The Tears Devourer

VI

    "Officer, what's happening?" Rachel was sweating out of her forehead when she reached the cruiser and saw a policeman hanging his radio mike on the plastic clip.

    "No need to worry, child." He replied, trying to hide his embarrassment. "It was just a false alarm."

    "But what about 10-16 at Miss Shepard's house?"

    "Girl, a 10-16 is just a domestic disturbance," the recruit smiled. "One of the owner's cats was giving birth, making too much noise inside, so the neighbors complained, and some even thought it could be someone trapped inside."

    "So everything's okay?" Rachel's heart returned to its place.

    "Yes, of course, everything's fine."

    "Chely!" Shouted a shrill little voice from Professor Shepard's house. "The teacher's cat had six kittens," Julie said, with extreme enthusiasm painted on her face. "Can we have one? Yes? Please, please…" the little girl repeated, pouting the whole time.

    "I don't know, we should ask Mom about it first..."

    "But she doesn't even spend time at home... Well then, yes?" The girl went on with a plea.

    "Well, if Miss Shepard lets you..." Rachel conditioned.

    "Of course she can," a warm voice answered from the front door of the house. The teacher had been there for a while, but no one had noticed her, just like her life often did. "I already have enough pets, and well, Julie has told me that you don't own any. They can take one or two if you like."

    "Can we?!" Julie exclaimed, making fists with both hands and giving small blows in the air. "We can take more than one, Chely!"

    "No, Julie! Only one!" Her sister answered, worried about what her mother would say when she saw them at home with a new member of the family.

    "Fine..." Julie said, lowering her spirits. "I'll go pick one, okay?"

    "Okay, go ahead, but don't delay," Rachel warned. She watched her little sister and her teacher enter the house again, and turned to the recruit, curious. "So a 10-16 is just a disturbance in a house?" she asked.

    "Exactly," the quasi-officer replied. "These types of cases usually give us those of us who are on trial, before being policemen."

    "And you shouldn't have a... I don't know, mate? Or a supervisor?"

    "Yeah, actually, but for now I'm on my own. There are more important cases right now... actually, I should retire now. I think everything's in order around here." The recruit walked around his vehicle and opened the door, not before hearing one last question from Rachel, the one she really wanted to ask all along.

    "Are you going to that 990? That case where they asked for the support of all available policemen?" The girl snapped and took the recruit by surprise.

    "Do you know what a 990 is, kid?"

    "Could be… But I wouldn't complain if you reminded me," Rachel teased.

    "A 990 is a corpse find," the recruit replied, with the sole intention of scaring Rachel. "Ride safely and take good care of your sister, okay?. This world is full of bad people, but the good news is" he got in the car, closed the door, and started the engine "you have us to protect you from them."

    The patrol pulled away, leaving a trail of dust behind. Suddenly, Julie came out of the house with a fluffy little kitten on her lap. It was a deep orange one, with white stripes on the back, and the same whitish color on the belly and legs.

    "Look Chely, she's Sleepy, because she was born sleeping," little Julie said, laughing at her own joke.

    "She's very pretty," added Rachel, who wasn't really interested in having a pet, but who honestly did find the little pussycat a beautiful creature.

    "Do you need me to take you home guys?" Asked the teacher. "It was my fault you didn't find Julie at school, and maybe I shouldn't have left the message with Mrs. Martell, she almost always forgets what she's left with."

    "No problem, I was late after leaving school," Rachel replied, and before denying the stranger's help, she thought once more about what the recruit told her, about how many bad people there are in this world. "But I think we could use a ride. We were already a little late."

    It was after four by the time Teacher Shepard's car pulled up outside Rachel and Julie's house. The door was kept closed, despite the noise of the engine, which seemed strange to the teacher.

    "Rachel," she called to the girl, just after she got out of the car. "Is your mother at home?"

    "No miss, she works late on Fridays," she informed her. "Get to dinner and sleep."

    "And who are you staying with until she arrives?" The teacher continued, confused and worried at the same time.

    "Don't worry, Miss Shepard. We're getting used to this routine now," Rachel said, trying to temper her voice, hiding the fear that this idiotic recruit had just nested in her head. "Also, we won't always have her, so this helps us to be more independent and fend for ourselves."

    "Okay, but..." Miss Shepard tore a piece of paper from a notebook she kept in the trunk of the passenger seat, took out a pen from the same compartment, and wrote ten numbers on it. She reached out the window of the seat next to her, and handed the slip of paper to Rachel, placing it delicately in her hand. "Take. Call me if you need anything, okay? I had no idea you have to go through this."

    "What do you mean, miss?" Rachel asked, not quite understanding what the teacher meant.

    "Nothing, sweetheart. Nevermind. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

    Rachel nodded, then took her sister by the hand and led her to the door of the house they had recently moved into. The teacher waited for both of them to enter safely, to start the engine, and return home, still feeling the guilt and agony of leaving two girls alone in a house, without anyone's supervision or care. Exposed to any danger or threat of the place.

    "What time will Mom come back, Chely?" They both left their coats on the rack, and their backpacks in the closet by the front door. Julie lovingly carried her cat, caressing her delicately.

    "I don't know, it's Friday, you know it takes too long on Fridays..." A door on the second floor of the house suddenly opened, interrupting Rachel.

    "Is there someone at home?" Julie whispered, who had instinctively placed herself behind her sister, and squeezing her pet more, than instinctively, she felt the fear of both of them and hid even more between the lap of the little girl, giving the impression that Julie was carrying an orange cotton ball under the arm.

    Rachel's heart was pounding for the second time on the same day. The footsteps creaked the wood beneath them. She felt her little sister's sweaty hand grip her tightly, squeezing it until the blood didn't run inside.

    "Easy," she whispered back. "Julie, go back to the door, and when I order you, open it and run to the front house."

    While Julie slowly nodded, swinging the golden locks that rested on her face, in Rachel's thoughts there was only the cadet's voice repeating over and over again: 'This world is full of bad people, girl. Take good care of your sister.'

    Just before Julie could reach the door handle, a head peeked over the edge of the wall at the bottom of the stairs. They both took a deep breath, inflating their lungs to the limit, and holding their breath involuntarily. A scream drowned in Rachel's throat, a cry desperate to get out and ripping through an internal echo that said, 'Take your sister and run! Run for your lives!'