!WARNING!
This chapter contains child abuse and criminal activity.
!READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Morro had to bite down hard on his tongue during the whole drive. He and Nelson were in a car with Mrs. Dobson on the way to visit Antonia in her new home. It had been a few months since Antonia had moved in with the Dobsons. During that time with them, the Armstrongs moved into a new home and Antonia was permitted to move in with them. Her mother's mental instability had seemingly improved, and her brothers had been reformed through their short time in prison.
Morro had openly complained about sending Antonia back to that household.
Unfortunately, it wasn't his call and Antonia's social worker deemed that the family was safe and stable enough for Antonia could move back in. Despite this, Morro nor his friends liked the idea of Antonia returning to her biological family, especially after everything she had said about them. Cole, Lloyd, and Jay had voiced their concerns, but they didn't try and cause a scene as they didn't feel like it was their place. Kai had been ready to wage war against Social Services, the Dobsons, and Antonia's social worker for sending her back there.
Thankfully, all his friends had to do was remind Kai that doing that could get him arrested.
Remembering what it was like for him and Cole to be left in a cell during a full moon, Kai quickly backed down. Nya also made a huge scene with the Dobsons about this, but her argument fell on deaf ears. Pixal was the only one in their group who seemed to think that this was alright. She believed that the social workers had done their work and wouldn't put a child in danger. While Zane did agree with his girlfriend, he also pointed out that some children and problems have been missed by the system so everyone had a right to be cautious.
Harumi understood her boyfriend's concern for the girl and told him to trust his gut.
But she also urged him to keep an open mind and at least check the home out before causing problems. Morro understood what she was saying, but he couldn't make any promises. It seemed that Nelson was the only one happy that Antonia was back with her family and was looking forward to this visit.
"Here, quick! Pull over, pull over!" He squealed as they finally arrived at the Armstrongs' new house. On the outside, it did seem like a nice place to live. It was a terraced house that shared a street with other, linked homes. It was a two-story house that also contained a garage. It had a window right at the front door, as well as a small balcony.
"It's a nice house." Mrs. Dobson smiled, but the frown never left Morro's face.
"I still can't believe you let her go back." The lone wolf grumbled and she rolled her eyes.
"It wasn't my decision."
"Still, you could have done something to try and stop it." He argued, but before his foster mother could say anything, the front door suddenly opened and Antonia stepped out. Instead of her usual style, she looked like a rock/pop star princess. She was wearing a sparkly black dress with a white belt with a bow in the middle. The dress was cut up the bottom so that it was above knee length and had a jagged hem. She wore this along with a red leather jacket, red striped leggings, and black lace-up boots.
"Morro! Nelson! Mrs. Dobson!" She beamed brightly and hugged every one of them. "Do you like my new dress?" She asked when they all nodded she let them inside. The interior was immaculate, and clean, and included a couch and portraits. One such portrait showed Antonia with her mother and brothers. The main room was also linked to the upstairs. The front door led directly into the living room. It included two pull-out couches, amongst other furniture.
They could see the kitchen from the front door.
In the kitchen, there was a pencil holder on a counter with drawers, along with a calendar on the wall right next to a telephone. There was a windowed door at the back end of the room, which presumably led outside.
"Mom, they're here!" Antonia called out as she all but dragged them further into the house.
"All right, Antonia, let them get in the door." Antonia's mother, Rosita, chuckled as she stepped out of the kitchen, carrying a tray of cookies and soda. Rosita had peach skin, slightly big ears, red hair, green eyes, and darker freckles on her cheeks. She wore a pink buttoned short-sleeved blouse, light blue pants, and small, pointed black shoes.
"Do you like my new house?" The young girl asked excitedly as they entered the living room. "Oh, that's my brother, Johnny." She said and pointed at her brother, who was drawing a digital painting on a tablet. Johnny was an older teen with brown eyes and black hair. He was taller than Morro and had a muscular build. He wore a black leather jacket, a green undershirt with a yellow lightning bolt and stars, blue jeans, and dark blue shoes.
"Yeah, the council rehoused us, after all the trouble with the neighbors and that." Johnny smiled awkwardly before his attention to his tablet.
"Come and look at my new bedroom." Antonia suddenly told her two foster brothers and dragged them upstairs, leaving Mrs. Dobson alone with her mother and brother. They were taken to the very pink and frilly bedroom filled to the brim with toys, stuffed animals, and different kinds of games. "I've got new everything; it's much better than my room at the Dobsons!" She exclaimed in delight.
"Wow... it's gorgeous." Morro admitted. It was truly a bedroom from every little girl's dream.
"Stephen bought everything." She nodded and the boys froze. They had heard many things about Stephen from their foster sister. After Antonia's father split up with their mother and left them in financial ruin, Stephen became a thief. He was always after money and stealing everything with a price to sell them. According to what Morro overheard from the Dobsons, Johnny sometimes helped with his older brother's crimes. Then Stephen, Johnny, and their mother attacked their neighbor after the neighbor presumably annoyed them.
This was what resulted in Antonia being placed in care.
"Your big brother, Stephen? The one you were..." Nelson trailed off nervously.
"He's being nice now." Antonia quickly replied, and an awkward silence filled the bedroom.
"You have a new phone?" Morro suddenly asked to break the uncomfortable silence and picked the device up off the bed.
"Latest model." She beamed with pride.
"That's not fair, Mr. Dobson's still saying I'm not allowed one because I'm not responsible enough." The lone wolf pouted.
"That's because you dropped yours down the toilet." Nelson snickered lightly.
