Buttermilk Pancakes and Sweet Tea

Kai didn't bother with the crossword, but he did sip at the juice some while Nana busied herself around the kitchen. He glanced up at the old woman as she came to the table, but she just got right back up again and drew the curtains shut. Was she worried about the scarecrows seeing into the house or something? It wasn't like they were doing anything particularly interesting. He sighed and didn't ask, taking some food instead. He tried a little bit of the gravy and decided he didn't like it, but ate it anyway. Hopefully she wouldn't make that again, but for now he was polite and just ate it with a biscuit. He didn't even have to wonder if these came from the tube that you popped, he knew they didn't.

He ate quietly. He didn't really know what to say to Nana currently. There was one burning question on Kai's mind but he didn't know how to bring it up or if that would make the current situation worse so he didn't. He only nodded his head a little about the torching of the scarecrows. That would probably be better anyway. Why let them live? Or, whatever it was they were. Kai didn't really think they were living, exactly. Just as he was really agonizing over what to say, Nana spoke up again though. He looked up from his scrambled eggs at her, hesitating a moment. Was she being serious? His fork moved around some of the scrambled egg before he nodded again, giving Nana a very cautious smile.

"Thank you." He responded at last. "I wont be upset." There was no reason for him to be upset if Emma Jean refused to come over. "I'll call her after breakfast..." He decided. "Thank you." He added, repeating what he had first said. He could practically feel his tension melt away.
 
Edith wanted to be surprised that Kai seemed to prefer Emma Jean. She wasn't. The girl still managed to keep the mind of a teenager despite so many lifetimes. She could relate to Kai in ways that Edith could never understand. She was still unsure about letting Emma Jean into the house though. She nodded at last, and then finished her meal in relative silence. She made idle comments, mostly about the weather and mumbled over a few clues in the crossword.

When she finished eating, she eyed the rest of the food, shaking her head. She cleared the dishes to the sink and began putting the leftovers from breakfast away, storing each in Tupperware before sliding it into the refrigerator. At this rate, she would be able to stop cooking for a week and live off the leftovers.

It was another several minutes spent in silence until Edith finally turned, pulling the Key from under her shirt. The Key was still a dull blue, and Edith waved Kai over to her. "Once you have had it for a while this will become second nature." She said taking the Key from her neck. She drew a long rectangle in the air which shone with an ethereal blue light.

"This was the second thing that Annabelle, my grandmother, taught me. The first was, once you have the Key, never take it off. It..." Edith hesitated, trying to find the right words to use. "It grows to know you. It will learn from you, learn how to protect you and you will learn how best to use it. But it takes time and it takes contact to work well." She pressed in the center of the rectangle making the shimmering blue lines solidify. Edith closed her eyes a moment, putting the key into the center of the rectangle. It slid in, as if into a lock and Edith turned it a quarter turn to the right. It sounded as if tumblers clicked into position and then Edith took the Key from the lock and pushed once more in the center. The door, if that is what it could be called, opened up, showing the interior of Kai's room upstairs. "This is a small scale example. It can certainly be done quicker that that. And the doors don't have to be so large." She waved her hand and the door closed and disappeared.

"Annabelle figured out how to make doors when Jonathan Farley came after her. Emma...the first Emma, not Emma Jean, protected her until she could make a door to escape." She put the Key back around her neck, hiding it once again under her shirt. "Think of a place you would like to go, and then draw the door while holding the image in your mind. Once you unlock the door, you can step through and go there. But make sure you hold the place in your mind while you draw the door, else you may end up where the Key wants you to be instead."
 
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Kai didn't say much during breakfast either. He did have one thing he wanted to ask, however, before he called Emma Jean. But once again his Nana had beaten him to the punch, and started to show him something with the key instead. He was quiet as he watched her draw out the door and put the key into the lock. Or whatever it was. Watching this, it exploded probably twenty questions into his mind. Did it have to be some place he had visited personally? Did it jump time too? How many people could go through the door, and did he have to close it or would it close automatically at some point? Had she ever opened the door to wherever the key wanted?

