Chapter One: When you spend or live recklessly, things inevitably backfire

Paul gets a reality check, and Kris wants to check her reality. Alicia's research begins anew with disheartening results.

Paul woke up to his beeping alarm clock. He rolled over with a moan and hit the snooze button. Pulling his comforter over his face, he waited. Seconds later, he heard thunderous steps approaching. His door swung open and the steps quieted as Espe jumped onto him. “Oh!” Paul exhaled.

            He quickly sat up, wrapping his comforter around her. She squealed in delight. “Ah, Buenos días, Espe!” Paul greeted, dramatically looking around and pretending to not see her. “Espe?”

            Espe popped out from under the comforter. “I’m here!” She declared with a laugh.

            Paul smiled and ruffled her hair. “Good morning, querida. How’d you sleep?”

            She laid her head on his lap with a yawn. “Great, I dreamt that we had gotten a puppy and that Tae moved in with us.”

            “Qué? Why would Tae move in with us?” Paul asked as he stroked her hair.

            She giggled. “Because you like him,” She teased.

            He smiled. “Well, no sé sobre him moving in,” He said. “I haven’t told him que me gusta el, so-”

            “Dile!”

            “That’s so embarazoso, Espe,” Paul responded. “I don’t tell you to confess your feelings to the person you like.”

            “Porque I don’t like anyone!”

Paul placed his hand over his heart. “You don’t even like me?” He asked, sounding more hurt than he was.

Espe sat up and hugged Paul. “Bromeando! Te quiero!”

He gave her a quick squeeze before standing up. “Te quiero también,” Paul replied. “Ahora, we need to get you ready para la escuela.”

Espe slid off the bed and trudged out of the room. Paul followed her, trying to encourage her. “Come on, querida,” He said. “I’ll make breakfast, while you get dressed. Tú quieres huevos con queso?”

“Sí!” She answered before running back to her room.

Paul went to the kitchen, pulling out a pan and a carton of eggs. He took out a bowl when his phone started to ring. Setting the bowl on the counter, he ran to answer his phone in the other room. He glanced at the caller ID and froze. He took a deep breath before answering. “Hola papá,” Paul answered. “How are you?”

“I’m pissed frankly,” A gruff voice with a strong accent started. “How the hell did you spend four thousand dollars in one day?”

“I can expla-”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses,” He interrupted. “You have no concept of money, do you? How can I get it through your thick head that spending money has consequences? Do I need to cut you off?”

“Cut me off? How would I take care of Espe then?”

“Esperanza would come home and live with us, of course. And you, you wasteful idiot, will be left to fend for yourself.”

Paul moved the phone away from his face to breathe. Tearing up, he rubbed his eyes. “Please don’t take Espe home,” Paul said, trying to keep his voice steady. “She likes it here and the school she’s going to is one of the best in the state. Her education is critical to her success. You want her to go to an ivy league school, right?”

There was silence on the other end. A brief pause of consideration. “If you want Esperanza to stay with you, you need to get a job.”

“I promise I’ll get a job,” Paul assured. “You won’t regret this.”

“I expect a payment of half that expense to see you mean business.”

“Of course, I’ll get right on it. Have a good day.”

Paul hung up quickly to avoid any more insults from his father. He sighed and tucked his phone into his pocket. While returning to the kitchen, he spotted Espe standing in the hall. “Hey, querida, you ready? I’m a bit atrasado.”

He cracked eggs into the bowl and added shredded cheese to it before stirring rapidly. He turned on the stove. “I’m ready,” Espe answered, sitting at the counter. “Was that papá?”

“Yeah,” Paul replied while checking to make sure the pan is hot. “He wants me to get un trabajo.”

Pouring the egg mixture into the pan, he continued, “Which got me thinking that we might as well get un coche, so I can drive to work and transport you to all your various activities.”

He stirred the eggs. “Un auto would be bueno,” Espe commented. “If papá is telling you to work, then you better do it because I like the friends that I have.”