"It was meant to be waterproof." He muttered and the younger pair burst out laughing. Morro still pouted for a bit before he also started laughing. It was a while before they calmed down and by then their sides were sore.
"So what've you been doing, then? Made any new friends?" Morro asked, a little breathless from all of the laughing, but she shook her head.
"No, not yet, but I'll still be seeing all of you, won't I?"
"Yeah, of course." He promised and with that Antonia started showing them some games she had gotten. Back downstairs, Rosita smiled warmly as she brought out a tray of tea and cookies for her and Mrs. Dobson to have while they discussed Antonia. Johnny was sitting in the corner of the room on his laptop, minding his own business.
"So, how's Antonia settling in?" Mrs. Dobson asked before taking a sip of tea.
"She's fine."
"You might find she has trouble sleeping at first." She warned but Rosita gave her a confused look.
"She sleeps like a baby." She replied and although she was a little surprised, Mrs. Dobson nodded in understanding. "I know what it was like before, but I had lessons, parenting classes, when I was in prison." She explained with a brief crack of panic in her voice.
"Hey, you know I'm not judging you." She quickly reassured and Rosita seemed to relax slightly.
"It's going to be different now, better." She promised strongly. "Johnny's applying to college to study drawing."
"Graphic design, Mom," Johnny called back with a little blush from the sudden attention.
"Yeah, that, so the Social doesn't need to worry anymore." She smiled, but that smile suddenly dropped and Johnny froze up when the front door opened and slammed shut and her eldest son Stephen came stomping into the living room. Stephen was a young man with a dark blue and azure striped shirt and a black t-shirt over it, along with jeans and black shoes. He had very dark brown hair that was shaggier than Cole's and Morro's combined and cold blue eyes.
He was a little taller than his brother and his build could put Cole to shame.
It was clear that he had not expected to have visitors.
"What's this? An inspection?" He snarled at his mother and turned to scowl at Mrs. Dobson. "You come to catch us out?"
"No, this is the lady from Antonia's foster home; I said she was coming..." Rosita muttered, refusing to look up from her tea. Mrs. Dobson frowned at her reaction, but choose to say nothing for now. As soon as he heard that, Stephen's mood suddenly switched, and gave the biggest and most toothy smile she had ever seen.
"So what do you think of our Antonia then?" He asked in a loud, happy-sounding voice.
"Well, I think she's-"
"Doing great, isn't she? Back where she belongs." He interrupted and Mrs. Dobson had to hold her tongue before she said something she would regret. Back upstairs, Antonia and Nelson were racing each other in a racing kart video game while Morro watched from her bed.
"You're good at this, Antonia." Nelson complimented as he took the lead once again. Antonia laughed and was about to make a witty comment, but was cut off.
"Foxy?" Stephen suddenly called up and Antonia froze, causing her character to crash and lost the race. Before Morro or Nelson could ask what was wrong, Stephen burst into the room. He stopped for a second when he saw the two boys and looked at his sister. "Hey, Foxy, I've been calling you!"
"Sorry." She muttered, and Morro frowned at her change in attitude.
"You've been showing your friend all your new stuff? Bet you don't get new stuff like this at the kids' home, do you?" Stephen smirked at the pair. "You're a lucky girl, ain't ya?" He asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she quickly nodded. "What else has she told you?" He suddenly asked with a slightly less friendly tone, much to their confusion.
"Nothing?"
"Good, then it's time you two were going." He said and opened the bedroom door for them.
"Already?" Antonia asked, but shut up at his glare.
"We've got family stuff planned." He reminded her with a scowl. "As the social worker said, we've got to do more things together; family comes first, right?" He grinned, tightening his grip on her shoulder. Nelson could tell something was very wrong here, but Morro knew better. Thanks to his powers Morro could pick up Antonia's frightened heartbeat and heavy breathing speeding up. He had to clench his jaw shut to stop himself from shouting at Antonia's brother.
Just then he felt a familiar tingling in his hands.
The lone wolf glanced down at his hands and quickly stuffed them into his pockets when he saw the veins on the back of his hands starting to darken. He had no choice but to leave before he lost control and his wolf started using Stephen as a chew toy. Pushing Nelson along, they went downstairs and met up with their foster mother as she was getting ready to leave.
"See you later, Antonia."
"Thanks for the tea." Mrs. Dobson said to Rosita as they shook hands.
"It's OK, glad you could come." She smiled gratefully.
"Well you know, Antonia enjoys seeing her friends." She replied as she and the boys stepped out of the house. When she said that, Rosita's smile fell slightly.
"Erm... Yeah, a-about that, I was thinking... maybe we shouldn't do this again." She stuttered and stumbled over her words, unable to look at Mrs. Dobson's confused and slightly upset face. "It's just that Antonia's doing so well I don't want to disrupt her."
"Well, it's good to try occasional contact." Mrs. Dobson tried to say, but Stephen must have had enough because he suddenly pushed his way in between his mother and the foster mother.
"But she lives here now, with her real family, and we don't want her mixing with the care kids anymore." He sneered, much to her shock. "I mean thanks for looking after her, but your job's done now." He added before harshly slamming the front door in her face...
"They said that they didn't want her mixing with care kids! Can you believe that?!" Mrs. Dobson ranted and raved to her husband as she prepared dinner for their foster sons and Morro's friends. Jay, Kai, and Zane were staying over for the night, now that Antonia's room was free. His other friends were supposed to be there but they had other plans. Cole's dad had dragged him to one of his shows. Nya had some last-minute schoolwork to do.
Lloyd said that he just wanted a quiet night in.
