Hello all!

It's been a while hasn't it? I hope that you all good days since the last time! Had a bit of writer's block and started a new job that had me travelling around quite a bit. So, didn't get a chance to write a whole lot. Hope that this chapter is good and was worth the wait. :)

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Chapter 5: Hooverville

The first thing Aleena registered as she slowly came back to her senses was the chilly air around her. It was cold. Much colder than she had ever experienced before. At least, while the sun was up. Though it might be just about as cold when the sun went down at night in the desert. But coming from the heat of the late spring in Nevada was a drastic change to suddenly be cold now. She shivered, hugging herself, not just for warmth, but to somehow comfort herself. She had been sitting there for a while now. Just sobbing away silently and trying to bring her hearts back down from their racing speed. She did not even care that it was cold or where she might be. All she wanted was to be back with her daddy. Him, alive and well, giving her his usual warm smile and making pancakes for breakfast like he always did. She even wanted to be back with Lia. Listening to her mother's stories while they sat in the living room, watching television and helping Lia to knit.

"You're going to have to put on that jacket less you want to catch a cold."

Aleena stiffened, slowly looking up to see a woman standing in front of her. She was afraid at first. Afraid of who this woman was and what sort of harm she meant. But staring into the brown eyes of the woman felt strangely calming. Like a familiar presence. She looked the woman up and down, taking in the looks of her to see if maybe she had met the woman before. She had messy blonde hair. Even messier than Aleena's own hair that always seemed to want to part in many different directions on her head. No, this woman's hair looked more like she had not brushed it in a while and it had been blown around by a wild storm. Then there was the tan vest, long white sleeve shirt, sideways cream-coloured skirt, and tight fitted black pants that all looked very worn and torn.

"Again, I really suggest putting on your jacket," the woman said, staring at Aleena with a calm demeanour that she herself could not help but feel calm, too. Slowly, she pulled out her blue jacket from her pack and placed it on. Though not before placing Dwight's broken glasses into her pack. She did feel better having the jacket on. It did not help entirely with the cold. But it was better than what it had been. She looked up, seeing the woman was suddenly sitting on her knees like she was, staring back her with such a relaxed manner. Aleena tilted her head curiously at the woman but was distracted when seeing where they were. It seemed they were sitting under an old brick bridge. Autumn leaves were scattered around where they sat, and she saw a very large park around them in the surrounding area.

"Where are we?" Aleena asked the woman curiously.

"New York City, October 1, 1930," the woman replied smoothly. "You're a very long way from home, Aleena."

"You know my name?" breathed the girl. She knew she should feel frightened by this. But still, there was something just so . . . comforting about the woman. The woman gave her a soft smile, nodding. "Who are you?"

"My name is Bad Wolf. It's very nice to finally meet you."

Aleena frowned, finding this name . . . strange. But who was she to judge a person's name? "It's, um . . . nice to meet you, too." She gazed around again, taking in the smell of the place as her mind wandered around in analyzing where she had found herself. Indeed, the year the woman said did feel right. Something that Aleena had been slowly sensing the more she travelled through time. A sort of . . . 'sixth sense' to the time and space around her. If that even made any sense. She did not know how to describe it, really. But the science fiction books she read were all she had to go by in terms to explain it all. Even to herself.

Getting her mind back on track, she looked at Bad Wolf once more and said, "But who are you really? How do you know me?"

"I am a friend of your parents," Bad Wolf explained quietly. "And no, not your adoptive parents." There only came stunned silence from Aleena as she slowly processed this news, staring at Bad Wolf in awe.

"You know my parents?" she breathed.

"Yes. Though, they don't know much about me depending on which time frame in their lives you're looking at." Bad Wolf smiled gently when seeing the baffled expression on Aleena. "That means we do not always meet in the right order. You'll find that out yourself how strangely the flow of time works when it comes to meeting friends and such."

Aleena nodded, knowing there was probably a lot she still did not know about her powers and such. Though the aspect of meeting her parents might change that. "Can you take me to my parents, then?"

Bad Wolf's expression changed, looking at Aleena in pity. "I'm afraid not."

"But why?"

"For the very same reason your adoptive father just died."

At the mentioning of Dwight, the loss of her father hit her again. Her mind at almost been in denial from it all. In a state of shock, not wanting it to be true. So, the distraction of meeting Bad Wolf and finding herself somewhere new had helped in feeling as though he were still alive and safe. In fact, she knew that in this year he would still be alive and well. Much older than she, still, but not the same man in late adulthood like before. However, the Dwight, the father that she knew . . . was dead. More tears fell down her face, but she quickly wiped them away, not wishing to show weakness to this stranger she just met.