Kai took in a breath and was about to ask, but then shook his head. No. There was one thing he had to discuss with her first. He pursed his lips a moment and took in a second breath. "Nana, why does Emma Jean keep saying you do not have much time left?" This, for now, was the most important thing. Even though he wanted to know all about the door and the key and how it worked or didn't work. And even though he realized he might not want to know the answer. What did they know? What did they know and wasn't telling him? Probably a lot of things, but he felt that this was important.
 
Edith hesitated before answering him and went to the table, sitting down before she spoke. "I'm 72, darling. I'm not going to live forever. But it's my heart. Giving out on me. My first heart attack was just before you came to visit for Christmas. It's why I tried to give your father the Key."

She shook her head a little. "I never told your father, about my first and he's never asked. My doctor hadn't expected me to pull through, but I did, because I'm too damn stubborn to die when the doctor tells me I should have. There have been a few more small heart attacks here and there. Nothing that some rest in the hospital and an laundry list of mess hasn't been able to set right. None has been able to stop me. But it's only a matter of time. Just one big one like before, and I won't be able to handle it."

When she had finished talking, she realized with a little irritation that she had been crying. She grabbed napkin from the holder on the table and dabbed at her eyes. She was silent a moment to compose herself before she spoke again. "And here I am sobbing. I've been able to live a full and happy life. I approach the end with such fear. and Emma Jean...she charges in headfirst, even though she knows she won't live long enough to be married or have children or grandchildren. And she's done it nine times so far. Nine."

Edith sighed. "But enough about all that. Call Emma, darling. I'm going to find some lighter fluid. It's time we got rid of those straw men."
 
The muscle in Kai's cheek was twitching. It did that when he was trying not to cry, and was probably a direct result from clenching his teeth too hard. That wasn't fair. He didn't even know her. Not really. He knew about her secret now but he had been kept away from her his whole life and now she was planning on dieing? Not planning, exactly, but it still wasn't really fair. That first heart attack had been ten years ago, what made her think the next big one wouldn't be in another ten years?

One thing was for certain. Kai had been right. He hadn't really wanted to hear her answer, even if he knew in the long run it was better off that he did. That way she didn't go surprising him later. He stared down at the floor of the kitchen while she told him to go call Emma. He felt awkward with her crying. He wasn't good at comforting people, and even less with people he didn't really know. He felt that somewhere, someone had cheated him out of getting to know her. And that someone was probably his father but he wasn't willing to do down that road. Instead he just stared at the floor with his cheek twitching.

Kai did not know what to say, but he felt like he had to say something before he turned tail and ran. "You... I... I'm sorry. Don't burn them without me." It wasn't what he had wanted to say and it frustrated him that he could think of nothing better. He left the old woman in the kitchen to go to the phone, but Kai was not fooling himself. He knew calling Emma was just an excuse to get away from the situation, to not have to deal with it. Kai picked up the phone but only stared at the numbers for a few moments as he took a few deep breaths. Finally he punched in Emma Jean's number and put the device up to his ear, waiting for Emma Jean to pick up.

"We're having a bon fire, and you're invited over." He said once she picked up.
 
Emma stared straight ahead. She sped away from Edith's house seething. Her knuckles are white around the steering wheel, and the Charger kicked up a thick cloud of red dust behind her. "Thank you for protecting my grandson, Emma. I really appreciate it. Oh, perhaps you would like to come in Emma? We have fried chicken for supper." She said out loud in a mock of Edith's voice.

Somewhere on the main thoroughfare from town, to the city, Emma flipped on the radio, cringing as the local pop station came on the radio. "No, thank you...and I thought you Company people had taste." She shook her head a little, cycling through the stations until the classic rock station came on. It was a little staticky, but then Crazy Train came on and she cranked it anyway. Couldn't hear static through the music anyway.

