Overcoming Demons (G/t)

Chapter Ten

It had been at least a week since Nova bought Louie off of Todd. While the air outside was warm, and the birds chattered to each other in the trees, all was not peaceful. Nova sat in front of her window, a pup and small boy in her lap as police cars pulled up along the street outside. "What would they be doing here?" Kenny muttered in a low, frightened voice.

"I'm not sure," Nova murmured gently, one hand gently stroking the fur on the German Shepherds back, the other smoothing down Kenneth's dark brown locks. "You've been all over the news. So many people are trying to find you. That's what happens when a child goes missing and the parents pretend to cry on TV. I couldn't believe how they acted in front of the cameras."

"Th-They would act the same way in front of police too. They never even let me speak to them when they came, and if I got a word in, they'd stare me down and make sure I didn't tattle." Kenny leaned his head into Nova's fingertip as it ran across his hair, finding that the motion and touch were rather comforting. 

"It isn't tattling if you have a good reason to tell," Nova murmured gently. It was hard for her to even think about the way the poor boy was treated by them. Not a second of the day went by that she didn't regret getting him out of there sooner. But the years it took to perfect the serum, the amount of money she had to spend to continue her research, it just didn't leave her with enough time or the funds to care for him. Now it was different. She had him a room, clothes, furniture, and now even him himself. And she had no intention of letting him go back to those abusive people.

Nova watched as the pair of officers stepped out of the car. One was rather short and stout, with a large bushy mustache and round spectacles. The other was tall, lean and well-built with a thin face and narrowed eyes. 

Internally, she pleaded that they wouldn't come to her door. But they began to walk up the cement walkway to her front door. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath before apologizing briefly. "Hide with Louie, sweetheart." She murmured, and gently lowered Kenneth to the floor. "I'll handle it."

Needless to say, Kenny had become quite nervous now. Policemen had always made him that way even though he knew there were supposed to be there to help. But he had a feeling if they saw him, they wouldn't listen to reason and arrest Nova right then and there. And he...he would be taken straight back to his foster parents. He could feel his breath hitching in his throat. His brown eyes stared up at Nova from the floor. He longed for her to hold him again but he knew he had to listen. At this moment, he wasn't allowed to break down and cry. 

"Come on Louie," he said quickly, hurrying across the floor and ushering the German Sheppard pup after him.

"Such a good boy," Nova murmured out loud but wasn't sure if she was even talking about the small teen or the puppy whose tail disappeared around the corner of the door as it trekked after him.

She could hear the soft, muffled chatter of the two policemen outside as they neared her door. The moment that they knocked, an odd shiver shot through her and her blood ran cold. A sudden sense of dread. She had been so ready to talk to them, to lie, but the second the soft rapping sound echoed in her nearly silent home, she was no longer sure. Never in her life had she dealt with the authorities, let alone needed to lie to them. However, she knew she needed to keep herself steady. This wasn't just for her, but for that young teen in the other room who she knew she needed to protect.

Grasping the cold doorknob, Nova exhaled heavily and pulled the door open with the politest smile she could manage. "Oh, hello. What can I do for you today?"

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you but we received an anonymous tip that they saw you with the missing boy Kenneth after his disappearance." The stouter of the two said, gazing at Nova with stern eyes.

Nova felt her throat practically close up, but she kept her composure calm. "Me?"

"Yes, you. We have a warrant to take you in for questioning downtown at the station." The thinner male spoke, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket and presenting it to the young woman. 

With a warrant, she had no possible way to refuse. She couldn't leave Kenny here alone, but, she supposed he'd be alright with Louie. And if she wasn't to cooperate, it would even only look more suspicious. "Oh, I see. Of course, I'll-"

"No! No, you can't take her, she didn't do anything wrong!" Kenny's voice cried, the thirteen-year-old running into the room with his brown locks bouncing rapidly around his face. The large German Sheppard bounded after him. 

Nova closed her eyes and swallowed harshly. Of course he wouldn't understand that she wasn't being arrested, he was just a child. 

The two officers fell silent for a moment, both pairs of eyes drawing toward Kenny. Immediately after this, both became on guard. One pulled out his taser while the other removed his handcuffs from his belt. "Nova Morgan, you're under arrest for the kidnapping of Kenneth Rogers."

Nova cooperated, turning around and placing her arms behind her back. Her heart thudded loud enough in her ears that she could make out that Kenny was now screaming at the officers but she couldn't make out any of the words.

Kenny ran forward as he watched the taller of the two policemen lead his adoptive mom from the room, but the stouter man was suddenly on the floor, using his hands to block him. "Y-You can't take her! Please, no, n-no, she saved me! Stop it! Nova!"

His cries fell on deaf ears, not even Nova turning in his direction, looking to be ina state of shock. He didn't have to look up to know that he was being stared at. While the officers would have their questions about how this happened to him, at the moment they could only do their jobs and stare like he was some circus freak. 

"You c-can't take her! Please! M-Mom, no!"

Nova's gentle eyes finally turned, looking over her shoulder past the officer as she was forced into the back of the police car. She could feel a few tears running down her cheeks. She could barely see the small boy now. The door slammed shut, and she slowly mouthed a few words to him through the window.

Kenneth was no lip or mind reader, but she'd said those words to him so many times the past week or so that he knew them without even hearing them. It only made his gasps and sobs echo louder in the room, for he knew they weren't true. Not this time.

'It's okay.'