Shaen pretended to be drawing, but she could hear the fighting going on inside the house. Riddick and Jack were getting angry with her mommy and her mommy was yelling back. Shaen only caught bits of the conversation, but she heard enough to know it as about her. I made mommy mad. Now she's fighting with her friends. This is all my fault. She took one look at the scene happening just inside the house and knew that she had to go away. If I go away then mommy and her friends will be happy again. She thought. Shaen looked down at her drawing of who she thought was her daddy and his friend. She felt the anger well up inside of her. He left me and now he's causing problems again! She thought, allowing the anger to continue to consume her. She ripped the picture in half and threw the plates and everything off the table. That wasn't enough to calm her down, but it was enough to stop everyone from fighting. They looked out and saw Shaen trashing the yard. She tipped over the table and started to mess up anything she could get her hands on.
She heard the door open and Mercuri calling her, "Shaen. Calm down. It's okay." Mercuri stepped out onto the porch and towards Shaen, who was close to the wall. "Come here. Everything's fine."
"No!" Shaen screamed. She looked confused and hurt. "It's not okay." She said. With that, Shaen hopped over the wall and took off into the dark streets of New Mecca.
The amount of emotion in Shaen's voice surprised Jack, who didn't think she'd ever heard so much emotion in anyone before. Pure, unbridled emotion.
Riddick surveyed the damage that the small girl had done to the porch and was amused at the amount of strength the girl contained within her small frame. But she's not done yet. She's got too much adrenaline. I can smell it. Riddick thought as he set the table back upright.
"I wish our little argument could've waited till later." Mercuri said, fetching the outside broom and sweeping the remains of dinner into a pile. "As you can see, she doesn't take to well to fighting. Especially when she thinks she caused it."
"What in the hell caused her to just explode like that?" Jack asked, setting chairs back up and up righting potted plants. Mercuri shrugged and put the broken dishes and spoiled food into the trash bin.
"This." Riddick said, holding up the shredded picture of Carolyn and Johns.
Mercuri shook her head and sighed. She looked out towards the street and said, "I wonder where she goes."
"She's done this before?" Riddick questioned, raising an eyebrow. "And here I thought we were special." He chuckled.
Jack chuckled and slugged him in the arm softly. "Be nice."
"Yes. She's done this plenty of times. And she always runs off, as if she's ashamed of herself. She'll be back when we wake up tomorrow." Mercuri said. She told them more about Shaen and explained that her anger outbursts were just one of the reasons that Shaen needed to find a real home. She needed to find someone that could control her whenever it happened.
They all waited a few more hours and still no sign of Shaen. Finally Mercuri said to call it a night and she and Jack went inside.
Riddick stood outside for a little while longer, staring at the dark space between two of the trees in the yard. He knew Shaen was there, he could see the oranges, purples and blues that made up her body heat pattern. Riddick shook his head and walked inside, deciding that he would come out when the girls were asleep and get Shaen to come inside. If she's still here. He thought.
Shaen let her breath go when she saw Riddick close the door and disappear inside the house. He looked right at me. Like he knew I was here. She thought to herself. Shaen sat down in the shadows and watched her house, deciding that she would sneak in once everyone had gone to sleep. She stayed in her crossed legged position for almost three hours before finally deciding that it was safe to sneak inside. Just as she stood up, she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Coming inside now?" Riddick asked, just as Shaen stood up. He had silently snuck up behind the girl, only moments ago. At first, he'd thought she was asleep, and then she'd made an attempt to stand.
Shaen turned around and her hybrid eyes registered Riddick's form standing behind her. She took a step back and asked, "How did you know I was out here?"
"It was just a hunch." Riddick said. "Are you planning on going back inside your house anytime soon?" He questioned. He started walking towards the porch and looked back at Shaen.
"You really are an interesting character, Riddick." Shaen said, following him.
"Character is what you are in the dark, Kid. Remember that." Riddick said. He looked at the house and said, "Exactly how were you planning on getting back in there?"
Shaen smirked and said, "You'll see. Then I'll come down and unlock the door for you. Just wait here and watch a pro." She walked over to the edge of the porch, where a tree grew, and climbed the tree. From there, she shimmied out onto a branch and hooked her legs around the ornate carvings that formed the porch roof's support beams. She wasn't worried about breaking the support beams because they were thick and sturdy. From there, she let go of the tree branch and allowed herself to swing upside down. "The tricky part." She muttered, mostly to herself. She swung herself upwards and grabbed onto the top side of the slanted roof. Shaen gripped onto the roof's tiles as best she could, before freeing her legs and pulling herself up onto the roof. She looked down at Riddick and said, "It's easy as pie from here." She turned and slowly climbed up the roof, only slipping a few times. She reached the bathroom window and the center of the roof. Planting her left foot in the space where a shingle was missing, Shane pulled a flat tip screw driver from under the windowsill and used it to help her open the window.
Riddick watched the entire display and shook his head when he saw Shaen disappear through the open window. "That's fairly simple" He mused to himself. Riddick waited a few moments as Shaen replaced her screwdriver and closed the window. She was at the door and opening it shortly.
"See?" She asked rhetorically. "That's how I get back inside." She stepped back and allowed Riddick to enter, before closing and locking the door behind her. She turned to ask him why he'd come out to get her, but found that he was gone. Shrugging her shoulders, Shaen went up to her bedroom and found sleep almost instantly.