Chapter 13 – Musings of Fang

The scurrying footsteps around from upstairs and down the hall alerted Fang that the ladies of the home were up. He laid in bed, listening to their busy tracks pounding from all directions, seemingly teleporting from one area of the house to the other within seconds. Then again, he could have been dozing off. It was too early for him to know for sure. No one should ever get up at… he raised his head groggily to look at the clock on his nightstand. Four thirty. No one can function properly at that time, and yet they still got up to prepare for a horse show. He sighed and let his head drop on the fluffy pillow, letting himself settle back into a deep sleep.

At some point when he was unconscious, an image passed through his mind, so fast and sudden that he wasn't sure he ever saw anything. It came together and disappeared like a virtual jigsaw puzzle. Bits of decaying wood, broken metal, ripped fabric, all coming together to form a picture that was like throwing random figures together. He didn't understand it, and when the image faded, he woke up with a start.

He couldn't remember why he'd woken up, or what he had even seen, but he knew that something had happened to him. Trying to dispel the unusual feeling, he shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. He permitted himself to glance at the clock again, only to see that it was ten in the morning. It was Sunday, so he knew he could go back to sleep, but the warning signal in the back of his mind advised him it was best to go on with the day. Besides, he was feeling a little claustrophobic in his small room anyway.

Pushing the bed sheets off of him, he shuffled out of bed. He considered staying in his boxers and a beater all day, but then he thought better of it and changed into shorts and a t-shirt. Since he'd moved in, Dr. Martinez let him change his room however he desired, which he really hadn't done much to so far. He exchanged the plain white sheets for black and gray ones, and he put up only one poster: an old, battered tribute to his idols, the Blues Brothers. She also promised to take him shopping so he could add to his wardrobe, which only took up two drawers in the dresser.

There was nothing really to do since Dr. Martinez told him not to worry about taking care of the animals. He retrieved the morning paper and let it rest on the kitchen counter, not in the mood to read it. He fixed a bowel of cereal and a glass of orange juice, and then sat in the living room. The TV flickered to life as he pressed the remote. The first channel to pop up was the weather and he scrunched his nose in distaste. He flipped through everything. Twice. But he realized that it was Sunday morning, so people were either at church or still sleeping. Settling on the local news station, he chewed on his cereal meticulously.

"Back to our leading story," the dyed-blond reported with too much makeup on announced, looking at the screen seriously. "Reports of missing kids within the local area have popped up at an alarming rate. Police say that the amount of reports filed in the past three months was twice as many as there had been in the last two years."

He stopped chomping on his food to listen with quiet attentiveness, taking in every detail.

"There are no patterns in the children that have disappeared, whose ages range from eighteen year-olds to newborns, and have different ethnic backgrounds. Local and state police have been on the case now haven't found any traces of these children, which makes their parents fear the worst." The screen switched from a slideshow of the missing children to footage of their parents crying. Fang had seen enough as he turned the TV off.

Damn, what's up today? He wondered as he tried to ignore the sudden clenching of his stomach. The report didn't sit well with him. He didn't realize that his hand was constricting his knee until it began to throb painfully.

Determined to make the day better, he finished his breakfast and placed his dishes in the sink. He went back to his room to grab some school books to get his homework done, but that really didn't occupy his mind too well. He thought of many things, most of them not related at all. First he thought of having the home to himself, reveling in the freedom from chores. His only fear of this event was Social Services suddenly showing up at the front door to check on how he was doing. Seeing him here alone would not go over well with them. And he really didn't want to leave so soon.

He wondered why this home was so different from all the others he had been in. The previous places had been like rest stops, or a hotel, even, not that he'd ever been in one. A place to stay that was different from the norm of an orphanage. It didn't hold any sentimental feelings to it. And the people who he lived with made him feel… uneasy to say the least. He couldn't explain why, but he always felt like eyes were on his every move.