"Ironic isn't it? When you think of the state she was in when she first came here!" She shouted as she aggressively started chopping up some carrots.
"Does she seem happy?" Mr. Dobson asked when his wife finally stopped her shouting to take a breath.
"I don't know." She admitted, putting the knife down, which he was grateful for. "Her mom's saying all the right things; but why don't they want us to see her?"
"Clean break? Trying to forget that her child was in care?" He suggested, but she shook her head.
"I don't know, it didn't seem right."
"It's her mum's call, I'm afraid; there's not a lot we can do." He sighed but this didn't help her mood. She left her husband to finish dinner and she went into the living room to check on the boys and give them some orange juice. He saw them gathered around the coffee table where Zane was tinkering with something. "What are you guys making?" She asked as she set the drinks down for them.
"A Morse code telegraph machine, because Mr. Dobson won't let Morro have a new phone," Nelson replied and Morro chuckled nervously at Mrs. Dobson's glare.
"Yeah! But Morse code is quicker than texting, according to Zane." Jay added excitedly.
"On March 13th, 2005, in a challenge between two retired Morse code operators and two teenagers with mobile phones, the Morse code was 18 seconds faster," Zane explained and she nodded in understanding.
"What did the message say?"
"I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance." The pale teen replied and Kai burst out laughing.
"That's why they were so slow, probably died of boredom!"...
It had been a couple of days since the visit to Antonia's home and Zane was back at the Dobson residence, showing off the machine he and Pixal had been working on and teaching their friends how to use it. Unfortunately, not all of their friends seemed to appreciate these little lessons. Cole and Jay found it interesting, but they didn't think they would ever need to know Morse code. Thanks to their parents and families, Harumi and Lloyd already knew Morse code.
Kai thought of it all as a joke and only asked to learn some rather racy Morse code messengers to make Cole blush bright scarlet red, much to Zane and Pixal's annoyance.
Nya and Morro just shrugged it off, thinking that they would never need to learn Morse code. Nelson picked up how to send Morse code messengers pretty quickly. As the group of kids continued laughing and messing around, the Dobsons were making some lunch for them. Mrs. Dobson was cooking while her husband watched and licked his lips and tried to hide his grumbling stomach. She was making vegetarian fajitas. These meat-free fajitas were loaded with black beans, avocado, and peppers, which took just fifteen minutes to complete.
While his friends were all grimacing at the idea of a veggie meal, Morro had grown used to his foster parents' diets by now and so had Nelson.
It also didn't hurt that the lone wolf had a stash of ham and turkey sandwiches hidden under his bed. All of a sudden there was a loud knocking at the front door. The couple shared a look, not remembering if they were expecting anyone else. The knocking started growing harder and louder and Mr. Dobson sighed and went to answer their unexpected and insistent guest.
"Alright! I'm coming! Hang on!" He called out at the frantic knocking, but when he opened the door he was shocked to see Antonia standing on their doorstep with two large bags.
"Pay the cab, would you, please?" She smirked and walked past him into the house, leaving him with a pissed-off cab driver. "Hey guys, look who turned up out of the blue!" She exclaimed to the teens gathered in the living room. Even though they were shocked, they were happy to see her and greeted her warmly. As they shared pleasantries and greetings, Antonia's eyes landed on Nelson and she glared.
"Why didn't you call me?" She demanded.
"I tried to, but your mom said you were out." He replied fearfully and Antonia frowned in confusion; her mother never said anything to her. "Maybe your mom was making sure you'd settled in first?" He suggested, but the frown didn't leave her face. Thankfully the Dobsons choose that moment to make an appearance after sorting things out with the driver.
"Does your mom know you're here now?" Mr. Dobson asked as he dropped Antonia's bag.
"Yeah." She replied a little too quickly for their liking. Yet the couple didn't get a chance to challenge this before Antonia took her bag and joined her friends again.
"I think we need to make a few phone calls." Mrs. Dobson whispered and the couple snuck away to the study.
"I've got presents!" Antonia cheered as she opened the bag and started handing boxes to everyone.
"Where'd you get this stuff?" Cole asked, making Antonia flinch for a moment before she let out a breathy chuckle.
"My brother says: ask no questions and I'll tell no lies."
"So, basically, they're stolen?" Harumi frowned but made no move to give her a gift back.
"I don't know, but don't tell anyone." She warned as she pulled out some cameras, some MP4s, and some expensive-looking flashlights.
"Are you sure about this?" Jay asked nervously.
"Yeah."
"Did Stephen get all this?" Kai asked and after a beat, Antonia nodded. "And he knows about it?"
"Erm... I've got this one for you." She quickly said and made to give Morro a gift, but he pushed it away, making her scowl. "Do you want this?"
"Not if it's stolen, I don't." The lone wolf glared, making the atmosphere in the living room very tense. Nelson looked like he was about to say something, but that was when the Dobsons returned from the study.
"Antonia, we have just come off the phone with your mother." Mr. Dobson said and Antonia suddenly went pale. "You didn't tell her you were coming over here, did you?" He asked and after a moment of silence she shook her head and he sighed. "It's all right, I'll take you back later." He said, but his wife noticed the way Antonia's eyes seemed to flicker with fear for a split second.
"Is that OK?"
"I don't want to go home." She finally admitted. "I want to stay here... on respite." She added quickly and everyone who knew what that meant shared a look. Respite care meant taking a break from caring, while the person in care was looked after by someone else. It let the guardian take time out to look after themselves and helped stop them from becoming exhausted and running down. There were lots of respite care options. They ranged from getting a volunteer to sit with the person they looked after for a few hours, to a short stay in a care home so the guardian could go on holiday.
