The MPS: You? Not You (Part 2)

Hello there! I did it, another part! I hope you enjoy and have a good day!

From pinterest

Logan’s POV

The girl’s fear didn’t disappear no matter how far we got from the library. Even when we got to the house she seemed ready to jump and run at a moment’s notice. I didn’t know what happened to her, but it made sense. Who knew how long she was down there. It could’ve been years depending on how long these kidnappers had been operating. If that was true and she hadn’t been found…well that meant a few things. The most obvious being whoever and whatever these kidnappers were, they were good at what they did, and that they needed to be brought down, whatever it takes.

Marina rushed us inside as soon as David knocked on the door. Seeing the girl she gave me a look I couldn’t quite place, but it wasn’t time to worry about that. She sat the girl down at the table first. “Are you hungry,” Marina asked. “We have leftovers in the fridge, or I could make something quick?”

The girl shook her head, but Marina seemed ready to make something anyway. “Well, I’m going to make some leftover stew, and if you want any I’ll make you a bowl, does that sound good?”

I knew this strategy. Marina had done the same kind of thing when she first took me in. Back then I didn’t think I deserved food, not after all the death and pain caused by me. Still, with her food on the table, it was impossible to resist.

As Marina made the food, me and David sat across from the girl. Her hands were in her lap and she refused to look at us. I looked at David and we silently argued about who would go first. David lost. “Hey kid, what’s your name?” he asked. She didn’t look up, but she answered. “Melanie.”

Her voice was so quiet I barely heard her.

David looked at me for support. He got a thumbs up out of the effort. “Melanie, alright. Can you tell us about what happened?”

Her eyes somehow bore deeper into her lap. She obviously didn’t want to even think about this, and I got that. So did David of course. But the problem was she didn’t have a choice. If Melanie didn’t tell us what happened we wouldn’t be able to find the others. And who knew how many others there were. I put my hand on David’s shoulder as encouragement and he tried again. “Melanie, we need to know about it. If we don’t figure this out more kids could go through what you did. Do you get that?” Personally I think that put a little too much pressure on the kid, but we were desperate so to be honest I didn’t really fight it. All I remember thinking at that moment was David was not a kid person.

Melanie finally looked up, but she didn’t speak. She just stared at us. It was like she was mute, which I’d honestly believe if she hadn’t just spoken.

Marina put bowls in front of me and David before sitting down. She put a small bowl in front of Melanie before taking a spoonful of her own stew. I knew the small bowl strategy too. Makes you think “oh, just a little bit won’t hurt.” Suddenly you’ve had 4 of those tiny bowls, which was equal to two normal sized ones. Melanie glared at it like she was resisting everything not to eat it. Marina smiled to herself like she used to do when I did the same thing. The face she made when she knew she got us. The most smug face someone like Marina could muster.

Marina looked at David and the two seemed to have a silent conversation. I wish I could understand it, but those two were different. Their relationship was different than hers with me and mine with David. It sounds weird, but my thought process has always been that people are different versions of themselves depending on the person. With Marina I was her child, a good person trying to keep her safe and happy. With David I was a friend who he could joke around with and cry in front of. Marina and David were on a different wavelength with each other. I couldn’t understand their secret language of looks.

Luckily, Marina turned to me a few seconds later with a look I actually could understand, stating “I can handle this,” and by this she met Melanie. So I motioned for her to try.

She turned to Melanie with a soft smile. “Oh my poor child, you’ve been through a lot haven’t you? Your parents must be worried sick!” The young girl nodded slightly as she took a spoonful of the stew and ate it. Marina turned to me and David, a clear indication to leave her to it. I didn’t really want to leave all things considered, but it was impossible to not trust Marina. If I could trust someone, I knew it could be the person who raised me.

---

It had been an hour, and I was getting impatient. Of course this could take some time, I mean, Melanie really didn’t want to talk about what happened, which was understandable, but that didn't mean I had to like how long this was taking.

Finally, Marina walked out of the room. I pushed off the wall I was leaning against. “Please tell me you got something,” I said frantically. Marina crossed her arms. “You act like I haven’t figured out every secret you’ve ever tried to keep.” She grinned, a twinkle in her eyes.

David stepped up. “So, what happened to her?” he asked, almost sounding distracted. Marina’s face fell, the weight of whatever she’d been told clearly way too heavy. She sat down on the couch.

“Melanie was at the library, just like the kid you saw get taken,” she started, looking between me and David. “Her mother had told her it was time to leave and so they were leaving, but that’s when Melanie realized something was wrong. Her mother had forgotten to help her check out the book she’d wanted, and that would’ve been strange for anyone, but especially her mom considering how often they went there. Her mom dragged her out of the library and across to where you found her. She screamed when she saw her mother’s eyes turn pure white, but by then it was too late and they took her.”

