Chapter Nineteen (Newell)
Starling was a very odd dragon.
Drake didn't release Starling after Hunter had captured him, deciding it would be safest if Starling remained with them. Of course, Starling didn't seem to like that very much because he kicked and screamed when Hunter heaved him up over his shoulder again and carried him into the cabin.
Hunter dropped Starling on the sofa in the living room where Starling writhed and thrashed, snarling and snapping his teeth at everyone as we stood on the other side of the room from him, watching him warily.
"Tell me again why we're keeping him." Hunter deadpanned. Drake frowned as he took a raw slab of meat out of the freezer and placed it on a plate to warm it up for Starling.
"He may be a dragon, but I'm not about to let a child out there along with a killer on the loose." He replied sternly. Hunter made a face at that while I folded my arms over my chest, watching Starling wear himself out with all his squirming and fussing.
"The killer is most likely one of your own people. You're just too stubborn to admit it." I told him. Drake stiffened, then shot me a warning glare.
"My people don't kill each other." He answered coldly. Hunter made a rude noise.
"Oh please. Werewolves, vampires, humans, dragons. Doesn't matter what species you are, we're always gonna kill each other. Jealousy, revenge, power. Doesn't even matter if you're family or not. You'll do anything if you have enough motivation." He said. Xed gave him an odd look and Drake glared.
"We're a pack. We'd do anything for each other." He responded icily. Hunter cast him a disinterested stare.
"You're not special. Everyone is the same." He returned calmly. Drake looked like he wanted to throttle him, but we had no time for this argument. The sooner we got out of this village the better and we'd only be able to leave after we solved this silly murder.
"Why would someone want to kill Tony?" I asked. Drake frowned, glancing at Vini, who remained silent as he sat at the dining table, gazing sadly at his brother's necklace. Drake turned to me again, leaning against the fridge.
"I don't know," He said honestly, "Tony was a good guy. He never hurt anyone. He followed orders and he worked hard. He... He took care of everyone." That didn't tell me much, but I could tell he was holding back with Vini in the room. I made a mental note to ask him more later. In the mean time, it was time for Starling to eat and he would need both hands. I had Xed lock the doors and stand behind Starling, who we managed to get sitting into a dining chair at the table.
Drake put the plate of warm steak in front of Starling, who stopped to stare at the food. He sniffed at it, then cocked his head. He poked it with his tongue, made a face, then looked up at Hunter, who took out his pocketknife. Starling squeaked at the sight of it and started to get up, but Xed caught him by the shoulders and held him in his seat. Hunter grabbed Starling's hands and cut the rope holding his wrists together, then tucked the knife away again.
Starling rubbed his wrists, giving Hunter a wary stare before he turned to the steak. Without hesitation, he started to devour the entire thick, only chewing a couple times before swallowing huge gulps. He reminded me of a dog the way he ate.
"Does anyone know what happened to his parents?" I asked after a while as Drake handed me a glass of blood. I nodded my thanks and took a drink.
"No," Drake admitted grimly, "He just showed up one day. We caught him trying to eat one of Violette's chickens and she chased him off. We didn't see him for a few days until a hunting party saw him eating frogs in the wetlands. Apparently he'll follow the hunting parties sometimes and we'll unintentionally lead him to prey."
"He must be a good hunter if he's lasted this long." I muttered, turning to look at Starling, who had stopped eating to stare at me again. I frowned at him, but he still didn't look away. He just tilted his head like a curious dog. Hunter smirked.
"Looks like someone likes you." He said. I glared at him.
"He'll learn. And shut up. Don't you have something you should be doing?" I asked. Hunter frowned.
"But I like annoying you."
"I can tell, but you can do that later. Right now, we need to figure out who killed Tony." I told him. I didn't say anything more because I didn't want to flat out tell Drake I didn't trust his people. Hunter waited for a few minutes before he left the cabin. Much to my relief, Drake didn't stop him. He was too busy holding Vini close to him, trying to comfort him as he seemed to be on the verge of tears again.
"Think you can handle the kid?" Drake asked me. I glanced at Xed, who nodded.
"Yes." I told Drake, who nodded gratefully before taking Vini upstairs. I turned to look at Starling, who was staring at me again. I narrowed my eyes in irritation.
"Stop looking at me." I snapped. Starling pouted in response, then licked the steak juice off his lips and gnawed on the small piece of bone that Drake had left in the steak.