"W-what do you mean by that, though?" she asked Bad Wolf, voice thick with tears and sorrow. Though she did not let any of this show outwardly. "Why can't I meet them now? And . . . And why did my father die? I saw his timeline. It wasn't frayed at all the last time I checked."

"Because time changed. There are many timelines connecting between people. Others are a lot harder to see for they are not the main timeline which a person is meant to follow. If time shifts and changes on them, then the timeline shifts, too. Becoming the new and replacing the old. I'm sure you saw the timeline shifting, you just did not recognize it for the fear you were experiencing at the time. But through time and practice, you'll be able to spot all the timelines connected to people and how to work with them."

"Is . . . Is that something you and my parents can do?"

"Well . . ." Bad Wolf paused, trying to think about that. "It's something more what I and your mother can do. Though, her insight on timelines is much different than yours and mine. Your father, on the other hand, sees time more as a whole than individually per person."

Nodding slowly, Aleena took this information and processed it. Thinking carefully of any more questions she had for Bad Wolf. Her body was still in a state of shock. A buzz from the panic she had felt still echoing through her. It was hard feeling anything at the moment with how numb her body felt. She looked away, taking in the environment around them. She wondered if they were in Central Park. They must be by all the trees around them. A heavy sigh came from Bad Wolf beside her.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could have come to you sooner than this. It must be terribly a lot of information to process. Especially after what you've just witnessed. No child should see death so soon in their lives. Trust me. I know," Bad Wolf mumbled softly. "I would even give you a hug and all, but I'm afraid you'd just pass right through me."

"What?" Aleena blinked, staring at the woman carefully. She looked perfectly solid and there. So why would . . . The girl lifted a hand and went to touch Bad Wolf. But just as the blonde said, she could not touch her. It was like she was a ghost or something. Aleena's hand passed right through her as though Bad Wolf were nothing but thin air. She pulled her hand back and stared at the woman curiously. "What are you? Are my parents like you? Will I be like that one day?"

Bad Wolf smiled lightly in humour. "No, no. See, I'm nothing more than a projection of a state of consciousness from a pocket universe which hovers around the outside of this universe." Upon the child's baffled blink, Bad Wolf chuckled. "In other words, I'm a 'ghost'. I'm not even alive any more. Just a state of being. Something which only your mother could ever see. And now, you as well."

"Oh." Aleena nodded, again processing this and keeping that in her mind. Something else she would have to learn about. She then frowned. "But my father can't see you?"

"No one else besides your mother and you. For you see, we three are a piece of the Time Vortex. The universe's most powerful energy that connects all of time and space. It's what gives you your powers. All beings with the Time Vortex inside them are connected. Like a family. We can communicate with each other and help each other in our gifts." Bad Wolf gave another kind smile. "I'm sure you noticed how calm you felt after I arrived."

"That was you? Can I do that, too?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm . . . much different than you and your mother. I'm more TARDIS than I am anything else."

"What's a 'TARDIS'?"

"It's the name of the ship your mother and father use to travel through time and space. Remember the blue box you saw? That's the TARDIS. She's sort of your grandmother." Seeing the blank stare from Aleena, Bad Wolf laughed lightly. "You know . . . I suppose this is a lot to take in. Why don't we get you somewhere more comfortable to get some rest? I can always explain all of this to you once you've gotten some sleep. Night should be settling in soon, anyway."

Aleena nodded slowly. She did not notice how drained she felt until that moment. And really, all she did feel like doing was sleeping. Looking up, she was surprised to see Bad Wolf was already standing, ready for her to get up as well. Gradually, Aleena got up to her feet and tightened the pack on her back. Before long, she found herself following along beside Bad Wolf, going through the walkways of Central Park. She always wondered what New York City was like. Though not in the year 1930. Dwight always talked about . . . Again, she winced, feeling her hearts weep and the images of her father's body lying on the floor. She wondered how long that image would haunt her. Most likely for the rest of her life.

"It'll be all right you know," came the soft voice from Bad Wolf. Aleena looked to the woman, seeing how the blonde watched her with such observing eyes.

"But how will it be? My father is dead. My mother left me because I'm a freak. And I can't even go to my real parents because you said the consequences in time might be so great they'll die. I have nowhere else to go," Aleena gusted out in a breath, feeling at a loss of what to do.

