"Oh hey Mom! Uh... you're home early,"
I could feel Émelie tense up. I wanted nothing more than to hold her close to my chest and comfort her.
"Yeah I guess I am. Anyways, anything happen while I was away?" she asked.
"Nope, not really. Just got some new school stuff," I replied as I set the bags down on the island.
"Well I noticed a cage in your room. Did you get a new pet or something?" she asked, this time raising an eyebrow.
Shit! I forgot to get rid of that.
"Yeah, uh I was... cleaning it. For Chad. He got a new hamster,"
"It's funny that you mention Chad. He called me saying that we had a pest problem. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you Nathaniel?"
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! Chad ratted Émelie out? How could he do that? He knew what would happen to her if she got caught...
"Mom it's not what you think, it's-"
"I don't want to hear it Nathaniel! You brought a human into our world! What were you thinking?"
I could feel Émelie shake in my pocket, I just hoped that my mom didn't notice.
"Give it to me," she said as she got up from the stool and extended her hand.
"No. And don't call her an it, Mom!" I said as I took a step back.
"Nathaniel this is serious! Do you know how dangerous humans can be? What would happen if it escaped and told its world about us, huh? They are much more numerous than us," she growled.
"She would never do that! Not all humans are bad,"
"Tell that to your father,"
I blinked away the angry tears that were forming in my eyes.
"Nathaniel stop making it difficult. Hand. It. Over,"
I bolted for the stairs, but before I could get far my mom grabbed my wrist with an iron grip. I tried to pull away. Suddenly I heard a small yelp. My mom looked down and reached into my pocket. She pulled out a struggling Émelie.
"You kept it in your pocket! It could've hurt you!" said my mom as she put Émelie in a fist.
"Hey! I'm not an it!" yelled Émelie, still trying to break free of my mom's hold.
Brave Émelie. Stupid, brave Émelie. My mom's grip started to tighten.
"Mom please, don't hurt her. We can bring her back to the forest and let her go. But don't take her to the authorities, please!" I begged.
If something happened to her, I could never forgive myself. My mom's gaze shifted to meet Émelie's scared expression. Her face softened, but only for a moment.
"I'm sorry that you care about it, but you know what must be done. These things are dangerous! I can't loose you too..."
"Mom listen, does it really make sense that humans killed Dad? Something's not right about the story, I'm-"
"Nathaniel please! You know very well that they killed your father. Now, excuse me,"
She made her way to a cabinet grabbed a mason jar and threw Émelie inside. I heard a strangled yelp come from her, but my mom either didn't hear or didn't care. She screwed on a cap and wrote something on it with a marker.
"I'm giving it anonymously to the authorities, I don't want you getting in trouble for keeping it for too long," she shoved past me before I could stop her. "And we're going to have a long talk when I get back!"
She slammed the door shut. I ran after her but she had already started my truck. I cursed and ran back inside to get the keys for her car, but when I came back the truck was gone. I fumbled with the keys and got in the car, not bothering to buckle my seatbelt. I had to follow her.
I drove down the street. And down the block. And through the town. But there was no sign of my mom or my truck. What was going to happen to Émelie?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was hyperventilating, but tried to stop. Nathaniel's mom hadn't poked holes in the top of the jar. What was I going to do?
"Miss? Please, I don't want any tr-" I tried to say, but was cut off.
"Don't speak to me. Please," she said softly.
I paused for a moment before continuing.
"I'm sorry about your husband," I murmured.
"You don't get to be sorry. Now, don't talk. Please," she looked at me for a moment, before looking back at the road.
The rest of the drive was silent.
Nathaniel's mom pulled over near an old telephone booth. She got out of the car and looked at me one more time. Her eyes widened slightly and she cursed. She proceeded to grab Nathaniel's truck keys and poke holes into the top of the jar. I was about to thank her when she left. She made a quick phone call, before coming back and grabbing my jar.
She walked several paces past the telephone booth. She crouched down beside a large boulder and placed my jar behind it.
"Look, I'm sorry about this. My son shouldn't have found you in the first place, I'm so sorry that you got dragged into this. But now I'm just doing what's right by protecting him," she said sadly.
I nodded in understanding, I had no reason to be mad at her. I couldn't blame her for hating my kind. I had no one but Chad to be pissed at. She got up and started walking away.
"Wait! Miss Nathaniel's mom? I would never hurt your son. I want him to be safe too," I said in one last desperate attempt to make her come back and take me away from here.
She turned back to me. Her golden hazel eyes looked just like Nathaniel's, but they were now full of sadness. She sighed and turned back towards the truck. I leaned back against the glass of the jar and hugged my knees. I let out a small laugh. I met my first boyfriend's mom and made the worst first impression ever. At least she called the authorities anonymously, that way Nathaniel would be safe.
I went through every possible scenario in my mind, not one of them good. I could be dissected like some rare specimen, tortured by knives and other weapons that were even bigger than me, or just straight up killed. I was suddenly pulled away from my thoughts when I heard the sound of a car door slam shut. I tensed up. I heard the sound of crunching leaves and sticks. A shadow fell over me and I started shaking. I looked up to see that someone was crouching down right beside my jar.
She had a black buzz cut with stone cold brown eyes. She had on some kind of uniform, a black long sleeved jumpsuit with huge black boots. Her name tag read Officer Young. I gulped as I met her eyes. She extended her hand and wrapped her fingers around my jar.
"Found it, Ma'am!" she called over to someone as she stood up.
She walked over to the shotgun of a large black van and sat down. I looked beside her to see a bulky woman with chocolate brown skin wearing a similar uniform decorated with medallions. She had long dark hair that was slicked back in a tight bun. She wore large reflective sun glasses and an earpiece. Her name tag read Sargent Jefferson.
She started the vehicle as I was handed off to another officer in the back. I barely had time to examine this new officer's features when he unscrewed the cap of the jar and took out a needle. He reached in and grabbed me, despite my struggling. He effortlessly pinned my arm down with his thumb. I let out a small yelp when he stuck the needle into my arm and I blacked out.