Paul chuckled as he scraped the eggs onto a plate. “Alright, mi querida. I’d hate to disappoint you.”

+++++

            Paul sat on his couch and turned on the TV after walking Espe to school. He already put in several applications to employers he would be willing to work for and was waiting for a response. Flipping through the channels, he spotted the Katte’s Meow. He leaned forward.

            “New footage of the serial convenience store robber has been released to the public,” Wilson declared. “Let’s go to the clip.”

            Paul watched in awe as the show switched to a grainy video. A woman facing away from the camera slipped on a mask and approached the counter. She held up her hand threateningly when two people in black burst into view. The woman ran to the back aisle while the lead person seemed distracted. The person lifted their arms and vines stretched out to grab the woman. The woman fought off the vigilantes one at a time before fleeing the store. The video freezes as one vigilante removes their mask, revealing something like the robber’s appearance. “So, this first vigilante,” Maddox started, voicing over the video. “Is clearly Ink from the animal mask gang. As you can see, he has a new costume and a new partner.”

            Wilson nodded. “The partner looks vaguely familiar to the robber however the image is not clear enough to determine her identity,” She commented. “Now, I do want to mention that the vigilantes paid for the damages caused by the robber, so there is some hope that they have distinctly strong morals.”

            Maddox raised his hand, gaining the attention of his co-anchor. “Wait a minute,” He said. “Ink and his associates have been tied to another violent incident. A telekinetic criminal was stopped by this league of vigilantes. The Bureau has revealed that one of the vigilantes electrocuted him and had to resuscitate him. While, I’m glad that this criminal was stopped, I think that this league’s response was taking it too far.”

            Paul tensed, wondering where this was going. “How do you know it was the same group?”

            “Police stated that Coral was present at the crime scene,” Maddox explained. “Coral stopped a bank robber with Ink a while ago, connecting Ink and his new associate to this incident. That means that at least five people are in this league.”

            “The league that formerly wore animal masks,” Wilson clarified before a lull fell over the studio. “…I am beginning to worry that they are taking their form of justice too far. If they get any more violent, then the police might need to stop them.”

            Maddox scowled and shuffled his notes. “We have, in fact, asked if the police would be willing to detain and arrest the animal mask gang, but they have no comment.”

This wasn’t a good sign to Paul; he knew that the police wanted to arrest Kris alongside Mason the other day, but she flew off before they could. He was lost in his thoughts as Wilson asked, “What do you think of all of this, Thurston?”

“If I must state my opinion on this group, I would say that I appreciate the work that they do trying to curb crime. Their presence has deterred some types of crimes, returning the crime rate to normal, especially for public crimes. So, I think that they have a purpose, but are overstepping their bounds by being as aggressive as the criminals they capture.”

“Nicely put as always,” Wilson complimented. “And now to Bronte with our hourly weather upda-”

Paul changed the channel with a sigh. They needed to step up their game. Maddox was right. They need to be better than the criminals.

+++++

            Kris opened the door to Callithump, spotting Oliver behind the counter. She wrung her hands behind her back but put on a smile. “Oh good,” Kris started. “You’re here.”

            He stopped making someone’s drink, facing her with a wrinkled brow. “Hey, I got your email,” He said softly. “You don’t need to be here.”

            Kris walked to the counter and leaned on it. “It just wanted to say it to your face, man,” Kris said, looking at her hands. “I’m going to take a leave of absence to deal with some mental health issues.”

            Oliver reached over, placing a hand supportively on her shoulder. “I understand. Take your time,” He responded. “You will always have a job here. I mean, until you don’t want it.”

            Kris smiled faintly. “Thank you so much.”

            She wrapped him in the best hug she could with a counter in the way. “I hope you feel better soon,” He whispered.

            “Me too,” She replied before leaving.

            On the street, she pulled out her phone and called Molly. “Hello?” Molly answered.

            Kris started walking home, setting a slow pace to give herself all the time she needed. “Hey, coz.”

            “What’s up?”

            “Something sudden has come up. An opportunity that I can’t let slide, so I’m going to Canada.”

