door handle. Child locked. Right.

The front seat will not. I climb over the middle counsel and I nosed about the front seat. The middle console has all sorts of junk, it's charms and bottled stuff for spirit warding. Looks like what my grandparents would do and they taught me make this stuff. Pocket some stuff like the necklaces... and that ring. And this folded paper. This holy water which is drinkable. I have that now, I am really thirsty. Glove box. Paperwork... insurance for a Mr D seer. D is the first letter of that prick's name. Oh, and his driver license for another state. Gun, loaded with silver and his license for it. Very nice. His my kidnapper. Of course. I am taking this. Door. Outside was broad daylight. We outside a cheap convent store. I don't see him yet. I am not waiting for him. Close all the stuff up and door. He locked it.

Of course. But... these are the old cars with the click thing at the window. Pull that up and hey... unlocked. Nice. A safety measure for if the car was locked and someone had to get out. They make this function automatic later if the inner handle is used. Is there anything I need before I open this door? Hey! that's my preschool bag with my favourite doll. A place to hide the gun I just stole from the glove box. I just realized my hands are to small to fire this gun properly without hurting myself. Oh well. Safe lock? No... now it is. What a creep? Glad I checked. Open the door. The alarm goes off because I just opened a door without the key. He didn't leave one. Out I get and to some better shade. He didn't leave money in the car. That would have been nice. I am going to go side hiding to see if he turns up and freaks out. Be quick to run out the car.

I make it around to the side of the store with the best shade, I looked at how full of undertakers this place is. But I am a mistaken living child, they will ignore me. I have to ignore them. I watched someone leave the shop and stare at his car. He dropped stuff and runs around to the open door. He turned the alert off and looked around the whole car for me. He started walking around the area. He ran around panicked looking, he steps close near me and I shuffled near the trash bin. I may hate the smell but he would be to panicked to check.

"Lea!" He shouts and I guess the undertaker rat me out. He sighed and lowers to me. Picks me up with ease off the floor, "Why did you leave the car?" He peers slowly at why I have my bag. He carried me back and I hold everything I took with me. He sits me at the open door and goes through my bag. Putting his gun back in the glove box. He puts the other bits into the center console. He sighed really annoyed but he stares about me inspecting me.

"I was confused and hot. If I left the car and had nothing to protect me, who knows what bear would come after me." He sighs glad that I spoke to him, giving me a orange juice. It was unopened and for a kid be hard to open. But there is always a trick, I take his other drink and its the lips of both lids. It doesn't take strength to open a bottle this way. I returned his drink and have mine. Small sips. I don't want to pee later when we have no where to stop. He smirks amused of how I do things.

"You're a clever girl. Who taught you that?" He asked. I sip my drink to give me thinking time.

"I watch a lot of tv." I have that as my answer, "I don't always watch cartoons. I watch that factory show a lot. The guy that talks says interesting facts about making things. That one soda one was about the pressure of fizz inside the bottle." I pointed to his drink, "You have that drink from the Santa adverts. Its soda." He kneels listening to me but I don't really know what his trying to do. he was weirding me out.

"Your mom can't afford to have tv with fancy shows on it. You never been to school. You don't have friends."

"That's rather rude to assume. You don't need money to have nice things. Having little money doesn't mean I can't have happiness." I frowned, "Why did you take me away? Mom wouldn't have approved." He stares blank at me, "Besides, grandpa has a nice tv and we have nice chicken every Saturday. He keeps us together." He clearly forgot that my mom's family is bigger then he assumed, "You ever been to the mountains before? Its cold there." he gets off the floor and has me put back in that car seat. Puts my belt on, "Why is the alley beside the store full of people with black clothing? Are they going to rob the store?" he froze on the spot and looks around a lot. He does so very carefully.

"Don't talk about them. Pretend you didn't see them." I sip my orange juice with my buckle done right, "Don't talk to them. Don't talk to anyone strange."

"But would talking to the cat be fine?" I asked. I pointed at the cat sitting on his dash board. He banged his head and stares at the white fluffy cat, "Loki is a good cat." I tell him, "he eats things."

"We do not talk about the ghost animals." he adds, "Don't..." He couldn't finish what he wanted to say.

"Loki is a good boy." I pet the seat next to me and he jumps over and head bumps me, "I told you it was rude to assume I don't have friends." I continue petting the cat, "His scary isn't he. He eats the wing people all the time." He slams the door closed and goes to the driver seat. he slams that door closed. He sighed all the more frustrated.

"What do I tell them?" he seems scared.