Red and blue lights came in the rear view mirror before she got very far. Emma's heart leapt into her throat and stayed there. She looked around to see if there was anyone else on the road. No? Just her then? Wonderful.

She slowed a little, sliding over to the shoulder and was dismayed to see the police car doing the same. She threw the car into park, turned down the radio and waited. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel When she saw who approached the car, in her mirrors, she turned off the angry Emma Jean, and turned on the charming Emma Jean.

It was by pure luck she had gotten pulled over by the only cop in a twenty mile radius who would possibly let her get away with taking a car that wasn't hers. It helped that he liked comics books. Or her. She wasn't sure which.

Emma rolled down her window, sticking her elbow out. She had already formulated an excuse. She was returning the car to the rental place for Marceline, her good friend, and Marceline hadn't checked her messages cause Emma did tell her that that was the plan, and silly her, Marceline forgot. But she didn't have to use her story.

The cop leaned in the window, smiling a bit when he saw who was behind the wheel. "Hello, Emma Jean."

"Kevin. I mean Officer." Emma smiled, in that disarmingly brilliant one of hers.

"We got a report of a car stolen by the daughter of one Marceline and Jim Jones." Emma raised a brow. "Now, I know your momma and your daddy, Em, and those people who came into the station to report the car stolen weren't them. So someone's lying, and I've known you longer. But fact of the matter is that this car isn't yours, and I can't let you take it away from here, even if I let you get away with taking it in the first place. Are we clear?" Emma nodded swallowing hard. "Alright. Get your stuff, and get in. We'll sort this out when we get to the station."

Emma did as she was asked, turning off the Charger and getting into the patrol car.

Emma answered the call on the fifth ring. And instead of hello, which she had been expecting, got a spiel about a bonfire.

"You know, Kai," she said, in a slightly affected tone, "in civilized society, one generally says "hello" in response to a greeting. Perhaps a 'How are you?' or some base variant like 'Hey, baby'. That would be something." She laughed a little. "Anyway, I would love to attend a good bonfire, but I'm afraid I'm rather busy with Officer Durham, going to the police station," and at this she raised her brows to Kevin, who bobbed his head in a noncommittal way, "to be booked for stealing a car. Or..." Emma covered the phone for a moment, saying something to Kevin. She got back in the phone with a little relieved laugh. "Or not. Sometimes telling the truth is best. But he is taking me home. I can be there in an hou-" she cleared her throat, listening to Kevin speaking. "Two...three hours. He's calling my parents about the Joneses stalking me. I'll come when I can." She huddled in the passenger seat of the patrol car, speaking in a hush. "As soon as I can, okay?" Her voice had taken on a little bit of a worried tone. "The Company won't be happy that I got them in trouble with the law."
 
Kai was already worried about his Nana keeling over at any second, and now he had this to worry about too. He didn't care if Emma Jean sounded like she might be going on a field trip rather than to the police station while that officer listened in. He was worried. And not just from the police. Before she had mentioned The Company that's what he had been thinking about too. Someone wanted her for stealing a car, and they both knew who. He pursed his lips a moment, trying to think quickly but not coming up with much. He could stay here and wait or.... or what?

"Do... you need help?" He asked. "I can come... and don't tell me its safer to stay here. I'm talking about your safety, not mine." If she told him to stay here because there was nothing he could do that was fine, but he wasn't interested in hearing about his own safety at present. The fact that she even was allowed to have her cell phone in the cop car was a good sign, but she wasn't dealing with The Company at present. Kai didn't know a lot about them, but he was pretty sure they were worse than the police. He rubbed at his nose a little.

Waiting for one or two or three hours would be agonizing. If it had just been the police he could handle that, but it wasn't. Hopefully Emma's front about the Joneses stalking her would work, but he wasn't so sure. She had their car.
 
