Losing Control

Don't let him find you! Nancy jerked awake and shivered as those five simple words glided over her body. The dream she had been having was a memory of a few months ago. Of her and her mother discussing what should be done after she was gone. Mindy, Nancy's mom, had been dying of cancer and she knew she didn't have much longer to live. The memory wasn't a pleasant one since it was filled with sadness, fear of the future, and anger of losing her mother far to soon but what confused Nancy was that her mother had never declared those words to her during their conversation. But just a moment ago in crystal clear clarity her mother had looked into her eyes and uttered, “Don't let him find you!” with such fear and desperation it had pulled Nancy out of a rather deep sleep. Nancy wondered how she was sleeping so well since her head was resting on a stack of bills that needed to be paid and she could now feel that her butt and feet were asleep. She slowly sat up and saw that the clock on the desk read 7:00pm. “s**t,” Nancy groaned. She had sat down to write out the bills at 5:00pm and must have fallen asleep. Thank goodness the bills weren't due for a few days because she didn't have time to do them now. Nancy sat back in the desk chair and went about stretching her sore muscles that had gotten kinked up while sleeping in a confined space. She took a few deep breaths to calm her breathing and let go of the feelings of fear and panic those words that had startled her awake had caused. Her mother looking so panicked was enough to speed up Nancy's heartbeat and cause goosebumps to rise on her skin. Nancy glanced again at the clock, 7:15pm, and knew she needed to get up and moving. Dinner wasn't going to serve itself. As Nancy was getting up out of the chair Casey appeared out of thin air effectively making Nancy fall back into her seat. “Whoa babydoll! What have we talked about just popping in on someone? You scared one of my lives away,” Nancy joked. Nancy didn't think she would ever not be awed by what Casey could do. Casey was a teleporter. It was her gift. Mindy said that everyone had a gift and that some gifts were just more extraordinary than others, like Casey being able to disappear and reappear with a single thought. “Sorry Nancy,” Casey said grinning trying to sound apologetic, “I'm hungry.” Casey's stomach let out a loud growl as to let Nancy know that Casey's claim was true. Nancy smiled, Casey was always hungry. "Well it’s a good thing that I have vegetable soup cooking in the crockpot, isn't it?" Nancy teased. Casey giggled again. "Why don't you meet me in the kitchen..." before Nancy finished her sentence Casey had disappeared. Nancy sighed and finally stood up from the chair groaning as her back protested. Sleeping in an uncomfortable desk chair was murder on your back. She hadn't been sleeping well since her mother’s passing a month ago. Nancy made her way into the kitchen and found Casey sitting at the kitchen table. Something furry brushed by Nancy's feet and she looked down to see a bulldog. Grinning she bent down to scratch behind his ears. When she straightened up the dog ran from the kitchen and a minute later Ben appeared. Ben was a shifter. He could shift into any small animal. Dogs had been his choice lately. Since Ben couldn't shift with clothes on he had gotten good at putting his clothes on really fast. He had clothes stashed throughout the house. "Bulldog today huh?" Nancy asked raising her eyebrow. Ben shrugged, "Bulldogs are cool." Ben gave Nancy a quick hug and went to the refrigerator for the milk. "Do you know where Rita is?" Nancy asked Ben. Ben shrugged again and replied, "Dunno." Typical answer for a 14 year old. "I'm going to go find the rest of you minions. Set the table please," Nancy said as she left the kitchen and headed for the bedrooms. The house Nancy grew up in wasn't fancy but it was comfortable and it was home. It was bi-level with five bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, living room, dining room, and laundry room. From the front door you walked into an entry hall. To the left of the front door were the stairs that led to the upper level. The upper level had three bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and living room. The main level had two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a laundry room. When Mindy and Nancy moved in the lower level actually had one bedroom, a bathroom, laundry room, and a family room. When their family expanded Mindy made the family room into a bedroom. Nancy knocked on Rita’s door before opening it. She found Rita sitting on her bed painting her nails. At sixteen Rita was boy and fashion crazy. You didn't have to know her to know this. One glance at her room and you could tell. She had posters of hot celebrities on her walls and fashion magazines all over