Children of the Gods

Prologue

Liyah stood at the living room window and watched two men in some sort of uniform move away from their car and start for the house, something off of one of their clothing caught the sunlight. Her emotional state was having a grand ol' time messing with her mind and the arrival of the men gave her no relief. A knock at the door and a male voice drifted into the room.

"Mrs. O'Neill?" the man questioned.

Liyah moved away from the window, around the furniture, and stood behind the wall where there was just enough space between the threshold and the small table. She could smell the cigarette smoke from there, telling her that her aunt had lit up another one.

"Come in." Her aunt's tone was low.

Footsteps moved away from the door and Liyah waited a few seconds before peering around the corner to see the two men facing into the kitchen. At that closer range, Liyah saw the dark blue color of the uniform. She was familiar enough with military uniforms to recognize Air Force colors since her uncle had his hanging up in his bedroom closet.

"Mrs. O'Neill, is your husband home?" one of the men asked.

"Yes."

A one worded answer and Liyah could picture her aunt taking a hit of the cigarette.

"Can we speak with him?"

A few seconds of silence that Liyah again imagined was filled with another cigarette hit. "You can try."

Liyah pulled her head back around the corner when she saw the two men move to walk further into the house. The heavy footsteps of the two men had reached the second floor and the same male voice was saying something that she couldn't make out just yet. The footsteps moved down the hall and with a careful glance to the stairs, Liyah saw the two men coming down. She wasn't positive, but she thought she saw one of the two men wink at her as he passed by to leave. What did the Air Force want with her uncle? Stepping away from her hiding spot back toward the window, Liyah watched the two men climb back into the car that was parked at the curb.

"Aunt Sarah," she called out. "I'm going over to Amira's."

Liyah didn't hear a response, though she really didn't expect one. Grabbing her backpack she had dumped on the couch as she always did after getting home from school, she headed out the door.

Liyah skitted around a corner and hunched down just as the chase party passed by the alleyway. She waited a few minutes as her breathing returned to normal before risking a look to see where those who had been chasing after her went. The group had just turned a corner, which left her a little bit of time before they realize she had gave them the slip and doubled back. Grabbing the box she had managed to pilfer from the store, Liyah emerged from the alleyway and retraced her steps away from the chase party. It had been about a month since Charlie's death and she had been acting out since then. She had done her best to make sure that her aunt didn't hear about all the things that she did. Liyah had her limits of what she would do, steal small stuff that might get her a couple nights in jail if caught and stay out past curfew. This night was no different with a swiping of an electronic item and getting back on the property long after the street lights came on.

Storing her shoplifted item in a place where either her Aunt Sarah or her father would find it, Liyah pulled out the stick that she used to nudge her rope ladder that led up to her bedroom. The operation of sneaking into her bedroom had taken her a while to work out all the kinks, and she had managed to get in with little noise to alert the two adults in the house. The rope ladder fell from where it had been coiled up and Liyah stashed the stick behind the shrubbery at the house's edge before climbing up. If she could get into the Marines with just the rope climb alone, Liyah figured she'd make it. Pushing the window open while listening for any noises that might tell her that someone was up, Liyah pulled herself over the ledge and coiled the rope ladder back up before closing the window.

"And where have you been?" a voice asked.

The bedroom light flicked on as Liyah turned at the voice. "I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk," she lied.

"To a store that closed an hour ago? How long have you been stealing and staying out long past curfew?"

Liyah looked away from Sarah's father. "A month. Everything happened so fast, Pops. I know what happened with Charlie was an accident, but then Uncle Jack was called back to action and I don't know when he'll be back." She couldn't do this, not now after holding it all back.

"Why would you bottle all of that up for so long?"

Liyah thumped down on her bed. "What was I suppose to do? Uncle Jack was called back for some top secret mission and Aunt Sarah was falling apart."

"What about your friends?"

Liyah shrugged. "I haven't mentioned much of anything to 'em."

"You should. I'll keep this between us, but I want no more stealing or sneaking into the house from you. We'll take about this later when Sarah's not here."

Liyah nodded as her grandfather closed the door behind him. Losing Charlie was tougher on her than even she wanted to admit to herself. He was the little brother she had wanted long before being left with her aunt and uncle. Other than her uncle, she was the one person Charlie looked up to. How was Liyah giving her little cousin something to look up to now?