"Well, that's why I'm taking you here," Bad Wolf replied smoothly. They stopped just the end of the walkway, staring at the sight before them. There were hundreds of tiny houses scattered about in front of them. Or rather shacks made out of whatever a person could find and place together to make a shelter to sleep in. Some where seen made out of tin scrap while others were nothing more than sticks and cloth strung together. There was a haze of smoke around the area as many had fires going. Either to help keep the chill of early autumn away, or to cook a meal to eat. Hundreds of people were seen milling around the fires or shacks, all wearing tattered clothing that appeared to be something which they have worn for days on end. Aleena felt sorry for them all. But then she had to remind herself that she was just like them now. Homeless and with no where to go.

"Welcome to Hooverville," said Bad Wolf. "The place a person goes when they've got nowhere else to go."

"These are one of the shanty towns from the Great Depression, right?" Aleena questioned curiously, trying to make certain her information was correct.

"Correct." Bad Wolf turned to her, smiling warmly. "You'll find people here will be much friendlier to you than what you have encountered before. Outcasts have a way of being like that. They're always more accepting than the majority of people. For the most part." Aleena could only nod, not knowing what to say. Everything still felt so numb to her. Again, Bad Wolf gave her a look of pity and sympathy. "Look . . . I know this is probably very difficult for you right now. But I promise, after a night's sleep, I'll explain everything to you tomorrow. Anything you want to know, I'll tell you. I'll even help you with your powers if you want."

"No," Aleena said firmly, eyes growing hard as she stared at her feet. "My powers are what got me into this mess. Are what . . . what made time change so it killed my father. I'm never using my powers ever again." She stomped away from Bad Wolf before the woman could say anything. All the young girl wanted to do was to get into this shanty town and find a place to sleep. Forgetting about all her troubles and pretending that this was all a nightmare.

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"Yo! Aleena! Wake up already! We're wastin' time here."

Aleena yawned as she sat up after receiving a kick to the side. She rubbed at her eyes, blinking at the group of kids poked their heads through the tent entrance and stared at her. The one who had spoken was Marvin, the oldest of the group at the rip age of eleven, with a very lanky body, mousy-brown hair that was slick to the side, a small cap on his head, and a dirty boy's suit jacket over his white button up shirt. Next to him was Philip. He was about as tall as Marvin but was younger by a year. He had on a pair of wired round glasses which had tap in the centre from being broken, large cap man's on his head with his blonde hair tucked neatly into it, and had a dirty gray button up shirt with braces over his shoulders keeping up his brown pants. Then lastly was Charlie, the youngest of the group. He was only six, but rather scrappy in personality. He wore a cap that barely stayed above his eyes, his brown hair was about the same always hanging around his eyes, and also a gray buttoned shirt that was always tucked in crookedly into his pants.

"I'm up. I'm up," Aleena yawned, bouncing up from the ragged blankets that she slept on. She gave a stretch once they were outside of her small tent before smiling at the boys. "So, what job are we aiming for today?"

"I hear the meat factory might let a few new kids a shot at packin' up them meats," Marvin said, giving a shrug while he walked with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. "Either that or we go back to Mister Diggs and see if he'll let us sell a couple of them papers on the streets again."

Aleena grabbed her large cap from off the ground and placed it on. She tucked in her hair into the cap, making certain none of it stuck out. It was never good for her to be caught with long hair while working with the boys. Hard jobs always paid the most, but the employers never wanted to hire girls. It was easy blending in though as adults could never tell a girl from a boy when everyone was dressed alike. She remembered when the boys first made fun of her for not wearing dresses like a lot of the other girls did. But they quickly shut up when she asked them how would they like to wake up one day in a dress and not ever be able to take it off. It was funny seeing the look on their faces. Besides, the boys clothes of a brown buttoned shirt, braces over her shoulders and black pants with matching boots were ten times more comfortable than a silly dress ever could be. Especially the large navy-blue boys jacket she had managed to find. It was the most comfortable thing of all, keeping her nice and warm. All her other clothes had been stored away in her backpack, hidden around the blankets in the tent she slept in. She made certain not to let people see these after the first day. Best not let them see clothes from their future a couple of decades from now. Like Bad Wolf said, the past could always be in the future, but the future could never be in the past.

"So, how's your arm, Philip?" Aleena asked while they moved amongst the people of Hooverville. All whom were also waking up for the new morning of work to be done. Whether that work involved within the small shanty community, or outside to earn some more money for a decent night's meal, was still to be seen. This was how most of things worked in Hooverville. Everyone took each day one step at the time and tried to make the best of it. It was the only thing people of the shanty town had control over in their lives anymore, the ability to see how each day would go for them.

