Crossing Lines

3. New Normal

The trip was rather calm, except for two times when she had squealed in fear and was sorely tempted to wrap herself in the foetal position despite the seatbelt. The first had been when they had breached the border into the supernatural realm, when the bus had shaken like they were driving through a strong water current that threatened to capsize it. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case and she was much better prepared for it when they came back into the realm with the same current the second time.

At least she thought they’d left the realm. How did it even work?

Turns out it was simply a magic border that kept the Supernaturals from just walking into cities and towns without passports and clearance from the authorities, which meant the town they were going to was basically on the front lines. Rhonda had explained it to her and insisted that it was not as violent as she thought it would be after she had calmed down enough from the first scare. It didn’t make her feel any calmer about her near future living in said town, though.

The second time she had been terrified was when something had hit the side of the bus with a heavy thud, making it lean over to the side precariously from the power of the blow, but thankfully it had stayed on its wheels. The heavy thud was soon followed by what sounded like nails or perhaps claws scraping along the side of the armored vehicle, making her cringe in both fear and at the sound that seemed to work on her nerves as well, sending goose flesh running up her arms. The Hunter sitting behind her didn’t seem worried in the least. But then, he was armed.

Scarlet was entirely grateful when they finally came to a stop on the other side and she managed to step off the bus on shaky legs behind the other people who seemed much less worried about what they had experienced. Glancing to the side where she had heard something hit the vehicle and the scraping sound, her eyes widened when she saw the long thick scratch marks that had scraped into the paint on the side of the vehicle. Whatever had attacked the bus was big and obviously pretty strong with really sharp claws.

When she finally managed to tear her eyes away from the damage, she found herself in what looked like a completely normal small town. No armed security pacing around the streets or worried people. In fact, she could see mothers sitting in the park across the street with their children playing, as if the monsters she had feared as a child were not within reach. Glancing around her once she had found her luggage, she wasn’t surprised to find that her father wasn’t there to pick her up.

Why would he bother when she knew that he didn’t want her? He had made it pretty obvious when he had left and she had tried to convince Mister Allan about his obvious disinterest in her as his daughter.

“Are you alright, Scarlet?” Ben asked her with concern when she was one of the few people still left near the bus stop with no one nearby.

“Uhm, yeah, I’m just not sure where to go.”

“Where do you live?” He asked kindly.

She showed him the address that Mister Allan had given her for just this reason. “Wait, your father is Henry Jenkins?” He asked with wide eyes, as if the man was a celebrity.

“Yeah…” She answered slowly.

“Wow, you’re the daughter of the Henry Jenkins...Well, it’s just outside of town. I’ll take you, if you don’t mind me taking Mom home first, that’s just around the corner.”

“Thank you, I’d appreciate it.” She smiled gratefully. She wasn’t sure she could walk far on her shaky legs after her first experience with a world she had no idea existed. Suddenly her childhood nightmares seemed much closer and more real than ever before.

“Alright, come on; let me take your suitcase.” Ben smiled and took the suitcase from her and wheeled it behind him while he carried his mother’s smaller suitcase in his other hand, leading the way.

When they stopped in front of the adorable diner set in red and white, Rhonda dragged her into a hug and smiled at her. “Don’t be a stranger, Scarlet. I want to see you soon, alright?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” She smiled in answer. She had never expected that she would have made friends so soon.

“Your new home is just about a half hour casual stroll in that direction. Do you want to walk or should I take you in the car?” Ben asked with a smile when his mother had taken her suitcase and gone inside.

“Is it safe to walk around here?” She asked nervously while she glanced around as if she expected a monster to suddenly jump out from behind one of the trees lining the road on both sides, but the town seemed like any other small town with people going calmly about their day.

“Yes, it’s entirely safe. This town is filled with Hunters; in fact, they’re the main reason this town is here.” He pointed to his left down the street. “Your school is about another half hour's walk that way; it serves three towns nearby along with ours. But the bus should pick you up on Monday, so you don’t have to walk.”