            “Canada?” Molly repeated, surprised.

            Kris winced, but continued her lie. “Yeah, my friend Hazel has family up there. She wanted me to come with her on this next trip. I said yes because you know I’ve always wanted to go to Canada.”

            “Yeah,” Molly said with some doubt. “Ya love our syrupy sweet Northern neighbors.”

            “I just wanted to tell you now because where we’re going is remote, like no cell service, so I won’t be able to call you.”

            Kris waited as Molly took her time to respond. “Alright, I guess bring me back souvenir,” Molly said, using her upbeat costumer voice. “I hope you have fun, but stay safe!”

            Kris smiled with a furrowed forehead. “I’ll try to be safe. I’ll tell you about it when I get back… I love you, Molly.”

            “Aw, I love you too, Kris.”

            Kris hung up with a quiet bye. She hurried home, knocking on the door. Q opened the door and let her in. “How did it all go?” Q asked as Kris went to sit down.

            Q joined her on the couch, placing their head in her lap. Kris stroked their hair, trying to soothe herself as much as Q. “It was good. Oliver was kind. Molly was suspicious, but she’s giving me space, which is good.”

             They reached up and touched Kris’s cheek. “I don’t want you to go,” Q said softly.

            “It’ll be okay,” Kris responded. “You can stay here, no problem. I left you enough money to survive for a few weeks without me. If Paul asks about me, simply tell him that I’m on a mission and that I’ll update him when I’m done.”

            Q made a distressed humming noise. “If I get into trouble,” Kris began. “Then please break me out of Flare. You will be on my call list, so I’ll call you and give you a code word to come rescue me.”

            “A code word? Can I pick it?”

            Kris grinned. “Sure, it’ll be something to remember you by.”

            Kris kept petting them as they thought. “Hm,” Q said. “It should be a phrase… I got it! Ask how your dog is.”

            “Because I don’t have a dog, you’ll know something’s up while anybody overhearing the conversation won’t.”

            “Exactly!” Q responded, beaming up at her.

            Kris cupped their face with both of her hands. “Oh, sweet child, never change.”

            Kris carefully moved Q off her lap. “I gotta get going,” Kris said abruptly. “My appointment with Horns is in half an hour.”

            Kris stood up and stretched. Q lurched into an upright position. “I’m going to miss you,” They declared.

            Q tackled Kris in a hug. “I’m going to miss you too,” Kris said, squeezing them tight. “It’s crazy to think it, but you are closest friend I have right now.”

            Q chuckled, trying not to tear up. They rubbed at their eyes with the palm of their hand, responding, “Of course, I am, I live with you. How much closer can you get?”

            Kris faltered for a second, tempted to stay with Q indefinitely. She had to remind herself why she was going to Flare in the first place. “I’m doing this for you, to help you figure out your identity. I don’t think I’ve ever done anything this risky before… Honestly, I think it’s because I love you.”

            “I love you too.”

            Kris let go of Q and left the apartment.

+++++

            Kris paced in Dr. Horns’ office, eager to get on with the plan. “I will be honest with you, doc,” Kris said, refraining from sitting in her haste. “I don’t think I can take care of myself on my own anymore… It might be safer if you admit me.”

            Dr. Horns leaned back in his seat. “May I see your arms?” He asked, keeping his tone neutral.

            Kris pulled up her sleeves to reveal fresh pin pricks scattered about. Horns stood up and Kris moved her sleeves back, hoping that her willingness wouldn’t be suspicious. He said, “I think it would be best if you seek treatment here as an in-patient.”

            Kris’s shoulders sagged in relief. Watching him pick up his telephone, Kris noticed that he kept steady eye contact with her. She stiffened. “Hello? Yes? I would like you to prepare a room. We have someone checking in.”

            Horns smiled in a way that was supposed to reassure Kris, but it didn’t help. Now that she was in, all she wanted to do was get the information and get out. A nurse soon arrived, leading Kris to her room where she was forced to change into one of their uniforms and given thick mitten-like gloves that cinched at the wrist, so she couldn’t take them off on her own. Kris wandered her small room, composed of only a bed and a window, and waited.