"F-fine, I g-g-guess," Philip replied, rubbing at the bandage that was wrapped around his arm. "C-co-ould have been w-w-worse." Aleena grabbed his arm, peaking at the large cut through the bandages.

"Yeah, I think it'll be fine. I'm just glad I was able to get a few good clean bandages for you. God knows how hard those are to come by," Aleena said to him, smiling lightly at him after patting his arm and letting it go.

"You know, Philip, you should have told me that thing old Burns made you carry was too heavy for ya," Marvin said, grinning with a sly smirk. "I could have helped carry it. In fact, I bet I could've carried it all by myself the way I'm gettin'. I think I'll even beat Aleena one day at wrestlin'." He flexed his arms, showing off his 'muscles.' He let out a 'oof' when Aleena punched him playfully in the gut.

"Nope, still squishy to me!" she laughed along with Philip. She grinned at Charlie, seeing him smiling lightly. "What do you say, Charlie. Think Marvin has what it takes to go against me yet?" The boy smiled and shook his head, making Marvin let out a huff while Philip laughed even more. Charlie was always the quiet one of the bunch. He never talked, but they all knew him so well that they never really pushed him to talk. They were fine communicating just with gestures and such.

"Good morning, children!" came the merry exclamation from an elderly woman. She smiled at the four of them as they walked around the corner towards her small shack. She had a plate of warm porridge read for them at a makeshift table while she sat by the fire in her chair.

"Morning, Mrs. Betty!" they all said in greeting. Mrs. Betty (though that wasn't really her name it was just what she liked them to call her) was the resident caretaker of orphans in the area. There used to be more, but they had all left over time. Now there was just the four left in the shanty town. They loved Mrs. Betty every day for being so kind to them all. She would always make certain they had a place to stay, blankets to sleep with, and a morning meal to eat. Though Aleena never had grandparents before, she truly liked to consider Mrs. Betty a grandmother.

Aleena gazed around at the boys and Mrs. Betty as they all chatted away. Truthfully, though she had been living with them all in Hooverville for a month now, it still felt so surreal to her. She never would have thought anyone would like her enough to actually wish to talk with her and be considered a 'friend.' Sure, only Mrs. Betty had welcomed her with open arms on the first night, but the boys soon grew to like Aleena just as much after only three days of working together. Especially since she could pull a lot of weight around and make their jobs much easier. She really liked them as well. They were so fun to talk with and sometimes wrestle in the mud. It was like she were finally a normal child. She almost never wanted to leave. It was just as Bad Wolf had said. Outcasts really were more welcoming. Especially these boys as Marvin was from New Jersey, Philip from Kansas, and Charlie had lived in New York all his life. Each one of them a runaway that found themselves here in Hooverville. None of them really said why they ended up in the shanty town. Mostly because it was an unspoken thing between them all to not talk about the past. Keep focusing on the future is what Marvin always said.

But, of course, as Bad Wolf had told her, this was only temporary. Until Aleena decided on where she wanted to go next, that is. However, even though Bad Wolf kept trying to tell her there were other places out there she could be a part of, Aleena felt she should just live here and never bother going anywhere else. Going somewhere else meant using her powers, and she never wanted to be that sort of freak again. Her powers only ever caused trouble. Nothing good came from them. Though this did not mean that she could keep from using all her gifts. The only thing she had no control over was her sight of people's strings and the stars always floating around the place. In fact, speaking of stars . . .

Aleena glanced over, seeing the white star hovering around her as always. This particular star showed up the night she arrived here. She did not think about it at first as it just sort of sung a gentle tune that helped her through the night. The nightmares of Dwight's death plaguing her for quite some time. But the star always seemed to help, singing her to sleep every night. That was just it, though. Stars never really stuck around people unless they were connected through a relationship of some kind. Such as family, friends, or loved ones. Did that mean this star somehow knew her? She had wondered for a while if maybe it was Dwight as a star, but the star never showed her any images of a past life as all other stars always would. It only communicated with her by singing light tunes, or bumping into her playfully, or nudging her when trying to get her to behave and such. Just like it had done when she had stolen candy with Marvin. Not something she was proud of doing. It was just . . . Marvin said how people should be more sharing and caring, and that they deserved to have those sweets with all the work they put into things. And she did want to fit in better with her friends. But the disappointment on Solomon's face (the appointed leader of the shanty town) and the way the white star just hovered there next to the man as he told them off . . . well, she was not going to steal again. That was for certain.

"All right. Time to get to work," Marvin announced after he finished his meal, jumping up from the ground where he had sat earlier. Everyone got up as well, glad to get to it. Every moment was a waste of time that could have been spent getting money. At least, that was how they felt with their growling bellies.

