Chapter 8

5:30 am

"We have to go now, Owen."

Abby had instincts for the rising sun honed over several centuries. More than once, she had been required to remind Owen of an impending sunrise.

"But...I can't just leave...she'll think I took off like last time."
Owen sat on the side of the bed looking at the floor. He hated the thought of causing his mother more pain. Especially now, when she knew he was ok and had come back to her.
"Can't we just stay in this room?"
Abby curled her arms around Owen from behind.
"I don't think she would understand." Abby paused, "Something bad could happen."
Owen knew Abby was right. Nothing was presenting itself as a good alternative. Owen sighed. Just showing back up on his mother's doorstep wasn't as easy as he thought.
"I know...I at least have to tell her something."
"Maybe...leaving a note would be better?" Abby suggested.

Owen thought about it for a moment.
"Abby...I love your handwriting..." here Owen shot a quick smile at Abby, "but I can't just leave without telling her anything...I can't..."
Abby squeezed him.
"Ok...we'll tell her...but we have to go soon."

(knocking)

Jennifer heard the knocking in a dream. The usual deep sleep more accurately described as a stupor enveloped her. She heard the voice of her son. Her mind refused to believe. Her son was dead. Was he calling out to her from beyond the grave? Was he in heaven? Now the voice was closer. Hands shaking her. Jennifer struggled to consciousness.

"Mom!"
Jennifer opened her eyes. There stood her dead son and a young girl. Was she an angel? Jennifer's mind told her the girl was trying to take Owen away from her...she could feel it.

Owen glanced at the empty wine bottle by his mother's bed. She was drunk again.
"Mom...wake up! Me and Abby have to go!"
The fog began to clear.
"Wha...go?"
"Yes...we're going to her parents' place for the day...we'll be back tonight...ok?"
"W...why? Can't you stay? She can go..."
"I can't explain...just believe me Mom...I'll be back tonight...I promise."

Jennifer's heart rate quickened as she struggled awake. She grasped Owen's arm.
"No...Owen...don't go..."
Owen kissed his mother on the forehead.
"We'll be back...I love you Mom."

Owen freed himself from his mother's grasp and he and Abby turned to go.
"Owen!"
The duo quickly moved through the trailer and out the door. Jennifer staggered into the living room as the door shut behind them. She opened the door and looked out into the night to call her son back. But a quiet stillness greeted her and choked off her words before she could voice them.

They were gone.

Jennifer closed the door and locked it. Something was very wrong. Her senses were dulled, but she still felt it.

She sat down at the kitchen table and slumped over to rest her head on her folded arms. Misery overcame her as tears began to flow from her closed eyes. "What if he never comes back?"

Fear. Jennifer thought about calling the police.

Then it occurred to her. Something had been nagging at the edge of her subconscious since this began.

"Abby?"

The bobcat sat still and watched as two figures swooped in and alighted on the ground below. They were quiet. Very quiet. Had the bobcat not been looking right at that spot when they arrived, he never would have seen them. The two figures looked directly at him. This triggered the flight instinct and the bobcat quickly turned and ran...and did not look back.

Abby and Owen watched the bobcat go. They each slipped a shirt over their heads as wings disappeared.

"I saw this spot when we got here earlier."
"You always notice that stuff, Abby."
"I've had a lot of practice."
Abby walked toward a sunken basin thick with underbrush and surrounded by trees. She pointed.
"See?"
A small opening. Abby bent down and stuck her head in. Owen snuck up behind her and smacked her on her butt. Abby straightened up in mock anger.
"Oh stop! I'm trying to find us a spot here!"
"We've got time...sun won't be up for a while."
"It comes up faster than you think...never wait until the last minute, Owen...never."
Owen was subdued. There was a tone of seriousness in Abby's voice. He always let her take the lead on things like this. She had an uncanny knack for finding shelter for them. As she often reminded him, it came from experience. She had been doing this for...well...a long time.

Abby seemed satisfied.
"It will work. Nothing lives there."
"They would leave when we moved in anyway." Owen said with a touch of smugness. He well knew that all other living creatures gave he and Abby a wide berth. Nothing ever disturbed them while they slept.

They spent a few minutes piling underbrush around the opening so it would not be visible before both crawled inside the hollowed out opening well out of view. It was quite small, but cramped quarters were never a problem for them. They became as one and still as death as the sun rose over New Mexico.

"Abby!" Jennifer said out loud. Her thoughts sobered her up.

She went to her room and pulled open a box with newspaper clippings in it. Rifling through them, she found what she sought. A news story about the cult killer that had been caught right before Owen had disappeared. She read through it quickly.

"Abby! she repeated again. There it was. The killer had left a misspelled note before he jumped to his death. It had said, "I'm sory Abby." That seemed like a big coincidence to Jennifer. She didn't know many "Abbys"...what were the odds Owen would show up with a girl with that same name? Jennifer had sensed something odd about her.
"She's probably in that same cult...and talked my baby into leaving with her!"

Jennifer, feeling frightened, reached for the phone and dialed. A voice answered.

"911 emergency...can I help you?"