Even in the trunk of a moving vehicle, Callie was still worried about her cousin. Why wasn't she worried about herself? She kept asking herself that, but there was never an answer. Man, must have a pretty strong bond with Marie to be more worried about her right now. Even though she was locked in her room, everything's probably better now, right? She's also probably so worried about me… Sigh. Callie looked down at the ropes tied around her ankles (or, bottom of leg things? Inklings don't have bones, but then again, they somehow have teeth?). Marie couldn't see her like this. She didn't want her cousin to be any more sad. Why, she thought. Why can't I just worry about myself? Callie sighed as the vehicle kept moving.
Callie was sort of worried for herself. I mean, she did get thoughts of where she was being taken, what they would do to her, etc. And she was hungry. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, and it was getting late out. Even though her captors were total creeps who would LITERALLY BUY CHILDREN off of the internet, they were kind enough to have some sort of empty duffle bag in the trunk. Callie guessed it could be used as a blanket or something, and laid her head on her school backpack, which she still had with her, trying to get into a comfortable position, but that was a little hard, given her circumstances. Somehow, eventually, she fell asleep.
Callie woke up to the vehicle jolting to a stop. She could hear some muttering, then a door swinging open, then footsteps getting closer. The trunk door slammed open. A cold finger tapped her on the shoulder. Callie twitched a little, but didn't react much other than that. One of the guys got out a knife. That seemed a little scary at first, but, surprisingly all he did was cut off the rope on her lower leg-nub-things (whatever you call the lower limbs of a prepubescent inkling).
"You can walk now," the guy said, kinda demanding-ly.
Seven-year-old Callie nodded and followed the guys, wherever they were going. She didn't know, but sorta didn't really care, either. It was probably better than living with her evil step mom. Eh, whatever. By now it was already late at night, and everything was dark, especially the sky. The pink tips of Callie's long tentacles glowed in the dark, so that looked cool, I guess.
Meanwhile, Marie found herself back in her room. Before anyone could see, she hid the chopstick so that her step mom wouldn't find out about her new trick. For the first time in her life, she couldn't wait to go to school. That was the only way to save Callie. Callie… Just thinking of that name made Marie worry for her. The poor squid-kid must be terrified. She was only seven! There was no way she would be able to handle a situation like this. Marie sighed and went to bed.
Marie couldn't sleep. All she could think about was Callie. Marie read a lot of books, and whenever there was a book where a kid was sold, it always ended badly. Marie did admit that some of the books she read were way too mature for a seven-year-old, but she didn't really care. That wasn't the focus right now. Disturbing thoughts kept her up all night. Not a single ounce of sleep. When her step mom came into her room in the morning to wake her up, Marie felt like a boneless blob, even though she actually was one.
Marie practically ran to school that morning. When her homeroom teacher asked where her cousin was, Marie gulped and said "absent". That was true, sort of. Eventually the bell rang for her lunch period. However, instead of running to be the first in the lunch line like usual, she decided to talk to her teacher and tell him about, you know.
Marie's teacher was a pretty chill jelly. He was sitting in his spinny chair looking bored when the young inkling walked up to him.
"Yes, Marie?", he said. "You need something?"
"Yeah…", Marie answered shyly. "I know why Callie is absent today. I didn't want to tell you in front of everyone else."
"Okay," the teacher said back. "Go ahead."
"Our step mom sold her."
Marie told her teacher almost the entire story. After she was done, her teacher looked horrified. He instantly picked up the cheap classroom phone and called 911. He let Marie explain the situation to the operator. The operator said that they understood and would get Marie's step mom arrested, and would send a team to find her missing cousin. Marie nodded. Satisfaction filled her. Callie would be safe. She smiled, and her teacher squeezed her hand-nub-thing.
"Everything's going to be okay," he insured her. Marie nodded back. "I'll let you go. Get lunch, fill your tummy, then come back here. I'll send you to the counselor. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah," Marie said back.
Marie left the room. Her teacher sighed. Never in any of his years as a second grade teacher would he have thought he would have to get involved in a case of a missing child. He felt bad for young Marie as she watched her walk out of the classroom and down the hall to the cafeteria. There must be so much going on in her head. Seven-year-olds didn't deserve to go through this. The poor child…
In around ten or so minutes, Marie was back. She was holding a half-eaten tray of potato salad with a carton of chocolate almond milk, because cows are extinct in Splatoon.
"I'm back."
"Hello, Marie," her teacher said smiling. "You wanna see the counselor?"
"Okay."
"Want me to escort you, or can I trust you to go on your own?"
"I can go on my own, thank you," Marie said shyly.
As she was about to leave, her teacher grabbed her hands and looked her dead in the eye.
"I know this is a lot for you."
"I guess," Marie confessed.
"We're all on your side. It's gonna be okay. I pray from the bottom of my heart that Callie's safe. You understand?"
"Yes," Marie said, nodding and leaving the classroom.