"You kids be careful now," Mrs. Betty said kindly, waving them off for the day. They all waved goodbye as well, glad to get back to her as soon as possible.

Before long, they were making their way through the busy streets of New York. Cars beeped at them and a few horses neighed here and there as they crossed the streets. People bumped into them, not even paying them any mind at all as though they were just trash to go around. Cops eyed them up carefully, which only made them know that they were seen as possible thieves. It did not matter, though. They just wanted to get to work and earn a decent pay for the day so that they might eat for the night.

"Yeah, well, the same goes for your mother!" Marvin yelled after they had been told to leave by another factory. Marvin adjusted his jacket before looking back at the group standing on the sidewalk. Each one of them had a look of disappointment on their faces. The older boy rubbed at the back of his head, appearing more sheepish and guilty. "Look, I'm sorry, guys. I thought maybe they'd might change their minds or somethin'. I was just hopin' for more pay for us."

"Th-th-that's okay, Marvin," Philip said, as he and the other two nodded in understanding. "We don't like going t-t-to-to Digg's place, ei-either." He pushed up his glasses that were falling down his nose, looking down as he nervously shifted on the spot. All felt the same way.

Mister Diggs was not a kind man. He was rather heartless and cruel to the kids who he hired for his papers. Especially because the only kids he did hire were orphans. Every single one of them an orphan from somewhere or another that just needed some money to get through the day. Either for money to keep moving on to where they were running away to, or for simply a meal later that night like the four of them were doing. Aleena never liked the man. He just felt . . . wrong. His emotions, his timeline, the stars that hovered around him, everything just made the hair in the back of her neck stand up. Never had she met a person like him. Frankly, she hoped would never meet someone like Diggs ever again.

"Come on," Aleena sighed, turning sourly down the sidewalk. "We might as well get this over with. Let's just hope this time we're not sent to go off on one of his 'deliveries'." The boys all muttered (well Charlie just nodded) as they trudged along beside Aleena off into the more shady part of town. Where the streets were much dirtier and covered in trash.

"I mean, it's not all that bad. We could be worse off," Marvin spoke up, strolling casually down the way with his hands in his pockets like he always did.

"Oh, yeah, completely worse off. You know, not making deliveries for the Mafia. That would be lovely," Aleena countered sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"We're not working for them crime bosses," Marvin scoffed.

"Yeah, but Diggs is," Philip interjected, pushing his glasses up nervously. "I-I-I heard him talking wi-wi-with his b-boss the other day. They were t-t-talking about things."

"What kind of things?" Marvin questioned skeptically. Charlie tugged on Marvin's sleeve, getting the older boy's attention. Charlie made a gun with his fingers to his head and made a small sound as if firing off before making a face, his tongue hanging out in show of what he meant. "Yeah, I getcha, Charlie. But at least we're just delivery boys. Ain't nothin' we're getting into that'll mess us up like that."

"You're stupid for thinking deliveries don't count as working for the Mafia," Aleena sighed. She glanced over, seeing how the boys looked at her with frowns. She smiled back sheepishly. "Sorry, I was being rude again, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, well, your smart mouth is what makes bein' around you fun," Marvin laughed, shrugging it off like her rudeness was nothing. "Though it might also get us all killed one day if you don't learn to shut it!" He laughed as he pushed her lightly in humor. They all laughed even more after Aleena grabbed him around the shoulders and gave him a nuggie.

Finally, they made it into the small hideaway place for Mister Diggs' newspaper delivery. It was different than most other printing places. This one was much more low-key and did not offer to many around town. Mostly he had them standing on corners in the neighborhood. Spots where his 'special clients' would come over and pick up a paper from them. Other times though, when the 'special print' came out of the press, he would have one or two of them delivery a paper directly to someone's home. Well, they could call it a home. It was more of a hideout in most cases. Always, at the end of the day, no matter how much work they did with all of this, he never gave them much in return. 'Slave wages' is what Aleena knew Solomon would call it. But being a kid worker in the middle of the Depression of the 1930s never does pay enough.

Marvin pushed aside the traps for the entrance to the place, letting their eyes adjust to the dark place within. Hay scattered around the floor besides the crates of papers and machinery for printing. To the far side of the warehouse was a makeshift office Diggs had made for himself. They could see him directing kids around the place, yelling at them to work faster and such. Some worked the machines that printed on the papers while others rolled up the stuff that came off the pressed. Every so often they saw a kid packing up a large mound of rolled up papers into a sack and then would be off to stand on the streets to sell them.