            It felt like hours before someone appeared at her door with a soft knock. They let themselves in, and unfortunately, it was just a nurse. With a small cupful of pills. “Hello,” Kris said amiably.

            “Hello,” The nurse replied. “I’m here to give you your medicine.”

            “Okay,” Kris responded, holding out a mitt to take the cup. “What are they for?”

            Kris downed the pills with some water while the nurse answered, “One pill is an antidepressant and the other is an antianxiety.”

            “Cool,” Kris mumbled, wondering when she was diagnosed with those things. She straightened up and asked, “How soon can I see Dr. Horns?”

            The nurse shook her head sadly. “You just had your appointment with him,” She said. “You’ll have your next one during your usual time, so regrettably next Wednesday.”

            Kris sighed and turned away. The nurse left, gently closing the door behind her. Kris flopped onto her bed. “Great,” She droned, cradling her head in her mitts. “I’ll just start asking that asshat questions next week.”

+++++

            “Congratulations,” Pagel greeted as Alicia walked into to the lab. “Your mice are dying.”

            “Which mice?” She quickly asked, tossing her bag onto a counter and rushing to the small closet-type room to check the mice under the fume hood.

            Alicia looked into a cage to see a mouse stare back at her. It was very still but appeared to be healthy. “They look fine,” She said. “Unchanged even.”

            Pagel appeared in the doorway, rolling his eyes. “No, the long-term venom mice,” Pagel commented.

            Alicia brushed past him to check on the other mice. He reluctantly followed. She noticed that half of the cages had dead mice; the rest were sluggishly moving around. She opened a cage and took a carcass out. Moving its limbs and opening its mouth, Alicia was unsure what caused its death. “What happened?”

            Watching her examination Pagel shrugged. “My best guess is that the venom caused liver damage,” He answered. “But we would need to dissect them to determine if that’s the case.”

            Alicia returned the corpse to its cage. “Alright,” She said, turning to their notes. “How many doses did it take?”

            “This was from fifty doses, although they probably started getting sluggish around forty-five.” 

            “So, we should dissect the mice that are already dead. Should we kill the mice that are still alive or wait for them to die?”

            “We could wait to see if they recover,” Pagel said dryly, clearly doubting that they will. “I will book us a time in the morgue if you would be so kind to give our Orange Day mice another chemical spray treatment.”

            Going to the closet, Alicia responded, “I’ll get on that.”

            She pulled out a hazmat suit and put it on. She awkwardly nodded to Pagel as he picked up the receptor of the land line. She walked to the fume hood, shutting the door behind her. She readied the chemical spray bottle and lifted the hood. “Air on,” She ordered, opening a cage.

            The fume hood whooshed to life. She grabbed a subject, noticing its docile behavior. She adjusted her grip and the mouse sat in her palm unmoving. She was unsure what it could mean, but figured she could hypothesize with Pagel once he was off the phone. She carefully sprayed its coat before returning it to its cage. She proceeded to spray the other twenty-nine subjects, noting that they all had similar responses to the first one.

+++++

            Paul brooded over the television when his phone started to ring. He saw that it was an unfamiliar number as he answered. “Hello, this is Paul De La Rosa,” He said. “How can I help you?”

            “Good morning,” A woman with a stern, baritone voice said. “I am Renee Hudson, the principal of Echo Creek Academy.”

            Paul stood up, his body jumping to high alert. “Oh, good morning, ma’am,” Paul responded, taken aback.

            “I received your email this morning, detailing your bachelor’s degree in psychology and your internship at Kattegat Mental Hospital. I would like you to work for the academy as a counselor. Our previous one left quite suddenly, so I want to hire you on a preliminary basis. If you perform well, then you can keep the job.”

            “Of course!” Paul said eagerly. “I’d be happy to work at your school. How soon do you want me to start?”

            “Can you come in tomorrow at 7:30?”

            “Yes, I can. I’ll see you there!”

