Chapter 75
A sudden scream shattered the night, slicing through our thoughts.
Becky's instincts kicked in immediately. She snapped her head up just in time to see a small figure sprinting through the nearby street — a little boy, no more than six or seven years old — being chased by a snarling stray Hellhound.
The creature's broken chain dragged behind it, clinking across the ground. Glowing red eyes were locked onto his crate.
Without hesitation, Becky sprang to her feet. Her heels dug into the ground as she shot forward toward the child, moving faster than any of us could react.
"Get away from him!" she shouted.
The Hellhound lunged — but Becky reached the boy just in time, snatching him away from the beast's slashing claws. The creature's talons tore through empty air as she pulled the boy to safety.
Duke and Evan charged in with their weapons drawn. Evan slashed at the creature while Duke fired. With a final yelp, the Hellhound collapsed into smoke and embers, vanishing into the night.
Micah hurried over, kneeling beside Becky and gently brushing hair from the boy's tear-streaked face. She glanced quickly at Baby —"What the heck was that?" She asked, before refocusing on the boy.
"Come on, kiddo," she said softly. "Let's get you somewhere safe."
Baby grimaced and responded. "It was a Hellhound scout. Same as before. But..." she hesitated, "I don't understand why they're here."
Duke nodded grimly. "The only reason they'd be sniffing around is if they're looking for survivors after that explosion. A place like that doesn't just blow up without help. Someone planted a bomb or some form of manufactured tampering that caused this.
"There's something more going on than what we know," I added.
The little boy clung to Becky, sobbing into her jacket. Becky held the small boy tightly. "You're safe," Becky whispered, cradling him in her arms. "You're okay now. I've got you. Do you know where your parents are?"
He shook his head, too scared to speak.
"Well, we can't leave him out here," Micah said gently. "Let's take him to the orphanage. At least until we can track down his parents."
James yawned, rubbing his eyes. "I hate to say it, but we've got to go. School tomorrow."
Evan nodded reluctantly, his voice tight. "Yeah... and I need to talk to the nannies and the maids. I don't even know what I will tell them about Josh." His voice cracked as his eyes welled up.
I reached out and squeezed his hand. "Just say he's staying at a friend's house. I still have hope, Evan. Josh is out there. I can feel it."
Duke clapped a hand on both their shoulders. "Go on, get some rest. Baby and I have classes to teach, too."
With a final, tight nod to Becky, Micah, and me, James and Evan disappeared into the fading night.
The boy clung on to Becky tightly. "I'm guessing he wants me to come with."
I could tell that she still had a raw aching inside—a gaping hole that Josh had left in her heart—but for now, she had little life to focus on in her arms—someone that she could save and protect now.
Micah, Becky, and I escorted the boy to the orphanage. Duke dropped us off before taking the others home.
The warm porch lights welcomed us as we approached the front door.
Micah had called ahead, and one of the caretakers rushed to meet us at the gate, her face full of concern but kindness.
On the ride over, the boy had finally told us his name: Luke. Micah quickly introduced him to the staff.
"Hello, Luke," the caretaker said kindly, kneeling to his level. "Would you like some cookies and milk? We'll keep you safe and warm until we find your parents."
Luke clung to Becky tightly and buried his face.
Jennifer, a senior staff member with whom Micah had become close friends after helping treat the sick children not long before, hurried out to meet us.
"Hello, Micah, I see you brought your friends over today." She said warmly,
"Yeah," Micah answered with a tired smile. "Becky helped save this little guy from a stray dog, and now he doesn't want to let her go."
Jennifer chuckled. "That's perfectly fine if you don't mind staying a bit longer. We actually heard from the authorities, and it sounds like we've found his parents, who had been searching for him! They're about twenty minutes away."
Becky's eyes lit up. "Yes, I'll watch him! It's awesome that we found his parents. We'll come inside, and you can tell us more about what happened."
"Come inside and rest," Jennifer said, leading us toward her small, cramped office. She eased into her chair with difficulty, careful of her enormous belly. "Sorry, it's tight in here."
Micah teased, "There'll be much more room once Junior arrives!"
We all laughed.
Jennifer smiled, resting a hand on her belly. "I'm due any day now! Anyway, the boy's parents told the police he's a sleepwalker. They'd just moved in and hadn't put new locks on the doors yet. Poor kid wandered off while they were asleep."
Becky looked straight at me. "That's something that Kaysi would do! She tends to sleepwalk quite a bit," she laughed.
"Hey, I thought I was getting better with that!" My voice squeaked as I joked back at her.
The boy sitting on Becky's lap giggled a little from all of our laughter. That made us all smile and laugh some more. Take care of a sweet voice sound coming from the boy!
When the boy's parents arrived—frantic and overjoyed—they profusely thanked the staff, Micah, Becky, and Kaysi, as we followed the family to the car. Becky waved one final goodbye as a mother buckled the boy into the car to take him home.
"Finally," Micah groaned, "tonight's over!" She rolled up her sleeves, eyeing the common room, ready to dive into her list of overdue chores around the orphanage. "I will help clean this place up so we all can head home early today!"
We knew Micah was only talking about Jennifer; she was trying to relieve some stress off of her, as her dark circles explained everything!
"We'll help too!" Becky said enthusiastically.
"Aye-aye, Captain!" I chirped, grabbing a feather duster from the one I saw sitting in the corner of the office and saluting!
Jennifer laughed, as she bent to pick up a laundry basket, she suddenly gasped and grabbed her belly.
Micah was at her side in an instant, holding on. "Whoa, whoa! Don't lift that heavy thing; it's silly!"
"No...It's not that." Jennifer grunted out, face paling. "My...my water broke!"