The Devil Child

Chapter Fifty-Four

 Polly's heart was in her throat, panic washing over her body in an instant. She had nothing to say to her uncle on the phone, and it was Gryphon who was shaking her, trying to figure out what was suddenly wrong.

When she wouldn't answer, he called for help.

His hands found her cheeks. "Polly? What is it? What did your uncle want?" He tried to make eye contact with her, but she was looking off into the distance, trying to collect her thoughts. Trying to understand why her parents would do this to her.

"My parents..." she trailed off.

Kenzie burst into the room. "What? What is it? What's wrong with her? Why are your hands on her cheeks like that?" She swatted away his hands so she could hold Polly's face in her own hands. "Polly, c'mon. Talk to me."

Tanner stood in the doorway, a strange feeling in his chest at the sight of Gryphon with his hands on Polly's cheeks like that. As if they were about to kiss. He didn't like the tightness in his chest, or the nasty feeling he got because of it.

Polly looked at Kenzie. "Home. I have to go home."

Kenzie slowly got Polly off of the bed. "Alright, we'll get you home. Why do you have to go home?"

Her entire body trembled as Kenzie held her, and Polly dug around to find the right words to say. But her mind was shutting down, and her heart was pounding in her chest, and fear was worming its way up her spine and into her hair and seeping into her skull.

The tears rushed down her cheeks immediately. "My parents... my parents want me back."

The entire way back to her uncle's house was a blur. Kenzie and Minny helped her up, half-carrying her to the car in the driveway because Polly couldn't make her legs move right, and she couldn't seem to gather control of her emotions or her body.

Tanner, Gryphon, Lennard, and Tom stayed behind, watching with fascination as they packed Polly into the car. But fascination turned to fear when Tanner realized that Polly living with her parents, in an entirely different state, meant she would no longer be able to help them on a campaign.

"What are we going to do without her?" Tanner wanted to go with them, but Kenzie and Minny were perfectly clear that they should be the only ones with Polly right now, and they were right. Kenzie and Minny were her two closest friends; it only made sense.

Lennard didn't know how to answer, and so he didn't. He watched as Polly disappeared out of sight around the corner in the driveway, leaving all of their lives in an instant. In the car, Polly was panicking, her body was shaking, and she was losing her mind. The thought of living with her parents again worried her. How will they treat me?

Kenzie was driving, so Minny had to console her, which Kenzie wasn't happy about. She'd much rather her arms around her girlfriend. Instead, Minny was holding the blonde to his chest tightly, rocking her back and forth.

"Polly, we're here for you, no matter what happens. No matter where you go. We're here."

She wanted to believe those words. She truly did. But when they pulled up to the house, it wasn't the three of them anymore. They weren't invincible. They were just kids, young enough to still live under their parents' roofs and not be able to escape it all.

Outside her uncle's house, police swarmed the property. Seeing a police cruiser on the property was normal, due to her uncle's job, but this was different. Seeing her uncle in handcuffs certainly wasn't the norm.

Polly burst out of the car. "What is going on? Why are you in handcuffs?"

Her uncle struggled briefly against the restraints, wanting to hold his crying niece. "I'm being accused of kidnapping, Polly. But don't worry, they won't get away with it. You weren't kidnapped; they don't have a case."