A/N #1 It's easy to go onto a site like this and simply consume without any sort of positive reciprocation. It lends itself to it really, as easy as commenting can be. There are however, some reviewers who have taken the time to write truly wonderful, inspiring reviews that not just renew, but also speaks to the fan in us. After all, that's why most people write "fan fiction" is it not? It gives us the chance to meditate, expand, or change something about a show/book/film we are passionate about. I want to thank those reviewers; the ones that take their time to enrich and encourage writing and it's creation. In that vein, I am and will be asking some of my reviewers for prompts they would like me to fill. It may be slow going, but I'll get to them. I'm still working on my other stories, I'm just compelled to do this as well. As this series is based on prompts, I don't know how long it will be or what kinds stories will be here. We shall see.
A/N #2 This story is for Grace, who requested the kids in trouble and featuring Callie, Mariana, and Stef. Thank you for all your kindness!
A/N#3 Well, after days of trying to upload this, downloaded a new browser and voila!
Hidden Haunts and Mislaid Plans
It wasn't like Stef and Lena weren't perfectly capable parents as individuals, they were, beating out many parents in the long run. But when they weren't together the family lacked it's perfect syncopation, like an orchestra missing a vital instrument. Both women had alternately played single mom for the past two weeks (Lena garnering an impressive 1.5 weeks) and with five children, it wasn't an easy task. A task made much more difficult by the fact that almost every one of the kids had landed in some kind of hot water (in Jude's case more lukewarm than anything), that had been dealt with by increasingly frazzled mothers. It had made tempers, even Lena's infamously even one, shorter than usual. So the fact that Mariana wanted to try her hand at ghost busting, seemed foolhardy at best, dangerous at worst, at least in Callie's opinion. She looked at her sister, "are you kidding me?"
"C'mon Callie, please?" Mariana begged, "you're the only one I trust and you're my best, most favorite sister."
Callie narrowed her eyes at the other girl, "I'm your only sister."
"That's why you're my favorite," said Mariana, batting her eyes.
Callie groaned, "don't try the same tactics you do with the boys, I can guarantee they won't work on me."
"Ple-ease," begged Mariana. "We're never going to have a chance like this again. Mama's going to be at the conference for three days and Mom won't be home until late tonight. It's like it's been…pre-ordained or something."
"What about the boys?" Callie said.
As if summoned, Brandon shuffled into the living room, still wearing his pajamas and looking like death.
"What are you doing here?" said Mariana with a smirk, "I thought you were still banned to your bedroom."
"I can come downstairs now," Brandon's voice was hoarse, "Mama said." There was a slight sneer to his last words as he flopped on the couch and moved one hand wearily to the controller.
Callie covered a laugh. The first misstep of the "missing Moms week" had been Brandon. He and Lena had had an argument on whether or not he could play in an open-air concert up in the mountains. He thought he should be allowed - she disagreed. The fact that they were fighting was rare enough but Brandon surprised them all by simply sneaking out after leaving an unapologetic message on Lena's phone. That would have been sufficiently serious, but then Brandon managed to get pneumonia after already suffering through the flu, which had been one of the many reasons he had been told he wasn't going to the concert, something Lena reminded him more than once over the subsequent week. Lena had brought him home from the doctor's office, lips so compressed they practically disappeared and on seeing her face, the rest of them had fled without delay. Even with the door closed, her low, angry voice could be heard throughout the entire second story. Brandon had been utterly cowed by her anger and hadn't even tried to move from his bedroom except for visits to the bathroom. Callie was trying not to laugh in his face, she knew he felt pretty bad, but the childish pout he sported nearly sent her over the edge.
Mariana had no such compunction, "it's your fault for being stupid."
Brandon mumbled something under his breath and pulled a blanket up to his chin as he turned on the television.
Mariana grabbed Callie's hand and pulled her away from the couch. "The boys will be fine. Mom left money for pizza and we'll leave a note that we're studying, just in case. Jesús won't even notice we're gone and we'll just tell Jude and Brandon we're studying too. Please Callie, please?" she begged.
Callie sighed, "what did you have in mind?"
"Yay!" Mariana clapped her hands in glee, grinning widely.
"I didn't say yes," Callie warned her.
Mariana ignored her, she knew she'd got what she wanted. She licked her lips nervously, "okay, so there's this abandoned asylum about an hour away…"
Callie threw her head back and groaned, "are you kidding me?"
"No, it's supposed to be really cool…scary."
Callie gave her a suspicious look, "you don't like to be scared," she reminded her. "Why do you want to do this anyway?"
Caught, Mariana bit her lip and looked at the carpet, "well," she began, "Mat was saying he really wanted to see it and I thought maybe it could be fun…" she trailed off, watching Callie's expression carefully.
"That sounds like a terrible, terrible idea," Callie informed her.
"Callie," groaned Mariana, "like half the kids at school have done it, it's no big deal."
"You're really giving me the argument that all the kids at school are doing it?" Callie raised an eyebrow, "I'm not Moms."
"I said half the kids at school," Mariana argued weakly as she twirled the edge of her hair with one finger, "and Mat really wants to do it."
Callie glanced over at the couch where Brandon continued to passively flip channels. "Isn't he in trouble or something? For sneaking up to the mountains?"
"No," Mariana said impatiently, "his parents thought he was on a school band trip." She switched tactics, "Callie, aren't you tired of always trying to do the right thing? I mean, you know, besides kissing Brandon and running away."