"Am I going meet your parents now?" I asked and he sighed at me, "You going to send me to a school that will reject me?" I asked not in a child way of speaking and he got chills from it. I hold my doll and pet the ghost cat, "The other schools rejected me. I have a learning difficulty. They all think I am worthless and unintelligent. Mom doesn't want to send me to the special needs school. She believes I am not stupid. I can prove that." He stares at me like a deer in the headlights, "What are you going to change? You're just another black suit like them in the alley."

"You watch to much tv and listen to much adult conversations." he peers in how I pet the cat, "And have imaginary freinds." He gets the carout of park and then parked the break on a moment, "How did you know how to get out of a car you never been in before?"

"The click thing." I play with mine closets, "Some times it works." I made my door unlock but give the child lock it open to a extent and then jams as it should.

"To much tv." He goes back to driving and looked at the mirror to reverse. he jolted out of his skin when he see my reflection of me wearing my mask. he had a direct look at me, "You have something on your face." He tries to gesture.

"Which one?" I dared and he puts the car into drive now, "You a shit kidnapper. Its a good thing you have the excuse of being my blood." He tuts at me, "Where were you all that time between the last time i went to meet grandma and grandpa the first time again?" He drives faster, "You wouldn't listen to me even if I was being honest. It was what they warned me about with you. Your selfish." I looked out the window, "Can we have the page back you stole?" He slams these breaks. I held my seat belt tight, "Learn to drive correctly fool." I yelled at him, "Sheesh. This isn't a bumper car in a fair."

"Is that why you know everything?" He asked, "I didn't steal something I can summon."

"You cant now. Its now a stolen page. It wasn't never to leave the binding." He open the middle console and thumbs about. I summoned that page to my hand. I put it back into the book. He slams that closed, "So what are you going to tell them? You were drunk and made a mistake? I was an accident? Or was their a future until you met my mom's family? Cold feet about marriage? What? Didn't feel up to being a father?" He drive because he has to. A long silence. He drove past the turn off he was meant to go for his parents. I know that he was heading to a cemetery, I knew this place because I missed the funerals I wanted to go. He parked ups with looking around the place.

"Now its your turn to be plagued by the book." He hissed and he got out the car. He came around and gets me out. He picked me up and carried me, "You know what these are?"

"This is a graveyard and these are all the burials of people who died. Not every soul leaves with a death god. Some are unlucky and stay trapped in there." He puts me down because I make him uncomfortable. But now i walked freely among the tombstones. I know these names. There weird part being this graveyard has my mom's dead family in it. The other last names they had. He realized not to leave me walking alone and quickly follows me, "That's my mom side great great grandpa to my grandma." I pointed to the grave, "His wife. Four children and their spouses." I pointed three graves over, "That's their grandson who died in a car crash, young but had a child. That child is..." I spun around and pointed, "There. That is my great grandpa or like a uncle of that branch or something."

"You know all this because the book told you." He assumed.

"No. My mom told me when I turned 15." I dance about on my feet, "Its hot here."

"Its normal." He picks me up, "You're 3. Not 15." I point to a grave stone, "Look your great great great great... ugh..." I took pause to count backwards, "She's your and my mom's common blood."

"No." He laughed, "Your mom and I aren't related."

"Not close circle like. Of course you are. That is like 193 generations backwards." I did finish counting, "That grandma had two lovers. One she loved and one she was forced to marry." I am sat down on that grave stone, "You're the lover bloodline, the direct first blood." I pointed to the grave along, "That's the one she hated and was forced into marriage with. She died before she would ever accept being called a Fallown. Her child from that marriage went on to pretend nothing to do with the Seers. They were weak blood, the curse never tainted the souls of those many generations." he didn't believe me, "Why don't you go ask her yourself then? She's still a undead spirit among the society members." He hates being told what to do. He puts me back to the car. He makes a phone call.

"Is Gin able to answer me a question?" He asked instead of a hello, "Did she get forced into a marriage?" he listened and held it away from his ear for a bit, "Ok. No. The soul of the book is acting up. It keeps showing me a page of people with the last name Fallown." He listens a while, "Well clearly they are alive and well. Its to late to change the anything." He hung up. He goes to throw it. He stopped because a undertaker stood in front of him.

"You want to keep that." The undertaker directed and he twisted around ignoring him. Walks over and leans at my window, "What do you living say again? Hello?"

"Hello again Mister undertaker. You're quiet far away from England." The goth had that nervous smile, "Did you come to say sorry for trying to kill me?"

"Well I hoped you forgotten but then also forgot that your a trickster. Miss Tricky. Will you forgive me?"

"I don't know. It depends If we cross paths often as before." He shuffled feet and can't look at me straight, "Does me being 2 now bother you? I have you to blame. This was when you meddled with the first ward. Let me guess, you did again and remembered we be mad at you."

