Finding Brody - Ch. 02 - The Exposed

Chapter Two

The Exposed

When he opened his eyes he found several faces above him. He didn't know who these people were, they were strange and Brody felt a deep fear well up in his chest. Where was he? He glanced around, there was an empty white bed beside him and there was a needle in his arm. He quickly ripped it out, his movement was far too fast for the people above him to react to. He held it pointed towards them dangerously and demanded their names.

"We're your parents, Brody." Said a pair of sharply dressed people. The woman was slightly short and had blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. There was a thick pair of wire framed glassed on her pert nose. The man was tall with dark black hair and deep-set brooding brown eyes. The two of them looked down at him warmly. The woman had a faint glimmer of worry in her eyes.

"My parent's are dead." Brody spat and they grimaced. Brody ignored them and rounded on the doctor. "Who are you?"

"I'm Dr. Chambers." The doctor said. She was a fairly good looking woman, but the look Brody was giving her was easily mirrored. She quickly snatched the needle from his hand and slammed it on the table. "I am not in the mood for games, Mr. Ashcroft!"

The other man in the room stood near the back, staring at a painting on a wall. When the Asian man noticed Brody staring, he came over and introduced himself as Vin Nadashi. Brody was startled for a minute. He didn't know that Vo had a brother. Vin noted his reaction and jotted it down on a steno notebook. Suddenly, Brody didn't trust the elderly Asian man.

"Look, I just want to go to bed." Brody said. "Could all of you just please leave my room?"

In that moment Gran entered the room. She wandered lazily to his bedside and paid no attention to Nadashi or the two people posing as his parents. They slipped quietly out of the room as Dr. Chambers gave Gran some information and handed her a release form.

"What happened, Gran?" He asked. "Why am I in here?"

"I am not sure, Brody. I was hoping you could tell me." Granny said as she filled out the paper work. She handed the form to Dr. Chambers who handed Brody his clothes. He popped into the bathroom to quickly change.

"I don’t know either." Brody replied. "I remember some parts of what happened, I just don’t know the whole story."

"Did it have anything to do with the gift?"

"I think so." Brody nodded.

"Well, all your friends are at the house, dear." Granny said. "One person asked me when you were going home and I told them tonight. An hour later there was about fifteen people on the doorstep. I didn't realize you were such a popular boy."

Brody sighed. "Those people are probably the only friends I have left in the world." He relayed the entire story to his Gran and she absorbed all the information well. She wasn't happy that he had risked his secret like that, but was glad that he was finding a support system. She gave him one warning as they pulled into the driveway.

"Be careful, Brody. There are going to be people who love you for who you are, and people who hate you. Sometimes the line can get blurred while searching for acceptance. Watch your back. Like most humanity, there will be mutants who use the gift for good and those who use it for evil. Never cross that line into evil."

He smiled at his Granny.

"I wont."



The people in his living room were exactly the people he had expected to be there. Summer, Lindsay and Eric were the first ones he noticed. Then he spotted Raven Carmichael, Billy Chambers and the jock Kevin David. There were also people he didn't recognize but he knew instantly that they were the ones he had scheduled to meet with later that week.

"What happened?" Were the first words out of Brody's mouth. He noticed for the first time that everyone who had been in the bio class had either cuts or bruises. He hoped to god that it wasn't his fault his friends were battered.

Lindsay sat forward. Brody noticed her lip was cut and there was a stitched up gash on her forehead. "Mrs. Collander tried to kill us."

"Everyone?" Brody asked. "Or just us?"

"Everyone." Kevin David spoke up. "After you screamed and every single thing in that room that was glass shattered into fragments. The skylight even broke! A piece was falling at Jane Waters but Summer ran interception. After that Mrs. Collander went postal. Her skin kind of, bubbled or something."

"She let out this weird screech and leaped over her desk," Summer continued. There was a distant look in her eyes as if she were watching the episode run through her mind again. "Then you got up and..."

"I got up?" Brody cried. "I couldn't have. I was unconscious."

"Well you did," Raven Carmichael continued. "Mrs. Collander had just grabbed Stacy Arvette by the throat and was trying to strangle her. You went up to her did some weird little hand movement and sent Mrs. Collander flipping across the room. She got up screamed again and charged at you."

"What happened then?" One of the unknown kids asked. They had heard the story through the grapevine that something bad happened in Biology class, but no one really knew the exact details. The kid looked expectantly at Summer, Kevin, Lindsay and Raven.