"Yo, Mister Diggs!" Marvin yelled over the loud sound of the presses. "We're here to work." The man turned to them after yelling for a few boys to get to opening some of the crates. Diggs was a rather portly man with a very small neck and slight double chin. With dark hair that was fluffed up, it always made his head weirdly shaped. It also did not help that he had a sort of baby face to him as well. The way he always wore dark suits seemed to make him look as though he were trying to make up for the fact that his face made him look nothing like a man in his thirties.

"You're too late, kid. I've already met my quota of labor work for the day," Diggs sneered at them, turning to go into his office.

"Ah, come on! I know you're always desperate for help!" Marvin complained, going over to the man to stop him. "Look, we'll work for less today. Say fifty cents for the day, huh?" The man smirked, crossing his arms smugly.

"Twenty cents and you can do double the work," he said before moving away and going into his office, not even letting Marvin a chance to protest to the measly wages. Aleena felt her face heat up in irritation for how the man treated them all. But she held her tongue like she always did. She did not want to cause trouble for her friends.

"Asshole," she could not help but mutter under her breath. The boys all sort of hummed in agreement before they scattered to get to work. She went to help Philip carry around crates of equipment for the printing press while Marvin and Charlie began getting new paper into the machine.

It started out as a normal day's work. They printed out quite a bit of so-called 'papers' for Diggs that would be for the next week to come. Marvin went out onto the streets while Charlie kept up in sending paper into the printing press. Aleena worked on the gears and bolts of the machine, making certain to keep it together and properly working. It was such an old piece of machinery. Probably bought off the black market knowing how cheap Diggs was. So, it came as no surprise to her when a bolt came loose from the machine and rolled away across the floor. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she quickly went after it. The small bolt rolled right down into a crack in the wooden floor of the warehouse. She got down onto her knees, trying to see how she could get it out. It was then the harsh mutterings coming from the office that caught Aleena's attention.

"Look, if I keep sending you kids, the coppers are gonna get suspicious," she heard Diggs muttering sharply. She glanced up, seeing his silhouette through the foggy glass pacing around. Clearly he was holding the phone up to his ear and speaking with someone. "I ain't gonna go to the big house just for . . . How much? . . . Yeah, suppose that is a fair price. Could even bribe a few coppers around with . . . Alright, alright. You got yourself a deal. Just be glad that nobody cares when an orphan goes missing, or else you'd have to find your supply elsewhere." He had hung up his phone and was out of the office before Aleena even had a chance to process what she had overheard. As she watched Diggs walk out of his office to go over to some of the boys by the printing press, a loud crash came from over the way.

"You complete oaf!" shouted Diggs in rage as he stomped over to Philip, who had dropped a large box. Whatever had been inside must had been fragile for Aleena could hear the crunching when Diggs inspected the contents within. He glared at Philip heatedly. "That's gonna cost you, boy."

"I-I-I-I-I'm-m-m-m—," Philip began to say, shaking from head to toe. Diggs just scoffed, curling his lip at the boy.

"You're just as stupid as you look," the man spat at Philip. He laughed as Philip tried talking again to apologize. "What's the matter? Your st-st-stupid brain can't th-th-think straight?"

"Leave him alone!" cried Aleena as she got up from where she was and stomped over to them. She placed herself between Philip and Diggs, puffing herself up to look bigger. "He isn't stupid! He didn't mean to drop your dumb parts. He's just doing his damn job!"

Diggs went to retort nastily, but he then smiled snidely. "All right. I got a job for you then to make up for the parts you broke." He went to his office before coming back with a brown package wrapped with white string in hand. He thrust the package into Philips hands. "Take this to Lantern Circle, number four is the place you're looking for. Be quick about it." He gave Philip a push to the entrance, making Aleena's friend stumble outside before she even had a chance to protest to this. Before she even had a chance to let Diggs have a piece of her mind.

She watched as Diggs went back into his office, slamming the door before she could ask him where exactly he had sent Philip. Was this another one of those 'special deliveries' of his? It appeared exactly that, but something felt . . . off about it.

"Oh, man. Poor kid," she heard a boy mutter somewhere nearby. She looked over, seeing two boys looking towards where Philip had gone.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked them curiously.

"Don't mind him. He's just being paranoid," said the other boy, going back to work. The one boy who spoke, though, seemed anxious with his brows furrowed heavily.

"I'm not being paranoid. You know what happened to Samuel, that fella with the straw hat. Never saw him again after he went to that place," countered the boy. "Then there was Dale and Anthony before that."