"Low blow," said Callie, glaring at the smaller teen, "and yes. Kind of. I just don't want to cause Moms anymore trouble, you know?"
Mariana's grabbed Callie's hands, her eyes growing serious, "Moms aren't going to get rid of you just because you make a mistake or do something wrong."
"I know that," said Callie, shifting away nervously, her eyes flitting around the room in a desperate attempt not to look her sister in the eye.
Mariana tugged at her hands again, "they won't," she said firmly. "I was so afraid of that, when I got Mom shot-"
"You didn't-"
"Not totally, but if I hadn't gone to meet Ana in secret, it wouldn't have happened, right?" Mariana bit her lip, her eyes brimming with tears at the memory.
Now Callie tugged Mariana close to her to give her a quick, left-armed hug, "We don't know what all would have happened," she declared. "There's too many what-ifs. It's not your fault."
Mariana gave her a grateful glance, "anyway, I just-I was afraid, okay. It was like, the worst thing I ever did and Moms hardly even yelled at me. They might get mad at us, but they'll never get rid of us."
Callie blew out a breath, "I know-I just-"
"It'll be fun. We can take some of the camping stuff and make S'mores while we're there. You might even find some cool things to take pictures of," she said, adding a tempting cherry to the insubordination sundae.
"Fine," Callie finally caved. It was that or have this conversation for the rest of the night. And it did kind of sound like fun. Unlike Mariana, she kind of liked scary things…well, scary things that weren't real. It wasn't like she believed in ghosts or haunted houses. It would just be an empty building. What could go wrong?
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
It was time, Callie believed, to start considering bad omens being an actual thing. Mat's car had run out of gas about halfway through their journey. When Mat, in utter indignation, pointed to the halfway mark on the gas gauge as proof, then slapped his hand on the dashboard, the malfunctioning gas gauge needle dipped slowly all the way to the "e". With a muffled curse, Mat leaned back in his seat.
"What do we do now?" asked Callie from the backseat.
"There was a gas station a couple miles back. I can go get it while you guys stay here," he said, kneading the steering well in frustration.
"Are you kidding?" yelped Mariana, "that's like, how every horror movie begins...ever. No way." She grabbed onto Mat's sleeve as if to prevent him from leaving the vehicle.
"We could all go," offered Callie, scooting closer to the front seat so she could talk to them.
Mat looked through the windshield. The area was isolated with only trees and wildlife as any real company. "I'm not sure I feel comfortable just leaving my car here," he said.
"Who's going to steal your car?" scoffed Mariana, "it's not like it's new or anything."
"It's a Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser," said Mat, looking offended.
Mariana looked at him blankly.
"There's like, not a bunch of them," he said. "They were pretty hard core back in the day."
Mariana continued to stare at him.
He turned to Callie for support. She shrugged at him, "I don't know a lot about cars," she told him.
He huffed in irritation. "Well, it's not worthless, I'll tell you that," he informed them.
"Okay, okay," said Mariana. "But seriously, it's not really safe for you to be travelling by yourself either."
"I-" he began.
They all yelped when they heard a light tapping on the back window. "Hey there, you all okay in there?" said a voice.
The teenagers glanced at one another, "yes," ventured Callie after a moment. "Kind of."
"Well, you need some help?" the voice asked again.
Mariana grabbed Mat's arm, "he could be a serial killer or a guy with a hook for a hand," she said. "Let's just call Triple A or something."
"I don't want Triple A for gas," muttered Mat, "they'll think I'm stupid." He pulled his sleeve away from her as he opened the door.
"Mat-don't," she said, then looked at her sister, "Callie, what if he gets hurt!" Her eyes begged the other girl to do something.
Sighing, Callie opened the door and Mariana did the same. They squinted into the headlights behind them.
"What's the problem here kids?" A tall man stepped in front of the lights, blocking it a little so it wouldn't blind them anymore. From his silhouette they could see longish hair and a beard.
"I ran out of gas," said Mat, sounding slightly embarrassed, "my gas gauge must have a busted fuse or something."
"There's a gas station just a little ways back," the man offered shuffling forward slowly and holding out his hands to show he wasn't a threat, "I can take you. Be there in just a few minutes."
The teenagers looked at one another nervously as the man shuffled a little closer. "Um, that's nice of you," said Callie, keeping her arms relaxed as the rest of her body tensed, "but we were always told not to take rides from strangers. Plus, our Mom's a cop and we know a lot more about Stranger Danger than most."
The man chuckled, "that's a good rule, sweetheart. But I tell you what, I have a couple of girls at home and I wouldn't feel right about leaving you all here in a bind."
Mariana and Callie looked at one another. He certainly sounded sincere but both Stef and Lena had long drilled them in safety procedures, especially Stef who had no qualms about telling them tales of what happened to teenagers who didn't.
When the man took a couple of steps nearer, his car headlights fell onto his face at an angle. Mariana gave an undignified yelp as Mat stepped back and Callie drew in a breath of surprise.
"I know, I know," he assured them, "I'm not going to be winning any beauty prizes anytime soon."
Anytime ever thought Mariana privately. The man had a jagged scar that seemed to start somewhere near his temple and end mid-cheek. That wouldn't have been so bad, it was faded and obviously old, but the skin was also puckered and rippled on the left side of his face, giving it a pinched and disfigured look. "Uh, it's fine," she said nervously.