"By that time, everyone except us had cleared the room." Billy Chambers explained. "So we felt no problem using whatever abilities we had available. There was a huge fight..."

"Yeah," Lindsay said. "One minute it was us alone in the room with Mrs. Collander the next minute these strange men were dropping through the ceiling. They had a letters on their jackets. MEF or something like that."

Eric Starke let out a startled cry. Everyone turned to him for a moment but he excused himself and went outside. At that moment, Granny entered the room with a tray of cups and a couple bottles of soda. Everyone dived in as the story continued.

"Apparently these people were normal humans." Summer said. "They had guns in their hands, and the minute we seen them things got out of control. I think it was Kevin who took care of the gun problems."

"Yeah," Kevin nodded. "I have magnetic fingertips, can control metal objects kind of thing. Sort of like Magneto of the X-Men, but not as good."

"Well, the guns were out of their hands the minute Kevin had noticed them." Billy continued.

"The humans decided they had to fight us." Lindsay said. "I mean, there we were in the middle of a destroyed biology classroom, five of us facing six humans and you and Mrs. Collander were simply staring at each other. Neither of you moved. So we did."

"Yeah!" Raven grinned. "We kicked their asses. I mean there was running, flying, ice, metal objects, everything. Lindsay flew a guy out the skylight and Summer was far too fast for anyone to see, much less hit. The six guys were dropped within minutes. It was awesome."

"Then you finally moved." Summer said. "Both you and Mrs. Collander dropped to the floor. I don’t know what happened between you two, but it must have been intense."

"Shit." Brody murmured. "You guys know what this means, right?"

"What?" Kevin asked.

"Our secret is exposed!"

"No it isn't." Billy protested. "No one was in the room when we were using those powers. No one seen anything."

"They seen me." Summer muttered.

"Me too." Lindsay groaned. "I knew I shouldn't have flown out of the skylight."

"Even if your own personal secret isn't exposed," Brody said. "The knowledge that we even exist at all is known. That's not good. Now, we might as well introduce ourselves to each other. I'm Brody Ashcroft, I sent the message. I have... I don't know what its called. I can control things with my mind."

He demonstrated and relayed his story of discovery to those around him. They all listened intently and shared their own stories. When the final person had told their version of what had happened to them, Brody finally realized that Eric Starke was gone. He hadn't come back after he had went outside.

Brody also felt a sort of kinship with Jacob Brandon. While almost everyone else had a physical talent, Lara Webber could create electricity from her fingertips, Jacob had a mental one. He could move things with his mind. Brody could shift things, but with Jacob the item disappeared and reappeared somewhere else.

"Brody are you going to school tomorrow?" Asked Lara Webber. She was wide eyed and fearful and Brody knew that if he went, he'd be at the receiving end of torment the entire day. If he didn't show it would show weakness. He couldn't allow that.

"Yes, I am." He smiled at her and Lara relaxed slightly. Lara had a strange discovery story. She had just recently, within the past six days, realized she had a power. When she had been younger she stumbled across a downed power line and had been electrocuted. However, for some odd reason she lived through it. She had been six years old at the time and was hospitalized for nearly a year. When she came out se felt no different. However, last week she found that she could create sparks on her fingertips. It has scared her, so she never did it again.

Until she got Brody's message. Lara wiggled her fingertips and there was a shower of sparks, but nothing more. It was getting late and Granny shooed the younger kids out of the house, telling them their parents would be sick with worry. All the younger ones left.

"Lindsay," Brody said. A question suddenly forming in his mind. "Way back in the day, who was the doctor that had prescribed you the medication? Can you remember?"

"Oh yeah," Lindsay replied. "It was Dr. Chambers. She's my family's doctor."

"Shit," Brody swore. "I met her today. I should have asked her some things."

"What are you going on about, Brody?" Summer asked.

"Well, I did a little research. It turns out that you and me were both in a coma in the same week at Hart view General Hospital. Our doctor was Dr. Chambers at the time. Lindsay's doctor is also Dr. Chambers."

"What a coincidence." Billy said firmly. "Are you saying my mother has something to do with us and our abilities?"

"I'm not saying she does." Brody replied honestly. "I'm just saying that it'd be worth checking out."

"I'll keep an eye on her." Billy said hotly. "The rest of you leave her alone."

"You cant do it alone, Billy." Brody said.

