Contemporary Fantasy

What's in a Name

Locke Cole considered his life to be fairly simple- steal a few things to get by, keep his head down. All he really had to worry about was himself. Today was supposed to be like any other job, break in, take the valuables, get out. He'd been eyeing the house for a while, the owners must've been on some extended vacation as Locke never seen anyone step out. He figured that he might score a TV or some jewelry.

But what he did find turned his world on its head.

Locke found himself lugging an unconscious body over his shoulders. Lucky that she was a light little thing. The girl was skinny, too skinny even. She had been inside the house, laid up in the bedroom without the covers drawn over her.

In his shock, Locke knocked over a vase and the sound didn't even stir her. Normally, he would've made a run for it. This however, struck him as odd. The girl didn't move at all. Not even a twitch of a muscle or a hitch of breath.

He thought that maybe he ought to be a Good Samaritan and get this girl some help. It'd look good on his record.

It'd get Celes off his case.

Locke took the girl to the nearest building where he might find someone for help, the local church. The church was attached to an orphanage, home for wayward children. Locke couldn't tell how old the girl was due to her malnourished state, but he knew that Aerith would take her in anyway.

Aerith had a thing for taking in strays.

She was nice like that and Aerith was nice to Locke. Not once did she harp on him for his ways. Things were tough for him in Nine Wood Hills.

People like Aerith understood.

People like Celes did not.

What did Celes know anyway?

Locke steered his thoughts away from the blonde woman.

Right. The girl. Aerith. The orphanage. Aerith would know what to do.

Locke trudged his way up the steps and used the knocker on the door. It took a few moments but Aerith came shuffling to open the door. "Locke!" she exclaimed, tucking the side of her robe to shield herself from the incoming breeze. "It's cold out! Who's that girl on your back?"

"No idea." Locke hauled the girlish load inside. "Found her just like this."

"Found... Her?" Aerith echoed. Locke shot her a look and she immediately knew. "Ah. Well, let's take her up. She can't stay down here in the pews." She shut the door behind them and ushered Locke upstairs where the children and herself slept.

Curious faces poked out from behind bedroom doors.

"Nothing to see here," Aerith said, waving her arms. "Go back to sleep!" She opened a door at the end of the hall that was empty. She had a few spare rooms with adult sized beds in case someone needed it.

These rooms have had a history with Nine Wood Hills. They have seen people of all walks of life.

And today, instead of Locke using this room, he'd be adding a girl to it. He placed her into the bed and Aerith went about taking the girl's shoes off.

"She's awfully dirty," Aerith remarked.

"Yeah."

"Never seen her in town before."

"Neither have I."

"You know what this means, right?" Aerith turned towards Locke with an arched brow. "I'm going to have to call Celes. This is serious. We have an unidentified girl on our hands and she looks pretty beat up."