Flesh and Bone

A/N: This might be a bit late for a warning, but the characters in this story are going to be as in-character as possible. That means quite a lot of "foul" language. If you find the language in this story offensive, I wouldn't recommend reading this story.

Foreboding - Domestic Disturbance

"So you think you could be President one day?" Jazmine asked, looking up at the stars that had begun to shine through the rapidly-darkening sky.

"Probably," Huey replied. He was laying on his back in the grass beside her, eyes fixed on the heavens.

A blood-curdling shriek stabbed the air, thick with terror and absolute pain. It echoed off the buildings and the trees and rang over the grass and hills. The two stopped abruptly, the scream causing them to look at one another and then rapidly around to discern the source.

Huey sat up straight. "What the hell was that?"

Jazmine's jade eyes searched the growing darkness frantically. "I dunno..." she whispered.

"C'mon," he said, pushing himself to his feet. He offered her his hand, which she took, and he pulled her to her feet.

From their hill, it was a ten minute jog to the parking lot of the high school. But they were sprinting at top speed, and there were no cars to dodge, so they made it in half the time. Jazmine was sure that if Huey hadn't slowed himself down so she could keep up, he would have made it two or three minutes. He was known for being fast.

The school parking lot was deserted. They slowed to a walk and padded across the empty pavement. "I'm sure this is where that scream came from," Huey mused, looking around. Jazmine folded her arms across her chest defensively. He could tell she was afraid. A bird squawked somewhere in the distance and she yelped and clutched his arm.

"What was that!" she whispered.

"It was just a bird, Jazmine," he said calmly. She nodded quickly. Through her grip he could tell her heart was pounding. "Take a deep breath. Your adrenaline has your heart rate elevated."

She inhaled deeply. "So what do you think that noise was?"

"A bird."

"Not that one," she said acerbically, giving him a pointed look. "The scream."

He was silent for a moment. "I honestly don't know," he admitted, his eyes seemingly gazing at something far away. He strode to the center of the parking lot and knelt down.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Looks like blood," he said from his position. He was crouched over a dark puddle on the ground. He dipped one finger into the shallow pool and smelled the liquid gingerly. "Yup, definitely blood," he confirmed. "S'a lot of blood though, whoever this belongs too is probably in bad shape."

She was trembling now. "I think we should go. I have a bad feeling," she breathed, looking around frantically. Huey wiped the blood on the pavement and got to his feet.

"C'mon, let's get outta here," he said, narrowing his eyes and looking around. Jazmine didn't respond. "Jazmine?"

He turned around. She was rooted to the spot, frozen in fear, one slender, trembling hand pointing off into the woods. Huey looked to see what she was pointing at. Two tiny gleaming lights that glowed through the shadows. He blinked, and they were gone. She was shaking. He sighed heavily and grabbed her hand. "C'mon, let's go," he said soothingly and pulled her along. Whatever the lights were, the points that looked like glowing eyes, they'd terrified her into a state of shock. Another sigh escaped them as they finally found themselves back on Timid Deer Lane and she had started to calm down. "You okay?" he said over his shoulder. She was only vaguely aware that he was gripping her hand.

"I... I... I..." she stammered and he stopped, turning to face her, and then gripped her shoulders tightly.

"Jazmine, calm down," he said. She was still trembling under his hands. "Listen to me. There is nothing to be afraid of, okay? Not while I'm here."

Her green eyes settled on his umber ones. "Are you... sure?"

"I don't lie, Jazmine."

She nodded. Her breathing began to steady and she closed her eyes. "Will... will you walk me home?" she murmured.

"I guess." He took her hand again and led her down the street, making sure she could keep pace without collapsing. The lights of her house were looming in through the shadowy distance. He stopped at the door and released her hand. "Can you manage getting into the house by yourself?" he asked flatly.

She nodded. "I think so."

"Call me if you have problems." She nodded again.

"Okay..." she murmured. She turned and reached for the door handle, but paused. Jazmine whirled around and wrapped her arms around his neck. From the moisture that was beginning to soak into his shirt, he could tell tears were running down her cheeks. "Thank you Huey," she sobbed. He patted her awkwardly on the back.

