Soon, after driving for about a half an hour, Martin and Chris arrived at Martin and Kitty's house.
"Now, our house isn't very big... but, you can sleep in the living room..." Martin said as he parked in the driveway.
Chris was mainly paying attention to all the grey houses on the block, "Everything looks so depressing..."
Martin nodded, and adjusted his glasses, "Yep... but I guess you get use to it after a while..."
They both got out of the car, and headed over to the front door of the house. The house was not very big, and only seemed like two floors, but, Chris knew it was enough for Martin and Kitty's family. It was actually quite nice looking too, if you ignored the grey color.
Martin unlocked the door, and went in.
Chris blinked; inside, the house actually had color! There were lots of shades of blues, greens, and soft whites. And, Chris knew Kitty had picked out most of the designs. Though, Kitty definitely wasn't a girly girl, you could see the designs she picked could support anyone.
They both walked down the hallway, which opened to the kitchen and living room. Past the living room, another hall went back, probably to the bedrooms.
Chris saw a young boy laying on the floor, in front of the TV, who must have been Martin's eldest son. The boy son noticed them, and ran over carrying something.
"Hey dad! Dad! Look what a made!" he said as he ran over to Martin. Martin smiled and knelt down to him, as the boy held up the thing he made,"Look dad! It's a model of a peregrine falcon!"
"Wow... great detail Gabe!" Martin said with a smile, taking the model in his hands carefully.
The boy, who's name apparently was Gabe, soon noticed Chris standing still by the door, who was just watching in amazement.
"Dad... who's that guy?" Gabe asked pointing, feeling nervous.
Martin looked back to Chris, "Oh... he's relative who's going to be staying with us for a while... Now, where's your mother?"
"She's getting Trent ready for his nap..." Gabe said, taking his model back slowly, and he went back over to the TV.
"Trent's your four year old, I'm guessing, right?" Chris asked, walking over to Martin.
Martin nodded, and smiled, "Yep, he is..." he was about to go down the hall, right when Kitty started out towards them.
Chris knew Martin was right, she definitely was pregnant, and it actually looked like they'd be expecting soon.
"Martin honey, is that you?" Kitty started, "You know, you need to talk to Trent about cleaning his room, he won't listen to me, so maybe-" she then saw Chris, and screamed, "AH!" she nearly fell backwards too, but, Martin suspected she would do that, and he caught her.
Kitty stood up straight, and put her hand over her mouth. She just kept shaking her head, as her eyes filled with tears, "It can't be..."
Martin nodded slowly, "Laura, it is..." and he smiled slowly.
Kitty looked to Martin, then to Chris. She then ran over to Chris and hugged him, "Where have you been all this time?"
Chris wasn't sure how to answer the question, "Well, as strange as it might seem, to me I've only been gone for a few hours or so, ever since the 'incident'... but, to you guys, I've been gone for fifteen years..."
Kitty blinked, and just smiled,"That's definitely strange for sure..."
That night, after dinner, Kitty and Martin filled Chris in on everything he needed to know. They were not just telling him what the world was like now a days, they were also telling him about all the laws Zach enforced.
"Once we got out of jail, we had really no where to go. Zach has created this world in a way, so homeless and poor people, stay poor and homeless, or even have worse things happen to them..." Kitty said as she sat down on the couch, right after she had tucked the boys in.
Martin sat beside her, "Not to mention anyone that get's out of jail, is treated like a monster..."
Chris sat across from both of them, and shook his head slowly, not liking at all what he was hearing, "Then, how did Martin get a job?"
"Well..." Kitty started, "As much as we didn't want to do it, we had to go to Zach for help..."
Chris's eyes widened, "And he actually gave you the job?" he said, looking at his brother.
Martin sighed, "We had to sign a contract... so he knew we wouldn't rise up against him..."
Chris blinked, "And you actually agreed to it?"
"I mean, what could we do? Laura was going to give birth to Gabe in a couple of weeks, and we didn't have anything to support him with..." Martin said, taking Kitty's hand gently.
Chris nodded slowly, "I understand... but still, it must have felt awful to sign that..."
"It did..." Kitty said, looking down, "For Martin, it said he wasn't allowed to be an animal rescuer... for me..." she didn't know if she could finish, "It said I wasn't allowed to use my powers..."
Chris's mouth dropped open, "You mean, your kids don't even know that their mom can turn into any animal she wants?"
"No, they don't..." Martin said sadly.
Another question was brought up in Chris's mind, "So, do Gabe or Trent have any powers?"
"No, neither of them can transform like Kitty, we've even tested it a few times..." Martin said.
Chris just had had about enough of this world. He didn't like it at all. Why was everything so-... sad? Nothing seemed to go the right way. The only thing Chris was happy about, was that Martin and Kitty were okay, and had a nice little family.
Family. He then wondered many other things, "Martin, how's mom and dad been doing? And Christine and Susan?"
Martin blinked and looked down, "Mom and dad and gone Chris... and so is Christine..."
"What about Susan?" Chris asked, wondering about his older sister. He was sadder then he showed it, but, he really felt the world was falling apart.
"She's one of Zach's brainwashed minions... just like Aviva..." Martin said slowly.
Chris looked down, and put his hand over his face.
Kitty sighed sadly, "My dad and Olive are gone too, and I really wished Gabe and Trent could've had met at least one of their grandparents... and, my brother Donte, he died in the war..."
Chris blinked, "What war?"
"The war of the people that rebelled against Zach... none of them made it..." Martin said standing, "We should probably get some rest..." and he helped Kitty up, "G'night Chris..." and with that, Kitty and Martin headed off to their bedroom.
Chris was left sitting in his chair, utterly confused again. That's it... he hated this world. Why did he have to come to the future anyway? Was he stuck there? Why did his brother wear glasses? So many questions, so little answers.
Chris finally stood up sighing, and went down the hall towards the bathroom. As he went down the hallway, he passed Gabe's room.
Gabe's door was wide open, and Chris looked in.
Gabe was in the middle of the floor, laying on the carpet, whispering to a turtle. The turtle was actually quite big, about the size of a plate.
Chris blinked, and checked his watch quickly, then went into Gabe's room, "Hi Gabe, why are you still up?"
Gabe froze, and looked up at Chris, then looked back at his turtle, "I'm... talking to Lettuce..."
"Your talking to your turtle? And you named him Lettuce?"
"Yep... his name's Lettuce Leaf, because he likes to eat lettuce..." Gabe said simply, patting the turtle's head.
Chris smiled. He knew Gabe got the naming animal thing from his dad. Chris walked in and sat beside Gabe, "You know, Lettuce seems to be some type of box turtle..."
"I know that..." Gabe said with a slight smile, "Lettuce already told me he was a box turtle..."
Chris blinked, "Lettuce, told you?"
"Yep..." Gabe said slowly, looking back at the turtle.
"Well... what's Lettuce saying now?" Chris asked, starting to get suspicious.
"He says-..." Gabe stared and stared at his turtle, and nodded slowly, "-He says your shirt is way to green..."
Chris looked down at his shirt, then back at Gabe, "Are you sure you're not just saying that?"
"I'm sure. Because Lettuce said you once saved his dad, with someone named Aviva... whoever she is..." Gabe said shrugging.
Chris's eyes widened. Chris knew their was no possible way Gabe could've known that on his own, especially if Gabe never even knew about his dad's old job.
Chris kept shaking his head in shock, but then remembered Kitty's powers. Martin and Kitty said Gabe and Trent couldn't change form like their mom could, but they never said they didn't have any other powers...