"Whatever." Billy muttered and sat on the floor. Summer tousled his hair and Brody felt a pang of jealousy. He scanned the faces of those who sat around him. Summer sat on the couch next to David Briggs. David had learned of his talent when he was eleven. He could move his fingers through things if he was emotional enough. He had been fighting with his father and had tried to pick something up to throw, but couldn't. His fingers simply passed through the thing. Both him and his father stopped fighting and watched in amazement, then after calming down slightly David couldn't do it anymore.

Well, after eight years of practice, David could move his entire body through any solid object at will. He could pass anything through any solid object. Jacob Brandon and Kevin David were standing in the corner and on the rocking chair was Shawn Valo.

"Shawn what can you do?" Brody had asked.

"I can control fire." Shawn said holding up his hand. A ball of fire formed above his palm and slowly changed colors. From yellow to orange to red to blue, and when Shawn closed his fingers it had vanished. "I can change the heat outside too, control how hot it gets and stuff related to heat."

Lindsay was sitting in a beanbag and Raven Carmichael was pacing behind the couch. His story had been a little strange. Raven had first found out he could control liquids when he was thirteen during a water balloon fight with his cousins. He had thought that it would have been funny if the water turned into ice, and when it clubbed his cousin on the side of the head and knocked her out, the smile had evaporated immediately. Raven hadn't toyed with his ability for two years until curiosity finally overcame him.

"All I know," Brody continued. "Is that these gifts aren’t natural. We were modified when we were children, which means we all have something in common. A building we went to, a person we know, a school..."

"That’s it!" Billy Chambers leapt at the idea.

"I'm not sure." Lindsay said from her beanbag. "I mean, if it is the school, why choose us?"

"I'm not sure. I'm just saying its worth checking out." Billy said, using Brody's words.

Everyone mutually decided that it was time for them to go. It was nearing ten o'clock and they had homework to finish. Despite what had happened in Biology class, school was still on tomorrow. He said goodbye to his new friends and closed the door behind them. He yelped in surprise as David's head popped through the door. Brody stared for a brief moment at the head and neck that ended where the wood began. David grinned and said they'd all walk with him to school tomorrow. Brody agreed and said a final good-bye as he wandered to his room.

Brody pulled out his steno notebook. He picked up a pen and popped in a few names. Vin Nadashi being one of them, Jason Starke, Principal Dexter. He crossed out Mrs. Collander's name. He didn't want to ever see her again, there was something... evil about her. He also wrote down the words "fake parents." Even though he didn't believe they were his parents he felt the need to talk to them again. He also had to talk to Eric. For some reason the mention of the MEF sent him reeling. Brody wanted to know why.

Brody sat down at his computer and plugged into the internet. He didn't know who these MEF people were, all Brody knew was that they had tried to kill his friends. His mutant friends. He popped into a search engine and typed in the MEF initials.

Only one site came up and Brody clicked into it. There was a password required and Brody sighed in frustration. He scanned the page and spotted a name in the bottom corner. This site has been created by the president of the Medical Examination Facility, Jason Starke. If the MEF was just a Medical Facility why did they send guns to the school? Brody thought. He reread the page, removed his hat and closed his mind off to everything. He then focused and sent a message to Eric Starke. It said, "Come over. We need to talk."



Fifteen minutes later there was a tapping on Brody's window. Brody leapt off his chair and slid the window open. A hawk fluttered in and immediately began to melt until a couple minutes later Eric Starke was standing in his bedroom. Brody immediately spotted the bruises around his throat and the black eyes, the cut lip and gave his friend a brief hug.

"Man, what happened to you?" Brody demanded. There was an adrenaline rush of rage coursing through his blood and if he wasn't wearing his hat he'd probably have caused the computer desk to explode. Eric caught the look and shook his head.

"Nothing." Eric said. "Well, something, but nothing you can do about it."

"What happened?" Brody asked again. Eric sat down on the edge of Brody's bed and put his head in his hands. They just remained where they were, silent for a few minutes as Eric collected himself.

"My dad tried to kill me." Eric said flatly. He stood up and began pacing the floor. At that moment Brody noticed how messy his room was and was embarrassed. He spotted a pair of boxers on the floor, but Eric didn't seem to notice. "I asked him what the MEF really was. He had told me it was a medical examination facility. Then I asked why they showed up in Biology class. The look on his face scared me. It was a mix between terror and rage. I don't know."

"What happened next?" Brody pressed.

