"That would be the doorbell.." Nny said.
"Weird doorbell.."
"Yeah… It's a custom design.."
"Who could that BE?"
I heard the door open.
"Hello?"
I ran up the stairs two at a time. Squee wasn't supposed to open the door. We had him illegally.
"Hey Squee."
I got to the top of the stairs to see a kid about Squee's age at the door. He had short little horns that looked surprisingly real.
Johnny came up the stairs a few seconds later. The kid beamed at him.
"You can put the knife down. I'm a friend of Squee's. I just wanted to ask him to come over to my house for dinner?"
"How did you know I was here?"
"Oh, Squee, you underestimate me. I know EVRYTHING."
"I don't know, Squee. How long are you gonna be gone?"
"Don't make me go, Marissa! I WANNA LIVE!"
"Oh, about an hour." Said Pepito.
"Don't make me go! His dad's the Devil! I DON'T WANNA GO TO HELL!!"
"Oh, trust me, Squee." Nny intoned "Hell's not nearly as bad as the Christians make it out to be. I'd personally prefer it to heaven. Bunnies…"
I gave Johnny a look.
"I'm sure you'll be ok, Squee. How about if the Devil shows up you can call me and I'll come to get you, OK?"
"Ok…" Squee walked out the door, Pepito floating along behind him, yammering about his PS2, and Halo.
"Well, that went well."
"Is the devil really that kid's dad?"
"I guess so. I don't really know. I've never seen him before."
"I think the phone's connected right now, isn't it?"
"Yeah, about that. If it rings… you get it, OK?"
"Why?"
"Long story."
"Okay. I can live with that."
It was about two hours later that the phone rang, but it wasn't Squee.
"Hi, this is Mrs. Flynn, Pepito's Mom. Is he at your house? Because they went outside an hour ago, and now I can't find them."
I looked out the boarded windows into the yard. It was empty.
"I don't see them anywhere. I don't think they're here."
"Oh, Okay. Call me if they show up, OK?"
"Will do. Buhbye."
"By."
I walked into the living room. Johnny was watching the news with a mischevious grin on his face.
"-six confirmed dead, three others injured in the mysterious explosion at the Café Le-"
"Hey, Johnny, Mrs. Flynn can't find the boys. Have you seen them?"
"No…"
"In other news, a young boy was found unconscious today by the Waterfeild dam. He was taken to St. Joseph hospital, and further details are unavailable."
"That's…" Johnny trailed off. I just stared at the screen. The boy on the television was unmistakably Pepito. There was no sign of Squee.
"We've got to get to the dam. Squee must still be there."
I ran to the kitchen to call Mrs. Flynn back.
After an agonizingly long drive, we came to the dam. A spillway connected the pond to the river, which rushed for miles before disappearing into hundreds of tributaries.
It was easy to find where Pepito had been. There were still a few cameras loading up. Johnny went to ask if they'd seen him. I went to look at the waters edge.
A quick scan revealed nothing. I racked my brain to remember what he had been wearing. Something green, I think…
I found marks in the mud that showed two small sets of footprints walking along the side of the lake. I followed them around a corner, behind some trees. A larger pair of footprints came out of the other direction. A couple of scorch marks were scattered around, adding to my conviction that Satan did have a kid.
There were deep grooves, pointing towards a struggle. I guessed that was where Pepito went down. There weren't any small footprints leading away. So either Squee had been carried off, or thrown in the water.
"NNY!"
He appeared behind me.
"What'd you find?"
"Look at these footprints."
"Hmmm…."
"Either kidnapped or murdured."
"Only one way to find out." Nny set off after the mysterious foot prints. I followed him. They went across a few playgrounds and such, and then went onto a parking lot. Without the mud, they disappeared.
I slumped down on the aphsalt.
"Less than 24 hours, and he's gone. Some parents WE are. We're even worse than his REAL parents."
"Actually, they spent seven years HOPING he'd get kidnapped. So we're a little better than them, at least."
"Shit. I'm going back to look at the lake some more. Maybe he's still there, hiding or something…"