“Wow…” She breathed in surprise. She had not expected to find a town like this in her life, let alone three more nearby. “Would you mind if we walked? I’m sort of curious now.” Scarlet confessed with a faint smile now that she saw how charming and calm everything was and she did feel better after stretching her legs on the short stroll here.

He chuckled and nodded, then headed in the direction he had directed her earlier. The town seemed quite normal when they walked down the street, with clothing stores, banks, investment firms, bakeries and supermarkets all in the street headed to her father’s house. She had to admit that she was impressed with the small town. It felt welcoming and people greeted them with open smiles when they passed.

It turned out her father’s house was a short distance into the woods. It actually almost looked like a hunting cabin, a comfortable and welcoming cabin with a thatched roof and a welcoming porch with a porch swing out front.

Ben stood waiting while she stepped onto the porch and knocked on the door, but there was no answer and she tried the door, but it was locked. Turning around, she found Ben watching her with concern. “Do you want to come back to the diner with me and wait for your father there?” He asked with a frown.

She doubted her father would come and get her there and she didn’t want the pity of those nice people. The less they knew about her and her father’s lack of relationship, the better it was for her. Besides, she did not intend to stay there longer than she needed to. The moment she graduated she would be getting her butt out of here and back home, or at least towards college. So she didn’t really need to get too familiar with the locals.

“No, it’s fine. He’s probably just running late.” She offered with a faint smile, hoping that her lie wasn’t obvious. “I’ll wait for him here on the porch, he shouldn’t be too long.”

Ben hesitated a moment and glanced around as if he wasn’t sure about leaving her there alone, though his body language showed no fear that would make her scared to stay there alone. But he eventually nodded, putting her suitcase on the porch next to her before he met her gaze. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to let me know.” He smiled kindly at her and she returned the smile before she leaned against the post that held the porch roof up and watched him walk back to town before she turned her eyes into the forest.

The trees and the scent of fresh air felt remarkably welcoming for a city girl like herself and she was tempted to take a walk in the woods, but she didn’t want to leave and perhaps miss her father if he came home. Plus, she wasn’t sure if the woods were as safe as the town. So she took a deep breath and placed her backpack onto the porch swing before she sat down next to it and enjoyed the peaceful surroundings with a faint smile. The soothing woods outside would certainly be the only thing she loved about living with her father.

After half an hour of staring into the woods she decided to eat her breakfast wrap and she took it out of her backpack and ate it while she stared into the shadows the green forest cast around the cabin. She might enjoy staying here more than she had expected, she was definitely enjoying the view. It could have been her home if not for her father being her guardian.

When she had sat there for an hour, she finally took her book out and continued reading where she had left off before she had gotten onto the second bus. Eventually, she got comfortable and got involved in the book and the lives of the characters.

She had to stop reading when the light started to fade and she wondered if her father was going to come home at all today. She had just considered taking up her things and walking to the diner in hopes of finding some place she could stay for the night, when she noticed a man strolling from the trees with a bag over his shoulder. He looked tired and dirty.

He didn’t seem to see her until he came to the porch and that gave her some time to look at him. His dark brown hair was still in the same style he had worn when he had left, but it now had salt and pepper at the temples, the crow’s feet around his eyes were a little deeper from when she had seen him and he looked tired. But he still looked like the Dad that had left them those eight years ago.

When he came to the porch and was about to step onto it, he glanced up and saw her for the first time and he stopped short. After a moment of staring at her in shock, she closed the book she had still held in her lap while she had considered walking away with an irritated thud.

“Scarlet? What are you doing here?” He asked in utter shock.

Did he not get Mister Allan’s letter or had he forgotten about it? Surely mail wasn’t that slow in this area. She had seen a bag of it being loaded on the bus with them, and he probably got e-mails as well? Why did he seem so surprised? Or was it just to make her feel that much more unwanted?

“I’ve been asking the same question, but apparently you’re my guardian until I graduate.” Scarlet answered coldly. He obviously just wanted to make sure that she felt unwelcome.

