Chapter Fifteen

Anna arrived home and pulled out her house key. She didn't want to go back and face Mary Jane, or her mother, or anyone. She felt terrible about the incident back there and just wanted to be left alone. She opened the door and walked in. Her bottom right tentacle closed the door slowly as she heard a sound coming from the kitchen. She froze awaiting another one to be certain that there was a sound and she wasn't just hearing things. Definite footsteps were heard on the linoleum flooring. It was official, somebody had broken into their house and was now raiding their kitchen of valuables. She wasn't about to let the thief get away with it.

A two-foot blade stuck out of her top right tentacle and she crept along the wall. Anna hid around a corner as she began thinking if the person was dangerous or not. Preparing herself for the worst, she darted around the corner and with a cry pulled her tentacle back ready to jab. She screamed and the intruder did likewise as they both jumped away from each other.

Anna came back to reality and beheld the person in front of her. She gasped. "Dad?" Otto nodded looking at the ground. "Wha? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in jail!"

"Let's not talk about that right now." Otto said sternly. "Anna, where's your mother?" he asked with a great rush pushing his voice along as it quivered. He sounded urgent.

"She's over at the Parkers'." Anna replied slowly eyeing him as if asking why. Why would it matter so much? They had been over there when he left. Something was going on, she couldn't tell what, but her father never sounded this worried.

"And where's Peter?"

"Off fighting someone."

"Isn't that just like Parker." Otto mumbled to himself with a snarl. Her dad was acting very unusual. That tone of voice was even rarer than the last one. All of a sudden, he began breathing a little heavier. "No, Peter's a good young man. He hasn't done anything wrong." he corrected himself.

"Dad? Are you OK?" Anna asked. Otto ignored her. He had his eyes closed and his head bowed in his hand. She was really becoming concerned. "Is there anything you'd like me to do? A glass of water? A bowl of soup? Aspirin?"

"Yes." Otto said anxiously digging in his pants pocket. He pulled out a chain of keys and flipped through them. He found the one he was looking for and took it off of the wrung. Otto shakily placed it in Anna's hand and closed her fingers around it. Keep this. Put it in your most secure place. And don't let me get to it." Otto knew that door keys had no significance to him now, but it was the best he could do.

Anna opened her hand and looked down at the door key. "But, this is to the Parkers' door. Why do you want to keep away from this?" she asked.

"Just keep it." Otto commanded grabbing the food from the counter that he had gathered and walking into the master bedroom. Anna followed. He pulled out a black duffel bag from under the bed and hurriedly began stuffing it with things, including the food. Not so much clothes as pictures and photos of the family.

"Why are you packing a duffel bag?" she asked observing all of the photos he was sticking in there. And why are you taking so many pictures?

Otto grabbed his hat, sunglasses, and gloves. He slipped them on. "You must understand." he mumbled hurriedly walking through the living room.

"Dad, what is going on?" Anna demanded.

"Quiet!" he yelled turning back around as his tentacles hissed and chirped. Anna pulled back startled at his actions. Otto closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sorry Anna." he apologized.

"But what are you doing?" she asked a little calmer. Anna didn't want to arouse the same anger that she had just tapped into.

"Ask your mother. She'll know." was all he said. Otto briskly got up onto his bottom tentacles and clung to the side of the building. He seemed to have forgotten something and looked back towards his daughter. Otto stared her straight in the eye with a deathly serious expression. "Don't follow me." he commanded. Anna stayed put as Otto began climbing the building. She ran to see if she could spot him but he was already gone.

Anna stood for a while in amazement staring up at the sky. "What was he talking about?" she asked her appendages.

We do not know.

He is probably just having emotional issues.

Father will be fine after a little while to himself.

"You're probably right." she said as she went back into the house believing the tentacles' explanation of her father's mood and calling it good. Otto didn't talk very much of his past, nor Rosie. She knew that he was a criminal and that he fought Spiderman, but no one would tell her anything else. Whenever she mentioned the past to Otto, even if he was in a good, jolly mood, all the happiness would flood out of his face and he would become quiet. Soon afterwards he would give her the lecture on leaving past experiences alone and not bringing them up again. So far, her tentacles had been the only ones that made any sense that day. It was nice to know that someone wasn't out of their mind.