"Pretty." Starling told me. I blinked. He had a baby voice. It was soft and sweet, nothing like the way he acted, but he looked like he was ten and yet he still sounded much younger. Was that what Drake had meant by speech impediment? It mostly just sounded like no one had taught the child how to speak correctly.
I ignored his comment, however, and looked at Xed, who was frowning.
"One of the wolves killed Tony," I told him, making him look at me, "I'm not sure which one. I couldn't pick up a scent with the amount of blood that came from Tony. But we can use Starling to find him. If we can find a wolf that Starling would recognize as the one who gave him the necklace, we find the culprit. The sooner we find him, the sooner we can leave. I'm tired of wasting my time here." Xed nodded in agreement. Starling cocked his head, taking the bone out of his mouth to stick out his tongue and smile.
"Wasting time, wasting time." He echoed me. I scowled.
"Stop mimicking me." I scolded. Starling pouted again. I rolled my eyes and looked at Xed, who raised an eyebrow in an expression that told me he was amused by this.
"I hate children." I told him flatly. Xed almost smiled at that, but caught himself before he did, probably worried he'd upset me, but I was too concerned with the murder to care. I tried to make a list of all the wolves I'd seen in the village. While I didn't know all their names, I knew their scents and their faces, even the children.
Part of me wanted to accuse Stone, but that would be a biased accusation. He'd beaten me quite powerfully, but that didn't mean he was a murderer. He just seemed incredibly overprotective of his pack.
"Pretty, pretty, pretty." Starling sang. I twitched, casting him an irritated glare before looking at Xed.
"Surely you had younger siblings. How did you shut them up?" I asked. Xed shrugged and made a gesture with his hand that meant he sang to them. I shook my head at that. No way was I going to let him sing with me in the room. I wasn't that desperate.
"Anything else?" I asked. Xed shook his head. I sighed. Of course he wouldn't know how to shut up a dragon child. Merchildren were easier to take care of their dragon children, I guessed. It made me glad I was a vampire. At least our species was civilized. We lived in actual houses and blended in with humans.
Werewolves lived in solitude, dragons lived in the woods, and merpeople lived in the water.
Well, that sounded odd.
"Prettyyyy!" Starling whined. I glared at him.
"What?" I snapped. Since when did I ever respond to such a nickname? Starling made another whining sound and made a clasping motion with his hand toward me. I frowned, not understanding for a moment.
"Do you want something?" I asked. Starling didn't seem to understand that and whined some more, then wiggled his fingers near his neck.
"The necklace?" I asked. Starling still didn't comprehend. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
"That's not yours, if that's what you're talking about. You can't have it back. It belongs to Vini now." I told him. Starling's lower lip quivered and I twitched as he burst into tears, slamming his fist down so hard on the table that it sent a large crack shooting across the wood. A second later, the table snapped it half. I stared at the busted table, then looked up at Xed, who looked just as surprised.
"Are dragons supposed to do that?" I asked. Xed shrugged and shook his head, indicating he had no idea. Worse still, Starling continued to sob and carry on. I scowled.
"Stop crying!" I snapped. He only cried harder. I cursed. I was never good with children. They were annoying little brats, spoiled and obnoxious. Well, Starling wasn't spoiled. He just wanted his shiny toy back, but it didn't belong to him. He needed something else to occupy his time with. I looked around the room before my eyes landed on one of the candle holders. I took the candle out and handed it to Starling, who sniffled and whimpered as he took it. He looked at it in confusion.
I caught Xed giving me an odd look out the corner of my eye and scowled at him.
"I don't think Drake has any toys lying around. Besides, that's shiny. He wants shiny and I gave him shiny." I responded defensively. Xed smiled at that, but quickly hid it. I looked at Starling, who started to gnaw on part of the candle holder. I rolled my eyes.
"That's not for chewing on." I scolded him. He blinked, then took it out of his mouth and looked at me in confusion.
"Nor is it for playing," I admitted, making Starling pout, "But I don't have toys for you. I'm not a child. I don't carry those sorts of things with me." Starling didn't understand and dropped the candle holder. He broke the bonds around his ankles and got up. Xed tensed, ready to grab him, but Starling didn't move too quickly. He casually hopped off the chair and walked over to me, still naked. I started to tell Xed to fetch him clothes when Starling came over to me and pinched my cheeks. I hissed at him, but he didn't take offense to it and just pinched at my cheeks. He giggled and rubbed my cheeks, making them burn.
"Stop!" I snapped, shoving his hands away. Starling pouted.