"Uh-huh," agreed Callie, her voice pitched slightly higher than usual.
"Hardly even notice," said Mat weakly.
The man shook his head, "it's ugly, there's no denying, but it's a part of me. Can't help that. I know I may look like a James Bond villain but I'm not and I really don't feel comfortable leaving you youngsters out here by yourselves. You can keep your phones out and ready to call 911, grab a bat, whatever you need to do to feel comfortable but please - let me help you."
The teenagers looked at one another again. Finally, Callie nodded "okay. I mean, thanks. That's really nice of you."
The man stepped forward until he was within grabbing distance, then held out a hand to her, "I'm Greg Masters," he introduced, shaking their hands one at a time.
"Callie."
"Mat."
"I'm Mariana," she said, trying to give him a nice smile in apology for her earlier reaction.
"Alright then. If we jump into my truck, we can get to the gas station and back in probably ten minutes. Your car will be fine, don't you think son?" he directed at Mat, gesturing to his own vehicle.
"You really think so?" Mat asked, looking worriedly at his car.
"I do. Let's get going and you guys can get to where you're going." The kids piled into the front seat, Mariana practically sitting on Callie and Mat's laps. Callie took the man at his word and pulled her phone out, dialed 9-1-1, and let her hand hover over the send button. "Where are you going anyway?" Greg inquired mildly, putting the car in drive and starting down the ramshackle road.
"The store."
"To visit my cousin."
"Stargazing."
These excuses managed to come out simultaneously. They looked at one another in consternation before looking over at Greg. He chuckled, "don't want to tell me, eh? I understand, nosy adults, right?" He smiled but then his voice took on a slightly sterner tone, "not planning on getting into any trouble, are you?"
"No sir," Mariana lied immediately. Callie and Mat shook their heads quickly.
"Uh-huh," Greg was not convinced. "I hope you all aren't going up to the old Hollydale Asylum."
"Never heard of it," said Callie smoothly, not looking at her compatriots. "Why would we want to go there?"
"You wouldn't," Greg said firmly. "It's gotten to be a local dare of sorts, for the last 25 years or so. Kids mucking around in the building, causing trouble, looking for ghosts or whatever."
"Ghosts?" Mariana said, trying to invoke the highest amount of skepticism in her voice as possible. "Who believes in that?"
"Well, I don't," Greg said as they pulled into the gas station. He put the car in park and turned to face them, "but I do believe in bad luck. That's where this happened," he pointed to his face, then turned back and opened the car door, leaving the three teens in thunderous silence.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"He was totally lying, Mariana," repeated Mat, as they drew closer to the asylum. "He was just trying to scare us."
"I know, I know," she said, biting her lip as she looked out the window. She turned to look at Callie, "but what if he wasn't?"
Callie groaned from the back seat, "look, you guys were the ones who really wanted to do this. I'm happy to go back home."
"No way," said Mat, "we've already come all this way. Lou said it was really cool and I want to see it."
"Fine," sighed Mariana as Callie waved her hands to show them she was done with the conversation. She looked back outside. The asylum was now within sight. It loomed, dark and foreboding, but at the very top, peeking from a window, she could swear she saw the faintest flickering of a light.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"Wow," said Callie as they stepped out of the car, "this place is huge."
"Yeah," said Mat, also exiting the car, "Lou said that it takes up like, three city blocks."
"So where do we start?" questioned Callie as Mariana pulled her arms around herself, a sudden breeze making her feel cold.
"I want to go to the place they did electro-shock therapy," said Mat eagerly, "if there's ghosts or weird stuff happening around here, I bet that's where it will be." He shouldered a backpack that he had filled with supplies and settled it onto his back.
"Fine," said Callie. She also had a backpack and carried a large flashlight in her hands. She looked over at Mariana. Her sister was dressed appropriately for a haunted house, jeans and a warm sweater, chunky boots that were cute but solid, and her hair was tied up in two pigtails. Her supplies however…"Mariana," said Callie, "what did you bring?"
Mariana held up a pink, Barbie sized backpack, "a flashlight…some water."
"For who, an Oompa Loompa?" asked Callie.
Mariana put her arm down in a huff, "I don't need an entire weekend's worth of supplies, Callie," she nodded towards Callie's serviceable green backpack that was practically bulging.
"You'll thank me later," promised Callie, "where's your flashlight?"
Mariana held up a light pink penlight, "here."
This time Callie actually groaned, "are you kidding me?" Smirking, Mariana pointed the flashlight at her sister's face and turned it on. A powerful beam instantly blinded Callie, "hey!" she yelled as she belatedly covered her eyes.
"Told you," said Mariana sweetly as she snapped off the flashlight.
Callie scowled at her, "you could have told me, instead of blinding me." She blinked several times. She could still see flashes of light behind her eyelids.
"You were annoying me," Mariana informed her, "stop acting like an overprotective big sister."
"I am an overprotective big sister," grumbled Callie, reaching over to tug one of Mariana's pigtails lightly.
Mat broke into the sisterly bonding, practically bouncing on the tips of his toes, "c'mon, c'mon, let's get going. We said we could only stay a couple of hours so we can get home before our folks find out. The gas thing already delayed us, let's not waste anymore time."