The person in care could go to a daycare center, or a paid carer could visit them at their home to look after them.
"But I thought you liked being with your family? Are things not going well?" Lloyd asked, reminding the trio that the pack was there.
"No... I just miss my friends."
"Is that all?" Mrs. Dobson asked and when she nodded, she sighed and dismissed the teens and kids and she and her husband returned to the kitchen. "There's something she's not telling us."
"It's a big change for her, dear." Her husband dismissed her casually. "It was always going to be hard for her to adjust."
"So why aren't we taking more time?"
"Because this was always a temporary arrangement while her mom was in prison." He reminded her as she continued making the food. "We don't know if anything happened and we can't approach the social worker on a hunch."
"Her mom didn't even know she was missing! She thought she was playing in her room, not taking a cab across town!" She argued and the couple entered a staring contest. This continued for a minute or two before Mr. Dobson finally blinked and gave in.
"Alright, but just for one night."
"Perfect you'll speak to Stan, and I'll phone up her mom." She smiled and left the food to make the phone call. They would keep Antonia here for now and Stan could sort it all out with the Armstrong family. As the adults made their phone calls, back in the living room Antonia was now also getting a lesson in Morse code with the others.
"The point about Morse code is it can be done with anything with an on/off signal, making it the simplest form of telecommunication," Pixal explained with a demonstration.
"So, short is a dot, and long is a dash?" Antonia asked.
"We have to go through the alphabet, go to the end of the corridor," Zane said and Kai, Cole, and Nelson did as instructed.
"Tango Lima to Golf Charlie, target in position," Cole called from the end of the hallway, much to Zane and Pixal's annoyance. While the boys continued to goof around and such, Nya turned her attention to Antonia.
"So, what's it like at home?" She asked casually, but the red-haired girl simply shrugged.
"It's different from before."
"In a good way?"
"No one scrubs me anymore." She replied, and Nya winced, remembering what Antonia said when they first met.
"But your brother said you had family stuff planned? Like what?" She asked, but when Antonia remained silent, the noirette werewolf changed tactics. "So what do you and your mom do?"
"Nothing, she just watches TV." She replied, but this didn't ease Nya's mind.
"What about your brothers?"
"Johnny's a laugh; once we went out for a pizza, and you could have as much ice cream as you want." Antonia smiled warmly as she thought about her immediate older brother.
"And... Stephen, is it? He got you that phone, didn't he?" Nya asked, knowing a bit of the history between Antonia and her oldest brother. At the mention of Stephen, Antonia fell silent again, but only for a moment.
"He took it back." She admitted softly. "He says I don't deserve anything nice and that I'm always in his face and never stop talking." She added and Nya scowled at this. "It's worse when his friend is around; all shouting and yelling and driving their cars."
"Doesn't your mom stop them?" Nya asked, knowing that if Kai and or herself ever dreamed of doing something like that, their parents would punish them, whether they were in the same county or not.
"She's too scared."
"Your mom's scared of him?" She gasped and paled when she realized something. "Does... he ever hurt you?" She stammered and Antonia looked away and refused to answer. "Look, if... the Dobsons talked to Stan, you might not have to go back."
"Do you think so?" The red-haired girl asked, suddenly sounding very hopeful.
"When living at home doesn't work out, they're supposed to do something about it, and you could still see your mom and brother on visits," Nya explained with a smile, and Antonia's grin widened upon hearing this. The happy moment came to end, however, when Mrs. Dobson suddenly approached them, looking a bit downcasted.
"Antonia, honey, Stan is here with your mom." She said sadly and the young girl froze before her shoulders slumped and she followed her former foster mother towards the study where her social worker Stan was standing in the middle of the room, the Dobsons were by the door, Stephan who was standing the furthest away from her, and her mother was sat down. They had been waiting for her to arrive. Stan had fair skin, brown eyes, thick eyebrows, and sweptback, dark brown hair.
His facial hair consisted of a mustache and a permastubble.
He wore a white shirt, a brown jacket, and tan suit pants along with a blue tie. They appeared to be arguing about her actions and when they saw her everything fell quiet. Unbeknownst to the people in the room, the pack was listening in from the hallway. Nelson wanted to as well, but he didn't have enhanced hearing so he was almost right up against the door. That is until Cole pulled him away, scared that they would be caught spying.
"Antonia, please sit down and talk to us," Stan said and Antonia quietly obliged, taking a seat on the small loveseat next to her mother. Rosita gave her daughter a weak smile, but Antonia didn't even glance at her. "Now... I've spent this morning with your mom and your brothers and it seems things are taking a while to settle down," Stan spoke calmly with a warm smile but everyone could see the tiredness and frustration he was trying to hide in his eyes.
Not trusting her voice, Antonia nodded quickly, wanting this to be over.
When they realized that the young girl wasn't going to say anything, Stan looked at Rosita. The older woman looked like she didn't know what to say at first but eventually, she turned her body to face her daughter, and reluctantly Antonia did the same.
"I shouldn't have snapped at you, sweetheart." She said quietly, looking like she was fighting not to look away from her daughter. "It's just not easy; coming out of prison, trying to earn a living with a record; we have to keep working at it, don't we? Get used to being a family again." She smiled as she took Antonia's hand and her smile widened when Antonia didn't try to pull away.
"Does that mean I have to go home?" The red-haired girl asked after a moment and the adults all shared a look.
"We want you to come and see us." Mr. Dobson finally said, unable to meet his former foster daughter's eyes. "It's just... this isn't your home anymore."