"Alright," Emma said quietly. "I won't tell you that you'll be safer with Edith. Even though we both know it's true. But so would I. And though it would be lovely to have company while I'm being reamed by my folks...don't come. My parents will probably kill me when I get home, and kill you by association. Gah, hang on." She tried to cover the mouthpiece again, but her words came through clearly. "No, Kai is not my boyfriend. Can we please just focus on my felony and not my personal life?" She came back on the phone, whispering again. "Officer Dunham's radioed in that he found the car, not the driver, so I think I'm in the clear for a while. Until they find out where I live..." She trailed off. "I'll call you in a bit, were coming up to my house now. And Kai, don't worry, alright?" She hung up the phone.

Edith waited a moment behind Kai, clearing her throat to announce her presence. When Kai turned, she shook the lighter fluid a little and held up a candle lighter. "Will we be having a guest, or is Emma busy?"
 
Kai was pretty sure that thinking her parents would kill him by association still meant that she was worrying over his safety and using it as an excuse. It was, at least, marginally better than just saying it was safer with his Nana. He chewed on his lower lip a little when she told him to hang on, and even though it was ridiculous and he wasn't even there, his cheeks came to a little darker shade of pink as he heard what was being said about him. Great.

At least this officer guy seemed to be on Emma Jean's side. Not that she was exactly in the right, but he wasn't thinking about that right then. He did wonder if Emma Jean's parents knew about her and the key. If they did, maybe they wouldn't kill her. If they didn't. Well. He supposed he would be pretty pissed off if his daughter stole a car too. He couldn't really fault them for killing her. "I"m going to worry anyway." He answered sullenly before she hung up. "Call back when you're not dead." He added, hanging up the phone too.

He heard his Nana behind him then, and he turned around to look at the lighter fluid. Despite the circumstances, seeing his old Nana with lighter fluid and a lighter was kind of humorous. As was the idea of her lighting scarecrows on fire around their house. He held his hand out for either the fluid or the lighter but shook his head. "In a manner of speaking, Emma is busy. She said she'd love to come over, but is currently being held up with the police because The Company reported the car she stole as, well, stolen." He was really hoping Nana would say something to ease his fears because Emma hadn't, despite her trying to.
 
Edith tried not to show her disapproval, and nodded her head once in response, keeping her face as neutral as possible. If this wasn't proof of the danger that followed Emma around, she didn't know what was. She knew that it wasn't exactly the girl's fault. It was the Company forcing her to choose less than savory means in order to get away from them. That she understood. And she understood as well that Emma was trying to make sure Kai didn't get caught up in Company business, since he didn't have the Key to protect him yet. But that didn't mean Emma could not have chosen differently. "We haven't had to deal with the Company being so...proactive before. But the scarecrows are still just straw men, so we can send the Company a little message of our own." She smiled. "Emma will be just fine, you know. She's had lifetimes of dealing with authorities."

Edith lead the way outside to the circle of scarecrows. She strode right up to one, with the confidence that the protection that the Key had gifted her, and ripped off the scarecrows hat. She nodded to the lettering on its forehead to point them out to Kai. The letters were in an unfamiliar script, one on top of the other.

Edith opened the lighter fluid splashing it over the body of the scarecrow as she spoke.
"Annabelle told me that the Company had brought many Ianusian inventions to earth through one of the gates. When they were discovered, they were banished. They brought back things like these golems."

Edith wrinkled her nose at the smell of the lighter fluid, and turned her head to Kai. "Ianusia is...well, it's a place where science and magic are the same thing. See the lettering there on the forehead? There are four characters required to bring the golem to life. But the last is smudged a little." She traced the line of letters from the bottom to the top where the hat has been sitting. "If it were solid, they would be fully alive as they were before; able to act on their mission. But smudged, they can only move and stare." Edith glared up into the lifeless button eyes of the scarecrow, with a wicked little smile, and then motioned to Kai. "Light it."
 