"Geez, alright. Let's get going then," but Mariana gave Callie a little smile before they squeezed through the fence.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Callie hated to say it…but she was kind of having fun. She hadn't really expected too, she just went along to support Mariana. The building was creepy in all the right ways. There were various creaks and even shuffling noises as small creatures fled their presence. However, as they travelled further into the asylum, Callie's initial enthusiasm began to fade. There was a weird vibe that caused trickles of apprehension to dance down her spine. However she was a tough girl, she could handle that. She didn't feel any real fear until Mariana disappeared.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Mariana decided this was the worst, worst idea she had ever had. But wait – it hadn't been her idea, it had been Mat's. This was all Mat's fault. Mentally she began planning the multiple ways she was going to make him make it up to her. Her plans were derailed as she looked at a device that could only be described as medieval. This was a horrible place. All she could do was keep imagining all the poor people that had been locked in this hospital; away from their families, away from anyone who really cared about them. There was another thing too - she kept seeing flickers of light in places that should be bathed in darkness. When she had told Mat, he had looked around in excitement until he couldn't find anything. Then he told her she was imagining things. When she told Callie, she seemed to believe her, but she didn't see anything either. Instead, she grabbed Mariana's hand and gave it a squeeze, "you don't have to be nervous," she told her, "we're fine."
Mariana pulled her hand away, offended, "I'm not just jumping at shadows. I saw something. Just because you didn't see it doesn't make it not true." When she saw another flicker out of the corner of her eye, she moved slowly toward it, keeping her head facing the other direction so whatever it was wouldn't get scared and disappear like the rest of them. She was nearly all the way down the hall when she realized neither Mat, nor Callie were with her. Uh-oh.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"Mat," said Callie urgently, "where's Mariana?"
He stopped and looked around, "I don't know. When did you notice she was gone?"
"I don't know. I just noticed," Callie said. "It must've only been a few seconds because we were all together when we were in the last room." She began flashing the beam of her light in wide arcs, trying to look into the darkened crannies.
"Well she couldn't have got far then," said Mat. "Mariana!" he bellowed, swinging his own light, "Mariana where are you?"
"Mariana!" chimed in Callie, turning and beginning to walk backwards,"Mariana we're r-" she yelped when cold fingers wrapped themselves around her arm.
"Where were you guys?" demanded Mariana, stepping into the room "why did you wander off?" she put one hand on her hip as she glared at them.
"We weren't the ones that left," Mat informed her.
Callie rubbed her hands briskly across her arms to dispel the goose bumps, "where were you? I was worried sick."
"We already have two moms," Mariana informed her pertly, "we don't need another one."
"Mariana," said Callie warningly, "don't do that again. There could be holes in the floor, or cobwebs or…" she paused at the aggrieved look Mariana was giving her, "giant rats the size of Labradors."
"I-" Mariana began, then gave a double take, "wait, what did you say about rats?"
Callie raised an eyebrow significantly and Mariana looked slightly quelled. She stepped a little closer to Callie.
"C'mon you guys, we only have thirty more minutes," said Mat, ignoring their banter with the ease of practice, "let's get to the electro-shock room and take some pictures."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Stef sighed in relief as she dumped her keys in the bowl and opened the refrigerator to look for some food. The kitchen smelled like pizza but with five teenagers in the house, three of them boys, she knew it was highly unlikely that there were any leftovers. She had accepted this, but when she opened a drawer, she found that the string cheese had been eaten as well. Her eyes narrowed, "little monsters," she mumbled under her breath. "They're like cockroaches – eat everything in sight and leave only crumbs." She sighed as she checked another drawer, "or not even crumbs." She closed the refrigerator door to find the grocery list glaring at her in condemnation. Oh right, she was supposed to go shopping the other day. She sighed, how long was it until Lena came back? She checked her watch, two days, three hours, and nineteen minutes. Swell. She went to a cupboard, pulled down a jar of peanut butter and grabbed the heel of the bread that had been sitting in solitary splendor for the last couple of days. She smeared peanut butter on it and had taken her first bite when she heard feet tromping down the stairs.
"Hey Mom," said Jude with a grin, "You're home early." He went to the refrigerator, grabbed the carton of milk, and dumped what was left in a glass. He put the empty carton on the table in mute disapprobation. "We're out of milk," he informed her.
"Thanks kiddo, I didn't notice," she said dryly.
"Weren't you supposed to go to the store yesterday?" he asked, an impish grin on his face.
"Why yes I was Jude. Weren't you supposed to take the recycling out yesterday?" she raised her eyebrow at him.
He grinned sheepishly, "oops?"
"Yeah, oops. Stop bugging your poor old Mom and give me a hug or something."
Jude willingly trudged over to her and gave her a quick squeeze. She planted a kiss on his cheek, chuckling a little at his grimace.
"You made that extra wet," he said, wiping his cheek and wrinkling his nose at her.
"Yes I did," Stef said, taking another bite of her sandwich, "payback," she mumbled through a mouthful of peanut butter.
Jude began gathering up the recycling, "yeah, yeah."
"Where are your siblings?" Stef asked after swallowing her sandwich bite.
"Brandon's on the couch," Jude said with a smug grin. "Jesús is…out with some girl, I don't know who."
"I swear that boy's in heat," Stef mumbled.
"What?" asked Jude.
"Nothing," said Stef, "what about your sisters?"
Jude paused in his recycling efforts, blinking, "I think they said something about studying. They didn't eat with us. I think Brandon knows though."
