Chicago Margravates: Closest Thing To Home

"Catherwood, good to see you!" The grizzled cop had just opened the door of his suburban home to see the visage of one of his closest friends standing in the threshold. "I see you didn't do the driving!"
"You know me, Ricky. These suburbs are a tougher labyrinth than The Hedge." The friend in question looked worried. More worried than I've ever seen him before, He surmised. Ricky's friend came in before being invited, brushing past him with haste into the room he was all too familiar with.
"I told you ten years ago we should have told her. She's my daughter; I could have prepared her for this!" Ricky was upset.
Catherwood remained calm. "Prepared her for what? The day she found out normal is no longer an option?" Catherwood failed to notice the young girl coming into the living room from the kitchen, a fresh cup of water in her hand. She was shaking, spilling small droplets of water on the ground. Catherwood sighed, angry at himself for not seeing her there.
"Rita..." Ricky trailed off. This was his only daughter, or at least the one he had a chance to raise. He felt like a failure. He thought since he couldn't save the other one, at least this Rita he could protect.
"Sit down on the couch, dear. We need to talk." Catherwood tried to sound calm, but his worries about the Head-Taker could not be assuaged. The 'original' Rita, although Catherwood hated the term, was calling herself that, and had made her intentions of killing his Rita all too clear.
Rita had a hard time keeping back the tears. Her friend, her uncle, sat beside her, but he was different. The wooden man covered in bark and paint looked like the man she loved as family, but he looked like a monster out of a storybook, although she reminded herself that she only met her first 'monster' a few days prior. "O-okay."
"Rita, I must be honest with you. I'm scared for your safety and I don't think I can protect you on my own. Ibis is out of the country; Jericho and Gawain are tending to things in Boston, and the others have larger tasks before them. Besides, none of them have dealt with what I fear you may have to. But no matter what I will keep you safe. I know of a place where they keep people like us safe and away from harm. You're not the first person I've taken there. It's just on the other side of town, so you wouldn't have to change jobs or move away from your family, and I'll be checking in on you as much as they'll let me."
"I'm s-s-sorry, b-but, how can I trust these strangers?" Rita couldn't bring herself to give her uncle eye-contact.
"Rita, please, Catherwood knows what he's doing, and I trust him with my life." Ricky softly grabbed his daughter's hands. "Your mom and I... we've seen him protect others who went through exactly what you are going through... I wish I knew how to help but I don't, other than to tell you that he knows what he's doing".
"W-what is this p-place?" Rita's eyes still avoided Catherwood's gaze.
"It's called Fontaine Industries. It is my home, and it is the closest thing to home where you can be safe." He used two fingers under her chin to raise her head, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Just trust me." His smile was kind and knowing, making her feel the warmth and comfort of a familial bond.
The rest of the day was fairly quiet. Rita was put into the backseat of Catherwood's vintage four-door. Soon they picked up Suzy, who knew far more about what Rita was going through than any of them. From there it was off to Rita's apartment to pick up some of her things, where Catherwood gave her a rifle to keep under her bed should she need it. It was there she was picked up by her new guardian, her guide to her closest thing to home.
Category:Fiction