"But it can be, though!" Antonia suddenly cried out. "Nya said-"
"Antonia, I just want you to come home now, no more fuss." Stephan suddenly spoke up, having grown tired of this. When she heard his voice, Antonia jumped slightly, having forgotten that her oldest brother was even there. She couldn't remember a time when Stephan had been still and quiet. She wanted to argue some more, but the look on both her mother's and Stephan's face quickly doused any fight in her. Stephan smirked when he saw her shoulders slump in defeat and his posture became more relaxed with this victory.
"Alright Foxy, let's go then; have you got everything you came with?" He asked and she wordlessly nodded, but he wasn't satisfied. "Best check, eh? You know what you're like! Picking up other people's stuff." He said with a tight voice and Antonia paled in realization. He knew what she had done. Without saying anything, Antonia got up and left to gather her things and let the adults sort things out. As she left the study she saw the pack and Nelson staring at her.
The teen werewolves were trying to act like they hadn't been listening in on the conversation, yet Nya couldn't hide the guilt from her face.
She had given Antonia false hope and it had now backfired badly.
"I've got to go home; Stephan's here, I think he knows about the presents," Antonia explained and they all shared a worried look for their red-haired friend. She honestly didn't think he would notice.
"In that case, we need to box everything back up as if it was new," Lloyd ordered and the teens rushed to complete the task. While they were doing that, Antonia's mother and older brother left to wait in the car for her and Stan was talking with the Dobsons.
"Can't she stay for a few days? You can see she doesn't want to go." Mrs. Dobson pleaded, but her concerns were brushed aside.
"Sorry, but there's no reason to keep her here; the situation at home is fine," Stan replied, but flinched at the glare she sent him. "It's good enough, and her mom's trying."
"So leaving your kid alone for four hours is trying?" Mr. Dobson frowned. He wanted to give Rosita the benefit of the doubt, but he saw how Antonia reacted around her and he knew it was a cause for concern.
"There are plenty worse things that could have happened!" Stan exclaimed, growing more and more irritated as the seconds ticked by. Antonia's recent actions have caused him a lot of headaches and a lot of paperwork.
"Like abandoning your child completely? She's already done that once!" She shouted, remembering the state Antonia was in after Rosita and her sons had tried to skip town after attacking their neighbors.
"With our support, it's the best place for her." Stan snapped and stormed off to try and make a start on that paperwork. To him, it sounded like Antonia was the problem here, not her mother and brothers. Rosita had landed a new job, Stephan was looking for work, and Johnny was going to college. The city had also moved them to a house in a far better neighborhood than their old one. Yet Antonia wasn't giving this fresh start a chance. Not that Stan blamed her.
He thought back to the large pile of files on his desk, remembering how in each one there was a different child who had either lost their parents, been subjected to all kinds of abuse, or both.
He understood that Antonia had been through a bad time and living with the Dobsons had given her the sort of affection she had been lacking and that it must be hard for her to give that up. Sadly the Dobsons weren't her parents and her real family had been deemed stable enough for her to return. After another ten minutes of waiting, Antonia was all packed up and ready to go. Soon everyone was outside and saying goodbye as Rosita was loading her bags into the trunk.
Unfortunately, she seemed to be taking too long for Stephen and he glared at his mother.
"Get her in the car now." He hissed quietly and Rosita paled slightly and refused to look at her eldest.
"She's just-"
"In the car! Now!" He snapped, causing the older woman to flinch and the werewolves to glare, but no one said anything. Seeing that everyone was momentarily distracted, Nelson suddenly snuck an old purple flip phone into Antonia's hand and she gave him a confused look.
"It's my old one." He whispered to her. "It's got no credit, but I can call you, OK?" He explained and she thanked and hugged him. After she finished saying goodbye to her friends, Antonia turned to her former guardians. Mr. Dobson smiled warmly but only said a quick goodbye.
"Be brave, honey." Mrs. Dobson whispered into her ear as they embraced, but by now the leash of Stephen's very short temper had finally snapped. He suddenly got out of the car and firmly gripped his sister's arm.
"Come on." He started pulling her towards the car with a hard, but not painful grip. Antonia said nothing as she climbed into the car and buckled in. "Thank you all so much." Stephen all but sneered at the group before peeling out of the driveway and speeding off. Once the car was gone, everyone but Nelson began to head inside. The young boy stayed standing on the doorstep for a while until his foster mother called them all for vegetarian fajitas...
"Come on, please pick up!" Nelson whined loudly as Antonia once again failed to answer the phone he had given her. It had been almost a week since Antonia had been forced to return to her mother and brothers, and they hadn't heard a thing from her. He was home with Morro and Nya. The lone wolf had a Spanish quiz coming up and on any other day he would be worried, but it was a relief to have two friends who were fluent in English, Japanese, and Spanish.
When he asked for help, Nya came over and was helping him study.
Unfortunately, it was hard to study with Nelson frantically pacing around the living room.
"She probably dropped it down the toilet." She replied, giving the lone wolf a look and smirk.
"Hey! It's easily done." He pouted, making her laugh but Nelson wasn't amused.
"Yeah, but what if something's happened, something bad?" The boy said with worry and the teens shared a look.
"Why? Because of her taking Stephen's stuff?" Nya asked as she thought back to the gifts Antonia had tried to give them during her last visit. They were certain that they had given it all back. So Stephen could still sell it. It wasn't like they had broken anything. But from what little they had seen of him, it was highly that would stop her brother's wrath. They started to panic when they realized that Stephen could have been punishing Antonia this whole time.
"What are we going to do?" Morro finally asked.