"Hmm," Stef said. She took out her phone and quickly punched a message to Callie and Mariana. Where are you babies? Remember your curfew is ten tonight!
She waited for a few minutes when she received two replies nearly simultaneously, studying b back soon said Mariana's. Library w M said Callie's b home at 10. "Uh-huh," said Stef. She tapped her phone quickly bringing up the Find My Phone ap that had proven so useful in the past. It was dark. Both girls' phones had "mysteriously" lost power after delivering their text messages or you know, had been turned off. "How convenient," said Stef dryly.
"Were you talking to me Mom?" asked Jude as he paused on his second trip to deliver the recyclables to the outside bin.
"Nope," said Stef looking at him with a small grin.
She went into the living room and looked at her oldest son, who was half dozing on the couch and watching some sort of sci-fi show. "Hey baby," she said, kissing his temple to check his temperature.
"M'fine," he mumbled, trying to move away from her.
"Yeah, you're wonderful," she shook her head. "You sound like crap," she informed him.
"You yell at me when I say crap," he observed hoarsely, his face still half hidden in the blankets.
"Yes I do," said Stef pleasantly, "and when you have children you'll get to bug them about all sorts of things too." She pulled the blanket from his face and tucked it around his neck.
"You just know Mama will give you a hard time," he said, blinking wearily at her.
"That is also true," she said agreeably. "Sit up, I need you to wake up a little and answer some questions, then I want you to get to bed."
"It's only 9:00," said Brandon.
"Thank G-d Mama and I taught you to tell time. All those hours of practicing weren't wasted after all," said Stef. Brandon rolled his eyes. "Now, where are your sisters?"
Her son looked at her blandly. "Studying or something I guess."
"It's a Friday night."
He opened his mouth to make some smartass comment about knowing the days of the week but she cut him down with a single look. "I don't know what to tell you Mom," he sighed. "As far as I know they're studying at the library or something."
Stef narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. "You know if you're lying to me I will kick your butt," she informed him.
He yawned widely, practically giving her a look at his tonsils, "I know. Can I watch TV now?"
"No, you can go to your room and get some sleep," she said, pulling him to his feet. "I want you tucked in, in thirty minutes."
"Not a baby," he mumbled but very quietly.
"You're my baby," she said predictably, "and you're still in trouble with me and Mama," she said, pushing him to the stairs. "Besides, you know the best way to kick this is to follow the doctor's rules, take your medicine, and get some rest."
With a weary sigh, Brandon obeyed her and trudged up the stairs.
Satisfied, Stef put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the slightly messy living room. The smile slid off her lips as she noted a bottle of Mariana's nail polish and a school notebook of Callie's. Where were her girls?
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Mariana decided that the asylum was built deliberately to make people crazy. There was no sense to the design and they had gotten lost more times then she could count. She looked at her phone to check the time, then remembered she had turned it off to stop her mom from finding them. She bit her lip. Mom was going to be suspicious, but at least she couldn't actually prove anything, right? "Mat, what time is it?" she asked.
Mat dragged his phone out of his pocket and sighed when he looked at the brightly lit screen. "It's 9:05." His voice conveyed his disappointment.
"9:05!" Callie stopped inspecting the wall, which was inscribed with all sorts of interesting messages . She looked at Mariana urgently, "we have to go now. We still have to walk to the car and drive home. Mom's already home and she's totally going to interrogate us anyway about the phones. We don't want to make her any more upset then she's going to be."
Mariana nodded from her side of the room, "yeah, c'mon Mat, let's go now."
"Fine. But, maybe we can come here again? We never even found the electro-shock room," he begged.
"Maybe," Mariana said insincerely.
"Not a chance," said Callie when he looked at her.
They got lost a few more times but managed to find their way to the main hallway. The strange noises hadn't lessened, they may have even been a little louder. It was Callie this time who was distracted by what seemed to be intermittent, floating lights.
"I told you," said Mariana when Callie pointed them out. "You thought I was crazy but I told you."
"I didn't say you were crazy," Callie began, but then couldn't think of a good way to end that sentence so she just shut her mouth and continued on.
Mariana snorted inelegantly, "uh-huh," she said.
When they finally made it outside they were surprised to see that it had been raining. "I didn't hear rain from inside, did you?" asked Mat, shining his flashlight on the wet ground.
"No," said Mariana.
Callie shook her head.
"Alright, well, it shouldn't be too bad," said Mat, "we can just follow the path we did be-" he was abruptly silenced when his shoe sank in mud all the way to his ankle. "Dammit," he muttered.
"Ew," said Mariana, drawing back her foot before she made the same error.
"Maybe we could use a stick to see if there's any more deep parts," said Callie, scanning the area looking for a convenient branch.
"Doesn't matter," groaned Mat, "I'm already muddy. Just follow me and I'll just kind of…test the area before I step into it."
They managed to make their way to the fence but before they slid through it, Callie shined her flashlight over the car, "uh-oh."
"What?" Mat looked at his car, then swore for a second time.
"Well, that can't be good," said Mariana, looking at the car that was now missing all four tires.
Thunder rumbled and rain began to fall once again.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"Are you sure your sisters didn't tell you where they were going to study?" Stef quizzed Jude.
He looked away from his video game for a moment, "just something about studying Mom, honest. That's all they said."
"Well, what were they wearing? Did it look like studying clothes?"
