Chapter 7: Disturbing News

"She's been adopted again," said the lady director of the orphanage to the couple in front of her. "You can't take her back."

"Who adopted her?" The man, Mr. Stemwrithe, asked.

"I cannot give out that information," the lady director said.

Mrs. Stemwrithe stood up. "Come on," she said and they headed out. "Who would have adopted that little brat?"

"Whoever did will regret it, especially after we visit them," her husband said and then he got an idea. "Why don't we try the school?"

Emily had just arrived at the school and went to her classroom, finding Mr. Gore there and he smiled. "Good morning, Emily," he said. "Would you run this file to the principal's office for me?"

Nodding, the little girl accepted the file and was about to leave the room when the door opened and Mr. and Mrs. Stemwrithe came in. "Emily!" Mrs. Stemwrithe said with a smile.

Seeing them, the little girl dropped the file she was carrying and ran back to Mr. Gore, a fearful look on her face as she hid behind him. Sensing something wrong, the teacher stood up and looked at the couple. "Can I help you?" He asked politely.

"Oh, we just came to pick up our daughter," Mr. Stemwrithe said.

Now while Mr. Gore hadn't officially met Vampirina's parents, something about this couple just didn't seem right and he sensed there was something very wrong, especially where Emily was hiding behind him and looking ready to crawl into the wall. "I'm sorry, but it's past the time that parents can take their children out of school for the day," he said. "Only the nurse and principal can excuse Emily for today."

"Well, she hasn't been feeling well, you see," Mrs. Stemwrithe said. "But she snuck off to school when she shouldn't have."

Emily whimpered and clung to Mr. Gore's leg and that further confirmed his suspicions that these two weren't Emily's parents. "I'm sorry, but I must ask you both to leave," he said firmly.

"When Emily gets her things, we'll leave," Mr. Stemwrithe said, his voice taking an unpleasant tone.

Poppy, who was just coming in, heard him and looked to see a couple trying to get to Emily, but the little girl stayed behind Mr. Gore. Thinking quickly, she headed out quietly and then ran to the principal's office. The principal looked up in surprise when Poppy ran in. "What is wrong, Poppy?" The kind lady asked.

"Please, you have to call the Hauntleys," the young girl said. "There's a man and a woman trying to take Emily from the classroom!"

The elderly lady went to her phone. "Is Mr. Gore there?" She asked.

"Yes, Ma'am. He's trying to keep them from taking Emily and she's clinging to him."

The principal instantly called the Hauntleys and asked them to come right away, telling them a couple was trying to kidnap Emily. Oxana and Boris headed out at once, meeting Poppy outside the school and the young girl quickly led them to the classroom where Emily was hiding underneath Mr. Gore's desk and the teacher had placed himself firmly between her and the other couple. "What is going on here?" Oxana asked, coming over.

Hearing her voice, Emily quickly slipped out from her hiding place and ran up to Oxana, who picked her up and the little girl clung to her as the other couple came up.

"We came to pick up our daughter," Mrs. Stemwrithe said.

"You are mistaken," Boris said, trying to be civil. "Emily is our daughter."

Seeing the little girl reach for him, he accepted her, holding her comfortingly as Oxana stood near him, both hovering protectively near their daughter.

"Why would you want a dumb brat who only causes trouble?" Mr. Stemwrithe asked, his voice sharp.

Emily shook a little and clung to Boris, silently crying. That, and the man's words, told the Hauntleys that Emily somehow knew this couple and they wondered if it had been the same couple that returned Emily to the orphanage only a couple weeks after adopting her.

"Emily, stop being such a brat and bothering these nice people!" Mrs. Stemwrithe said sharply, making the little girl flinch and cling harder to Boris.

Mr. Gore finally decided enough was enough. "I'm afraid if you two don't leave, I'll have to call the police," he said.

"Emily is our daughter!" Mr. Stemwrithe said. "We adopted her first!"

"But you gave her up," Oxana pointed out.

"Because the little brat ran away after she started a fire in our home and nearly burned it to the ground," Mrs. Stemwrithe said with a sharp frown, looking angry.

"Not our Emily," Boris said, refusing to believe that. It sounded like an outrageous lie.

"That's absurd!" Oxana said, also not believing the lie.

"Emily wouldn't do that," Mr. Gore said firmly. "Now, you two need to leave or I'll have the police escort you out."

With angry looks, the couple left and Mr. Gore kindly excused Emily from school for the day. "I'll ask Vampirina to bring Emily's schoolwork to her after school and I'll talk to security about looking for that couple and not letting them into the school again," he said.

"Thank you, Mr. Gore," Boris said, shaking his hand. "I apologize we couldn't meet in better circumstances."

"As am I," Mr. Gore said, hardly flinching at the fact he was looking at two vampires. He did have their older daughter as a classmate and she was a very sweet child. If Vampirina's personality was anything to go by, her parents were equally as nice.

"Thank you again, Mr. Gore," Oxana said and then looked worried. "Mr. Gore, if Emily isn't ready to return to school tomorrow…,"

"Just let the principal know and she'll let me know," the teacher replied kindly. "I just ask that you please make sure she doesn't fall behind."

"Of course," Boris said instantly and Oxana nodded.

They went home and found Remy, who was looking at his cookbook when they arrived and his eyes widened at seeing Emily. "Emily?" He asked, seeing her frightened face. "What happened, chere?"

"A couple came by and tried to kidnap Emily," Oxana said and then looked thoughtful. "Something didn't ring right with their story."

"I agree," Boris said. "Perhaps we should go to the orphanage and ask the lady director about them. Surely she'd know if they were indeed the ones who adopted Emily before we did."

"Yes," his wife replied and looked at Remy. "Remy, would you watch Emily while Boris and I find more information about that couple?"

"Of course," the skeleton chef agreed, kneeling down to Emily's height and holding his arms out. She instantly went over to him, hugging him and he picked her up. "Would you like to be my little helper today, chere?"

After a moment, she nodded and Remy showed her what he was going to make for dinner as Oxana and Boris headed out to go back to the orphanage to get some answers from the director about who the couple was and why they said Emily had started the fire long ago.

Something just wasn't right.

Hmm. Why is that couple trying to take Emily? And why are they saying she started the fire? Next chapter: the Hauntleys find out the truth and it's not pretty.

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GoldGuardian2418