I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 127: Emily

The little girl was probably only seven years old or so. Way too young to be exposed to the brutality of people.

I was gentle, trying not to force her into the car but instead guiding her. She didn’t protest and I got in after her, letting her crawl over the center console that was present in the back of the Mercai so she could get settled into her own space.

And then I didn’t know what to do. The girl was quiet, still sniffling occasionally and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve.

What did people that work with kids do? Ask questions.

“Hi,” I said, trying to lift my voice in a way that wasn’t entirely demeaning but also wouldn’t be perceived as hostile. “What’s your name?” I asked.

The little girl almost pouted before she looked up at me. Mucus was still running out of her nose from how much crying she’d done. “Em’ly,” she said. 

I nodded, smiled in a way I hoped wasn’t robotic. “How old are you?” I asked.

“Eight,” she said. Her voice was still choked up a little, but she was focusing on me.

“Okay–” I went to ask another question but she beat me to it.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Uh, I’m K– Ten,” I cut myself off. Names were not good to give out. “I’m Ten,” I decided. It sounded dumb, but for a split second decision I’d take it. “Are you hurting anywhere?” I asked.

She blinked, looked down at her arms and then held them up to me explanatorily. I didn’t understand at first but then saw the forming bruises in her skin. They were distinct finger marks, five on each arm.

A wave of nausea washed over me. “Did they make you take your clothes off?” I asked quieter this time.

She shook her head. Tears were starting to form in her eyes again so I quickly changed topics. I was just glad she wasn’t assaulted, as far as I knew.

“Okay, you’re going to get help from lots of good people,” I told her. The mental timeline I was assuming she’d go through went something like, hospital, then police, and then finally home. She was going to have a long day ahead of her, and probably be getting harassed about this by police and social workers and her parents and peers for weeks, if not months. “But you’re safe now, okay?”

She nodded, then–

Bang! Muffled but loud enough to make her and I both flinch. She started to cry again and I hushed her.

“It’s okay, someone just dropped something. Really heavy. You’re safe.” I would not let this child believe she was responsible for someone’s death. Marco made his decisions and there was no possible excuse that Alisha or anyone would accept for his behavior.

Still I tried not to think about Marco bleeding out on the warehouse floor, perhaps a fresh spatter of brown sprayed against the back door. 

“Do you like games?” I asked Emily and she nodded through her tears.

I took my phone out, opened the apps app and clicked the first one that came up.

“Have you ever played MonsterGo?” I asked and showed her the loading screen, complete with the spinning monsterball. She nodded.

“Why don’t you make a character,” I directed her and handed my phone over. 

She nodded and quietly got settled to do so. I supervised, mainly so she didn’t call the police.

Alisha returned. She had her usual annoyed look on her face and was still unrolling her sleeves from whatever business had been handled. Emily looked up when she approached the car, nervous again. Alisha paused then went back to the trunk and opened it. When she came back there was a blanket in her hands. It was dark grey and she opened my door and handed it to me. She didn’t need to explain. It was a scratchy blanket but it was better than nothing and I offered it to Emily. She shook her head, going back to playing around with my phone. I set it between us, letting her have at least that decision. 

Then Alisha got in the drivers seat and started the car, pulling out of the warehouses small parking lot without a word.

“Where’re we going?” Emily asked.

“Uh, somewhere safe,” I reassured her.

She wasn’t convinced but she only pouted a little and tried to use my phone some more, though her interest in it was waning. I leaned forward to ask Alisha, “what are we planning on doing?”

“We’re going to drop her with the chief. He’ll take care of it from there.”

“Isn’t that… risky?” I asked.

She huffed a little. “Yes.”

I swallowed, but genuinely would rather go to prison and get this girl help than not. Alisha mustve made peace with the risk as well. She slowed, pulling into what had been the building Nico used to meet with her in and let the car idle as she made a phone call.

It was very brief, she just listed out the address and then hung up and then we waited in silence again. Emily, still nervous and upset, settled against the side of the car door and shut her eyes, my phone still in her hand, though the screen had gone dark.

It couldn’t’ve been ten minutes before headlight cut across the parking garage as another car pulled in.

Alisha ground her teeth before she opened her door and got out. I stayed with Emily as the other car stopped slowly several spaces away.  It was something shiny under the parking garage lights but the angle didn’t even let me see what make it was.

The man that stepped out was… different than I expected. I expected a police uniform, and one of the belts with a gun and tazer and everything else, but instead he had a holster at his hip, secured to a thin belt like any other business man might wear. He looked far more like a politician than an officer of the law.

Alisha didn’t approach him, instead they spoke from that distance. It was brief, ending with Alisha’s opening of Emily’s door.

Emily flinched and looked around, evidently she’d started to doze off a little and saw Alisha holding her door open, then saw the police chief across the way. She turned her gaze to me, frightened.

“He’s here to help you,” I explained. “In ways we can’t.”

“But he’s scary,” Emily protested.

I inhaled slowly and finally undid my seatbelt. “I’ll bring you over there, okay?”

She hesitated to agree to even that, but finally nodded. I got out, the air chilling my skin already after being in the warm car for so long. 

I came around, took EMily’s hand again as Alisha supervised us and slowly led her over to the police chief.

He also gazed down at us like this was a hostage exchange.

“Are you the one she called me about?” he asked when I was close enough. “Because of your parents?”

His voice was deep and every word sounded like he’d rehearsed it.

“Uh, yes,” I answered, trying to wrangle my brain into keeping Emily moving forward and placing why he knew me at the same time.

He nodded. “I’m glad to see you alive and well,” he stated. “And you’re safe with her?”

“Yes,” I answered, no hesitation.

We’d come to stand directly in front of him and he opened the rear door of his car.

Emily hid behind my leg at the sight.

“It’s okay,” I reassured her. “He’s going to bring you to more people that can help you.”

I saw the chief’s amused expression as I tried to get her off my leg.

At her continued protests he took a knee and pulled out his wallet and opened it to show her his badge.

“Listen, I’m with the police, I’m here to take you back to your parents,” he told her.

She peered out from behind my leg, still nervous, then she looked up at me. “I promise,” I told her. “He’s one of the good guys.”

She hesitantly unlatched from me and quietly got herself settled into the back of the car.

The chief got back to both feet and looked down at me again. Then he pulled a business card from his wallet.

“If things change you can call me,” he said. “Or if there’s something you can’t look away from.”

I nodded. “Thank you.” I turned away then and made my way back to Alisha, who had crossed her arms and continued to stare him down.

The chief gave her a final nod and turned back to his own car, got in, and drove away.

We waited until he was long out of the garage before with of us release our breaths.

“You did a good thing,” I reassured her. 

“That’s not the issue,” she said. She got back in the car, finally, and I took the passenger seat. “I’m just wondering if she’s the only one that got sucked in under my nose, or if she’s just the latest.”

The weight of that statement settled in and I had an uncomfortable thought of, ‘we can’t save them all.’ What I said was, “it still made a difference.”

To Emily and Emily’s family. 

Maybe Alisha had murdered Marco but I couldn’t bring myself to label it as unjust. Maybe death was an extreme punishment but if he was willing to take a child there were probably plenty of terrible things he’d gotten away with, and plenty more he would’ve continued to do.