Jude frowned, "they were just wearing jeans and stuff. They didn't look like they were going out or anything," he grinned, "Mariana was wearing nail polish, but she always wears nail polish."
"Wait, Mariana was wearing jeans?" Stef asked, hands on her hips as she thought.
"Uh-huh."
Stef forehead furrowed, her youngest daughter did wear jeans, but not often. This could be a clue, "what else were they wearing?"
"I don't really know…sweaters…they had their backpacks," he said, "it sure looked like they were studying."
Stef frowned at her youngest and decided to employ the same tactics she had used with Brandon, "you know if you're lying to me I'm going to hang you upside down by your toenails, right?"
"Uh-huh." Jude sounded about as frightened as Brandon had and Stef couldn't help but feel a little flicker of happiness. Jude's nonchalant attitude towards her threats made her realize how comfortable he had come to be within his still somewhat-new family.
"Alright then," she slapped her knees as she stood up, "you can play for another hour but then your video game time for the day is done, got it?"
"Got it," he replied without looking as her.
She ruffled his hair as she walked away, back to the kitchen. She brought out her phone, hoping she had just missed hearing the message beep or the ring. No such luck. She frowned at her weather ap. Apparently thunderstorms were heading their way.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"Why would anyone want to steal your tires?" Mariana asked again, "they're tires."
"I don't know," said Mat irritably, "why does anyone do that kind of stuff? Probably just to be an ass."
"Well, we need to figure out what we're going to do," said Callie, looking at the sky, "because we're supposed to be home soon and the storm looks like it might be here awhile.
Mat fumbled for his phone, "I guess I got to call Triple A," he said, "how am I going to explain this to my parents?"
Callie shrugged and Mariana winced, "sorry," she offered.
The girls huddled close together to keep warm as Mat mumbled into the phone. When he repocketed the phone, his tone was grim. "It's going to take a couple hours for them to get here."
"Hours?" yelped Mariana, "we can't wait hours. Our Mom is going to kill us."
"Sorry," said Mat wearily. "Apparently there's a whole bunch of crap going on right now. They're busy."
Callie took out her phone, "we'll call Jesús to come get us. You can leave your information with Triple A and have them tow the car to whatever repair place you want, but we need to get out of here."
"But-"
Callie shook her head at him, already making the call. The ringing went on until the voice message system kicked in. She left a voice message while Mariana rapidly sent him a text message. Then they waited…and waited…and waited.
"Didn't he have a date tonight?" asked Callie eventually.
"I swear we need to neuter him," Mariana groaned. Mat frowned at her. "Don't give me that look," she told him flipping her hair, "he's worse than an alley cat."
Callie tapped her fingers together nervously then exhaled noisily, "I'm gonna call Brandon."
"He's sick," Mariana objected.
"I know, but he's the only one we can count on right now. At least we know he's home."
"But…but Mom's home too, she'll want to know what he's doing," Mariana said, plucking at the sleeves of her sweater.
"Well, he'll just have to be sneaky then," said Callie, finding his name and selecting it.
Mariana closed her eyes, "we are so screwed."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Brandon waited until he heard the shower running in his Moms' room before he crept down the stairs. Mom had already given him his medicine and "tucked him in". Hopefully the sound of the humidifier and strains of quiet music, would make her think he was resting comfortably and prevent her from checking in on him again.
He held his breath against a coughing spell, determined to not make any noise that would alert her. He crossed the kitchen, grabbed the keys, and was easing the door open when he heard a whisper.
"What are you doing?" asked Jude, standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
"I'm just…nothing, go back upstairs," Brandon hissed, turning to look at him.
"Is this about Callie and Mariana?" asked Jude, taking another step towards him, "Mom was asking me all kinds of questions."
Brandon looked at the clock worriedly. He didn't have a lot of time, "yes, okay? Mat's car broke down and they're at a place they aren't supposed to be. I have to get them home before they get into anymore trouble."
"Let me go with, " said Jude, starting towards him. "I can help."
"No," said Brandon, shutting the door for a moment, "you need to stay here, keep Mom from checking up on me so I can get the girls home and sneak back upstairs, okay?"
Jude looked at him skeptically, "you really think that's going to work?"
"It's the only plan I've got right at the moment," Brandon said. "I do know that if I don't leave now, I won't have another chance and Mariana and Callie will be stuck. Do you want that?"
Jude shook his head.
"Okay then, try to keep Mom away from my bedroom and distracted so she doesn't keep detectiving around for the girls."
"Fine."
Brandon slipped out the door and went to the car. He shivered, realizing he had forgotten his jacket. Oh well, he'd just blast the heat in the car. It took a moment for the car to get started. It had been having some trouble of it's own, and Brandon had a brief thought to what would happen if his car broke down. He was startled out of his thoughts by a tap on his window.
"Get out of the car. Now," Stef's voice held no trace of amusement.
Gulping in nervousness, Brandon slowly turned the key and opened the door. Even in only a robe, wet hair plastered to her head, she still looked intimidating enough that he swallowed again.
"What do you think you were doing?" said Stef in a low, clear voice.
"How did you know I was out here?" asked Brandon weakly, darting a look at the ground, then the doorway where Jude was shaking his head frantically and mouthing something.
"I saw you from the window when I went to get my robe. I forgot to get it before I stepped in the shower," Stef said. "Now answer my question."
"I just needed to get something from my car," said Brandon, stalling for time.
