Her Heroes

Chapter Four

Mrs. Hark's sleek car had just barely entered my neighborhood when her nose turned up in disgust. Glancing at her uncomfortably, I opted to rest my head against the cool glass of the window.

When she finally reached my house, her nose turned up even further, crinkling her face as she peered at the yellowed grass and dead flowers that covered the front lawn. Shaking my head, I exited the car and slowly walked up the creaking porch steps, and unlocked the front door.

Grimacing as I looked at the entryway, I was reminded of all of the times I spent lying on the floor.  The times I spent cleaning the rosy colors after. No, I wouldn't be afraid of them. They were going to prison; they couldn't hurt me anymore.

I glanced over my shoulder as I walked deeper into the house, spotting Mrs. Hark and her uptight behavior trying to find somewhere semi-unstained to sit. Walking down the hall, the panic began to set in. The last time I had been here, the last time I had truly seen him was when he did it again. No, I wouldn't think about that anymore, he was gone. 

It took me no less than ten minutes to put a couple of measly belongings into my schoolbag before returning to Mrs. Hack in the front room. 

"Is that all?" I nodded my head and she quickly left the house.

Back in the car, she squirted half a bottle of sanitizer onto her hands, lathering it into her skin. 

"You can never be too careful. Especially when those people didn't even bother to clean the place well." I hid my face from her the best I could. You try cleaning blood when you're still bleeding. It doesn't clean up. 

***

She shook me awake sometime later.

Looking around, I saw we were outside of the county jail, where my fosters would be held until their court date. 

My eyes widened as she gripped my arm and pulled me out of the car and into the building with her.

Inside I was greeted by a bustling group of people who paid us no mind.

"Are you Nadia Perkins and Kimberly Hark?" A stout lady walked up to us, her salt-streaked bob shifting with each step.

"Yes. We are here to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Nadia is leaving the country and I wanted to give her a proper chance to say goodbye." Mrs. Hark patted me on the back and gave the lady a glowing smile.

"Why of course dear, if you would please just follow me," the lady turned and began to guide us down a long corridor when Mrs. Hark grabbed my injured hand, her nails digging into the still-healing wound. I gnashed my teeth together to distract myself.

Her breath was hot as she hissed words into my ear. "Act like you love them and nothing will happen. But if you try anything..." her claws dug deeper into my hand, extracting a whimper from between my lips. "I bet you could find out what would happen otherwise." She let go of my hand just as the lady turned back to us, the pasted smile back onto her face, hiding the threat that was shared moments before.

"Alright ladies, here we are." Mrs. Hark swished through the doorway into whatever lay behind but I stalled for a second. The lady sauntered up to me, her short stature making her look up to my five-foot-six stance. "Don't worry hon, I'm sure that this won't be the last time you see them." She smiled at me, her wrinkles framing her face, mistaking my stalling as worry that I would never see them again instead of the worry that I would see them again. I would do anything to not have to look the she-devil and her husband in the eyes again, even if they were both handcuffed and wearing jumpsuits.

Giving the lady a minuscule smile I took slow steps before entering the room.

"My Baby!"  The she-devil was sitting behind a desk in what appeared to be an interrogation room, her husband sitting next to her. I was about to shrink back before the social worker caught my eye and began to pick at her claws, clearly reminding me of her threat.