"There's no reason to cry, Jazmine," he muttered. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

She released him and wiped her eyes. "Sorry. Good night, Huey." And with that she disappeared into the house and closed the door behind her with a click!

He shook his head, brushed off his shoulder and strode across the street to his own house. The shouting from the other side of the door met him before he even turned the knob. He pushed the door open and stepped over the threshold, and closed it behind him.

"What the hell is wrong witchu, boy?" the older man yelled, waving a sheet of paper around in the air. "Why the hell did you paint the damn janitor!"

"Nigga was askin' fo' it!" was the youngest Freeman's shouted response. "'Sides, if he didn' wanna be red, nigga shoulda ducked!"

"Boy Imma beat you within an inch o' yo' life!" Grandad bellowed, and loosened his belt.

"Did I miss something?" Huey interjected, looking between the pair of them. They both paused.

"Where the hell 'ave you been?" Grandad demanded.

"I was hangin' out with Jazmine," Huey responded. "I told you where I was going."

"Yeah well don't you go an' knock that little girl up. We don't need anymore of yo' ass runnin' around here." Huey slapped his palm to his forehead. "That goes double fo' your dumb ass!" the old man hollered at Riley. "I mean it!"

"Damn Grandad, no one's gettin' knocked up!" Riley said indignantly. "You ac' like we're stupid or somethin'."

"Because you are!" he snapped.

Huey rolled his eyes. "If nobody minds, I'm goin' to bed." He left the pair of them shouting once again.

Huey's dreams had always been somewhat prophetic. He'd once predicted turbulence at a garden party, the return of Colonel Stinkmeaner, and a few other things. Tonight though, it was a little different. He shot upright in bed, breathing heavily, cold sweat beading his forehead. In the next bed, Riley was fast asleep. The house was quiet. Huey covered his face with his right hand and closed his eyes. The visions were vivid, nothing like he'd ever seen before. It was like it had been more than a dream.

It was like he had been there. Like he'd died there.

With his left hand he rubbed his sternum, the memory of the pain from the nightmare still fresh in his memory and on his skin. He'd had a lot of dreams in his life, but none of them had ever actually hurt. Just what the hell had that been? He pulled up his shirt to inspect the sore spot. Faintly detectable against the shadow of the room and the darkness of his skin was an angry red patch on his flesh. "The hell..." he whispered.

Deciding he didn't really want to go back to sleep, he slung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, crept around the bed and out of the room. After a quick stop to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face, he made his way silently down the stairs and to the back door, where he stepped out into the cool night air and sat on the back step. Whatever that had been, a dream or a vision, it had shaken him up a bit. Well, more than a bit, he realized as he stared at his hand. He was shaking. Things like this didn't scare Huey Freeman. He wasn't afraid of dreams.

Now if it was a prophecy, that was another matter entirely. The eyes in his dream, the claws, the blood... it was too vivid.

"Stop thinkin' about it," he said sternly to himself and exhaled heavily. A gentle buzzing noise caught his attention, and he reached into his pocket. How had he forgotten his cellphone was in the pocket of his pants? His eyes flicked over the screen, and then softened for the briefest of moments. Then he flipped open the small piece of plastic and said, "Jazmine, you realize it's 3 in the morning, right?"

"I'm sorry if I woke you Huey, but I was scared and didn't know who else to call," his mulatto friend said. The fear was thick in her voice. He rubbed his temple with his free hand.

"What is it?"

"I dunno if I'm hearing things or seeing things but there was something outside my window and it looked at me and now it's gone..."

He was silent for a moment. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" He'd never felt like such a hypocrite before after what he'd just seen in his own prophetic dreams.

"I think so... I'm not sure. Maybe... Huey, is there such thing as monsters?" It was a strange thing for a sixteen year old girl to ask, but considering the events that were going on around Woodcrest, the question did bear some merit. Whatever she'd seen in the woods earlier that night had definitely been strange.

"I... don't know, Jazmine," he replied slowly. "But don't worry about it. Try and get some sleep." He heard her stifle a scream. "What is it?"