David blinked a few times. “So it...what is it? A shapeshifter? Those exist?”

I shook my head. “Not really. I mean, I’ve never seen one. Most of the time shapeshifters are just another species, like a werewolf could be a shapeshifter if you think about it.”

“Those exist?”

I rubbed my forehead. “I’m gonna make you a powerpoint presentation of everything that’s real I promise.”

Marina coughed to get our attention. “May I continue?” We nodded and she did. “Melanie was taken somewhere, but she can’t remember it well no matter how hard she tried. It wasn’t earth though, she was sure of that. It was something else entirely. Eventually she was brought back to the library and…she was forced to get other children to those monsters. It’s…at least 6 children went with her, boys. When she wasn’t used as bait she was locked up like you found her.

“After Lucas was caught, the people who took her, I think they knew about you seeing them in the act. So they ran. In the chaos they didn’t see they left Melanie behind. They couldn’t have been gone for more than an hour before you found her.”

I held my head in my hands. “Does she know where they could’ve gone?” I asked. But Marina just shook her head. “Maybe that world they took her, but they didn’t say anything to suggest where they actually went.”

Okay, so this gave us some information, sure. But it wasn’t enough of a lead to go off on. If those…whatever they were left when me and David were coming, who knew if they’d come back at all. We didn’t even know exactly where they went. Plus, if they came back, they’d be stupid to go back to the library.

I ran a hand through my hair. “Okay, so it is our kind of thing. Except we have no way of tracking these things down, we have no idea what they even are, and they may never even come back to earth. Great.” David looked at me. “Come on Logan, I thought you were the optimistic one, Smile a little,” he said with a smile. Why was he cracking jokes? Then again, I guess if I wasn’t up to it it was better he did then nothing. To keep us from going to the dark side at least.

Marina sighed. “You could go to the library. Maybe there’s something they left behind that can give us a clue.” I hated to doubt her, but what would be there that we hadn’t found already?

“We can try,” David said, standing from his spot. I looked up at him, silently asking him why. He rolled his eyes and pulled me up. “We need to,” he told me.

I hated that I couldn’t argue with him.

---

The librarians probably thought I was crazy considering this was the 3rd time in the past two days I was there. No one liked reading that much. David told me he’d look behind the dumpster and through the hidden room we found while I looked through the library. To be honest I thought that was stupid. Why would those things come in the library at all? They probably didn’t choose this location because they liked to read.

Leaning against the wall, I watched the library like a bodyguard, praying nothing would happen. If those monsters were still around here, then hopefully I would see them before they hurt someone else, but it would be better if they weren't here.

“Hey Logan!”

I turned sharply to see the sincere face of Elliot Gordon. We hadn’t spoken since the Vitan incident, back when I was injured and bruised. He grinned. “Wow, haven’t seen you in forever. Back on your feet I see,” he said, patting my shoulder.

I faked a smile back at him. “Yeah, uh, I’ve gotten better. What have you been up to?” Elliot hesitated for a moment before smiling again, but this time it seemed superficial. “Not much, just police work. Decided to look for a book.” He showed me the book he was holding, something about dinosaurs, which I found odd. Of course me and Elliot weren’t exactly close, but was he really a book person? He seemed more about doing things than just sitting around. Plus, the book he was holding was for younger kids, like 10 year olds. One thing I did know was Elliot had no kids or nieces and nephews.

“Hey Elliot,” I started. “Where’s that necklace you usually wear? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without it.” He felt around his neck, as if looking for it. “Oh,” he said with some laughter. “Must’ve forgot it at home. I practically ran out today.”

With a smirk I leaned towards his ear. “Elliot doesn’t wear jewelry,” I whispered.

The person’s eyes widened before turning pure white. He grabbed my wrist but I was quicker, grabbing his other hand so he couldn’t get to the gun at his hip under his clothes.

He pushed me away and tried to run off, but he wasn’t getting away that easily. I went after him as he tried pushing books in my way. The librarian yelled at him but of course he couldn’t care less. Right before he got out the door someone walked in, blocking his path. The not Elliot pushed the poor guy out of the way, but by the time he did I caught up and had grabbed his arm. Twisting it, I slammed his face into the wooden table, causing some people to jump and yell.

I gave a smile to the guy who just walked in. “Thanks, you’re a hero.” David came in a few seconds later, probably hearing everything all the way across the parking lot.

“Logan, what the hell is going on?” he asked, looking between me and the monster. He tried to move but I held him down.

“That’s not Elliot.”

What does this mean for Elliot? What are these monsters and where are they from? Stay tuned and I hope you enjoyed!