"We'll go to her house," Nelson replied and made to grab his backpack when Nya pulled him back.
"But Mrs. Dobson said that her mom didn't want anyone at that house, and Stephen knows what we all look like." She explained and just like that they were back to square one. That is until a wide grin spread across Morro's face.
"Then we need someone that none of Antonia's family knows; I have an idea." He smirked and normally Nya would have been freaked out by that crazy look, but if it helped Antonia, she would be fine with it...
It hadn't taken them long to convince Dareth to help them out, but it did take them longer to convince their friends to let them do this. Cole made Morro and Nya promise that they would get out if they felt they were in danger as they also had Nelson to think about. Harumi begged her boyfriend to be careful. She didn't want to have to visit the lone wolf in a hospital bed or a prison cell. Jay and Kai didn't want Nya to go to that place and Kai even threatened to drag her back home.
But a quick growl and a flash of her angry wolf eyes from the female werewolf shut them up.
Lloyd told Nya that if they did get caught, just call him and he can get his uncle and mother to sort this out. Pixal and Zane were against this idea, believing that they should leave this to the proper authorities. But with that being said, the couple didn't actively try to stop their friends from this plan. All they asked was that they kept Pixal and Zane out of this. Pixal's record couldn't suffer any more negativity if she still dreamed of getting into a good college.
After sorting things out with their friends, Morro, Nelson, and Nya went with Dareth to the Armstrong household.
"She's not in." The brunette said as they huddled behind the car.
"Maybe she's out with her brothers?" Morro suggested but nobody believed that. As the older teens continued to discuss what to do next Nelson by chance looked up at one of the top windows and gasped when he could see Antonia sitting in her bedroom, looking very bored and sad.
"It's Antonia!" He cried, only to be shushed by the other three teens. "But what's she doing up there? Why would her mom say she was out if she wasn't?"
"Maybe she's grounded." Dareth offered but shrunk back at the glare they all gave him.
"Or her mom's hiding something." Nya snarled, having to fight to keep her inner wolf down in front of the humans. "I bet she's been lying to Stan, saying what he wanted to hear."
"OK, we'll tell the Dobsons."
"What can they do? Call Stan?" She snapped bitterly at the large brunette. That was when Morro noticed Nelson was missing. All looked back towards the house and Morro cursed when he saw the boy running around the back of the house to sneak in. Without thinking, Dareth aborted any plans and proceeded to follow Nelson's route instead. Morro and Nya wanted to go after them, but they were scared Rosita would notice four people trying to break in.
They could only hope that Dareth either stopped Nelson or they both don't get caught.
Around the back, Nelson and Dareth were peering out from the trees by the fence. When he couldn't hear or see anyone, Nelson scrambled across the garden with Dareth following towards the basement window. The window wasn't locked so he was able to pry it open and they climbed inside. As they jumped down into the basement, knocking over a large pile of old newspapers. Both froze, scared that Rosita heard and we waited for the basement door to burst open and for them to be dragged off, never to see the light of day again.
After a few tense moments of silence, nothing happened and they relaxed slightly and took in their surroundings.
The basement was tidy and swept. A large safe sat in the corner a straight-backed chair was in the middle of the room. They went up the basement stairs, one at a time, thanking every God they could think of when none of the stairs creaked. Taking the lead, Nelson slowly opened the basement door, scared that someone would be waiting directly on the other side. Mercifully, there was no one on the other side. There wasn't anyone downstairs in the house.
Glancing around, Nelson saw Rosita through the window in the backyard, hanging out some laundry.
She must have gone outside just as they snuck into the basement. It was a miracle that they hadn't seen each other. They might not have super hearing, but both Dareth and Nelson could tell that aside from Antonia there was no one else in the house. Taking a chance, Nelson burst from the basement and ran up the stairs to where he knew Antonia's door was. Dareth followed a couple of seconds later, scared that Nelson's sudden footsteps had alerted Antonia's mother to their presence.
When Nelson got to the bedroom door he saw that it was locked from the outside, but that wasn't a problem for him.
All those years in foster homes taught you a thing or two. Wordlessly, he pulled out a paper clip and after fiddling with the lock for a bit, there was an audible click and the door opened. Nelson took a deep breath as he entered, then almost immediately froze. There, watching the door, was Antonia. She was a bit thinner than they had last seen her, definitely scared, but her smile was blinding as she rushed to her friend. They were both caught in a crushing bear hug that they both returned with interest.
As they hugged, Nelson took in the state of her room and was shocked.
The pink walls were the only thing left of the room he and Morro had seen. All the toys, stuffed animals, and different kinds of games were gone. They had been replaced with mountains of boxes for electronics and appliances that were all most likely stolen.
"Nelson," Antonia whispered, barely containing the sound of pure joy in her voice. She pulled out of his arms, however, when she saw Dareth stepping into the room, closing the bedroom door behind him. "Who's this?"
"Hiya, my name is Dareth, I'm a friend of Morro's." He greeted awkwardly and the two shook hands.
"Are you OK?" Nelson asked as he looked her over for any injuries.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Antonia smiled at his concern, but it fell when she remembered something. "But, I'm not allowed to see you anymore; if Stephen knew you were here-"
"He wouldn't do anything." Nelson scoffed, but Antonia shook her head. Back outside, Morro and Nya were still hiding behind a car across the street from the Armstrong household. They hadn't heard anything and they couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. They started leaning towards the latter when a car pulled up outside the house, blasting out loud heavy metal music that hurt their sensitive ears.
"This is bad, that's Stephen's car," Morro whispered in horror as both of Antonia's brothers got out of the car. One looked pleased and was laughing like a hyena while the other looked very irritated.