"He asked how I knew about that." Eric said. Tears were beginning to fall from his eyes freely and he made no attempt to wipe them away. "I told him everything. I told him about me, about you and everyone else that had been in the classroom and he freaked out."

"How could you do something like that!?" Brody exploded. "You just outted Lindsay, Summer, Raven, Billy and Kevin! Before you continue I'm going to call them over."

"Brody wait," Eric said desperately. "I didn't mean too. I have no one left. After I told my dad he freaked. Charged me and began screaming something about mom. I was crying and dad had his hand around my throat, he was punching me and..."

He broke down sobbing and collapsed on the floor. At that moment, Brody couldn't be angry with him. Instead, he went over to the crying boy and put an arm around his shoulder. Eric turned into him and began sobbing into his shirt. Brody sat with him for a minute before mentally calling the others over. He decided they all needed to know they were outted.

After Eric had finished crying he told Brody what he had found out. His dad's work wasn't a medical examination facility. The MEF logo stood for Mutant Eradication Force. His dad wasn't using the Weyerhaeuser to do medical experiments, he was using it to create a team who would go into town, track down mutants and kill them. They were un natural.

"How does your dad even know about mutants?" Brody asked. Eric shrugged. He didn't know how his dad knew, he only knew that he knew. With his knowledge, Jason Starke planned on killing every living mutant. Eric said that his dad had a partial list of names. His mother had been on it. The other names he didn't recognize. Vo Nadashi and Cliora Briggs. Eric was about to say more, but Lindsay Matthews flew through the window and downstairs, Brody heard his Granny opening the door.

"What are they doing here!" Eric shouted and leapt off the bed. He backed himself into a corner and sat down, closing his eyes. He began to melt.

"Eric stop!" Brody shouted. The melting continued. "They have a right to know what you did to them and if what your saying is true, then their lives depend on it."

"Whose lives depend on what?" Summer Rivers asked as she walked into Brody's room. Unlike Lindsay and Eric, Summer immediately spotted the boxer shorts and her eyes widened. Brody followed her gaze and quickly hid them. Summer burst out laughing.

"What’s so funny?" Billy Chambers grumped as he followed Raven Carmichael into Brody's bedroom. They spotted Eric in the corner who was now slowly returning to human form. They gave Brody a what’s up with him, expression. He shrugged in reply. Kevin David entered a minute later and shut the door behind him.

"So, Brody." Lindsay said. She folded her legs, but remained in the air. She smiled prettily at him and he blushed. "What are we all doing here at eleven at night? Slumber party?"

"No." Brody grinned, he stood up and went and sat next to Eric. The move made a few of the gathered exchange worried glances. Something was up. "Eric has something to tell you all."

"After I left here," Eric began. He looked at Brody. Brody smiled. "I went home and talked to my dad. It turns out that he has a team developed that is supposed to kill all mutants. He sends the team to places where there is some sort of mutant activity and they try and kill them."

"Those were the guys he had sent?" Kevin asked. "The ones in the Biology class?"

"Yeah," Eric nodded. "Dad had a list of people he was keeping an eye on. Vo Nadashi, my mom Nadis Starke, Bronst Valo, Cliora Briggs and-" He looked meaningfully at Brody. "-and Brody Ashcroft."

"What?" Brody cried.

"There's more." Eric said, looking to the others. They had all tensed up, knowing that there was people out there trying to kill them. "All of us are now on that list."

"What?" Summer cried. "How'd he know about us?"

"It's simple." Raven said calmly. "Those MEF guys told him. They had to have."

"I told him." Eric said. Five pairs of eyes leveled at him accusingly. "We were fighting and he tried to kill me. He asked how I knew about what he does, and I told him about what happened at Biology. If I had known he wanted to kill us, I wouldn't have..."

"So what." Summer said. "Jason Starke is after us now? Going to track us all down and kill us?"

"You said he focuses on mutant energy, right Eric?" Raven said. Eric nodded. "Ok. Does your dad know our powers?"

"He only knows mine and Brody's." Eric said. "So he can find us if we use our gifts. He cant find us otherwise. He has to program the certain type of energy into something. I don’t know."

"How do you know all this?" Brody asked. He was still reeling. He didn't know that he had been on Starke's hit list. If everyone on that list had disappeared did that mean he was next?

"Sometimes morphing is a great spy tool." Eric grinned. "I'd turn into an animal and-"

Brody didn't hear what he finished saying because at that moment, Brody was sucked out of his own body. He felt himself being pulled away, he then found himself standing at the door downstairs, he was watching a conversation through someone else's eyes. This was a new experience.