            “All right, have a nice day, Mr. De La Rosa.”

            “You too, Principal Hudson.”

            Paul quickly hung up. Cheering and whooping, he jumped around the room. He glanced at his phone, contemplating calling Soman or Kris. He decided against it because he knew both were at work. He could go get a car instead. He suddenly froze with the thought of his father. Shaking his doubts off, Paul convinced himself that a car is a necessary expense.

He rushed to the table, grabbing his wallet and keys, and left his apartment. He went to the nearby bus stop, waiting and rocking on his heels. When the bus came, he boarded it and rode it all the way down to Randy Barnier’s Used Car Dealership. He recalled the homemade tv advert they had with its poor acting and screen wipes between cuts and smiled. Paul was more than happy to buy a car from that enthusiastic family business.

He got off the bus a short distance away from the dealership before quickly walking there. It was a small lot with around twenty cars. Paul was able to wander most of it before a salesman found him. “Hello there, how are you doing this fine day?” He asked.

Paul smiled politely and answered, “I am doing great this fine day! I just got a job, so I was looking to buy a car.”

“Congratulations!” The salesman said with genuine warmth. “What are you looking for?”

Paul turned to face the lot. He knew which one he wanted within minutes of looking around. “You’re going to laugh, but I think I want a minivan.”

The salesman grinned, but responded kindly. “Why would I laugh? Minivans are very versatile, with plenty of space and good mileage. Our best one is that blue one over there. It’s the newest one we got and it was hardly used, less than five thousand miles on it.”

Paul nodded, grinning sheepishly. “Actually, that was the one I was looking at. I’ll take it.”

“Great, if you’ll step inside with me, we can have you outta here and in that car in less than an hour.”

“Bueno.”

+++++

            Paul drove up to Espe’s elementary school and parked. He stepped out of his minivan and walked to the front of the school as it was getting out. A crowd of children rushed out of the front doors. They swarmed past him, heading to various cars, buses, and parents. He spotted Espe in bright blue as she skipped out the door with friends. “Espe! Estoy aquí!” He shouted, waving.

            Espe saw him and ran over, shouting goodbye to the friends she left behind. “Hola hermano, how are you?”

            Paul took her hand. “I’m great,” He responded with a smile. “You’ll never guess what happened hoy.”

            He slowly led her towards the car as she jumped up, answering, “You got a job!”

            Her optimism was adorable. He stopped by the car. “Not just that…Also tengo un coche!” He declared, gesturing to it.

            “Guau!” Espe abandoned him to go touch the car. “This is yours!?”

            Paul pulled out the keys and unlocked it. “Sí, get in.”

            She frolicked around the front to sit in the passenger seat. Paul climbed into the driver seat. They buckled up. Espe leaned forward, looking into the glove compartment and the dash. “When do you start work?” She asked, flipping open the visor and immediately shutting it.

            Paul snatched Espe’s hand away from the emergency brake. “Hey, cuidadoso!” He chided, placing her hand in her lap. “I start mañana.”

            Espe bounced in her seat as he pulled out of the parking lot. “Podemos get up and get ready juntos! Instead of you going back dormir después you drop me off.”

            “You are mala conmigo,” Paul commented lightly, to which Espe shook her head in disbelief. “Pero, I’m happy, so let’s celebrate esta noche.”

            “Celebremos? Cómo?”

            “I’ll cook dinner for us,” Paul answered confidently, taking a turn. “And I’ll make un postre también. What would you want?”

            “Un pastel chocolate!” She cheered.

            “Oh ho, fuerte answer, querida. Do you want me to handmake it or get it from una caja?”

            “Either,” She responded. “Do I still tengo que ir practice?”

            “Claro! We can have cena, then voy a hornear a cake while you are en la práctica, so you can enjoy it cuando you get home.”

            Espe temporarily pouted, but quickly got over it, watching in amazement as Paul parallel parked close to their apartment building. She grinned. “Cool!”

            They got out of the car as Espe realized something. “Did you tell papá yet?”

            Paul grimaced.