"Stop, stop! No!" He returned in frustration. I scowled, then looked at Xed, who seemed amused by the predicament.
"If you have time to grin like an idiot, go grab him some clothes." I ordered. Xed obeyed instantly, leaving the room. Starling didn't seem to be a threat now. He seemed to understand that he needed to be here to be safe and accepted it.
That or he was interested in his surroundings.
Or to be more precise, me.
"Prettyyy." Starling cooed, reaching up to run his fingers through my hair. I grimaced in disgust as he leaned too close and I could smell his B.O. and filth. He was still covered in dirt and grime. He would need to bathe first. I took his hand, making him jump, like he expected me to shove him away again, but instead, I led him to the hallway.
"We need to bathe you. You're filthy." I told him. He didn't understand, but smiled goofily anyway and followed me into the bathroom. However, as soon as I turned on the water, Starling cried out in fear and leapt back against the wall behind the door. He crouched down and shivered. I glared at him.
"You are not a dog. You will bathe. I won't have you around me if you smell like a sewer." I snapped. Starling whimpered in response, but I ignored him as Xed came into the bathroom and paused in the doorway, peering around the door at Starling, who whined as he hugged his knees to his chest.
"He's being difficult," I told Xed, who looked up, "Pick him up and put him in the tub." Xed hesitated at that and I frowned.
"What?" I demanded. Xed made gestures with his hands and it took me a moment to understand what he was indicating and I felt my cheeks flush with anger.
"I am not bathing with him. I've already bathed and I will not sit in his filth with him." I snapped. Xed shrugged and placed the folded up clothes on the counter beside the sink. He shut the door and approached Starling, who squealed and bolted away to the other side of the bathroom. Xed looked at me, exasperated. I glared at him, then at Starling, who hid between the toilet and the bathtub.
"You will bathe one way or another. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either Xed will force you into the tub or you can get in yourself." I explained. Starling didn't understand that, but he could hear the anger in my voice and that only made him whimper further. I could feel the tension beginning in my back. I looked at Xed, who looked back at me and shrugged again. I rolled my eyes.
"Fine! But this is the only time. Xed, get out." I ordered. Xed obeyed and shut the door behind him. I sighed, frustrated as I stripped off my clothes and hung them on the towel rack. I got out a couple towels for us and placed them beside my clothes. I went to the tub and shut the water off. I made sure there was no glass left over from the busted mirror before I turned to Starling, who was peeking out of his hiding spot cautiously.
I stepped into the tub, standing there.
"See," I said, gesturing to the tub, "It's safe. I'm in it and I'm just fine. Now you." Starling looked around nervously, then carefully inched out of his niche. He crept across the tiled floor to the tub. I sat down on the other side of the tub and gestured him to come in. He nibbled his lower lip, then carefully stepped in. He shivered at the heat of the water, then slowly lowered himself down.
He sat there for a while, looking stiff and uncomfortable. I moved beside him and leaned over the tub, taking a washcloth off the rack and a bar of lilac soap. I dipped it into the water, pausing to wrinkle my nose in disgust at the way the water turned murky and grey from the filth on Starling's body.
I soaked the clothe and rubbed some soap on it. I picked up Starling's arm and started to scrub the dirt off. Starling whined and fussed for a while, then gave up and watched me clean his arms.
I could honestly think of several dozen things I'd rather be doing than bathing with a dragon child, but at least he would become somewhat bearable after he was clean. His stench was burning my sensitive nose and I could almost taste the odor on my tongue.
"Pretty." Starling cooed again, tilting his head to look at me. I scowled.
"Don't you know any other words?" I demanded. Starling just smiled cluelessly. I rolled my eyes and remained silent as I scrubbed him for a while. I debated whether to do what I was planning to do next, then finally decided to do it. I sighed, picking up the bar of soap and holding it in front of Starling, who looked at it with interest, his nose twitching as he sniffed at it.
"This is soap," I told him firmly, "Soap. Say it." Starling looked at me confused.
"Soap." I repeated. Starling blinked.
"Soap." He responded.
"Good," I continued, "Soap. It's used to clean. This is clean." I scrubbed at a patch of dirt stuck to his shoulder and he watched, tilting his head, then beamed at me.
"Clean!" He exclaimed. I nodded.
"Yes. You're going to be clean. You need to be clean. If you're not clean... People won't like you." I informed. Starling's eyes widened at that. I wasn't sure if he quite understood what I meant, but so long as I scared him into hygiene, I didn't care.