"They were runaways. They just ran back home," scoffed the other.

"What do you guys mean?" Aleena asked curiously as a bit of dread slowly creeping through her.

"Just ignore him," sighed the one boy as he moved away to continue working. Aleena scooted up to the boy who had spoken first, seeing how anxious he appeared. Like he knew something more than he was letting on.

"What place did Diggs send him? Is this a normal thing that happens?" questioned Aleena, pushing for answers.

The boy glanced around before leaning in close to whisper, "It's always the same place, same time of once a month, and always another kid old Diggs gets mad at or doesn't like. Then, once they leave, we don't ever see them again from the delivery."

Aleena raised a brow, finding this almost just paranoia of some kind from this boy. It could be like the other one said. Kids came and went all the time around here. They could have just happened to leave the night after they finished deliveries. But . . . something in her gut told her otherwise. Something was off, like a bad taste in her mouth. "Do you know where this place is?"

"Yeah." He glanced around nervously again as the color in his face slowly drained. He shivered as though remembering a horrid memory. "I've been there once. Got curious, see. Was wondering what happened to Samuel. It's this big old house, and you'd think it'd be abandoned by the looks of it outside. But it isn't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I ran into her. I was peaking into the window when I smelled something really nice. I don't know what came over me, but it just . . . smelled so nice. Next thing I know, I was halfway up the steps, about to step into the house with this old hag opening the door for me and grinning with a mouth like nothing I've seen before. But then this cat came out of nowhere and she freaked, slamming the door before either I or the cat could get inside. Ran like hell the moment I realized what the hell had just happened."

Aleena frowned, pondering over this. That sounded bizarre. Like some made-up story. But . . . still her gut told her something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Like . . . Philip was in danger. "Can you take me to this house?" she asked the boy.

His eyes widened dramatically. "Hell, no, I ain't going back there! Not even if you paid me five bucks!"

He left her quickly, leaving her to stand there. She pondered over everything she learned, thinking what she should do from there. Half of her wanted to proceed from there and figure out what this all meant, but the other half wanted to stay quiet about it all and just continue working. It was probably her just being paranoid like that boy. That was all. Like anything strange really happened in 1930. She would know about it from the history books . . . Right?

The white star caught her attention. It kept zooming around her head, trying to get her to look at it. Once she did, it went out the traps that covered the entrance, only to come right back in. Almost as saying for her to follow Philip. Did it feel as though something were wrong as well? She glanced over, seeing a discarded bag from selling papers. She quickly scooped it up and placed some papers into the bag before exiting the place in a hurry. It was best she look as though she were selling something. Otherwise, people around this area would get suspicious and might to do something to her. Looking around once she was outside, she saw the string of Philips floating from the warehouse down the sidewalk to where he had gone. For once, she was glad she had these strange gifts of hers, and that people's strings always lingered around for a while from where a person had been previously. Or else she would have gotten completely lost in this vast city.

"So, I'm guessing you've got a bad feeling, too?" she asked the white star absently as it hovered around the area, seeming to be checking it out. The star zoomed alongside her for a moment, giving a tune in agreement before speeding off once more. "Yeah, I figured as much."

Soon, she made it to the place. Lantern Circle, number four. Just as that one boy had said, it looked completely abandoned. It was a two-story home, with dully colored brown paint on the sides of the home and with a black tiled roof. Everything was dark and worn about it. It even looked as though there were holes on the roof. But the whole thing . . . just looked so staged. From the cobwebs to the broken windows, it just seemed off. The star came up beside her, hovering there for a moment before zooming off to check out the house. When it came back, it gave a wary tune. Something was so wrong about the house that even the star seemed to want her to turn around and leave.

"I can't leave now. What if Philip is in danger?" she countered. Another tune was given. Aleena sighed. "I don't even know what you're trying to tell me. So . . . I'm just going to pretend you're agreeing with me." She walked towards the house, ignoring the disgruntled note from the star.

She edged around the side of the house carefully, stepping over the broken iron fence as she sneaked into the overgrown yard. She edged in between the house and the other, much more realistic, broken down home next to it. All homes like this in New York were tightly built together. But luckily at least this one had some space between for her to sneak around back. When she glanced up towards the upper story, she saw just one window on the whole side of the house. A very small one, with strange, small red cones on either side of the window sill. That was . . . strange. She wondered what those cones were for. They did not really looked as though they belonged here. In fact, she peaked around towards the front again, seeing similar cones on all window ledges. Seeing the windows in the back confirmed it after she managed to get into the backyard. All windows had these cones on them. But what for?

