"Frida!" Sandra called. Manny turned himself invisible when she entered the room but she could still see him. "I'm going to the market and later to get my hair done, please take out the garbage while I'm gone."
"Okay."
She went to get the trash bag, Sandra looked at Manny dead in the eyes and smiled then she left without a word.
"Did you see the way she looked at me?" Manny asked. "Looked at me right in the eyes, but she can't see me. Can she?"
"I doubt it she would've said something wouldn't she?"
"I guess you're right."
Frida picked up a trash bag and handed the second to Manny. "Here. You're taking it out with me."
"No way! I don't do chores."
"Oh yes you do because if you don't then you can go sleep outside with my dogs."
They lugged the trash bags outside toward the dumpster.
"Ugh! It's so heavy! How much garbage is in this bag?!" Manny complained.
When they got to the dump outside he threw both bags inside of it. They started to head back when Frida heard something.
"Do you hear that?"
"What?"
"It sounds like crying."
It was coming from behind the dumpster. She went behind it to find a little baby boy lying on the ground on top of a yellow blanket wearing blue footie pajamas.
"Oh my God!"
"Frida what is it?" Manny asked.
"Look!" She quickly picked up the baby and wrapped him in the blanket. He looked pale and he felt cold. "You poor baby! You must be freezing!"
"What's he doing back here?" Manny asked.
"I don't know but let's get him inside." Frida said.
Manny called 911 while Frida tried to keep the infant warm.
"Yeah we found him outside behind the dumpster." Manny said. "Yes he's alive but he's very cold...Uh huh...okay...Thank you." He hung up. "They should be here in a few minutes."
"Shh. It's okay, it's okay." Frida cooed softly to the crying baby. She held him on her chest and patted him gently while humming a lullaby. His cries grew softer and he began sucking on his fingers.
"Hmm...You think he's hungry?" Manny asked.
"What do we feed him?"
"If memory serves me correct babies drink milk."
"We're all out, my grandma just left to get some from the market."
"Well there are other ways to get milk." He said gesturing toward her breasts. That earned him a thump on the noggin. "Ow!"
"Nice try you pig!"
"I don't want to see them! It's just a fact!"
"Well newsflash genius I have to be lactating for that to work."
The police and ambulance soon arrived to take the baby to the hospital. Manny and Frida came with them to answer questions. All they could tell him is that they found him and that they didn't see anyone. The hospital went into birth records to see if they could contact his parents.
"Miguel?" A couple walked into the hospital and approached the front desk. "My name is Isla and this is my husband Julio, is our son here?"
A nurse walked in and handed the baby to the couple.
"Oh Miguel! Oh my baby!" The mother cradled her baby close while sobbing tears of relief.
"Thank God! We thought we lost you!" The father said hugging his wife and child. "Is he okay?"
"He's fine." The doctor said. "His body temperature was very low due to being left outside but we managed to heat him up. He's very lucky, if those two hadn't found him and kept him warm it might've been too late."
The mother stared at Manny and Frida.
"Thank you. Thank you so much for saving Miguel."
"You're welcome but if you don't mind me asking, why did you leave him out there?" Frida asked.
"We didn't." She said. "Someone took him! Just like Rosie."
"Rosie?"
"What she means is." The father explained. "Where we live, several children have almost been abducted, someone's been trying to take them then one night one of our neighbor's kids Rosie vanished."
Hearing this the police went to question Rosie's parents. Manny turned himself and Frida invisible and followed them. They listened to the conversation between the couple and the police.
"What exactly happened Mr. and Mrs. Gonzales?" The policeman asked.
"My husband was working late and I had just put Rosie to bed." Mrs. Gonzales said. "I was in my room reading when I heard her scream. I ran upstairs to get her but the door was locked, when I finally got it open she was gone."
"Did you see anything? Anyone?"
"No. All I saw was a vulture flying away." She began to cry.
"A vulture? Are you sure?"
"Yes! And I'm positive it took her! I know it's crazy but it's true." She sobbed. "Why would someone take Rosie?"
