Katie's Hellion

He failed to make the cryptic words in any way friendly, and the cold glare seared through her.

"I don't think that's a good idea," she managed.

"You're early," Toby said, unafraid. "I want to go with her."

Katie turned to stare at the little boy, who beamed a smile.

The shadow-man's hand twitched and inched toward the sword at his hip. She stepped back even more and clenched the purse to her body, distracted as a sleek black car pulled up to the curb. A door opened, and Toby vaulted in without waiting for her. She took one more look at the ominous man in black and the sword at his hip and followed, shaking from more than cold. The man shut the door behind them.

"Goodbye, Gabriel!" Toby called from the interior of the warm car. He waved at the massive shadow lingering on the sidewalk.

"You'll be fine. I'll take you home."

The soft, firm words of the female in the driver's seat were the first kind ones of the day. Katie instinctively believed her and twisted, staring with Toby at the man in black who watched them drive away.

"My God," she murmured.

"No," said Toby. "Death dealer."

She looked at him, and he nodded as sagely as a five-year-old could.

"Death dealer, ha! Probably just some bum," the brunette driver said with a forced laugh. "We get lots of them around here."

"At a police station?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah, sure," came the less certain answer. "You know, like, you can't have a cop station in a nice side of town. They kinda have to be in a crappy part of town, where the criminals are. It makes total sense, right? I mean, why would a death dealer be here?"

The grey eyes were beseeching, but Katie couldn't manage anything verbal let alone a lie to placate the driver. Instead she looked again to Toby, who'd begun to mess with the buttons on his side of the car.

"Shouldn't you have your seatbelt on?" she asked.

"Okay, Mama," he said cheerfully, and complied.

I'm going insane.

The driver said nothing the rest of the way and dropped them off in front of her apartment complex without asking for directions. Toby darted out of the car and shoved the door to the lobby open with all his might.

She trailed, even more perplexed when the janitor waxing the floor called out a cheerful, "Hey, Toby!"