Doctor Dash

Chapter 47

Paulina rolled her eyes as the boys whined when she took the game system away from them. "You've played for long enough," she told them with a stern look as she placed the game system on a shelf that was much too high for the boys to reach it. She frowned as her emerald eyes landed on Lex, knowing if he used his powers, he could simply fly up to reach the shelf. "It's time we do something else for a while. Maybe in an hour or so, you can play it again for a while. Now," she placed her hands on her thighs as she bent down, "what do you boys want to play?"

The two boys stared at each other, seeming to have a silent conversation through looks as they thought about what to play. "Oh! Oh!" Xander shot his hand into the air with eagerness in his bright blue eyes. "Can we soccer?"

"Oh?" Paulina blinked in surprise that Dash's son would be interested in soccer after his father was such a big football player. "Since when did you start liking soccer?"

"Well," Xander ducked his head shyly as he toyed with the hem of his shirt. "Well, Lex likes soccer. And I want to play with Lex. And it could be fun. I haven't really got to play any, but Daddy bought a soccer ball for me to practice."

"If you both want to kick the soccer ball around, that should be fine." Paulina led the way through the house to the back door. "Where did your dad put the soccer ball?" She wasn't much into playing sports herself, but she could sit on the sidelines and watch them, making sure they didn't get into trouble, like kicking the ball out of the yard.

"Daddy left it outside," Xander answered, and once the door was open, he immediately hurried over to the bin where the soccer ball was kept while not in use.

Paulina took a seat on the steps of the little porch and watched as the two boys ran into the yard. They stood several feet away from each other before Xander dropped the ball in front of him. Then he kicked the ball to the blond boy across from him. It didn't quite reach Lex, but he ran forward to return the ball. Paulina smiled, leaning back on her arms as she watched them. It was nice seeing the boys playing together like this, and Lex didn't get frustrated when Xander's kicks weren't strong enough to send the ball all the way to him.

Lex kicked the ball a little too hard, and it rolled past the raven haired boy and toward the fence. Xander chased after it and picked up the ball. Before he could turn back to them, he frowned as he stared at something along the side of the house. Not quite liking that, Paulina stood as she frowned with a hint of worry building up in her. Xander's brow was pinched, and his lower lip pushed out in a pout.

"You look funny, Mister," Xander said.

Maybe she was just over reacting. Xander could always just be talking to one of his neighbors, but Paulina had this sinking suspicion that it wasn't anyone that the boy knew. For one, Xander knew his neighbor's names and would call them Mr. Adams or Mrs. Parker, not simply referring to them as Mister. Paulina hurried over to where the boy stood and glanced toward the side of the house. She gulped at the sight of the man standing just beyond the little fence closing off the yard. She thought maybe, just vaguely, she recalled once seeing that ashen skin and long nose, but it was such a far off distant memory that it could simply have been a terrifying dream she once had.

The trench coat he wore reached down to nearly his ankles with the bottom hem tattered. His black boots looked quite worn and covered in mud. His pants and vest were patched up in places and hung on him like he had lost some weight since buying them. His face had that sort of waned appearance of someone that hadn't been eating well, and there were dark bags under his eyes that suggested he didn't get much sleep recently, or for a really long time now.

"I think it's time we head back inside," Paulina said as she grabbed Xander and lifted him into his arms. The boy dropped the soccer ball to wrap his arms around her neck. She didn't know who exactly this man was, but she did not like the way he suddenly appeared at the house or that slightly crazed gleam in his unnatural looking eyes. He felt dangerous to her simply by glancing at him. Whatever he wanted, she wasn't going to let him anywhere near the boys. "Lex, get inside."