"Call Dareth, now." Nya hissed and the lone wolf did just that. Back inside the room, Dareth was talking on the phone with Morro as Nelson tried to pry more information out of Antonia. As soon as he was finished, Dareth hung up and turned to the pair.
"Stephen's here." He gulped and Antonia's eyes widened in horror.
"You have to get out of here!"
"We can't, he'll see us!" Dareth cried, but all three of them froze when they heard the front door open and slam shut.
"Foxy!" Stephen roared as he marched loudly up the stairs. Having only a few seconds to react Nelson dove under the bed and Dareth carefully ducked behind the giant pile of boxes. Not even two seconds later the bedroom burst open and Antonia was like a statue as Stephen stormed in, followed reluctantly by Johnny. "Who unlocked this door?" He snarled as he examined the damaged lock.
"No one, I needed the toilet." The red-haired girl whimpered, sounding more scared than Nelson had ever seen her.
"Haven't you punished her enough yet?" Johnny finally spoke up but shrank back at the harsh look his older brother fired at him.
"For thieving my gear? Losing me money?!" He shouted, stepping so close that the girl that their noses were almost touching. "She's got to learn her place and we've got to be able to trust her." He hissed and Antonia was finding it hard to breathe. Back outside, Morro and Nya were growing more anxious as they shifted in their crouched positions. After he called Dareth, Morro had hoped the pair would be sprinting out from the back of the room, but everything was still silent.
They should have been out by now.
Finally, Nya couldn't take anymore and told Morro to text Dareth and find out what was happening.
"I'm sorry, I promise that it won't happen again," Antonia muttered, trying to ignore the stench of cigarettes and cheap booze on her brother's breath. All of a sudden, there was a light buzzing on the floor near the piles of boxes. It was Dareth's cell phone. He must have dropped it in the rush to hide. Like lightning, Stephen snatched the phone up and his face was almost red with rage.
"You've got another phone?!" He bellowed as he read the text. "Are you OK?" He hissed and turned back to his sister. "What does that mean?!"
"I-I don't know!" She stammered fearfully as Stephan checked to see who had sent the text.
"From Morro? That guy at the kids' home?! What the fuck have you been saying?!"
"Nothing!" She cried, backing away from the bed until her back hit the wall.
"So why's he texting you that?!" He shouted and stormed towards her. "I am sick of your lies!"
"Bro, you're scaring her," Johnny said quietly as he blocked his way to Antonia, but not by much. There was a tense moment of quiet and Nelson was debating whether to reach out and trip the eldest Armstrong sibling when Stephen seemed to regain his senses. He straightened up, wiped the sweat from his brow, took a deep breath, and fixed her with a cold, terrifying stare.
"You need to start acting like you're part of this family." He said calmly and began pushing Johnny out of the room with him. "You'll come out when you learn some respect." He added and slammed the door shut, making a note to replace the door lock as soon as possible. The trio waited until they were sure both brothers had gone back downstairs before stepping out of their hiding places.
"He won't keep us locked in here, will he?" Dareth asked worriedly.
"I don't know, he forgets I'm in here sometimes." She shrugged nonchalantly. "One time he left me locked up for two days." She added and the older brunette started to panic. He looked around and cursed when he realized Stephen had taken his phone with him. Nelson walked over to the window to see if they could open it and climb out. Sadly it was one of those windows that only opened at the top and the space would be far too small for Dareth to squeeze through.
He could see the two werewolves were still hiding from this height.
Without Dareth's phone, they had no way to call for help. As Nelson began to pace around the room, trying to think of a way to escape, he noticed a small stack of tiny boxes for some flashlights in the corner of the room. It was like a lightbulb had gone off in his head. Quickly, he pulled out one of the flashlights and headed back to the window, repeatedly turning the little light on and off.
"Nya, look!" Morro gasped and pointed to the window where Nelson was flashing the light at them. "What's that supposed to be?" He asked, mostly to himself, and Nya gasped when she realized that Nelson was using Morse code. Unfortunately, Nya hadn't paid attention to Zane's lessons so she couldn't understand what the boy was trying to say. She quickly texted Zane, saying that Nelson and Dareth were in trouble. They were trapped in the house and Nelson was flashing at them with a flashlight.
The pale teenager texted back, demanding for them to send him a video of his message.
Nya did that and within a minute Zane responded, saying that Nelson was spelling out SOS. That was the emergency signal. As soon as he learned that, Morro called the one person he knew could help. As he made the call, Nya looked back up at the bedroom window and sent Nelson a thumbs up to signal that they got the message and help was on the way. Smiling in satisfaction, Nelson pocketed the flashlight and turned to the others to tell them the good news.
His smile suddenly vanished, however, when a familiar thundering of footsteps stormed up the stairs.
The two boys quickly returned to their hiding places just as the bedroom flew open with such force it almost fell off its hinges.
"Mom says she never let you out, and this ain't your phone! How'd you get it? Have you got a key in here?!" Stephan barked as he threw the phone with it barely missing Antonia's head by a few inches.
"No, I promise."
"You're getting on my nerves; how the fuck did you open the door?!" He growled dangerously as he advanced.
"I didn't!"
"YOU'RE DAMN A LIAR!" He suddenly bellowed as he shot forward, looking like he was about to strike her.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Nelson suddenly shrieked as he dove out from under the bed, knocking the older male back. Seeing that they had been discovered, Dareth reluctantly stepped out from behind the boxes, revealing himself as well.
"What the fuck?!" He shouted as Nelson used himself as a shield between Antonia and her brother.