"Yeah." He admits, "And you would have the book eat people if I continued."

"I hate that too." I voiced and he looked up at me now, "I hate doing that. We never like the punishements of outsiders. You had to upset a insane one." I frowned, "The insane ones always want a price in blood or be lucky that its just blood they want."

"So a little snort like you is meant to be protecting us from that?"

"No exactly. Sometimes it them but there are bigger and scarier monsters." he laughed at me, "You think that nightmare people are scary or them folks that are the manifestations of fear." He shuts up because he gets what I am saying and having this squeaky voice makes him forget a little. I didn't have to give a detail of comparing. If we both know the bar which is all things that are meant to be the universes internal fears, and those aren't good enough. The it is enough understand my meaning, "You broke the seal. Gladly I can fix it." I kicked the middle console open and I used my feet to reach for the bottle of sand, "Use that to draw lines. You fix the lines you broke. The power behind them will return then." He takes the bottle balancing on my feet.

"I don't think this will work."

"It doesn't matter if you think it will or not." I tell him, "Go fix it or my mask will." he takes the bottle and paused, "If the lizard is in the way, you point to the bottle then the floor where it needs to go. If it isn't hungry, it will not eat you when your done fixing." he waved and point at the prick.

"You're daughter is terrifying. Don't get on her wrong side. Her friends will eat everything." He leaves now. I sip my orange juice.

"Lea. You are going to meet your grandparents. I am going to let them decide what to do with you." he gets back into the car and turned the engine. He was unable to start the car. The start cable was having connection issue. He had to get out and play around with the car, he connected it and closed it. Tries the key and the starter motor doesn't even rattle. No power in the battery. Nothing. I got comfortable as this was going to be a long wait. In his frustration, he got his phone out to call someone else.

"You know, the start cable seemed unplugged." I shouted, "I wonder if the car battery is plugged in too." He puts the phone down and looked. He tinkered about and tried the motor. I looked to the undertaker, "You not really a car riding sort are you." I noted.

"We can't use the same transport as you because we walk through them." That answers a lot, "We also never cross water. Not even ponds. Large puddles are the most terrifying." I tilted at this, "We can use water to travel but we don't always get to choose the destination." I think on this as that is a new concept for me. Then again mirrors and water surfaces has been used for calling upon the spirits for centuries. Who knew that the water way was gateway. That makes the ocean terrifying. Just imagine how big that is, no wonder we all avoid it, "I think you get it." He inspected my reaction, "May I join you?" He meant borrowing me.

"Just don't upset the books." I shrug, "It eat you otherwise. You could ask him." Looking at the prick and back to me.

"I would rather you." I shrug and he steps through me. I sensed some adjustment, "You weren't kidding about the book." I made us cross arms, "Safe option." he made me blink, "That's why you do that all the time."

"You trust the king's spy?" The prick sorting his seat belt, "You clearly have never heard the full story of why we are against the undertakers."

"Of course not. You lot throw me out as far as possible and when I grow up and seen things from the outside. It was really to late for the soceity to have my trust ever again." I glared at him, "Much like the father that was never there. Which I once assumed it was because my mother had bias. But the one time we had spoken in that lifetime. You made her seem correct." I looked away, "I would rather trust a undertaker who could have been a murderer in the past over a man that never wanted me. Not that I trust this undertaker like family. Its perspective of how I felt all these years as a soul." he turned off the car.

"Well I screwed up on the one job I should have done right."

"Was that to murder me? You tried that. You going to try again. Why do I know? Why do you think?" He took the gun from the glove box and aimed. I have the window wind down. For now I know the safety is on, he just hasn't figured that out. I took my belt off and grab my things. he shoots but it doesn't work. I jump out the car and rolled to the nearest grave stone.

"You're family are crazy." The undertaker hissed.

"Those are silver bullets. They would hurt you too." I told the undertaker. I have my mask off and it takes my bag. It goes a direction, "This is going to hurt no matter what." I complained. It distracts him and i am grazed in the arm. I hold the newly appearing wound. I pulled the undertaker with me and run further into the graveyard. I sheltered again and my mask shelters behind a new place.

"There is a snake there." The undertaker pointing out. I sunk it to shadow and it will appear with my mask. The snake hissed and went for him. the gun knocked away. My mask swaps the snake for the gun. I take it now and put the safety back on. I took out the bullets into my bag. All but one in the chamber. I put it into my bag too because small hands, "That was clever." The undertaker peeks over the stones, "What now?" I looked at how we didn't drive far from that convent store. I run and climbed over the fence. The undertaker goes through it like it was nothing. My mask appear now. I look back at how he held his hand and was going back to his car. I may have been busy while he was playing around with the engine. Why else was the engine acting up?