Nana was, apparently, not the best at comfort either. Maybe he got it from her then. He sighed quietly, wishing that three hours had come and gone. Instead he took the lighter from her and then followed his Nana outside. He stayed on the porch for now, not really certain he should be following her out into the open in the middle of a ring of scarecrows. He only drew nearer when his Nana wanted to show him the letters. He couldn't see them from the porch, so he came closer.

He studied it a moment, wondering if the golems looked like this in Ianusia or something else. Maybe they'd just been stuck in those bodies. Either way, he didn't think he'd be touching them even if they weren't 100%. Like Nana had said, they could still move. And all strangling took was to move. And then, suddenly, he realized something. "Erm..." He said, not really wanting to argue with the old woman but also suddenly very concerned. He did not light the scarecrow yet, looking up at the woman instead. "What if we do light it, and the thing, well, moves. Like you said it could. And... I mean the house isn't that far away and its made of wood, so..."

Kai could just see it now. The two of them lighting one of these suckers on fire only to destroy the entire house and whatever else was in there. That would not be good even without an evil company looking to steal from you out there beyond the cornfields.
 
Edith stepped back from the scarecrow, going to where Kai was. She set down the lighter fluid on the porch rail, then took his shoulders gently. She turned him slightly so he could see the ring the scarecrows made round the house. They stood in a nearly perfect circle, evenly spaced so there was about six feet in between them. There was a gap over the dirt road where Emma had plowed the four scarecrows over. So far none had come to take the place of those that were now strewn about the road. "They have come no further than that line they are in. And they have not gone away on their own either. Why is that, do you think?"

She didn't wait for an answer, but pulled the Key from under her shirt, letting it rest on the top. The scarecrows directly in front of the porch started moving, coming closer to each other, but could not move forward. Perhaps the line was not so arbitrary after all. "They cannot come closer. They want to, now that they can see the Key, but the Key holds them where it wants. When you take the Key, the protection will stay. It's primary function, other than opening the Gate is protecting the Gatekeeper. The rest...making doorways and talking to Jude...those are just extra benefits that you will have to learn."

She smiled a little. "The lighter fluid serves a purpose. They are straw men, of course they will burn. It just makes them burn faster, so they can't get away. Now, light it." She said, splashing another with the lighter fluid.
 
Kai wasn't sure what his Nana was doing, moving him like that, until she asked her question. He was about to open his mouth to answer before she already moved the key out on top of her clothes again. Involuntarily, he jumped, even if he was pretty sure they could not come any closer. He couldn't help it. Those moving scarecrows were damn creepy. He listened to his Nana though as she continued. Alright. He could understand that. He just hadn't been sure, since at least one had gotten into the house before Jude stopped it.

He smiled a bit when Nana did and then nodded. He would light it. He felt at least a little more empowered by that. He knew the key protected, but this was a better show of that. It also made him a little more ticked that Emma Jean had not been allowed to stay, but he forgot about that for now. Right now, this was about burning these damn scarecrows. He stood up and moved towards the scarecrow. Using the lighter he promptly set aflame the two his Nana had doused in fluid, stepping back quickly from the straw men that quickly became ash, the flames engulfing the scarecrows almost instantly. Kai's eyes widened a little and he let out a soft breath. Wow.
 
The rest of the scarecrows were taken care of in short order. She had allowed Kai to set the rest on fire on his own, keeping the Key outside of her clothes to attract the scarecrows closer. By the thirtieth one burnt to ash, they had wised up and attempted to flee. A few slipped back into the cornfield or the wood, moving too far outside of the barrier to risk going after them.