the floor. "Hey Rita. Dinners ready. Is Lily in her room?" Rita looked up and grinned. Holding up her right hand she showed Nancy her fingernails. "Fire engine red with black tips," Rita said," What do you think?" "I like. You'll have to paint mine. Now about Lily." "Bathroom where else would mermaid girl be and Ian's in his play pen.” Rita nodded her head towards Ian. "He thinks Ma Ma a lot. But also carrot, hi, and num, nums. Chase taught him that one I think," Rita said laughing. Rita could hear people's thoughts. "Chase probably did teach Ian num nums. Please take Ian to the dining room while I get Lily.” Heading down the hallway she knocked before opening the bathroom door and found Lily fully emerged in the bathtub. "Lily," Nancy called. Lily lifted her head above water. "Hey Nancy," Lily greeted. Lily was half human half fish. Outside of water Lily looked human but when her skin got wet her scales showed. She had beautiful, bluish pink purple scales. Lily could breathe as easily under water as she could out of water. "I'll get out of the tub now and come to dinner.” As Lily climbed out of the tub Nancy wrapped a towel around her. "Okay, were having your favorite tonight vegetable soup," Nancy said over her shoulder as she walked out the door. She could hear Lily give a little squeal of excitement as she closed the door. Nancy walked to the dining room to find that the table was set with five place settings and a high chair. Nancy brought in the vegetable soup and Ben already had the the crackers, butter, and bread on the table. Nancy quickly ladled out the soup and when everyone had a bowl she said Grace. All was quiet as they started to eat. "Ben stop thinking about boogers while we eat. It's gross," Rita scolded. "Stay out of the my head Rita," Ben shot back. "Rita try to use your mental shield so you can't hear Ben's thoughts.” "It's hard Nancy when Ben's practically shouting that peas look like boogers," Rita whined. "Ben stop shouting and eat your soup.”. "Can I have some more?" Casey asked. "Sure babydoll. Hand me your bowl," Nancy said reaching out to grab it from her. Nancy then filled her bowl with more soup and looked over at Ian when he let out a cry. Ian had fallen through his high chair and landed on the floor with a light thump. Looking a little dazed Ian glanced up at Nancy and let out a big grin. Nancy handed Casey her bowl of soup and bent down to pick Ian up off the floor. "You just can't control yourself can you buddy," Nancy cooed setting Ian on her lap. She fed him a spoonful of mashed up vegetable soup. Ian's gift was being able to walk through objects or in his case fall through objects. Nancy found Ian on the floor more than in his crib, so she put a bed under his bed to catch him when he fell. As a baby he couldn't control his gift and that made life interesting. Nancy put Ian back in his high chair and placed his food before him. He clapped his hands before grabbing a fistful and shoving it into his mouth. "Rita please keep an eye on him while I get ready for work. I don't want him choking. You know he tries to eat faster than he can chew." "Sure," Rita said continuing to eat her soup while watching Ian. Nancy worked as a waitress at Buds N Suds Bar. Bud served wicked good wings and lots of beer. The pay wasn't great but the tips were fantastic and she worked nights so she could go to school during the day and take care of the kids. Her uniform was a short skirt and a t-shirt that had the Buds N Suds bar logo on it. Nancy striped out of her clothes and stood in front of the mirror in her bra and panties. She had waist length black hair that fell in soft waves down her back, her mother's green eyes, and her skin was a golden color. Nancy put her hair up into a ponytail and put on some makeup. She added dangle earrings and got dressed. It was 8:30pm and her shift started at 9pm. Her shift was from 9pm to 3am. “Okay Nancy let’s get our ass in gear!” Nancy muttered to herself. Heading back towards the dining room she found that the table had been cleared and could hear Ben singing while doing the dishes in the kitchen. Rita was in the living room playing on the floor with Ian, Lily was most likely back in the bathtub, and Casey was helping Ben in the kitchen. "Okay everyone I'm leaving," Nancy announced. Ben and Casey ran into the living room and gave Nancy a hug. "Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite," Nancy sang. Rita walked in from the living room with Ian on her hip. Nancy gave Ian a kiss. "Rita is in charge and Mrs. L is right next door if you need her." Rita rolled her eyes, "I know Nancy. Have a good night at work," Rita said, "I'm going to put Ian to bed in his bassinet." Ian agreed letting out a big yawn. "Love you guys. Goodnight Lily," Nancy yelled. "Night Nancy.”. Nancy jogged down the stairs and left out the front door.