She frowned as she stood in the tall grass in the backyard, crossing her arms as she tried to think of what to do next. Obviously, she could not go through the front door. That would just be stupid since she had no idea what might be waiting for her on the other side. That mysterious old woman would be for one thing. Philip was obviously already inside since she never ran into him on the way here. So . . . How could she get in to save him? Finally, the large vines growing on the side of the house caught her attention. Walking over to them, she gave them a tug to see how strong they would be to get up into the small window above. They were connected to a trellis that helped the vines grow all the way up the house. Before she had time to doubt whether or not this was a good idea, she was already climbing up the vines.

Soon, she was near the window, peaking inside. On the other side of the window, she could see what appeared to be a small bathroom of sorts. It had a large old tub inside and a sort of toilet though it was cracked and broken. Gently, she touched the window, wondering how she could get it open. But it easily opened for her upon the slightest touch. It was not even locked? Perhaps whoever lived inside was not afraid of people breaking into their home. Well, obviously no one came around this neighborhood anyway. She probably would not bother to lock anything up, either.

The wooden floor creaked under her feet the moment she dropped down from the window. She froze, holding her breath in fear that she had been heard. But after a few minutes when nothing came bursting through the door at her, she relaxed enough to tentatively move forward. Just as she was about to open the door, the white star zoom through the wood at her face. She jumped but held back the startled yelp that had almost blurted out. She glared at the star crossly and waved a stern finger at it as it zoomed around her head before going right back through the door. Damn thing. Almost gave her a bleepin' heart attack. Or, well, would that be 'hearts attack' for her? Nah, heart attack sounded better. Anyway, back to business.

She slowly crept out of the door, peaking around to make certain the coast was clear for her. Nothing but dark, dusty hallways were seen. With a set of stairs leading down towards the lower floor. She could hear things shifting around down there and felt the very warm temperature coming from below. There was also a very weird smell in the air. Her nose immediately crinkled as she took a whiff. It smelled strongly of dead fish. Was someone cooking fish down in the kitchen? She rubbed at her nose, wishing to not have to breathe it in. But she knew the best thing for her to do was keep breathing it through her nose to adjust to the smell. It would go unnoticed by her nose eventually once it got used to it. She started to go towards the stairs when the star zoomed around her head, whizzing about to get her attention. She looked at it, wondering why it was still acting so funny when it nudged at her to go back towards the end of the hall. Deciding it was trying to show her something, she followed after it as quiet as she could, making certain to step around any floorboards that might cause noise. The star hovered right outside a red-stained door that had cracks in coming from around the edges of the door frame. Very slowly, she opened the door as the star used some of its light for her to look in. Her eyes-widened when she saw clothes. Piles and piles of kids' shoes and clothing all scattered throughout the place. Closest to the door, she saw a straw hat laying on top of a large pile of coats. Oh . . . god. What was happening here? She could hardly even wrap her mind around what she was seeing. She grabbed the straw hat for evidence before swiftly closing the door.

Stuffing the hat into one of her rather larger pockets, she only wanted to hurry out of this place and possibly come back with some help. But who would help her? She stopped just outside the bathroom door, taking a deep breath to calm herself and get her thoughts together. Okay, so . . . help might not be an option. Most likely no one would even believe her. Even if she did bring the straw hat to the others as evidence from here. And even if she did manage to get help, Philip might be in trouble by then. He might be in trouble now. She glanced towards the stairs, feeling her hearts beating fast. She felt scared. Frightened in the idea of doing something so dangerous. Though knowing that a friend of hers was in trouble . . . she could not just sit idly by and let him suffer whatever the same fate those other children had. So, with this in mind—though she still felt completely terrified—she kept this thought for her wits and started for the stairs.

At that moment, something shifted at the bottom of the stairs. A shadow beginning to creep right towards Aleena as she stood there frozen in terror.

XxXxXxXx

Well, that's the end of this chapter. Hope it was worth the wait! Again, sorry for it having been so long since the last update. Hopefully the next one can come sooner, but with how my new job is that might not be possible. :( So sorry. But if this chapter was indeed worth the long wait, please let me know in a review. Just to let me know that I'm still doing good in writing the chapters. If I'm not, I would like to know to do better for you guys in the next one to come. :)

Hope you all are having a great day/night! I apologize for not doing any replies to reviews in this chapter. Truthfully, I really wanted to get this chapter out quickly to make up in it being so long since the last. Replies tend to take me a while to do. Sorry about that. :( Hope you all can forgive me!

Until next time my lovelies!

~Tinker~