"Please please please PLEASE come over here Huey, there's something out there!"

He groaned. "Jazmine if my Grandad finds out I went over there in the middle of the night-"

"PLEASE Huey!"

"Alright, just let me find my shoes..."

"Please hur-"

The line went dead. He sat for a few moments, unsure if she'd hung up or if the call had been cut by someone, or something, else. Either way, he had to go check on his terrified friend. He rubbed his temples and got to his feet, making his way back into the house. Without making a sound, he pulled on and laced up his shoes, then crept out the front door. The cool night air brushed against his face as he trotted across the street. The lights of the Dubois house were off, save for the dim nightlight from the second story corner window. He knew that was Jazmine's room. She'd crept out several times to sneak over to Huey's house when she'd been scared or unable to sleep before they'd gotten cell phones.

Despite her constant presence and the fact that she never stopped talking, Jazmine really wasn't that bad a friend. Actually, it was quite the contrary.

And she did make good company when he'd otherwise be alone, since Caesar had gone off on some foreign exchange program. He was okay with being alone, but her company did sort of brighten his oh-so-sunny disposition.

Sort of.

He silently scaled the side of the house and tapped three times on her window. Her frightened eyes appeared at the edge of the curtain and she pulled the window open.

"You scared me!" she hissed and let him in.

He landed softly on the floor and glanced around. "Alright, so what's the problem?" he asked quietly, then turned his eyes on her. She was wearing a massively over-sized t-shirt, long, baggy cotton pants, and she had a large pink blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She was shaking.

"Eyes... there were eyes outside the window," she whispered.

"Which window?" he asked. She didn't answer at first, she was trembling so violently. He gripped her shoulder again to steady her. "C'mon Jazmine, you gotta tell me what happened."

"Well... first in the bathroom window. I was getting some water..." she trailed off, her eyes fixed on the floor.

"Then what happened?"

"I saw the red lights again but I didn't want to be scared, so I opened the curtain to make sure it was like a plane or something..." she inhaled sharply. "It was these great big eyes. They stared at me and then just... evaporated. So I ran into the bedroom to look and they were there again... staring... at me." She paused to take a steadying breath and went on. "Then I went to check the living room. They looked at me there too and then disappeared again so I ran upstairs and called you..."

"Did you check on your parents?" he asked. She didn't answer, and her silence confirmed that she had not. He nodded. "Alright, follow me. We're gonna check the house."

"You don't want me to wait here?"

"No," he said shortly, and pulled open her bedroom door silently. Leaving her behind was a poor idea. If she wasn't seeing things, and there really was someone or something outside, then leaving her behind would mean trouble if he came back and she was gone. The pair of them crept into the hallway beyond. It was dim, save for the silver pools of moonlight that spilled in through a gap in the curtains. The light made the pictures on the walls and the vase on a table nearby gleam ominously. If Huey weren't so logical and rational, he might have been spooked by the eeriness of it all.

He peered around the corner of the stairs down into the living room below. It was silent as a mausoleum. The only sound he heard was Jazmine's labored breathing. He could tell she was on the brink of a panic attack. He'd have to deal with that in a moment. As they arrived at the landing of the stairs he motioned for her to pause as he listened again. The only other sound he could discern was the ticking of a clock somewhere steadily keeping track of the passing seconds.

"Show me where you saw the eyes," he whispered, almost inaudibly, to Jazmine. She pointed to the center living room window. The curtain of the window billowed in the wind. The window was open. He padded silently into the living room, his eyes scanning the shadows for anything remotely out of place. Aside from the open window, everything looked as perfectly neat as it had always been. Even since the day he'd first met the Dubois family, their house had been the pinnacle of the perfect suburban household: neat, well-decorated and sophisticated. Now it stood much as it always had, just somewhat ominous.

He turned silently in place, surveying the entire room, wine-colored eyes still scanning the darkness. The sound of Jazmine's shortening breaths made him turn back again to face her. She was shaking uncontrollably and visibly, even in the dim light. He stepped closer to her and gripped her shoulder with his right hand. "Hey, calm down," he whispered. She was unable, and he placed a hand on her other shoulder. "Jazmine, c'mon. You gotta calm down," he urged. Her jade eyes caught his and she inhaled slowly.