Edith sat on the porch in the shade, fanning herself with her hand and watched as the last remaining scarecrow vanished in ash and smoke. The scent of burning hay was not pleasant, coupled with the scent of hot dirt. Edith wiped a bit of sweat from her brow, beckoning Kai back to the porch. "It's getting too warm for all this." She said in a dissatisfied tone, and stood, opening up the front door again. She waited for Kai to go inside ahead of her. The dark house was slightly cooler than outside, and was a welcome change. Edith hovered near an air register for a moment, trying to suck up the cool air before giving up and heading back to the kitchen for some lemonade and the frigid air of the icebox instead. "A job well done." She said with a little smile, pouring him a glass of lemonade.

The rest of the day was spent indoors. Edith served a lunch of leftovers, and dinner would be much the same. Edith spent her time knitting and puttering around the house with chores, leaving Kai to his own devices. The phone rang shortly after nine. Edith was in the process of going to bed, after staying up a few more hours to finish what she had been knitting. She looked to Kai, shrugging a little. "I'll let you get it. It's probably Emma anyway. If not...say I'm already asleep." She smiled, patting his shoulder, and took herself upstairs.

It was Emma on the phone. "I'm calling from the Great Beyond." She said, whispering, "cause I have officially died. Funny, though cause death looks a lot like my room. Or my closet, tucked as far back in my clothes as I can be so they won't hear me talking and figure out that I have more than one mobile phone. How's it going?"
 
The Burning of the Scarecrows (or so it would be remembered in Kai's head so long as nothing else drastic happened), helped to take Kai's mind off of what, exactly, was happening with Emma Jean. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Kai had practically sweat through his shirt, and he found himself wishing he'd brought more clothes at the rate he was dirtying up what he had brought. It was just too hot here, especially with the scarecrows burning. When Nana wanted them to go back inside he didn't argue. He came right in, putting the lighter and what was left of the fluid on the porch as he passed inside the house. Kai took the lemonade almost instantly when it was offered to him, drinking half of it as soon as he got it but then nursing the rest. "Thanks."

Kai ended up taking a shower before lunch, and didn't mind the leftovers for either lunch or dinner. The longer he was in the house, the more his worry gnawed at him though. He attempted to distract himself by reading on his Nook, taking it downstairs to read on the old, worn out couch while Nana knitted. He'd help out with the chores occasionally, but mostly he was just trying not to worry. A part of him knew that worry served no purpose, but a larger part of him couldn't exactly control how he felt.

When the phone rang at last, he looked up at it and then at Nana, nodding obediently at her instructions. "Okay. Goodnight Nana." He said before he went to pick up the phone. Hearing Emma's voice on the other end of the line was a relief, and he smiled a bit and shook his head. "Its fine over here." he answered, and even though he didn't have to he was whispering too. Probably only because Emma Jean was. He hardly noticed he was whispering, really. "All the scarecrows are gone, we burned nearly all of them and the rest ran back into the fields." He let her know. "What happened at the station?" And more importantly, what happened with The Company?
 
"Nothing. We didn't go. And why are you whispering? Are you dead too?" She chuckled a little, changing positions. She was cramped in her closet, but managed to stretch out along a pile of clothes that had fallen from their hangers.

"Kev--Officer Durham and I came to an understanding based on lies and promises of future favors. I owe him a date in...eight months, when I'm 'legal' because apparently the only reason he has bought so many comic books in the last few months was because I was there to make the sales." Emma grimaced a little, but she could not be upset about it. This girl with the slightly...looser morals was one she had not yet been. In fact, most of the other "Hers" were so straight-laced that was she getting bored of not calling attention to herself. The future 'date' was getting off easy. After all, it was very likely that she would never make it eight more months to her eighteenth birthday, especially with the Company sniffing around now. She shuddered a little, and kept talking at a rapid pace to keep her mind off it.