"I seriously doubt that's true." Manny whispered.
"Maybe not." Frida replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Look what I found."
She held up a black and green feather. They went to T.J's house to see if he knew anything about this.
"A vulture that steals children?" He said. "Sounds more like a demon to me."
"Do you know who it is or why it would steal children?" Manny said.
"Let me check the book." He flipped through the pages and read some paragraphs. "It doesn't say who did it but it says here that when a demon abducts children it's usually because they plan to make them slaves or feed on their youth to restore their own."
"Do you think you can locate it?" Andrea asked.
"Sure. But I'm gonna need something of it."
"Here." She handed him the feather.
He lit a fire in the fireplace, threw some dust in, and dropped the feather into the fire. A mist was formed, T.J fanned it and inhaled it. He did some thinking then spoke.
"This demon is located in the basement of an apartment west from here."
The four of them went to the apartment and down into the basement. It was dark, with pipes dripping or blowing out steam. Manny used his cat night vision to see if he could find anything, he sniffed and listened carefully for any signs that a child or demon was nearby.
"You see anything?" Frida asked.
"Nothing yet." Manny said.
They continued to search for something or someone. After awhile they decided to split up and cover more ground.
"Hey Frida take a look at this."
Andrea led her to a table with a book, spell book. Two pages were marked, one had a youth spell written on it. It read to achieve youth and the other had a spell for full fledged demonic or spiritual power on it. It said that it can be achieved only by consuming the heart of a heavenly healer.
"Let me go!" They heard a high voice scream.
The two girls hid and watched as woman entered the room dragging a little girl by her arm. She looked about to be five years old.
"That must be Rosie." Andrea said.
The woman was tall, slender, had short black hair and was dressed in green and black. She threw the little girl down and began brew something in a pot. The woman then sized Rosie by her hair and forced her over to the pot.
"Drink it!" She ordered.
"No!" Rosie protested.
"Drink it you little brat!"
"No let me go! I want my Mommy!"
"Drink it or I'll drown you in it!"
Andrea and Frida quickly ran out from their hiding place tackled the woman. Rosie became scared and ran upstairs.
"How dare you two interfere!"
Her finger nails were like the talons of a hawk or vulture, reached up to scratch Frida's face but missed and ended up cutting a lock of her hair. She tried again only to have Andrea stabbed her hand with her spear. As the two women fought they accidentally knocked over the pot starting the fire, some bottle liquids were spilled over the flames making it grow bigger. Smoke and flames filled the area and began to rise up stairs.
"We gotta get out of here!" Frida said.
"Rosie went upstairs!" Andrea pointed out.
"We better find her!"
Frida and Andrea went upstairs to look for Rosie. Suddenly the two girls were divided by a wall of fire. Down in the basement, Manny smelled smoke.
"There's a fire!" Manny gasped. "And the girls are in it!"
Manny followed the smell with T.J close behind. They found Andrea on the stairs with fire closing in on her.
"Andrea!" T.J helped her up. "Andrea?! Andrea!"
Andrea opened her eyes.
"Frida...Upstairs." She croaked.
She passed out after that.
"You get her out of here! I'm going to find Frida!"
Manny raced upstairs following her scent. On the top floor Frida was searching for Rosie while trying not to inhale too much smoke or burn herself.
"Rosie! Rosie!" She called. "Rosie! Rosie where are you?"
"Mommy!" She heard a voice weep. "I want my Mommy!"
She saw Rosie sitting on the ground crying with fire moving closer toward her.
"Rosie! Can you hear me?"
"No! Go away! Leave me alone! Don't hurt me you mean lady!"
"She thinks I'm that demon." Frida thought. "She's so scared."
"I want my mommy and my papi!"
"Everything is going to be okay Rosie."
"Mommy is that you?"
"Yes Rosie! I'm here!" Frida felt bad lying but she figured she wouldn't come to her if she didn't.
"I can't see you Mommy! Where are you?"
"Follow my voice! I'm right here waiting for you! Run to Mommy baby!"