My name in the tomes were fading between living and dead, its how I knew he had other plans. I now have to cross the street. This is American where streets aren't for walking across and don't trust going into the cars of strangers. I look back at how he sees me over the fence and was running after me. I take a deep breath and watched the timing. I am going to be hit, It's just a garantee. I know it.

"I had broken my spine before." I was trying to pluck courage, "I can put my family in debt again." I ran onto the missing two cars. I stop to let a truck pass and run to the middle grass. I look back and he jumps the fence. He stands at the road edge. I looked around this middle bit and look at the car coming. I can make it through two roads. The third I ille have to go back one for the final cross. He might caught me. maybe I can use that to advantage.

"Lea!" He shouted and I run with my plan. Three forwards. One back. Car blaring horn as it missed me and now I can run across. Missed the motor bike guy that blocked that prick. I continue running and that bike guy sees it was off about what was going on. He got off his bike.

"That man stole me from my mom!" I shouted. the bike guy on hearing that punched that prick in the face.

"Go to that store and ask for help." The bike guy hold that prick for now and I can see angel watching this struggle. I go to the car park and straight to the door. I go in ant there is two guys with guns pointed at the cash man. I screamed and that misfired someones gun. I ran around the other side of the isle.

"Just my luck today." I frowned and that undertaker is still following me around, "You know, how did you manage to cross the street with me. It like no cloud cover out there."

"You have a shadow." he pointed out and I took out the gun from my bag and undo the safety lock. I leave my bag here and I crawled in around and aimed for a gun man's foot. One guy is missing out of my view. His walking the other isle. I shoot the guy foot that is aiming for the guy at the cash register. The till person used this moment to duck and crawl around away. Waved me to follow. I take this gun with me and we both got into the back room.

"I came to ask for help. My dad stole me from school. I didn't know him well. I didn't know he was my dad." I tell this person, "He took me to a graveyard near here. He had this gun and shot it. I moved out of the way and ran. I ran over the wall." I cried the whole story to this person. Putting the empty gun down, "I am scared. I want my mom." Hugged around in protective way.

"Police are here soon. Not only did you escape and make it here. You save me." Blaring sirens of cop cars. A lot of shouting. I pulled more in with being scared. I also pushed this empty gun away from us, proving we weren't anything to do with it. It was over when we are take out of the building by police.

"No I don't want to go to that man. He is bad. He tried to hurt me." I refused to be with him, "I would rather stay with the nice man from the store until mom is here." I cried, "I am scared of that man." I was put alone in the back of the police car. The shop person said he seen us hours before and that I got out the car before. He thought I was just naughty child before but he said that I saved his life. By stealing a gun from that person and using it to shoot the robbers foot. The took swabs of my hands. I was told to talk, which I as a child ways possible explained my whole day. Even the scream of seeing more loud guns at the store that I ran for help to. The nice bike man that blocked the danger man from hurting me. I even said about a snake being why I wasn't shot, which is true. He has a snake bite on his gun hand. Why my bag is full of bullets... the gun I took was recovered from the back room. Footage of the whole day.

"I am Lea Fallown. My mom's dad was one of you. He lives around that big publex, Lowes and you turn at the wendy's and his house is the one on the corner. he has a coy pond in his front garden. The birds eat his fishies." I explained.

"Have you ever done the ink thing with your fingers?" I nod and offer my hands. They took my finger prints with a screen, "Your mom is Joyce?" I nod a lot, "Where do you live now?"

"We kept moving because of my school has problems with my learning difficaulty. I can't read right and the schools wouldn't help me." I seemed to want to just keep talking but i am also shivering, "We live with my aunt at the moment and her family. My aunt drinks. You know my cousin. You always take him home all the time. His name is William."

"You're William Fallown's little cousin." I nod, "That makes sense. Ok. We are going to take you home."

"Will you let the bike man and shop man know my thank you?" The police took me out the car and carry me. I hug both these men, "I get to go home. Thank you."

"Nah, thank you for saving me." the shop guy is a sweet man, "I am John. John Elston. You take this." He gives me a paper with address, phone and email, "You talk to me all you want. You saved me." I nod.

"It might take me a while. I am not good at writing." I keep the paper.