"And you needed to start the engine because…?"
Brandon shrugged weakly.
"Where. Were. You. Going?" her tone was still measured, but he could hear the anger building behind her words.
Brandon paused helplessly, his pneumonia-fogged brain struggling to come up with an answer, "nowhere."
Stef just shook her head with an almost pitying look. Even at the best of times, her oldest son wasn't a good liar. He had no chance now.
Brandon read his fate in her eyes and winced. Dammit.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Mat, Callie, and Mariana were huddled in the backseat, trying to keep warm. The temperature had dropped several degrees and their wet clothing was not conducive to warmth. "When do you think Brandon will get here?" Mariana chattered. She was huddled between the two of them and she was still freezing. She hoped Mat and Callie were going to be okay.
"Soon," said Callie. "We aren't really too far from home and the traffic shouldn't be bad because it's so late. He said he was going to wait until Mom started her shower before he snuck out."
The car windows rattled suddenly and Mariana jumped, "what was that?"
"Just the wind," said Mat, putting a protective arm around her.
"Then why aren't the trees moving?" said Mariana, pointing outside.
"I-don't know," Mat sounded uncertain as he squinted into the inky blackness.
"Those lights are shining again," said Callie quietly from her other side.
All three kids looked out the windows. They couldn't see the entire asylum, but at the top of the building, near the roof, there was a brief flash of light.
"That's kind of cool," said Mat.
"It's kind of freaky," Mariana said.
"That too."
Callie let her forehead rest against the glass, "I wonder if Greg was telling the truth," she mused.
Mariana looked instantly alarmed.
"Not-not about everything," Callie assured her, "but there's something about this place…" she trailed off.
Shivering, Mariana looped her arm through Callie's, "don't say anything else," she demanded, "you're starting to freak me out."
Callie turned away from the window and gave her a small smile, "sorry. It's just…this place is weird, and I can't help thinking about the people who were here…and probably didn't want to be…"
"That's what I was thinking too," said Mariana eagerly.
"Maybe some of them wanted to be here," said Mat optimistically, "to get help or something."
"And the electro-shock therapy was…?" said Mariana leadingly.
Mat shrugged, "it helped some people, look at Carrie Fisher."
"Who's Carrie Fisher?" asked Callie.
"Princess Leia," Mariana informed her, "lots boys love her. There was this whole gold bikini thing."
"You know about the gold bikini thing?" asked Mat, looking at her in surprise.
"Hel-lo, I have brothers," she reminded him.
"Right."
They went back to watching the flickering lights. "You know, this makes me think of this story I heard in middle school about demonic agents attaching themselves to earthly things…" Mat trailed off at Mariana's glare, "what?"
"Are you kidding me? Seriously? Why would you try and tell us that story now?" Mariana edged away from him, closer to Callie.
"I just-sorry." he said, when both girls scowled at him. He brought out his backpack and dug through it, "look I brought something. Maybe it would relax you a little bit." He unwrapped a dark brown square covered in cellophane.
"A brownie?" said Callie suspiciously.
"It better not be the same kind on brownie you gave Brandon," Mariana informed him, "I heard Moms laughing about that for days. I'm not going to turn into some space case."
"One bite wouldn't be bad," he suggested.
"No," said Mariana firmly.
"Uh-uh," said Callie.
"You mind if I-"
"You want to get high at the haunted house?" asked Mariana. "In a place where there's strange lights flashing, a thunderstorm, and the tires of your car were stolen?"
"Well, I wouldn't feel so worried about any of it anymore," he said after a beat.
Mariana threw up her hands.
"Okay, okay," Mat said, rewrapping the brownie and putting it away, "it was just an idea."
Suddenly, the lights that had been flashing periodically from the asylum disappeared and the wind died down like someone had flipped an "off" switch.
"What's happening?" whispered Mariana.
"I don't know."
Out of the darkness a bright light blinded them and something pounded on the window near Callie's head. All three kids yelled.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"What happened to this car?" demanded a familiar voice once the shrieks had died down and the car door had been wrenched open (Callie would swear later she had locked the door but it was a night for strange happenings).
"Mom," panted Mariana, "what are you doing here?"
"You know, I've been hearing questions like that a lot tonight. I think you're going to like my answer about as much as the last kid of mine who asked it."
"Where's your car?" asked Callie, clambering out of the backseat and followed by the other two.
"The road is pretty much mud back there," Stef jerked her thumb to indicate the direction she had come from, "I hiked about a half mile to get here." She looked water-logged, angry, but also safe. Mariana went over and hugged her tightly. "Oh no, don't even try that. You guys are in big trouble, do you understand me? What were you thinking? This place is dangerous and you're breaking the law by trespassing."
"We know," said Mariana quietly, refusing to release her mom for another moment.
Stef kissed her head automatically, not denying the comfort she knew her daughter needed. "I know you know that, so why would you do it?" She looked reproachfully at Callie.
Callie had to force herself not to roll her eyes, the seriousness of the situation notwithstanding. Some things didn't change, even when your current family wasn't the one you started with. Being the oldest meant you were automatically in more trouble. "Sorry," she offered.
"It was my idea Mrs.-Officer Adams Foster," said Mat, addressing her more formally in hope it would grant them some leniency.
"I made Callie come with me," said Mariana, finally releasing her mom.
"No you didn't," sighed Callie, "I knew what I was getting into."