"Hi, I'm Jason Starke. My son ran away tonight and I hear he is a good friend of Brody's."

"He is," Granny said wearily. Brody found it a little odd that he was inside his grandmothers body. "A whole pile of Brody's friends are upstairs, you-"

In that second he was back. Brody glanced around at his friends and focused on his dresser shoving it mentally in front of the door. He barked at everyone to get out. To run.

"Why?" Eric demanded.

"Your dad is on his way up." Those seven words caused everyone to jump into action. Lindsay grabbed Summer's hand and flew out the window. Raven went to the window and pressed his hand on the window sill a few seconds later there was a slide made of ice that led to the back yard. All the others jumped onto the slide and scattered. Eric stayed in the room and watched as Brody slid the dresser back to the wall.

There was a knock on the door and when Eric went for it, Brody closed the window mentally. Mr. Starke entered and Granny followed close behind. He was relieved, Jason Starke wouldn't try killing them if Brody's granny was present. Jason started for his son, but Eric backed away.

"I'm sleeping here tonight." Eric said. Brody sent a mental note to his grandmother and when she seen the look of desperation in his eyes, she nodded. A slight movement that no one would have noticed.

"It's a school night." Jason argued.

"It's quite all right." Granny said. "He can borrow some of Brody's clothes. They look to be about the same size."

"His books are still at the house." Jason said. In that moment Brody sent a mental note to Jacob Brandon.

"No they aren't." Brody said. "They're downstairs in the living room."

Eric and Granny both gave him a look, but said nothing. Jason Starke had set his jaw.

"Where?" Jason asked.

"They're there." Brody said, he looked to his Granny. "They're downstairs on the couch."

She nodded and left the room. With her absence Brody felt an immediate apprehension tighten in his chest. If there was a perfect time for Jason Starke to attempt murder, this was it. He looked at both boys meaningfully.

"I know what you're up to, boys." Jason Starke warned. "It wont be long. Don't worry. I will have both of you, and your little friends. Freaks."

"What are you talking about, Mr. Starke?" Brody asked sweetly.

"You know exactly what I mean, Brody." Jason said harshly. "You had better be careful. We have you in our sights. You and Eric both. Summer Rivers, Kevin David, Raven Carmichael, we know about all of you."

Granny entered a moment later toting Eric's school books. Jason Starke stared at them open mouthed but his warning had been sent. He left the room without further protest. Granny tossed the books onto the bed and stared at the boys. There was a glint in her eyes that made Brody worried.

"Boys, lets go have some tea." She said. "We need to talk."



Muriel Ashcroft was no fool. She knew when there was something seriously wrong happening in her family, and she wasn't one to sit idly by and watch it happen. She needed to be involved, so she could keep her family alive. It hadn't worked ten years earlier with her son and she wasn't about to let it happen with her grandson. When the boys entered the kitchen, she already had the tea set out waiting for them.

She noted with a great pleasure that Brody only added one sugar to his tea, a trait that she herself took great pride in. Muriel herself only took one sugar as well. The other boy, the beaten up one loaded his tea with at least five. She sat down at the table and waited for Brody to explain. Muriel Ashcroft believed in the twenty question rule. If the answer wasn't given immediately, one had twenty questions to figure the answer. After twenty, it became tedious and would get no valid answers.

She put a calming hand on Brody's arm and gave a smile. He smiled gratefully in return and began to tell the whole story. She could tell Brody was relieved to tell her everything and when it came to Eric's part, he turned the floor over to him. He was nervous at first, but when he began telling his story he seemed to gain confidence.

"Gran, this is what happened. I sent out a silent message to all other mutants within range and told them who I was and how they could reach me. I got about ten replies, and I guess my message hit some bad mutants too. I began meeting everyone one by one and was planning on introducing them to one another later. I met with Lindsay Matthews in a field at lunch. Well, when I was going to meet Eric a van pulled up next to me and asked if I knew Brody Ashcroft. It was then that I knew people were after me. I had told them my name was Bobby Coolidge."

"I met with Summer Rivers after I left the arena and we had supper. Then I came home, went online and did a little research. It turns out that Summer, Lindsay and I had the same doctor around the time I was in a coma. See, I had met with this man named Vo Nadashi a little after I discovered my power. He had a power too and I tracked him down. He had told me that my power was a 'treatment' and that others would respond to it differently. That's why I went looking for others. I was doing the research because I wanted to find a common bond between me and the others. See what had caused these gifts."