"We opened the door! She didn't do anything!" He cried as Dareth fearfully stepped forward.
"Can I just be clear that I'm just helping a friend and didn't know about any of this?" He said with a shaky smile, but a glare from the older man made him slink back.
"We were worried about her, so we just turned up; Antonia didn't know," Nelson explained carefully. "So you can leave her alone now, and we won't say anything."
"Damn right you won't." Stephen snarled as he regain his composure. "You breathe a word of this to the law or the social, or any of your mates down at the kids' home and she gets it; do you understand?" He warned and didn't wait for them to reply before he opened the bedroom door again them. "Good, now get out."
"I'm not leaving Antonia." Nelson hissed, much to everyone's shock. "You shouldn't lock her up."
"Nelson, stop being stupid, and let's go!" Dareth whispered harshly as he tried to drag the boy out with him, but the younger teen was stronger than he looked.
"Make up your damn minds!" Stephen snapped impatiently, looking ready to grab both their necks and either throw them out himself or break them. Back on the street, Nya and Morro were getting ready to charge the house and rescue their friends when a familiar car suddenly pulled up outside and Mrs. Dobson climbed out, her face a mask of unbridled rage.
"They're inside!" Morro shouted as they ran out of their hiding place.
"Right, stay there!" She ordered as she stormed up to the front door. Not even waiting to knock, Mrs. Dobson threw the door opened and stormed inside.
"What are you doing?!" Rosita screamed when she saw the foster carer, but Johnny held her back.
"Nelson and Dareth! Where are they?!" She roared and upstairs, the others heard her. Thinking quickly, Nelson pulled out the flashlight and shined it into their jailer's eyes, temporarily blinding him. Taking the chance, Dareth suddenly charged him and body-slammed him into the wall and all three of them ran for it. As soon as Mrs. Dobson saw them, she breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Nelson and Antonia tightly.
"Are you all right?" She asked as she checked them all over for injuries.
"Yeah, but Stephen locked Antonia in her room and it's full of stolen stuff!" Nelson exclaimed just as Stephen came strutting down the stairs calmly.
"Yeah, trespassing they were; kids are always making stuff up." He smirked, showing off all his yellow teeth. He had had a lot of experience with the law, knowing a thing or two about evidence and warrants, and he believed he had already won this battle.
"Just save it!" Mrs. Dobson spat and turned to Rosita, who was refusing to look at anyone and looking like she would rather be anywhere else. "You knew about this?"
"Mom, don't answer her! She's got no right to be here!" Stephen snarled as he stepped toward the woman in a very threatening manner. But instead of backing off as he expected, Mrs. Dobson's expression darkened as she turned her full attention to the thug. She suddenly stepped over to him until she was right in his face. She was so close that she could have bitten his nose off.
"You want to argue with me about RIGHTS?!" She roared so loud it caught everyone off guard, especially her foster children. She could be stern and strict, but they had never seen her this angry before. Not even Morro had seen this side of his foster mother after everything he had done. Even Stephen was taken aback. He was used to everyone doing what he wanted; this was new and he didn't like it. Before he could respond, however, she turned back to Rosita.
"You're meant to be Antonia's parent!"
"She's right, you're no mother to her," Johnny spoke up, forcing his mother to look up at him. "You said we'd be a proper family this time, but we can't be, not while he's around." He said, glaring at his brother. Stephen snarled as he lunged at him, only for Johnny to grab his arm and the front of his shirt. "I'm not scared of you." He spat as he pushed back and sent him back into the wall. Stephen was stunned. This had never happened before and it shouldn't be happening now.
"I'm only here for Antonia; as soon as she's safe I'm gone." He promised and turned to his mother. "Just let her go, Mom, she's better off with them." He pleaded but Rosita vehemently shook her head.
"Y-You can't take her away, s-she's my b-baby." She stammered as rivers of tears pour out of her eyes. Antonia wanted to comfort her mother, but the need to get out of the broken dollhouse was stronger, making a step toward her foster mother.
"Come on, Antonia, we'll come and get your things later." Mrs. Dobson said as she began to lead the child out, only to be stopped when Rosita suddenly fell to her knees and latched onto Antonia's arms.
"D-Darling, you know I l-love you, d-don't you?" She sobbed desperately, but Antonia sighed and gently removed her mother's hands from her person.
"I love you too, but you don't look after me." She replied and with that, she followed others outside. None of the Armstrongs tried to stop her. Nya flung the door open and then threw herself out of the way as they all piled inside. Once Mrs. Dobson was sure they were all buckled in, she started driving away from the house. If she hadn't been stuck behind the wheel, she would have joined the hug in the back as the teens fairly smothered Antonia in their enthusiasm to welcome her back.
The red-haired girl didn't mind though.
She finally felt like she was home. When they arrived back home, Mr. Dobson was waiting for them on the front step. He greeted them, except Dareth and Nya, with a hug and Nelson told him the tale of how Mrs. Dobson showed them who was boss. Her husband laughed lightly as the boy described what had happened. Zane had sent out a mass text, saying that he decided he should teach everyone Morse code, in case of another emergency.
As the teens all got settled in, the Dobsons stepped off to the side.
"Has Stan phoned?" She whispered and he nodded.
"The police are over there now, you were right." He sighed, feeling guilty for not trusting his wife. She smiled softly and kissed him, letting him know that all was forgiven and mentally praying that Antonia would finally be safe...
NEXT CHAPTER: After the girls are invited away for the weekend to an engineering symposium they jump at the opportunity to get away from the boys, but is everything as it seems on this trip?