Yours Forever

Chapter 5

She bolted through the forest. The wind whipped through her fur, the trees swaying and leaves falling to the ground by the push of the wind. Her breath came in pants, her heart thudded, and her lungs cried with exhaustion. She ignored it. She ignored it all and kept going.

Her paws became soaked when she splashed playfully through a stream, the water jumping up in fright and sparkling in the sunlight. Eva wanted to stop and enjoy the icy coldness of the water and how wondrous it felt when it rushed over her brownish-red fur, but she couldn't stop.

The bird she chased cawed in horror as it flew through the green trees, dodging trunks and branches. Its blue and brown feathers danced in front of Eva's eyes, taunting her.

Almost there.

Eva.

One step away. Eva could practically feel her jaws locked around the tiny animal.

Eva!

She opened her mouth, her canines glinting beautifully in the sunlight leaking through the treetops. She bit down, catching the bird gracefully just as—

"Eva!" Something shook her shoulder hard, jerking her out of the dream. She jumped up, surprised, her head ramming painfully on the shelf on the wall by the booth.

"Ow. Damn." Eva rubbed at her head, pain shocking her senses like lightning. She looked up at the person who had woken her up.

"Sandy?" Her eyes darted around the diner as her mind caught up with her. How long had she been asleep?

Sandy glared down at her coworker. "Finally. I've only been trying to wake you up for like the past 15 minutes," she said, exasperated. "You're lucky they even let you keep your brother here while you work."

Eva frowned. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep. It's just been a bit hard lately and—"

"Yeah, yeah. Save it," Sandy told her harshly, rolling her eyes. "You better get back to work before the boss finds you slacking off. Your break's been over for 20 minutes now."

Shit.

"And you definitely want to get a hold on your brother. He's been bothering that old couple for quite a while now."

Eva jumped up from the booth, her nervous gaze sweeping for Charlie. When did he get up from the booth? She couldn't help but sigh in relief when she found him near the back of the old diner, chatting excitedly with an elderly couple. Lucky for her, the couple didn't look like they minded having him join them for dinner.

Eva watched in horror when she saw Charlie steal a fry from the older man's plate. She immediately jumped into action, forgetting all about Sandy. "Charlie!" she hissed when she got to their table. "What did I tell you about leaving the booth?"

She sent an apologetic look to the couple, begging for them to understand. "I'm so sorry about this."

The lady only smiled down at little Charlie sitting next to her, his blonde curls looking way too out of control. "Nonsense, Dearie. This young man is more than welcome here." She ran a hand over his hair. "Harold and I don't mind. He's been wonderfully behaved."

Charlie beamed up at the lady, no doubt soaking in the praise. "Care! Care! Can I stay? Please?"

Eva gave Charlie a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Charlie, but I need you to stay in the booth where I can see you. Besides, all your toys are there. Don't you want to play with your playdoh?"

She wouldn't have minded if she knew these people. If that were the case, then she'd be all for Charlie staying at their table if that meant he'd have fun. But these were complete strangers, not friends. Humans, even. Eva had to use this as a way to teach Charlie that he could not talk to strangers. And he definitely could not go up to people he didn't know and take their food.

"We don't mind having him here, Dearie," the lady said.

But Eva was already shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I can't. Come on, Charlie, we have to go. Thank you so much for watching him for me."

Without another word, Eva snagged Charlie's arm and tugged him back to the booth. She nudged him down by his bag of toys and pulled his play doh from the side pocket of the bag.

Cap off and ready, Eva was surprised when he didn't even go to touch it. Charlie was crazy about his playdoh. The kid was creative and could invent an entire story with a single ball of the mushy, clay-like stuff.

She glanced down at her brother, who sat with his head down on the table. His arms were wrapped around his face, not letting any light in.

She let out an exhausted sigh, squatted down so she was head to head with Charlie, and began rubbing his small back. "I'm sorry, Charlie. I know you wanted to stay with them, but you can't just go over and talk to strangers like that. What if they wanted to take you from me? Then I'd never see you again and I don't know what I'd do."

His shoulders shook as he cried into the table, his tiny hands clenched into fists.

"Charlie. Come on, don't do this to me. I have to get back to work," she begged. It crushed her soul when she saw her little brother cry, and it hurt even more knowing that he had been crying a lot lately.

"I f-fin-finally had a-a friend, Care!" he sobbed. "You t-took them fro-from me!"

"Shh, Charlie, please. You know it hurts me to see you cry. Come on, buddy, I need you to pull it together," she pleaded. "Please?"

"No!" he yelled, a little too loudly over the diner noise. "No, Care!"

He was tired. She could tell that easily by the emotions quickly building on his face. Normally, Charlie was a strong little kid. He could take punches with the best of them. But after Jackie leaving, and now having to sit in the same booth for almost six hours to watch his sister run back and forth like a mad woman, he was bound to be tired and emotional. Not every child could sit in the same space for so long.