It's not like I cared about him personally. I just didn't want to spend another minute beside a child that smelled like it was birthed in a septic tank.
I moved onto his back and gave him the bar of soap to sweep over his arm, just to make sure it was all clean. I rubbed the washcloth in circles on his shoulder blades, then looked up to see him chewing on the bar of soap. I snatched it out of his hand and dunked it into the water.
"No," I snapped, "You don't eat that. While I'm sure your breath smells as bad as you do, that's not how you clean your mouth. I'll show you that later. Right now, clean your arms." Starling whined, but didn't stick the soap in his mouth again. He started rubbing it on his legs under the water, smiling daintily.
I finished scrubbing him and by the time I was done, the water was black. I wrinkled my nose in disgust and pulled the plug out to refill the tub with clean water. Starling "oo"ed and "ahh"ed at the way the drain sucked the water out. He tried to stick his finger in, but it only sucked on his finger and he didn't seem to like that very much because he growled at it.
I managed to filter out the filthy water and refill it with clean water. I replaced the plug and moved onto his hair now. I wasn't sure who tied his hair back, but it was easy to take the rubberband off. In fact, the rubberband looked quite old and worn. It snapped after I managed to take it off. I unbraided Starling's long, gold hair.
"You need to put your head under the water," I told him after I had unbraided his hair, "To clean it. Like this." I dunked my head under the water, then resurfaced, wiping the hair back from my face. Starling looked awed by the movement and repeated what I had done. He sputtered once he resurfaced, though, and made a face. I made him do it a few more times until his hair was soaked.
I grabbed a bottle of shampoo slash conditioner, squirting a heavy amount of it into my palm. He had a lot of hair, and it was rather thick, so he'd need a lot, especially with the dirt and bood caked into it. I massaged it into his scalp and he purred at that, leaning into my touch. I rolled my eyes.
I hate children.
I hate bathing with children.
I hate everything.
I worked the soap into his hair from scalp to tips before I made him rinse it out. I had to help him because he was making a big deal about the suds. He also managed to get soap in his eyes and sobbed about it until I splashed water in his face to shut him up. We finally managed to finish and I was relieved to have him clean. We climbed out as the drain sucked the water out. I gave him his towel and showed him how to dry off.
He seemed to enjoy the towel and cuddled with it until it came to dressing. I showed him how to put on pants and a shirt. He didn't like the shirt very much, but he put it on anyway. I set the towels aside and rummaged through the drawers in the counter to find a brush. I showed Starling how to brush his hair, but he started crying once he reached the first knot in his hair.
"You are such a baby." I snapped at him. He whimpered. I took the brush from him and forced him to sit in front of me as I sat on the toilet, brushing the knots and tangles out of his hair. Part of me wanted to cut his hair to make it easier to manage, but I also found it difficult to want to cut such nice hair.
Even I had to admit his hair was wonderful.
It was such a bold shade of blonde. Beautiful and clean now. It was much softer and smoother now that it was clean. Instead of cutting it, I fished a blue scrunchie out of one of the drawers and used it to tie his hair back. He seemed to enjoy that and giggled.
We finally left the bathroom and I found Xed with Hunter in the living room, both grim faced. I frowned as I approached. Hunter seemed amused, however, to see Starling following close at my heels.
"Wow. You actually gave the kid a bath. And clothes." He commented. I scowled.
"I won't share a planet with something foul and disgusting." I responded.
"I think you just made a friend." Hunter pointed out. I frowned, then looked back at Starling, who just smiled at me. I grimaced. Now that he stood right beside me, I was irritated to find out he was a good few inches taller than me. To avoid punching Hunter in the face, I cleared my throat.
"What did you find out from the pack?" I asked, changing the subject. Hunter frowned now.
"Not much. The fuckers are really secretive. They all just said nice things about Tony. Not a bad thing and everyone was defensive, so it was hard to narrow things down. But there are three people I didn't get to talk to as they're on patrol right now, but should be back in a couple of hours." He explained.
"And those are?" I asked.
"Petunia, Chrissy, and Solomon. They're Drake's two nieces and nephew." Hunter replied. I nodded, then looked at Xed, who was still frowning.
"You've got a look on your face." I told Xed. He looked up, hesitated, then just shook his head. Of course, he wasn't getting off that easy. He knew something, or at least, suspected something, but he didn't have the chance to say anything as Drake came down the stairs and whistled in surprise as he looked at Starling, who was making an annoying popping sound with his lips.