"He brought me to my house instead of the station. As far as he is concerned, the Charger was abandoned on the side of the road. The official report to the police is that the Charger was stolen but was recovered without the driver. Also, the couple who reported the missing car are weirdly interested in me, perhaps for some child slave ring, which is an idea I might have come up with on the fly, and insinuated to Durham, and it's not perfect, but now the county police has been alerted to them, and it will keep the Company on their toes, if not a little pissed off at me. Oops. Officer Durham told my parents he had found me walking on the highway to town and picked me up. I told my parents that I forgot to call and tell them that I was spending the night with you. With Edith's permission, of course. So lie, if you're asked. You won't be asked."

Emma grinned a little and finally paused to take a breath, before launching into another breathless tirade. "My parents have taken my phone and my keys and I'm supposed to be confined to my room until the weekend, with the exception of work, which they will take me to and pick me up afterwards, cause this might be the seventh time I have stayed out overnight without them knowing, and they usually have a three strikes rule, but I've done exhausted a whole inning of strikes by myself. Or something. That was a horrible metaphor. Anyway...so unless I sneak out of the house again, which is possible, I'm stuck here."
 
Kai smiled a little more when she asked why he was whispering. "I dont know..." He answered, still whispering. He let her talk though, wanting to know what all had happened while he had been out torching scarecrows and then reading. He shook his head at that ridiculousness. Torching scarecrows. He'd never even seen a scarecrow until he came here. Only pictures during the autumn season.

He wrinkled his nose about the idea of Emma going on a date with that officer though. Guys who found underage girls desirable were kind of disgusting, even if Emma looked way older than she was. What with that and her not even being taken to the station and everything else, he was beginning to seriously question the authorities here. He wound his finger around the cord of the phone as he listened. If he wanted to say anything about anything, he hardly had time to. Emma Jean was going full speed ahead in what she was telling him, but at least it felt good to finally know what was going on around here.

"You have a pretty amazing brain, to be thinking of that child slave ring." He started off. He leaned against the wall since the cord wasn't quite long enough to reach the couch. "Your parents are kinda harsh, huh?" He stayed out loads of times without saying anything, but then his parents often did too so they couldn't say much. He drummed his fingers against his thigh, wondering what to do now. "Well, I'm pretty sure I'm also stuck in the house for a while. Nana went a bit crazy with the safety measures here." He glanced at the closed curtains and then away again. He sighed. "I'm glad you're okay though... So... what... do you do now? I mean... do you guys just sit round and... wait for The Company to make the next move or...?"
 
"'You guys?' Don't you mean 'we'? You're in this too whether you want to be or not. Edith is going to give you the Key. It's just a matter of time, you know." She hoped it would be sooner rather than later. And she hoped that Edith was at least telling him something about the Key and what it could do, so he would not be completely in the dark when she finally gave it to him. At least this time trying to pass the Key on was going better for Edith. At least, she hoped so.

"I don't know what to do." Emma Jean answered honestly after a silent moment of contemplation. "This is all brand new to me. I can say that I don't like it. I like spoilers. I like knowing what coming up next. I don't want to just sit around and wait for something to happen, even though it seems that's all we can do." She sighed into the phone, falling quiet once more. "I know what I have to do to end it all. If I die, the Key does too, and the Company goes back to where they came from, and everyone is safe for another seven years. But...I don't want to. I've never wanted to, it just happens, which I can live with. Or not." She laughed mirthlessly. "It's just--There has to be a better way."

She pulled away from the phone, listening to the footsteps outside her door. She heard her mom calling her, tapping on the door softly. "Crap. Hush a moment." She said, stashing the phone under some clothes. She stumbled out of the closet, pulling on the tanktop that she had one already in an attempt to cover her tracks. "Geeze, can't I get ready for bed in peace?" Emma said.

"Were you talking to someone?" The suspicious tone in her mom's voice was obvious. As was Emma's retort.

"Just myself, now that I've been banned from civilization."

