Chapter 29: Foster Families: Attempt 1

A/N: Squee gets to live with a potential adoptive family for a week…I don't know whether to be sorry for him, or the unlucky family set up with the Trauma magnet…but that feeling will fade once I decide exactly how this will go horrifically wrong.


Squee sat contently on Devi's couch watching the morning news, the currently story was about the escape of the serial killer, the cocaine explosion, and various other crimes. 'Well at least he didn't forget about me' the little child thought to himself. "That's not entirely true, I mean it doesn't look like he's actively trying to look for you anymore, besides it's better for you if your with a normal family" Squee was shocked that the bear had gone a full minute without mentioning arson.

The phone rang a few times before it Devi picked it up in another room. Squee couldn't really hear what was being said but after a minute or two Devi came out. "Okay little guy Mrs. Diablo says that a family has been chosen, she says that you should pack a weeks' worth of clothing for the testing period" She said as she sat down next to the boy.

"Okay" was the boy's only response as he hops off the couch and walks to his room to pack. About fifteen minutes later he returns and the pair head out to Devi's car. They get a little lost on the way, but eventually made it to the community rec center, where Mrs. Diablo told them to go. Wading through the crowded interior of the building they manage to locate the table where the family and Mrs. Diablo are waiting for them.

Squee sat down at the table across from the parents while the other two women talked off to the side. After a few minutes Devi left and Mrs. Diablo return to the table. "So Todd, these are the Cortez's and you will be staying with them for the next week, do you have any questions?" the woman asks of the nervous boy. "Ummmm, do you have other kids?" the boy curiously inquired. "Yes we do, we've got a son your age and a daughter in college" the excited woman says. "I think you'll like Fred, he's a very nice boy" the father states absentmindedly. With that the group split, Todd and his foster family heading towards the parking lot, and Mrs. Diablo towards another area of the center.

The new "family" was currently in a van driving towards a particularly high end portion of the city. "So Todd, tell us, what do you usually like to do during the day?" the mother asks as she turned around in her seat. "Well, I'll watch TV or I'll write or something" the boy was nervous (can you tell?). "Do you like any outside activities" the father asked as they turned down a street lined with absurdly large houses. It was clear he meant sports but Squee didn't play, "I'll write or draw outside, I guess swimming's kinda fun."

"Oh, I see, why so nervous about swimming" the man attempts to make light conversation. "Well I went to the beach earlier this week and cause I'm so pale I got burnt even though I poured like a gallon of sunscreen on me" the boy winced as the burn on his shoulders reminded him it was there. "Well I know the perfect home remedy for sun burns if you'd like to try it later" the woman replies as they turn down a long drive way.

As they walk into the large foyer the man's pager begins to beep furiously. "Oh well, sorry Todd I've got to go now" and with that the man left. "And that is one of the reasons we asked what you like to do during the day, my husband and I are rarely here during the light hours and your sort of going to be surprise to Fred" she explained as they walked up a flight of stairs. "It gets better during the night and school year, because I am an online teacher so I will be here more often during those times"

"But won't I be at school during the school year?" the boy asks as they turn down the hall. "Nope, we have tutors for that" she says as they arrive at a door. "That's nice, all the skool-children were mean to me…or zombified" Squee said the last part under his breath. "Well, this will be your room, I have to go now and here, Mrs. Diablo gave me this to give to you" she hands the boy a phone. "That contains a map of the house, in case you get lost, as well as the phone numbers of Mrs. Diablo and Ms. D (trails off as woman heads down the stairs)."

"Great! This'll give you a chance to find out which parts of the house are most flammable, you know, just in case" Shmee chimes in after Squee removes him from the suit case. "Nnooo, I don't think so, they seem kinda nice" Squee answers back before heading into the hall. After a few minutes of looking around he manages to locate the daughters rarely used bedroom, Fred's room, the parent's room, and finally the kitchen. Grabbing a bag of chips he sits on the immense living room sofa and turns on the television. After watching some "Scumby" Squee found that most of the other channels he normally watched had been replaced with creepy monkey-staring-at-you-constantly shows, hence he decided to explore the house some more.

These people were clearly in the "obscenely rich" category as some of the rooms in this house were just ridiculous. There was a bounce house room; a two story room with slides, and in door waterpark, Squee wasn't quite sure how they managed to fit all this inside the house. Eventually he found himself in the back yard staring at a pool that made one of those Olympic pools look like a kiddie pool by comparison.

He didn't want to risk more burns so he instead looked at the large yard every house in this neighborhood seamed to sport. He walks out into the small prairie and wanders around a little while before coming upon a tree house. Never having one before the eager boy climbed up, and found that the thing was a decrepit wreck, but it could still stand his weight. So he walked over to the window and looked into the neighbor's yard. Instead of finding a pretentious rich guy he found the owner of the Delishus Wiener Corp. practically stewing in his pool while a purple-haired preteen sat in a lawn chair fiddling with the head of some robot cat thing.

"Well at least the neighbors aren't crazy" Squee thought out loud as he hopped down from the tree and trekked back towards the house. Once inside he watched television for approximately four or five hours, and at the end of the current show he hears a commotion from the front, but when he gets there he finds nothing. "SQUUEEEE!" the boy unleashes his signature squeal as two people dressed in traditional Aztec garb grab his arms and drag him into the basement. They pass a series of Mesoamerican sculptures set up like they were in an art museum before entering a back room that's molded to look like the top of some of the Aztec pyramids.

"Greetings young Todd!" it was the guy who supposedly left earlier. "That's Fred" he says pointing to a young boy wearing a feathered head dress. "You see my son is the incarnation of the Aztec sun god so we kinda have to give him human sacrifices to keep him from blotting out the sun and ending all life on Earth…so no hard feelings eh?" the crazed man explains as Todd's captors roughly throw him onto the alter.

Todd squirms in fear as the people around him began to chant in Nahuatl and the head priest raises an obsidian dagger above his head. Despite the serious nature of the whole scene one of the men restraining Squee sneezes, loosening his grip just enough for the boy to escape. The dagger comes down a few seconds later and impacts stone instead of flesh, the man falls over the alter and tumbles down the stairs, the blade slicing into his own flesh as he goes. Shocked at this sudden change in routine the other worshiper fail to notice young Squee making a break for it. He first runs up to his room packs his things and just as the others where emerging from the basement, ran out the door and away from the house.

As if channeling The Flash, or a meth addict, possibly even a meth addicted Flash the boy makes it across the city in just under three seconds flat. He begins furiously knocking on the door of the apartment he had called home for the past week. It opens after a few seconds. "Squee? What are you doing here?" his caretaker asks as she attempts to dry her faded half purple hair. "The family tried sacrificing me to an Aztec sun god but then the priest-guy hurt himself!" he rattles off the explanation as he enters the apartment. "Okaayyyy then" Devi slams the door and then reaches for the phone.


A/N: wheeee! Human sacrifices are so wrong! So don't try them at home ! Wasn't this just a horrific experience for the first attempt at finding a foster family!