WWWWWWW

Later that day, when the sun began setting, Rosie had come home. She noticed that her daughter hadn't returned yet so she grabbed her backpack and now carried it home. When Hillary came back without Anna, Rosie became worried as was still apparent on her face. The tentacles were all looking out the window at the middle-aged woman walking down the sidewalk. She had obviously been searching for her daughter for hours and, now that the last place that she knew to look had come, was praying that her precious daughter was waiting there for her.

She walked in the door and saw Anna sitting on the couch gloomily doing her homework. Rosie dropped Anna's backpack by the door and ran up to her. "Oh Anna! You scared me half to death! When Hillary said you ran off after a misunderstanding, I-"

"Shedeservedit." Anna mumbled.

Rosie raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "What?"

Anna didn't want to talk about it right then. Maybe she could get some answers out of her mom regarding her father's behavior. "Mom, what's wrong with Dad?" she asked.

"Honey, whatever do you mean?"

"Dad was acting really weird, like he had a split personality or something and handed me the Parkers' door key. He was really upset and freaked out about something, but he wouldn't tell me what. He said that you'd know." Anna explained. Rosie became quiet and lowered her eyes. "What is it? What's wrong with Dad?"

Rosie sat down beside her daughter and set her notebook on the floor. She moved several ways deciding how to begin. "Anna, your father, he...well...let's just say he's had some pretty bad influences." Anna didn't understand. Sure he's had bad influences, who hasn't? Was he being blackmailed or threatened? Given that Anna didn't answer, Rosie continued. "His appendages, they tell him to do things. Things that he knows are wrong. He created a micro chip to blot it out, but it was ruined in his fusion reaction attempt. He's gotten better in controlling them, but sometimes it gets so difficult that he almost can't take it. It is in those times that he has his breakdowns. When you saw him in jail-"

"Mom, he wasn't in jail. He was right here."

"But he couldn't have." Rosie said.

"Well, he must have, because he was standing right here."

"Oh, he's having a really bad flare from the tentacles." Rosie had a tone of worry in her voice. "Where'd he go?" she asked getting up. She was going to go comfort him and, hopefully, soothe him enough to come to his senses.

"I don't know. He didn't tell me and told me not to follow him." Anna said. "He just ran out the door with a duffel bag."

Rosie began calming herself down. She sat back onto the sofa in disappointment that she wouldn't be able to be with him. "He wants to be alone. He's probably going to be sorting things out, and come back in a few days." Rosie turned to Anna and looked her in the eye with the same seriousness as her father. "Anna, don't listen to your appendages. They aren't better to listen to than real people. Don't choose them over your friends." she warned.

Anna was offended by this. "How do you know?" she asked.

"Because Dad told me. And he knows best out of all of us." Rosie explained.

Don't believe her.

She is wrong.

Father is wrong.

We are best to listen to.

"Well maybe he was wrong. Maybe the reason he got into all of that trouble is because he didn't listen to his appendages."

Father didn't listen correctly. That was his downfall.

"Anna, be careful!" Rosie warned, "You don't know!"

We know. Listen to us. We don't need her.

"Yes, you're right." Anna agreed with the inaudible voices. Anna sounded like her father now more than ever. Rosie was becoming frightened.

"Anna, I don't like that tone of voice..." Rosie said.

Living here is a burden to our development.

"Yes, remaining here doesn't really make any sense." She agreed again.

Rosie was now pretty scared. Anna stood up with a blackness about her. "Anna, you stop listening to your tentacles, or-" her last attempt at controlling her was cut off when one of her tentacles grabbed her arm and threw her into the kitchen. Rosie slammed into a few of the chairs and hit the table. With a "thump" her head crashed into a hard corner leaving her unconscious on the floor.

Anna watched her fall. She wanted to help her, but something; some distant power pulled her mind and caused her not to. Her tentacles carried her outside and away down the street, away from the life she loved.