"Oh we'll talk about who to blame…the stupidity of all of this…punishments," Stef narrowed her eyes at her daughters, "but right now you guys are going to come with me."
"Uh, I should stay here with my car," mumbled Mat. "Triple A is supposed to get here in another hour or so."
"Not a chance," said Stef flatly. "In fact, I don't really know how you can be up here at all? Aren't you still in trouble for your little escapade last week? Brandon is." She nodded to the girls, indicating that they needed to pack up their things.
"I'm not – uh – in trouble about that. I mean, my parents aren't mad at me about that." Mat wiped his hands nervously on his jeans.
"Really?" Stef gave him a speculative gaze. She and Lena had met Mat's parents when Mat and Mariana had begun dating more seriously. They did not seem like the type of parents that would allow their seventeen-year-old to attend a concert for a weekend without any adult supervision…or sneak into a haunted asylum for that matter. "Well, I think I'll have plenty to talk about with them tonight then, won't I?"
Mat gave Mariana a pleading look before dropping his head and trailing behind them. He was dead.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"You can't yell at me, I'm sleeping," said Brandon when Stef came into his room later that night.
She looked at him narrowly without speaking, the light from the hallway slanting into his room and creating shadows. He sighed when she didn't relent. "Are Callie and Mariana okay?"
"No thanks to you. You're just lucky I confiscated your phone and found those messages."
"You stole my phone," he reminded her, sitting up on his elbows.
"When you start paying the phone bill, it will be your phone. Right now it's my phone and you're only renting it long-term. That is, you were renting it long term."
Brandon sighed, dropping his head back into his pillows, "whatever. It's not like you can do anything more anyway. This stupid pneumonia grounded me."
"Oh, I'm not going to ground you," Stef sauntered further into his bedroom and tucked the blanket under his chin.
"No?" Suspicion laced his voice. Smart.
"Nope," she turned around and headed back for the door, pausing at the threshold. "I'm just going to tell Mama I caught you outside, without a coat, all while planning a little drive up to an abandoned asylum."
Brandon's eyes widened, "wait-Mom-"
Stef closed the door and chuckled.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Stef made her way to the girl's room. Callie's hair was still damp from her shower and the noise from the bathroom indicated Mariana was still taking hers. Stef folded her arms and looked at her daughter.
"Sorry," Callie offered again, looking at her mom nervously.
Stef bit back a smile. Now that her family was here, safe, a lot of her fear had gone, replaced with the wry humor she felt when she caught her kids doing the same kind of dumb stuff she had tried as an adolescent. She kept her voice stern, "you've said that several times now, but saying sorry doesn't change the situation young lady."
"I know," Callie bit her lip. "It was just supposed to be fun. And it wasn't really dangerous," she began backpedaling when she caught Stef's look, "I mean it wasn't as dangerous as some of the other stuff kids do."
"No, it wasn't as dangerous as…running away by yourself," Stef said calmly, going to sit beside her, "or say, running into a burning building."
Callie winced, along with some praise, that last bit had gotten her a lecture too. She looked at her coverlet, tracing the threads with her fingers, then at Stef, "I am sorry," she said. "But I took good care of Mariana. I didn't let anything happen to her."
"Callie," Stef sighed, taking Callie's chin gently between her fingers, "love. When are you going to believe us when we tell you that your safety and well-being is as important to us as the rest of our children?"
Callie began squirming, wanting to pull her chin away, "I know that," she mumbled.
Stef's fingers tightened, holding her still a moment to look deeply into her eyes, "you better," she said finally, releasing her, "because it's true. You're a piece of my heart, sweetheart. Always will be."
Callie looked down, a little embarrassed by the attention even as her emotions swelled, "I know," she promised.
"And you're in big trouble," said Stef, giving her knee a little slap.
Callie sighed, "I know that too."
"And that goes for you, Miss Thing," said Stef.
Callie looked up. Mariana was standing in the doorway, a towel wrapped around her head to dry her hair.
"I already have trouble," complained Mariana, taking the towel from her head and slinging on a chair as she moved to sit beside Stef, "Mat's grounded for like…ever."
"As well he should be," said Stef, putting an arm around her younger daughter.
"I can't believe you told them everything."
"Not everything," Stef said comfortably, "I didn't tell them he was one of the people that convinced my son to eat a brownie full of pot."
"Uh-" Mariana stammered.
"I'm keeping that one to myself, because Brandon says they haven't offered him any more but it's something I'm keeping an eye on," Stef said meaningfully. "You know, in case anyone else in the house comes down with a sudden case of paranoia."
"Right," said Mariana quickly. "Makes sense."
"Yeah," Stef snorted. "I'm just crediting you two with a little more smarts, got it?"
"Uh-huh," the girls mumbled.
"Well then, I suggest you two girls get some sleep. There's going to be a lot to do tomorrow. Mama will be home in a couple days and we're going to surprise her by having the entire place sparkling. If fact, seems to me like we have a chance to get nearly all of those chores Mama's had on her list for ages."
Both girls groaned. The infamous list. It must've been over five pages. Single-spaced.
"Great," said Callie.
"Wonderful," said Mariana in the same tone.
"Good night girls," said Stef, kissing them on their foreheads. She grinned as she shut the door. And if the list contained about two pages of things she had promised to do for her wife due to her "extended absence"? Well, no one need be the wiser. She refrained from whistling down the hallway. After all, that might sound smug.