Janette's Cave

Chapter One

She felt safe with him, and nobody else. She wouldn't let the woman picking through her hair without him in the room, she wouldn't let anybody touch her accept him. She even seemed like she wanted to get out of the chair while the woman attempted to work through her hair, pulling on it painfully. 

Janette attempted to bite her hand a few times when she would get too close to her face. 

"Her hair," the woman spoke up, "it's matted beyond repair and there is lice. We will have to cut it off before I can begin treating the lice."

Jeremy frowned, giving Janette a sympathetic look. "If it's for the best..." he muttered, glancing at the woman standing above her. 

"I feel sorry for her," the woman continued, removing her hands from Janette's hair and grabbed a sharp object that made Janette jump. She nearly fell out of the chair, staring at the object in her hands. 

She opened her mouth, as if she was going to say something, but she closed it quickly. 

"You'll be alright," Jeremy said, placing a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it soothingly, "once all this hair is gone, you can grow some new stuff back that won't be as bad."

Janette lowered her eyes and sat back down in the chair, Jeremy nodding his head at the woman behind her. Janette heard the object start to snap, her hair falling onto the floor in large clumps. With each single hair cut off, it felt like part of her previous reality was cut off with it. 

One by one, she watched the hair fall onto the floor. Brown strands, falling onto the floor as her hair was cut down to the whiskers. Now, all was left was to get rid of the small creatures on her head. 

Things really were changing now, and Janette didn't like it at all. 

--

Weeks seem to pass, and Janette was getting better. She seemed to stop being scared of every little thing, though she would faint every time she would walk outside. Jeremy assumed it was because of all the sudden change. Growing up in a dark room in a basement wasn't a place to raise a child properly, and the lack of human interaction lead Janette to bite, kick, and scream when threatened. 

Though, she started to relax more around him. And just him. 

One thing she didn't do, even with her small progress, was talk. A small smile once and a while, and she seemed to understand English once and a while. If it wasn't for the police file that they had gotten on her, he wouldn't even know her name. 

Janette liked to be with Jeremy, she would sleep with him at night. Curled against his side, her face pressed against his backside. He didn't mind, but he felt sorry that she was so far behind in development that she acted like a child three years younger than she was. 

He assumed she was six or seven, though he had no idea. She wouldn't say when he asked when her birthday was, she didn't say much of anything, really. 

But, there came a time when he had to part with her. He had enough pay to support her, but he wasn't ready to take care of a child. The people taking care of her weren't her parents, they had confessed to kidnapping her when she was a baby. 

Maybe she would find her real parents, or get adopted. But, Jeremy wasn't the person to do so. 

Janette was blissfully unaware of what was happening, and that made things even tougher for Jeremy to part with her. She held onto his hand as he walked into the home, the director greeting him at the door. 

"This is Janette Dawson, yes?" he asked, looking down at her. Janette glared up at him, her eyes showing uncertainty and a little bit of fear. 

"Yeah," Jeremy said with a sigh, "this is her."

"Great," the director said with a smile for Janette, "I have a feeling she will fit in nicely with all the girls and boys here."

"I only hope she will be in here for a short while," Jeremy said, glancing down at Janette, who looked up at him with pleading eyes. She tugged on his hand slightly, as if to ask him to take her away from here. 

He looked away, pulling his hand out of hers so he could sign some papers. Janette seemed dejected, looking down at the floor. The director took the papers and looked them over before nodding his head, shaking hands with Jeremy. 

"Alright, I will take her up to her room. Do you want some time to say goodbye?"

Jeremy seemed to pause, thinking about it. Then, he nodded. The director turned and left the room, leaving Jeremy with Janette. She looked up at him, confused. 

He bent down so he was eye level with her, "I guess this is where you are on your own, kid," he said softly, "I wish it could be a different, but I don't think that is possible. These people will take real good care of you, they have a good reputation."

Janette's eyes seemed to sadden, her eyes moving from his face to her hands. She was a sad sight, almost looking like a young boy with her hair cut down to an almost peach fuzz, aside from the yellow shirt and dark blue jeans she wore. 

Jeremy sighed, standing. Janette looked up at him, panic flashing on her face. She reached out for him, grabbing his hand and pulled herself to him. A few tears escaped from her face, pressing her cheek against his pant leg as the director walked into the room again. 

He frowned slightly at the sight, his eyes connecting with Jeremy's for a few moments. The cop nodded his head, the director moving quickly across the room and gently touched Janette's shoulder. 

"Come on, little one," he said softly, Janette looking like she was going to fight him, but she let go of Jeremy's hand and allowed herself to be lead into the other room. 

She glanced over her shoulder at Jeremy for a few moments, her eyes pleading with him to stop everything and take her back. 

But, the door was shut as she muttered his name.