“What do you mean I’m your ‘guardian until you graduate’?” He asked in surprised confusion.

“Seriously? If you didn’t want me to be here you could’ve done us both the favor by signing off your rights as my father.” Scarlet snapped angrily. She didn’t want to be there. If he’d done his part and signed the paperwork to be rid of her, she wouldn’t have needed to come all the way here to have him make her feel even worse about staying under his roof.

“Scar, honey. What are you talking about?” Henry Jenkins asked in confusion, and stepped onto the porch, his eyes never leaving her face, as if he was trying to store her whole appearance into memory.

“Don’t call me that! I’ve long since stopped being ‘Scar’ to you, only friends and family call me that and you walked away from that.” Scarlet snarled, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill over. It didn’t stop hurting even after you realized your father didn’t really want you.

She would not show him her weakness, but she was exhausted and she just wanted to have time to herself and maybe sleep for a week, so she would be able to cope with all the changes and the emotional strain in this new life she would face.

Henry frowned in confusion while his eyes searched her face; she did not see the hurt in his eyes at her harsh words. “Does your mother know you’re here, sweetheart?”

“Don’t call me that.” She snarled again. “She should. She stipulated in her will that I’m your problem until I graduate six months from now. So if you didn’t want me here you could’ve saved me the trip and signed away your responsibilities as my father.” She fought the tears but her voice started to break near the end.

“Her...” Suddenly he seemed to realize what she had said and his face crumpled into consuming sadness and he took a step towards her as if he wanted to hold her, but she held up her hand to stop him.

“Don’t...I don’t want your pity. Just tell me where I can find a place to sleep in town and we can get the paperwork sorted so you can be rid of me.” She answered; her voice bitter and tears spilling unheeded over her face; so much for not showing him weakness.

“Scar, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’re staying here with me, darling. I didn’t know your mom died.”

“Really? You didn’t get any of the letters or the e-mails from Mister Allan?” She challenged.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, no, I didn’t. I’ve been out in the field, hunting for a week.”

“Don’t call me that!” She snapped again.

He raised his work-roughened hands in surrender and stepped forward to unlock the front door. Then he took her suitcase from the porch and allowed her to walk inside first, before he followed her into the dark cabin and flipped the light switch.

The place looked empty and unloved, much like herself at the moment. How fitting. It also looked like it could use a good cleaning and she knew that it would irritate her until she fixed that. She could handle barely furnished, but dusty and dirty was something else entirely.

“Have you eaten?” He asked kindly while he parked her suitcase near one door before he headed to the kitchen and rinsed out the kettle before he filled it with water and set it to boil.

“Not since lunch, but I’m not hungry. I just want to get a place to sleep.”

Henry Jenkins scratched at the stubble on his cheek and it took her a moment to realize he seemed embarrassed. “Well, I haven’t actually furnished this place, since I avoided the silence until I could get you and your mother here with everything. I have an extra sleeping bag, though.”

Scarlet stared at him in shock, for a moment, but then shook her head; did she expect anything from him anyway? “Whatever, could you please just point me to where I can shower and brush my teeth and where I can sleep?”

He gave a faint sad smile at her distant and cold disposition and headed towards the door where he had put her suitcase. Pulling out the handle once more, he opened the door and led the way inside, switching the light on as he went. “This would have been your room anyway. I was trying to convince her that you and your mother could move here.”

“Sure...” She muttered under her breath and glanced around at the dusty room. It was a good size and there were two doors leading out of the room. The first door was a large closet and the second was a bathroom with a shower, bath, sink and toilet. It wasn’t huge but it could be homey.

It just needed a good cleaning to start with. Spinning around on her heel, she walked out of the room and towards the kitchen, looking for a duster and broom. She could do that tonight and clean everything thoroughly tomorrow before she would start unpacking.

He attempted to help, but she jerked the duster and broom away from him and he wisely gave her some space to herself, while she got the bedroom dust free, so she could sleep without choking that night.