"He doesn't look like a ragamuffin anymore. I didn't think you'd actually take care of him." He commented. Hunter smirked at that and I glared at him before looking at Drake with a frown.
"He was disgusting. Anyway, you need to find something to entertain him with. He's already chewed on your candle holder and your soap. He needs something to occupy himself with." I told him. Drake shrugged, gesturing to Starling, who was looking at me in fascination.
"It looks like he just wants to play with you. He probably just thinks you're another kid for him to play with." He admitted. I stiffened at that. I don't even think Drake realized how much his comment stung. I looked at Starling, who smiled at me before I glared at him.
"I am not a child, stop trying to be cute. You're an irritating little pest." I told him coldly. Starling's expression melted and he looked hurt. While I'm sure he didn't understand what I said to him, my tone must have said something. He reminded me of a wilted flower.
"Wow," Hunter laughed, "You're terrible. It's like you just crushed his hopes and dreams. You'd make a great parent."
"I hate children," I repeated in irritation, "I'm not here to be his friend or babysit him. I'm not even here because I want to be. I want to leave as soon as possible so I can continue with my life."
"What life," Drake snorted, folding his arms over his chest, "You're a fugitive. What could you possibly be doing with your life? And you can't expect us to keep Starling in the village. He's not one of us and he doesn't belong here." I glared at him.
"Well, I most certainly am not taking him with us. How many times do I need to say that I hate children?" I demanded angrily. Starling burst into tears and I flinched. For some reason, I was getting a dull, guilty ache in my chest as Starling sobbed, rubbing at his eyes. Xed frowned at me and that bothered me too. I could practically hear him accusing me of being cruel.
Starling was a child, an actual child, no older than ten, but with the mindset of a toddler. His parents had abandoned him, whether by choice or they were killed. He could barely speak and he didn't understand anything about the world about him, except what his instincts told him.
I was probably the first person who actually paid this much attention to him. He probably thought I was a child, like Drake had said. He didn't understand. He didn't know. And I was punishing him for it.
I sighed, frustrated.
"Stop crying. Don't be a baby." I told him firmly. Starling sniffled and whimpered. I rolled my eyes and picked up his arm, using his sleeve to wipe at his eyes in irritation. I did it a bit roughly, just so Hunter and Drake would keep their mouths shut, but Starling didn't seem to mind. He smiled after a while.
"Prettyyy." He sang, then reached out and jerked my face close, kissing me on the cheek. I made a sound of disgust and pulled away, shuddering and wiping my cheek off as Hunter burst out laughing and Drake tried hard to stifle it.
"Shut up," I snarled at them, "I don't like him at all! I just pity him!" They didn't listen to me and only laughed harder. I felt heat rising to my cheeks. I looked at Xed and even he was trying not to smile. I glared at them, then grabbed Starling roughly by the arm, forcing him to follow me.
"Why don't you three pathetic little brats do something useful with yourselves, huh? Like trying to figure out who your murderer is before he kills someone else? In the mean time, I'm going to rest before you three give me an aneurysm." I slammed the bedroom door shut behind Starling and me in order to block out their laughter. My anger was still at a boiling point and the last thing I wanted was to be touched, but Starling didn't know that.
He only sensed discomfort and went up to me, putting his arms around me and hugging me tightly, resting his head on top of mine. I stiffened and prepared to shove him him back angrily when he started to hum.
I blinked and listened to him hum a very smooth, gentle tune. A lullaby of sorts. It took me a full minute to realize he was humming the tune to Greensleeves. I waited until he was finished and pulled away before I looked at him, surprised. He just smiled, not understanding my perplexity.
"You know Greensleeves?" I asked. He didn't understand and just beamed.
"Pretty." He answered. I frowned slowly, studying him suspiciously.
How odd. How did a dragon child who lived in the woods for the first half of his life know Greensleeves? The wolves didn't seem the type to appreciate classical music, so he couldn't have heard it from them. Maybe a car radio? The free way wasn't more than nine miles from the village. Maybe he wandered too close.
Or he heard it from somewhere else...
"Pretty." He repeated. I scowled.
"Stop calling me that. My name is Newell. Say it. Newell." I ordered. Starling looked confused.
"Pretty?" He asked.
"Newell."
"Pretty."
"Oh forget it." I snapped in frustration, rubbing my temples. Starling didn't sense my aggravation and just smiled, waving his hands around excitedly.
"Pretty, pretty, pretty!" He sang. I covered my ears until he hugged me tightly again and I groaned in disgust.
I hate children.