"You're a brave girl. You are smart. You crossed that big road without hurting yourself. That's more then other kids. Don't risk something like that unless it means you have to." without that helmet and looking really hurt. The bike man smiled, "You stay safe now." I nod and the police take me to a car. They give me back my doll which I managed to leave at the grave site. My bag with no bullets in it. I was really tired. Slept in the back of the car. I was really sleepy but smothered half to death by mom. She sees that my arm was bandaged up and that I was dirty. She cried too. The police were talking to my auntie, my uncle and I can see my cousin looking out his window. I am carried with the cop taking pause.

"She a brave and smart girl. You want to hear this story sitting down." My auntie seemed a little mad at me, "That girl not only escaped being kidnapped. She saved someone's life." The aunt spat her drink across the floor, "The whole thing is under investigation and there is two criminal cases that could be charged. One she need to be a witness of and the shooter. The other is against the man that claims to be her father."

"David Seer?" She asked, "She is his daughter but I cut all contact with him. I knew he wasn't good enough. Now that she hurt."

"You have every right to put a protection order against him. Even if it testimony of a child versus a adult. The evidence is pointing her honesty. How else can we explain how a snake made him misfire and still hurt her." The cop took pause as she nearly fainted with holding me. My uncle stabilizing her, "May we go in?"

"Yes. I want to know how a kid became a shooter."

"She shot a robber in the foot. There is camera footage in court for it." We all go in and I didn't want to leave my mom side. I stayed at her side, "The first part is directly from her and its been very consistent to not be a lie. Matching evidence to back it up." He started, "David had parked as a store and went in buy drinks. Your daughter in footage manage to get out the car, was found and put back into it. He left. Between the next time she is seen in footage again and the next case is spoken about. She claims that they went to cemetery nearby and he failed to shoot her twice. The first time in the care due to the safety lock being on. She rolled down the wind and jumped out and took cover among the grave stones. He must have been focused aiming and got bit by the snake. She took his gun and ran. She climbed over the cemetery wall. Crossed the motorway most of the way herself. David followed her but she was helped by a motor bike rider who nearly had collided with David. She said that she needed help the the biker and David got into a scrap. She seen in the store footage running to store she was at before for help. And this is where the next part get weird. Because everything was recorded and this goes into a second unrelated case." The cops sighed, "When she came in for help, two robbers were pointing their guns at the casher. She screamed and hide but instead of doing nothing. She crawled around the whole store and positioned herself to steady the gun on the floor and shot through eh ankle of one robber. She and the casher hide in the back room until police arrived."

"This is on footage?"

"Her bag had all the bullet that fell loose out of the unclipped gun. She shot the only bullet in the gun left. The gun is registered to David." The cop is very abnormally chatting about details. This is actually to much for a retelling, "We have enough to recommend a protective order. She will be sued for shooting the robber in the foot but she has good backing. The evedidence is in her favour." My mom hold me close.

"We can't afford a court battle." The undertaker in borrowing the cop takes a paper and pen. He writes out a bunch of things. There is the case numbers for both incident reports.

"This kid saved a man's life today. She's something worth fighting for. I maybe a little bias because of how young she is. But I would be proud of my daughters for doing half of what she did today." He shows what he written, "This is a charity for victim support because at the end of the day, your daughter would likely not have know how to shoot a gun if one wasn't shot at her." That is a good point, "This is the website address."

"I have a paper from the shop man. Mr Elston gave me his contact details." I pulled my bag tiredly and I felt sick. I am very shivery. My mom looks through my bag and I leaned up to her, "I don't feel well." I tell her. She felt my forehead and she was in panic. The cop spoke in radio for a emergency ambulance. I look at my hands, they were covered in bumps.

"You touched poison ivy. I had marks up my legs.

"I had to climb over the fence." I said and now I vomited. My aunt leaves the room, she has a thing about germs. My uncle cleans up and my mom sorts me out. She packed a bag of her and mine clothing. My cousin watched over me as I hung around the toliet.

"You're more amazing then I credit you for." he pats my back.

"You're a cool big brother." I take time to vomit between talking and was really tried, "You may come home with police time to time." I was mostly empty, "But your stronger then me. You can stay out there long period without being bitten by a snake or ate by bears."

"We don't have bear. We have alligators." I forget that bear problems is a later in life problem.

"And the mountain cats. There's one living next door in the trees." I tell him, "It will eat the next door over's dog. That big dog." He stands me up and I was helped to some people in nice uniforms. I was rather to dazed about what uniforms. I was put on a warm but cool bed. Moved about. I eventually closed my eyes to only bee shook awake and asked things. I was told to sing the alphabet and other stuff. My arm pricked. It hurt more then they side it would, lies. My hands were really puffy even holding my favourite doll was hard. Rushed into a strong smelly place and talking. A cop fills in details as he drove my uncle in following the ambulance. I was eventually allowed to sleep.