"Well anyways, we went to biology class and our teacher, Mrs. Collander went mutant and began trying to hurt people. She flicked off my hat and I blacked out. According to the others that were there, there was a big fight with uniformed men dropping through the skylight. They had guns and intended on killing the mutants. The logo on their jackets read MEF."

"Well, I had no clue what went on because I was blacked out. I woke up in the hospital with four people looking at me. Two assholes said they were my parents, one was Vin Nadashi and the other was Dr. Chambers. Then you came and picked me up."

"Well, every person I had contacted mentally were in the living room. We were talking and then Eric left after they mentioned that the MEF was involved. After everyone else left, I went online and found out that MEF stood for Medical Examination Facility and was headed by Jason Starke. Eric's dad. It didn't really make sense that a Medical Facility would send uniformed men to shoot up a school, so I mentally called Eric over."

"Yeah, I got the message." Eric continued. "After I left your house, I went straight home. I was confused cuz my dad kept telling me that the MEF was just a research building. I didn't believe him but he had managed to convince me. So I found him sitting at his computer and the minute I entered his study he was scrambling to close windows on his screen. I knew something was up."

"Why are you home so early? He had asked me. I had said that I wanted to know a few things. I told him what had happened in biology class and asked him why the gunned men had an MEF logo on their jackets. He got this look on his face, like terror that I had found out but at the same time it was rage for the same reason. He asked how I knew about that."

"I told him that I had a couple of friends in there. He seemed to relax about half an inch, then I blew it. I told him that I was a mutant and that the friends in bio were mutants too. His face reddened with anger and he calmly asked who they were. I told him and he asked just as calmly if I was really a mutant. I nodded and he freaked. "

"He charged at me and wrapped his hand around my neck and we dropped to the floor. He was over me, punching me in the face screaming something about Mom. I didn't hear what he was yelling because I was too shocked to comprehend anything. I closed my eyes and went through the quickest morph I had ever done. Within thirty seconds I was a dragonfly and flying out of the study. Dad had went into shock when he watched me change, that probably saved my life."

"Well, I waited about fifteen minutes and watched as Dad drove away. I don't know where he was headed, but I took that opportunity and went into his study. I began searching the computer, most of the files were closed and encrypted but there was one. It said 'MEF' so I clicked it open. At the top of the file it read in big letters, MUTANT ERADICATION FORCE. I skimmed the file and it basically said that the MEF was a team designed to destroy all unnatural mutant life. There was also a brief list of names. Bronst Valo and Nadis Starke, Cliora Briggs, Vo Nadashi and Brody Ashcroft."

"Then I got Brody's message, closed everything, morphed hawk and flew over. When I got here, I broke down and Brody called over the others. I guess Dad honed in on Brody and my gift because he knew what we could do. That's why he came over. He was there to kill us and if you hadn't have been here Mrs. Ashcroft, I'm sure he would have."

Muriel Ashcroft listened with an attentive non biased ear. Some of the information was surprising and others sent waves of fear through her old bones, but she maintained a calm exterior the entire time
as the two boys explained the story. She stood and went for the tea kettle to refill their cups. When she did she watched as they added the sugar.

"Well, there's not much I can do to help being a lowly human." Granny said with a smile, "but just know that you are always welcome here, Eric. If we need to we can turn the guest room into a suitable bedroom. According to your tale, I don't think it would be safe to let you go home. However, I cannot legally take you in. Your father can charge me with kidnapping."

"I'm seventeen. I can do what I want now." Eric said. "I'll be eighteen in a couple months and can move out completely if I want to. Which I do."

Mrs. Ashcroft nodded and took a long drink from her tea.

"You do what you want, Mr. Starke. My only rule is respect. You respect my home, I'll respect your needs. Privacy, food, space and the like. I wish I could tell you boys more, but its almost one in the morning and you have school tomorrow. Be careful tomorrow, watch your back."

As Muriel Ashcroft gathered the dishes she said over her shoulder, "I know you boys now have mortal enemies, but that is no excuse to miss school. You miss school, you'll get me as an enemy and that is far worse than anything you can imagine."

The boys laughed and went upstairs. Muriel Ashcroft quickly picked up her phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Michael? It's your mom. Why did you go and visit him today?" She listened for a minute and the phone dropped from her hand as a shocked gasp escaped her lips.

Dilly