Pursuit of the Whole

XXI. Indecisive Self

"Be serious about it."

"I'm serious about getting into at least one of them."

Dad exhaled dramatically before he stood up. "Julia," he says. "You know your mother, and I had never pushed you because we want you to choose your own path."

"Yeah?"

"But, lately, we're getting concerned."

"Concern?"

"About-" We can hear a loud crash from the side of the house "what's that?"

"Probably the neighbor's cat?"

Dad looked out the window, but there wasn't anyone outside.

"Is there a boy out there?" His intuition is on point.

"How did you know?"

"Father's intuition."

"Interesting." I can hear a car honk. When I opened the front door, my usual friends were outside.

"Come on!" Eric screams. "Evening, Mr.Elias!"

I look at dad, "Your intuition is so good. It's almost scary. Not just one boy but two boys and a girl." I clap sarcastically slow.

Dad rolls his eyes, "Have fun." He went upstairs.

When I hear the door closed, I rush towards the garage door. "Kai. Psst. Kai!"

Kai's head pops over the fence. "Kai here."

"Come on." I help him get over and dust him off. Quickly, I grab him and rush towards the front door. Once I'm outside the house, I slow down.

"Who's that?" Brian asks.

"Kailyn. Say hello to Brenda, Brian, and Eric. They're my friends."

"Hello," Kai says.

"I'm babysitting Kailyn."

They all nod. "Cool," Eric says. "Hop in."

"Wait," Brenda stops Kai from going in. "We don't have a baby seat."

"She'll be fine. She can sit between you two. Come on. We'll be late."

Kai sat between Brenda and me.

Brenda smiles, "Hello. How are you?"

Kai looks at her for a moment before he moves closer to me. I told him not to interact too much with anyone that's not a kid. My friends may not look or act like it, but they're actually pretty perceptive. One slip up, and it's all over.

"She's shy," I said.

Brenda nods, "I'm not going to bite silly."

Kai only comes closer to me.

Brenda exhales, "Parents must pay you pretty well."

I chuckle, "You have no idea." When we arrived at the mall, I saw a group of protesters. I wish I could say I don't know what they're protesting about, but the sign is pretty straightforward.

"Find the wolf! End his life before he ends ours!"

"Geez," Brenda grumbles, "And here I thought they couldn't get any more extreme."

This isn't too surprising in a closed territory.

A man walked up to us and gave Eric a flyer. It was a picture of Kai. "We must find him and end him before he ends us." His eyes say he's a high level of crazy.

"Bro," Eric returns the paper, "He's just a kid, and he hasn't even killed anyone."

"Don't be stupid!" The man shouted, causing Kai to flinch. I pull him behind me, and Brenda steps forward. "This isn't a werewolf! He's a monster!"