“Did they haze you? I fucking hate shit like that,” Shannon said indignantly. He turned to look at both me and Rusty. “You guys won’t be joining anything like that, will you?”
Dad stepped forward, intervening. “Okay, boys, Santa’s here, so if you just come stand by the tree with everyone else, they can start taking the photos.”
The three of us shot him a grateful look. Shannon tossed me a look to let me know the discussion wasn’t over. I knew he hated bullies and wouldn’t understand why we’d put up with this sort of thing for the sake of club membership when we’d made damned sure Roy faced the consequences. We’d have to come up with something. Maybe not hazing, but a ritual that freaked him out unexpectedly, like a bag over his head and chanting. Yeah, that sounded mean and horrible, too.
I plastered a broad smile on my face, taking Shannon’s hand and squeezing it as Dad stepped forward.
“We come together every year to try to help spread some cheer to children and their families facing bleak times. This year is extra special to myself, my wife, son, and his friends,” he said, gesturing to us. My son, River, was in a serious accident just before his eighteenth birthday and was rushed here. The doctors told us to prepare for the worst. He’d been to a party and used terrible judgment, getting into his car and driving after drinking.” I noticed he omitted the drugs bit, but didn’t blame him. “Luckily, no one else was injured by his actions, other than the emotional toll it took on all of us that loved him. The dedicated doctors and nurses here stopped at nothing, and here you see my son standing hale and hearty before you. So, it is with great pleasure that I announce a fifteen million dollar endowment to the hospital in my son’s name, to be used to outfit new break rooms and quarters where they can snatch naps in between rounds and after preforming long surgeries. The remainder is to be earmarked to wipe the debt away of a deserving person chosen by the hospital.”
Everyone clapped in amazement, the hospital director looking as surprised as everyone else. He rushed forward to shake Dad’s hand. I’m sure the hospital had already been paid handsomely to pretend I’d been a patient here, to have records forged saying River arrived alive and all the rest. This boon was extra, though it no doubt would see to the continued silence of all involved. I also didn’t doubt for a moment that the company doing the building works would be Family owned.
“On behalf of us all here at Garcia Children’s Hospital, let me thank you. This is a kind gesture, indeed! I am sure I speak on behalf of all the staff when I say the facilities will be much used and appreciated.” They stood then, facing each other, hands clasped in a handshake, for the cameras to take another set of photos. Then it was done and we were led up to the wards to begin caroling.
The children ere all excited to see us, though when Santa popped in and began handing out toys while we handed out candy canes, their joy was enough for me to feel the buzz. I felt terrific about that until we got in the elevator to go back down. I could still feel the buzz, only not so strong, and it skittered across my nerves. My eyes widened as I came to a realization. I was tasting their emotions, just as father did. I glanced to the side, catching sight of myself in the polished mirror on the upper wall. My eyes were brighter and the bags Mom had helped me improve with concealer were now gone. My skin held a healthy sheen. Fuck! I’d fed off of children, though it had been unintentional. I would have never guessed that I would become able to do this. It must be an ability that I developed after the Bonding. I pulled out my phone and quickly shot Father a text, asking him how to stop myself from doing this. It was a handy trait to have, but I had a hard and fast rule where it came to kids. There were lines that I would never allow myself to cross knowingly and this was one of them.
The reply came quickly.
Father: Imagine it as if water were running over you in a shower and turn off the tap.
That sounded simple enough. I closed my eyes and imagined the feeling washing over me was water and turned off the imaginary faucet. It was harder than it sounded, but I managed it. Hopefully, it would become easier with practice.
Me: Thanks. That worked.
Father: Congrats on your new ability. Have they found Roy yet?
Me: Not as far as I know.
Iopened my eyes, shooting Henry and Rusty an angry look. I hadn’t even known Roy was missing, had they? If so, why didn’t they tell me?
“Another headache, babe?” Shannon asked, looking at me in sympathy.
“Yeah, just a bit of one nagging at me,” I said, still staring pointedly at my two friends. I passed Henry my phone so the and Rusty could read the message. Henry swallowed while Rusty looked at him in surprise.
“What? Are you serious? When?” he demanded of him.
“Two days ago,” Henry admitted. “They told me after my initiation.”
“Told you what?” Shannon asked. Our parents all exchanged resigned looks.
“Roy ran away from home and left a note saying he was going to show us all,” Henry admitted.
“What did he mean by that? He’s going to jump us when we go back to classes?” Shannon asked. “Shit, is he going to show up with a gun or something?”
It was a possibility, I supposed. He wasn’t Made, and even if he was, he wasn’t higher, so he couldn’t unMake any of us that were Made. Henry’s sudden Making made a terrible sense; they’d done it to lock him in as heir, in case Roy tried to usurp his position by killing him while he was still mortal. That still left both Rusty and Shannon vulnerable, though.
“I doubt it, but the campus is on alert to make sure he doesn’t make it onto the grounds, and he’s being looked for. They’ll find him,” Henry’s father said.
I sure hoped he was right. Shannon and Rusty were safe for now, here among the Family, and attending only events with security. We’d have to rethink the Christmas Light outing though unless he was caught before then. Well, we could do that as a drive and not get out of the car. We could talk about that later.
“I’m sure you’re right,” I replied, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration.
“I brought some ibuprofen in case you got one of your headaches,” Shannon said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small cardboard box of supermarket brand caplets. The elevator dinged as we reached our floor and we disembarked.
“I’ll get you a soda,” Dad said, spotting a vending machine down a side corridor. He returned moments later with a bottle of Pepsi Max. I took it from him. We both knew I didn’t need it or the pills, but there was an appearance to keep up.
“Thanks, Dad.” The term of address was beginning to feel strangely normal. The more I used those names for the pair of them, the more they felt as though they fit.
He patted my shoulder awkwardly. “Take them and let’s go. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” he said.
