Maxwell studied him for a long, inscrutable moment. “Do you understand why your mother was upset?”
“Not really. That dog hurt me. There are kids living on the other side of that house, too. That dog could’ve hurt any of them.”
“What about the other animals? Why did you kill them?”
Isaac looked down at his lap. He knew it was wrong—he’d been told often enough now. “I wanted to see the blood. I like blood.” He looked at his fingertips. They weren’t bleeding anymore, but the drops of blood had smeared on his fingers and palm, stark red against his pale skin.
“But you understand that it’s wrong to harm another living creature?”
“I know. They told me.”
“And when they told you, did you stop?”
Isaac nodded.
Maxwell was quiet for a moment, his pen scratching rapidly across his paper. “Have you ever hurt any other children? Or had the urge to?”
He shifted. “Those are two different things.”
“How so?”
“I can want something and not do it. I like chocolate but I’m not allowed to have much. If I have too much, I get in trouble. I can want to hurt somebody and not do it.”
“Because doing it would get you in trouble?”
“Yeah.”
“What if you could hurt someone and avoid getting in trouble? Would you do it then?”
Isaac thought about it. His mother once told him, ‘You shouldn’t tell lies, Isaac. Even if I don’t find out, God knows. God sees all. What you do now will be punished when you die.’ What was the point in doing bad things if he would go to Hell for it when he died? He didn’t want to spend eternity roasting in a fire.
“No,” he said finally. “Mom says God is always watching.”
Maxwell smiled. “That’s right. But through Him, all things are possible. I think you’ll be a good fit here, Isaac, with the right direction. Wait here—and I’ll take that.” He held his hand out, and Isaac reluctantly dropped the screw into his palm. “Thank you. I’ll be back with one of my colleagues, Commander McLeod, in just a moment, and we’ll talk about the program in more detail.”
“Will Mom be with you when you come back?”
Maxwell paused, softening. “I do wish she’d explained things to you better, Isaac. You see, you won’t be seeing your mother again for some time. You’re going to be living here with us. You’ll go to school here, you’ll live on-campus, and you’ll train with others your age.”
Oh. That was… big. He’d only ever known his quiet little world with his bedroom and his things. He’d gone to church with his mom, went to Sunday school lessons and the weekly preschool class his mom signed him up for. He’d never spent a night away from home before.
“What about my stuff? My clothes and toys and books?”
“Your mother has packed up some of your things, and you’ll have your own space to store them. You’ll share a room with another boy your age until you’re old enough to live on your own in a dorm.”
Another boy. He wasn’t sure he would like having someone else in his space, but maybe it was for the best. Maybe he would like it here.
Chapter 4
Shadrach
Judgingby the way Nathan stormed out of the storage room, Shadrach suspected things didn’t go smoothly. The human shook his hand out as he marched over to where the rest of them were waiting in the arcade area, his face a mask of mulish anger.
“Did you hit him?” Alex asked, gesturing to his hand.
Nathan winced. “Yeah. He pissed me off.” He flexed his hand, which was already healing, and cast a weak smile toward Storm. “Your blood is a miracle.”
Storm chortled. “Not quite, but okay.”