Her mother didn't give in, and instead launched into a full detailing of Emma's day tomorrow as she bustled about the room, picking up dirty clothes. She was to get up, her father would take her to work, her mother would pick her up, and then take her to the store to get a bottle of wine and those pastries that Mrs. Petersen likes, because Emma was being forced along to dinner with the Petersens because Mr. Petersen was retiring, and Emma's father was his best friend since college, so of course they had to be there, and didn't Emma Jean like Grayson Petersen, way back in third grade? because he will be there, and perhaps she could be civilized and nice to the Petersens since Grayson would be there. Emma made a sound of disgust, and her mother, being falsely apologetic, reminded her that she normally would not make Emma go, but a phone call home takes two minutes, and not being escorted by police back home on time is usually the way one would do things.

Emma waited as her mother finally cleared out of her room, and waited until she heard her mom go downstairs to go back to the phone. This time, she whispered. "Still there I hope?"
 
"Yes, we. Except I was asking what you guys do because I haven't done it yet." He pointed out. If she wanted to quarrel about grammar with him, he could do that. But then she finally answered him as to what to do, the answer less than satisfactory. He rubbed at his face a little bit and then sighed. Kai didn't think sitting around and doing nothing was a good idea. They should be... preparing somehow or something. Getting rid of The Company in some way, maybe. As soon as he thought that though, Kai had no idea what that meant because he wasn't alright with killing anyone. He was only 15.... "I don't want you to die either..."

He was drawn back to the phone when she told him to shush, quiet and not saying anything. Either it was her parents or worse, so he just strained to listen as Emma Jean left the phone on but away from her.

He could really only hear half of the conversation, but honestly Kai felt her parents were being just a TAD ridiculous if they didn't even know about her stealing the car. Just for not coming home on time? Yup, pretty ridicuous. "Still here." Kai whispered back. He rubbed at his face again and then let out a soft sigh. "Emma Jean, why does the key die if you do too?"
 
Emma hesitated. Her parents were probably already in bed, and she was in her closet, so she could tell him. She wanted to tell him. But in the end she said, "You certainly know how to ask the questions that will take a year to explain, don't you? I can't go into the details, but...the key is like a Horcrux, Harry. Just doesn't contain a Dark Lord soul fragment. Yes, I realize that opens up another thousand questions. No, I won't answer them now, cause we'll be up all night long. And no, that's not a bad thing, but if I'm gonna be up with you all night, there's got to be pizza and bad horror movies and Ben and Jerry's."

Emma laughed a little, and then sighed. " And I just... I would really rather tell you everything face to face, kay? Yes, I realize it will be a few days until that can happen. Think you could be patient that long?" Her tone was slightly admonishing, slightly good-humored. "Alright. I gotta go and sleep if I must work with Monroe and go to dinner with the Petersens while being targeted by an ultra evil corporation of super villains who are also child slave ringleaders. Or something. G'night Kai." She hung up without awaiting a response. She felt she had to. If she would have given him another minute to talk, she would have spilled everything, every single secret she had, without much coercion on his part, and they would be up all night, and into the morning dealing with the can of worms that would open.

Emma climbed from the closet after stashing her phone inside and stood in her room for a few moments, spinning slowly to take in the mess. It was a mess. But it was her mess. Emma Jean's mess, not Emily's or Dorothea's or Alma-Ann's or whoever else she had been once. And she wanted it to stay that way. She liked who she is. Was...had been?

---

Edith was up with the dawn, preparing a light breakfast of toast and scrambled eggs and coffee. She was intending to show Kai the doors again, to let him have the Key, and show him just how to draw them. With her help of course. Until he came to wear the Key all the time, he would not be able to do it himself. She had glanced out of the windows the first thing, and noticed with a particular thrill that the house was clear of the ring of scarecrows. Apparently the survivors hadn't regained the gall to try to terrorize them again. Yet. But she was still in a rather good mood. Kai had seemed to enjoy himself, at last, yesterday, and she was bound to make sure that continued.

She was sitting at the kitchen table, poring over the crossword with a steaming cup of coffee at her side when he came down. "Morning!" She said cheerfully.
 
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