"I'm sorry," she breathed.

"Don't be sorry, let's just check around one more time and then try to get some sleep." Normally Huey wouldn't have been so patient with the girl. Lord knew he hadn't been patient before with anybody, much less this overly-emotional girl who followed him around like a lost puppy. But now seemed different, though he wasn't sure why. He looked her over for what felt like an eternity, taking in every detail of the way the moonlight made her eyes gleam and her long puffy hair almost shine. He realized he'd been staring a few seconds too long and released her quickly. Were it not so dark, she might have seen tinges of red on his dark skin.

And then someone screamed. The shriek punctuated the air violently. "MOM!" Jazmine cried, and she and Huey dashed up the stairs. He took them two at a time and made it to the top quickly, throwing open the door. He wasn't quite prepared for what he saw inside the master bedroom where Tom and Sarah slept.

Mrs. McPhearson was well-known for many things. Amongst them was her adulterous nature, drug addictions, and the near-divorce with her pushy, insensitive husband. And of course, her penchant for nosing in on the neighbors and spreading gossip. So when a scream went up in the middle of the night, she was curious. Of course she wasn't sleeping. While her husband was watching copious numbers of other women exposing their flesh on camera and satisfying himself, she had been busy in the living room with white powder and a mirror. She peered out her window and saw a light on in the Dubois house and giggled.

Partly because she was high.

In such a circumstance, any sane, normal human being would first attempt to see if their neighbor was well and that no one was injured. That was not what Mrs. McPhearson did. Instead, she sat there for several long, agonizing minutes, simply staring through the blinds as more lights flickered to life and noise drifted down the street.

The next thing she did was pick up the phone. She dialed the numbers so quickly her hands blurred.

"You will not believe what's going on at the Dubois house!" she whispered excitedly. As she yammered away, Cindy peered over the railing from her bedroom door. Her mother's voice certainly carried a long way and had woken the young girl from her pleasant dreams.

"Hey mam, what's goin' on?" she asked tiredly. Her mother prattled on idly for several minutes before she decided to answer.

"Go back to sleep dear, just some noise down at the Dubois place," she said nonchalantly. The fourteen year old girl stared at her mother, dumbstruck.

"An' all you're doin' is gossiping?" Cindy said incredulously. "Mam, you a hoe." And with that she disappeared back into the darkness of her room.

Mrs. McPhearson sighed heavily. "Listen, Tamara, let me call you back. I need to call the police, but I'll let you know everything. Thanks doll."

Sarah Dubois was already out of bed by the time Huey and Jazmine burst through the door. She was yanking on a robe, and shaking violently. Huey spoke first. "Mrs. Dubois, what-"

"Mom what happened?"

"Where's Mr. Dubois?"

Tears were streaming down the blonde woman's face as she pointed a trembling hand at the empty spot in the bed where Tom usually slept. It was soaked in a puddle of blood. The sheets were tattered and sheared as well, but it was localized damage. The only tears were where the blood and spread to. Whatever had happened, it would have been violent. What Huey couldn't understand is how something like that had gone on unnoticed with Sarah sleeping soundly right beside him.

"D-Daddy?" Jazmine stammered, shivering once again, her eyes fixed on the bed.

Huey looked from Jazmine to Sarah to the bloodstain and asked slowly, "Mrs. Dubois, what happened?"

She gulped. "He... I don't know..." she sobbed. "He was there when I fell asleep and I woke up to... to use the bathroom and... he... he..." She collapsed, sinking to her knees and sobbing on the floor. Huey swallowed. Pain was something he was used to, but he had never really been good and comforting those who suffered. The same was true now as both of the Dubois women were in tears. He exhaled hard. He wasn't even good at small talk, how was he supposed to comfort two wildly upset women? And with the bloodstain in Tom's bed, that seemed to be the least of their problems.