But the Martinez home was different. He actually felt like he belonged, that this workaholic family had something that was missing in all the other locations. It was actually a home, a refuge. He could feel the love that Dr. Martinez felt toward Max and Ella, and her love was fully reciprocated by them. She truly cared about Fang, wanted him to like it here. Wanted it to work out with their family. It had only been six days, but this was the most at home he had felt since he was a little child. And besides his motherly-figure, Ella and Max loved having him around. With Ella it was obvious, since she would go to school to blab to her friends that "we're housing a total hottie!!", as she put it. Max at first was a little shocked that he was staying with them, but watching him work his ass off every morning had warmed her up to him a bit. He noticed when she would smile at him, or act receptive, as opposed to treating him like a coworker – or maybe more like a trainee with the way she bossed him around. He wondered how someone like her was related to someone like Jeb.

That brought his thoughts to a whole new subject. How did Jeb know so much about Fang? He never told anyone at Social Services that he was adopted before he got there, although he was sure it was in their his records somewhere. Why was Jeb so concerned about Fang's future? What was important about it? Why was he glad that Fang had bounced from home to home? And the most significant question, why did he get Fang placed here? What was so special about the Martinez home, besides what he thought of earlier? There was something about Jeb that freaked him, yet at the same time he couldn't ignore what he said. Sometimes he was just as confusing as his daughter.

We pulled into our driveway at around 7 at night, but until we got all the horses settled into their stalls we didn't get inside our home until much later. When we entered, I saw lying back on the couch reading a book. I pushed his feet off the end cushion and sat down so I could get a better look at what he was reading.

"Daniel X?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He looked at me pointedly. "Yeah. Something against it?"

"I didn't see that as a kind of story you'd be into," I said, remembering Daniel's temporary relationship with Phoebe and his affection toward Dana. But then again the story was packed with action. And all the plot twists.

"Well, it is a page-turner," he joked, pinching a section of pages with his fingers. "I read this much in the past two hours." I rolled my eyes at him, but I had to admit he was a faster reader than I was. I hated admitting he had something over me. "How was the show?" he asked as he set the book down.

I held out several ribbons for him to look at. "I participated in seven events and I placed in six of them," I said proudly. "The best I got was second." I showed him the red ribbon. "Gale was showing beautifully, so she made my day so much easier. You have no idea how much an uncooperative horse can effect the outcome of a show."

"Congrats," he said, actually sort of smiling. I'm sure I was gaping at him, and the terse look he shot me a second later proved my notion correct.

Ella chatted excitedly to Mom as they walked into the kitchen and prepared leftovers for dinner. As much as I wanted to show off, only because Fang was the one person I really could do that with besides James, I had a more dire issue. "I'll be down in a bit," I announced to Mom as I headed up the stairs for the bathroom. I gingerly pulled off my smelly riding clothes and twisted the shower knob so a gentle stream of cool water poured into the tub. I removed my hair tie as I stepped in.

The cool water felt wonderful, and I welcomed it gratefully. It was an amazing feeling to have water rushing past you, letting it wash away all traces of the day, having the good and the bad pour down the drain. I didn't want to stay in long since my stomach was as ravenous as a hungry lion. When I finished, I turned the water off and stepped out. I slipped on my robe and reached for the door…

That's when I screamed bloody murder.

I added another Fang chapter just because I felt like it, but I think this is the last of Fang we'll see for a while (everyone sobs now). I feel kind of bad for leaving the chapter off here, but I'm afraid my mojo ran off again. Now I have to go looking for him again. Ugh. Why can't he learn how to associate with people???

So I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is that our desktop at home has suddenly decided that it doesn't want to work any more. The good news is I managed to get the internet working on the lapdop, so I can continue the story! But the one side of that is that our home has wireless internet, and for whatever reason the laptop can't find the network, so it only works when I plug it into the router.

Again, please review cause they make me very happy and to anyone who hasn't voted please vote for my poll!!!