Rosie nervously stood up and ran toward Frida and into her arms.
"Mommy, I knew you'd find me."
She had inhaled too much smoke and passed out. Frida held her close and shielded her from the fire. She looked for a way out but couldn't see one. Manny broke the door down and searched for his friend. He couldn't see her due to the flames and he couldn't smell her scent because of the smoke so he had to rely on his hearing.
"Frida! Where are you?" He called. When she didn't respond he really got scared because following her voice was the only way he could find her. "Frida! Answer me! Please!"
"Manny!"
"Where are you?"
"I'm over here!"
He stepped back, jumped over the fire, and landed next to Frida. He quickly scooped her up, jumped out the window of the apartment, and landed on his feet. Outside an ambulance was waiting. Frida handed Rosie to the paramedics and they were all taken to the hospital.
"How are you feeling Andrea?" Frida asked when she woke up.
"What happened?" She asked.
"You inhaled too much smoke and blacked out." T.J said. "The paramedics managed to pump oxygen back into your system."
"Where's Rosie?"
"She's fine." Frida said. "But what about you?"
"I'm kind of thirsty."
"I'll go buy you a bottled water."
Frida went down to the cafeteria to buy some water. During her walk there she saw Rosie awake in her room being hugged by her parents. She smiled and continued on to the cafeteria. On her way back she found Manny sitting on a bench.
"Hey, are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm fine but you..Have you lost your mind? What were you thinking going upstairs into that fire?"
"I was thinking that if I didn't go up there she would die."
"Well you could've been killed."
"I didn't know you cared."
"I...I don't. But if something happened to you where would I live?"
"Ha. Ha so funny." She rolled her eyes feeling annoyed then noticed he had a large blisters on his hand. "What's this?'
"Nothing!"
"Let me see, did you burn yourself?"
"It's no big deal."
"Let me see you stupid cat."
She grabbed his hand and examined it.
"What happened?"
"When I grabbed the doorknob upstairs I burned myself."
"We should get this bandaged."
She ran her fingers gently over his hand, Manny blushed at her touch. Suddenly right before their eyes the burn vanished and his hand was completely healed. There was no scar, no mark, nothing. It was as if his hand had never been burned.
"How did that happen?" Frida asked.
"Did you do that?" Manny asked surprised.
"I..I don't know. Can you heal yourself?"
"Not that fast."
"Huh...Weird."
Meanwhile the demon woman who had tired to drain Rosie's soul escaped before she could be killed and made her way to her domain in the dark forest toward the nest where her daughter was waiting.
"Mother!" Her daughter gasped when she saw her.
"I'm sorry Zoe I failed."
"Nevermind. What happened?"
"I was attacked Zoe!" She said. "By two girls."
"Who were they?"
"One of them carried a spear and the other had blue hair."
"Andrea!" Zoe cried. "And that girl!"
"You know them?"
"The other day those two, a boy, and Manny came here and attacked our pets."
"Manny was here? Did you kill him?"
"I wanted to but...I...I wanted to learn more about him and his friends."
"I see and would this have anything to do with what happened between you two a year ago?"
"Mother please! Don't bring that up!" Zoe looked to see something caught on her mother's talon. "What's this?"
She leaned over and grabbed it. It was a lock of blue hair, Frida's hair.
"Just some hair I cut off from that girl."
"With it we can track them and seek our revenge."
They approached a black fire, it was a fire that could show images of where a person was and who they were. Zoe dropped the lock of hair into the fire, blue smoke rose from the flames taking the image of Frida who was sitting in her room sleeping in bed.
"So that's who she is." Zoe said. "Hmm...But what's that?"
The image showed a small white light glowing from inside Frida's chest.
"I don't believe it! It can't be!" Her mother said.
"What is it?"
"Her heart it glows like a star which means she's a heavenly healer."
"A what?"
"She can heal people, using the powers of heaven which means if you consume her heart you'll finally be a full demon."
"Then it is extra vital that we find her Mother."