Jazmine was just as upset as her mother, but her reaction was quite different. Instead of falling to the floor, she clutched the front of Huey's shirt and sobbed into the cotton fabric. He patted her shoulder awkwardly.

And then the sirens started. He moved to the window and peered out, seeing a pair of cop cars arrive just outside the house and four officers rush to the door.

"Listen, Mrs. Dubois, you need to get up and get the door," he said, trying to pull the hysterical woman to her feet. "If you don't, they'll think it's suspicious and break down the door. C'mon..."

The woman looked up and nodded. "You... you're right. Let me take care of the police. You should go Huey. You know what they'll think with you here, and Jazmine... and with Tom missing..."

He didn't respond at first. He looked down at Jazmine, who was still clutching the front of his shirt and staring up at him, pleading in her eyes. He sighed. "Leaving with the cops at the door would be a bad idea," he said. "We'll stay upstairs until they're gone, then we'll talk about this." He glanced down to see the mulatto girl's eyes brighten just a bit, and they crept into Jazmine's room. Huey listened as Sarah rushed down the stairs and allowed the police into the house. Their voices drifted up through the stairwell.

Jazmine sat on the bed, her head held in her hands. "Huey... I'm afraid..."

He leaned against the wall, standing only a foot from where she sat. "I know," he said quietly. He wasn't sure what else to say. Her delicate hand reached out and slipped softly into his. He swallowed, and they sat in silence for several long, merciless minutes. He felt the heat spread across his face again.

"Huey?" she said softly.

"Hm?"

"Do you think... my dad's gonna die?" she whispered. He was quiet again. "Huey?"

"The longer he stays missing..." he started, trailing off for a moment. "The longer he stays missing, the less likely it will be to bring him home alive." She started to tremble all over again, so he quickly added, "But it'll be alright. We'll find him."

She didn't say anything at first, and then murmured, "You think so?"

"I don't lie."

"I know."

"I promise I'll help you find him." They lapsed into silence once again, and he felt her tug on his hand. She pulled him to sit down on the bed beside her. It dawned on him that he'd never really spent much time alone with any girls besides Jazmine, and he'd never actually been on the same bed with a girl. He guessed he was mostly delayed in that respect. He never thought about girls. Hell, he never thought about half the things that boys his age thought about. He always had more pressing matters to attend to. But now...

Well, now he was sitting in bed with a fear-ridden and grief-stricken teenage girl and he was suddenly very aware of his status as a hormonal teenager. Of all the inappropriate timing...

She rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Huey. You're a really good friend."

He nodded but didn't speak.

Distantly he heard the front door close and the slamming of car doors. The police had finally left. He could hear Sarah ascend the stairs and turn the knob on Jazmine's door.

"So what happened?" Huey asked calmly. Jazmine lifted her head and her hair brushed against his ear. He almost winced at the feeling, but his face didn't betray his thoughts.

"I showed them the blood. They wanted to talk to Jazmine but I said she was sleeping... filed a missing person's report, they'll start looking for him..." It looked like it was all she could do to retain what little composure she'd gained. Though she hadn't asked why Huey had been in her house in the middle of the night, it didn't seem to matter in light of the situation. He figured it was better off than questions and accusations like his grandfather had tossed around.

She sniffled. "I... I'll be sleeping on the couch. You two... let me know if you need anything. And don't let your grandfather catch you over here at this hour," she said, mirth entering her voice for a fraction of a second before the sadness sank back in again, and she vanished back into the hallway. He heard her begin sobbing as she returned back down the stairs.

Jazmine closed the door again. She looked like she was about to apologize again, and he'd heard her say "sorry" far too many times for things she had no reason to apologize for. He held up a hand.

"Before you apologize again," he said, "I want you to know that I agreed to come over here. Don't apologize." She nodded silently. "Get some sleep Jazmine. I know it'll be hard, but you'll need the rest. School isn't going to be easy if you don't get any sleep."

"Okay..." she whispered, and once again wrapped her arms around his neck.

And again, he patted her awkwardly on the back.

"I'll check on you tomorrow." With that he slipped back out the window and vanished, descending to the street below to sneak back into bed before anyone noticed his oddly-timed absence.