Ch14

"That's the last time I let you around my daughter!"

I cowered as Chief Hurlton yelled at. "Sir, please. I saw it happen and I don't even know what exactly happened. I just saw her disappear."

Chief Hurlton glared coldly at me. I already knew full well that he would never let me near Ariella again, assuming he believed me, and that Daphne's father would be on his side instead of his own daughter. Even the Mrs. Crotena was on the adult side. Chip, Daphne, Cork and I were all trying to explain everything. I told Cork immediately the next time I saw him, which meant I ran to his house that morning.

"Chief Hurlton," Daphne began to plead. "Please understand that this was all Ariella's idea and we all agreed to help her." It was true.

"I still don't believe any of this," Mr. Maklee stated. "Do any of you?"

Mrs. Crotena and Mrs. Maklee both shook their heads. "You kids have a lot to learn about trespassing," Mrs. Maklee stated.

The four of us stared at her in confusion. "What?" we all shouted.

"We weren't trespassing!" Daphne protested.

"Cork let us in," I almost shouted.

"Did he have permission from his parents?" Chief Hurlton suddenly asked.

We all turned to Cork. He shied quickly, hiding behind Chip and avoiding the chief's gaze entirely. I looked sadly at him, my eyes begging for the truth. He slid further behind the soccer athlete.

"Uh-huh, that's what I thought," Chief Hurlton concluded.

A door behind us suddenly opened and the group of four kids and four adults turned to the Police Station entrance to find Mrs. Hurlton helping a bruised and beaten Mrs. Krulny standing there. There were bloodstains on her clothes and she had a very noticeable black left eye. Everyone, even Chief Hurlton gasped at the sight of her.

"Oh my word," Mrs. Maklee exclaimed in shock.

Cork poked out from behind Chip and ran over to his mom, lightly and cautiously hugging her. I could see tears trailing down his face as he shook violently in her arms.

"Are you okay mom?" he asked through heavy sobs.

She nodded weakly. "For now." Her voice was small and barely audible. "I was able to get away and made it to Ariella's home."

"She was worse when she came over," Mrs. Hurlton explained. "Shelly answered the door and screamed. I gasped at the sight of her and immediately took her to the kitchen to clean her a bit." Chief Hurlton and Mr. Maklee quickly led the poor woman to a seat and went straight to bandaging her up. "She is much better than earlier."

"This is why I asked them to come to my house," Cork suddenly spoke up, his eyes still spilling tears. "My father has been doing this for as long as I can remember. He beats her for no reason!" He was become louder, close to shouting. "I want my father to stop!"

"What is going on in here?" I turned to see Mayor Jalidoney in the doorway now.

"A serious problem sir," I quickly answered.

The mayor looked me over. "Mr. Mattinseth, why are you and these young folks not in school right now?"

Chip stepped forward before I could answer. "Mr. Krulny is causing trouble Boss!" he shouted, not knowing he was yelling at the man.

"I see," Mayor Jalidoney mused. He rubbed his chin in thought and then faced me. I knew the expression well. It was the same one I received from coach for every pep talk before a game.

"Yes sir?" I answered, nodding my head in acknowledgment.

"Let's talk." He looked around at everyone else. "Privately," he added with emphasis.

We walked into another room, closing the door and Mayor Jalidoney gave me a gut-wrenching look. I felt like crawling into a hole and hiding forever. Not even his daughter was this bad. Hailey, on the other hand, was way worse.

"How much do you know already?" He was always quick to the point.

"Ariella filled me in yesterday after she spoke with Cork to enter his home without any issues. Daphne and Chip joined in out of curiosity and did not cause a problem. It wasn't until Ariella and I went into the basement, finding a strange machine and being attacked by a rat that things changed and Ariella disappeared after a strange beam hit her. That's when I told Daphne and Chip. This morning I told Cork and we agreed to tell the Chief. We just didn't expect him to tell the other parents." I kept a solid gaze the whole time, never taking my eyes off of the Mayor as I spoke.

Mayor Jalidoney seemed to consider my words for a minute. "I understand. We need to bring in Mr. Krulny and question him. I will speak with Chief Hurlton and he will send his men in."

I nodded in agreement and he released me to spend the day at home. Daphne, Chip and Cork were allowed to join me.

A week later, the four of us decided to spend the day at the park. Chip even brought his pet meerkat Astro. Yes, a meerkat. We had been there for a while when Monny came running down the street, chasing an orange cat.

"Shimmie?" Daphne asked in confusion. The cat ran toward her and jumped into the fourteen year old's arms, hissing at Monny. "What are you doing here?"

I knelt down next to Monny, scratching his ears as he calmed his growling at the feline. "What's going on boy?"

He seemed to understand me as he barked at me and began to prance in a circle. He stopped and whined at us. I cocked an eyebrow in confusion. Even Astro looked at him curiously. Monny kept whining at us.

"I think he wants us to follow him?" Cork guessed, looking at me.

I cocked my head to the slightest degree, still hearing Shimmie hiss and growl at the husky in front of us. "Maybe. But I don't really know. I mean Monny does seem to think something is going on. Should we?" I looked at Chip and Daphne. "You are Ariella's closest friends."

Daphne and Chip looked at each other, almost unsure of what to do. Daphne sighed in confusion and exhaustion. Chip rubbed the back of neck, Astro sitting on his shoulder.

"Maybe we should check it out," Chip suggested, looking at me. "Ariella doesn't give up on anyone. We shouldn't either."

Daphne cracked a grin. "He's right. Let's go."

We followed Monny all the way back to the Krulny home on Mintwee Street. I exchanged confused looks with Chip and Daphne. Cork and Monny ran up to the front door while Astro and Shimmie began to run to the side gate. Shimmie climbed and jumped over. Astro scratched the bottom of the yard door. I watched the small meerkat in confusion as Cork opened the front door and we all walked in. Astro quickly followed after Chip.

"I think we should start with the basement," Cork suggested.