Chapter 6

Mrs. Rogers decides to adopt Narixia.

Narixia felt herself being undressed and re-dressed, then tucked in a warm, soft bed. Her plan had worked! These humans were too easy! She crept out of bed, the dashed back and feigned sleep just as the door creaked open. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers were just checking on their little guest, and left soon.

After that little encounter, however, Narixia learned something crucial: the door was jammed. Opening it would always take quite a bit of jiggling and pushing, and it would generate enough noise and take enough time to open to warn Narixia someone was coming and give her time to wake up and take form, stop working on the tracker, etc. Perfect.

Narixia found a wastebasket, and cleaned it out with some tissues from the box on the table. She dissolved her form in the container, confident about not being discovered. Her nerves at rest, she sailed away to dreamland.
Her dreams were confusing and terrifying. First she saw Jane, trying to teach her how to talk, then seeming to melt right before her eyes.

Her parents were next, showing them several times laughing and having a wonderful time in that ship they had died on, waving to Narixia through the force field window. Narixia screaming each time and tried to warn them, but they seemed to not hear or see her, only continuing to enjoy themselves before they suffocated.

Kenzra then appeared, reaching out to Narixia before being attacked by her captor, the Tatarana. Flurries of frightening images flashed past Narixia's eyes, until Narixia woke up and quickly took form, gasping and bathed in a cold sweat. Outside, it was cold and dark, the wind howling and clawing at the windows, desperately seeking a way in.

Narixia calmed herself, taking steady, deep breaths. She could hear Mr. Rogers snoring, which meant the Mrs. and Alex were also asleep. Narixia shivered, and then examined her surroundings. The room had polyester comforter on top that had brown, green, blue, and gold stripes, with matching throw pillows and curtains.
After a through check on the room, Narixia dissolved back into the wastepaper basket and fell into a now blessedly dreamless sleep.
Click, click.
Narixia moaned to herself and tried to fall back asleep.
Scrape, scrape.
Wait a second.....the door! Narixia, faster than lightning, took form of the little girl in the pajamas and zipped under the covers, just before the door was shoved open. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers tip-toed in, then leaned over Narixia's form. Mrs. Rogers gently shook her, and Narixia acted out slowly coming awake. She had her eyes slowly open, then focus on Mrs. Rogers. Her eyes widened in mock terror, and bolted up in the bed, backing away from the couple.
"No, no! It's all right! You're safe now." Mrs. Rogers said hurriedly, putting up her hands in a placating manner. Narixia stopped, eyeballing the two warily. "My name is Penelope Rogers." Mrs. Rogers continued. "This is my husband, William Rogers. Do you remember what happened?" Narixia squinted.
"I was lost." She said finally, frowning. Then, brightening, "Then you found me, and I wasn't lost anymore."
"Good, darling." Mrs. Rogers smiled. "But do you remember anything before that? Your mother must be worried sick!" Narixia fought to keep a calm and thoughtful expression, while inside, she was panicking. What on earth could she say?! Cursing herself for not thinking of this beforehand, she suddenly remembered something from her History of the Universe book. Part forty-three, chapter twenty, section 125, verses 1-150, focused on some of the atrocities of Earth, including abuse. Physical abuse, drug abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse; the list went on and on.

Sickening, really.

But the one that Narixia was thinking about was child abuse. Parents would abuse their own children, if you could believe it; under the influence of drugs or emotional/mental problems. Victims often then omitted anything from memory; that was how the human brain worked. This horrible act could very well save Narixia's skin.
"Lisa? She always wanted me to call her 'mother'." Narixia put on a confused air. "She drank from the bottle, and then-" Pause. "Then she.................." Narixia looked surprised. "I don't remember!" She looked worriedly at the couple. "Is that bad?"
"No, no, sweetie. That's fine. Thank you." She looked at her husband. "Well, um, are you hungry? We have breakfast."
Narixia sighed inwardly in relief that she had not revealed herself. Putting on a cheery smile, she nodded. The couple smiled back at her and handed her a bundle of clothes. Telling her to change, they walked downstairs. Changing, Narixia followed.
Alex was already at the table, wolfing down circular things drenched in a sticky substance.
"Herro." She said, her mouth stuffed. Mrs. Rogers looked disgusted.
"For heaven's sake, Alex, act like a human being!" She scolded, and seated Narixia at the table. Hurrying over to a pan over a stove, she began to pour a batter into the pan. "Do you like pancakes, uh....what was your name, dear?"
"Colette." Narixia replied, thinking fast. "And yes, I do." But to herself, she thought, Pancakes? What were those?

She watched as Mrs. Rogers picked up a strange utensil that had a long handle and a square and flat end. The circle of batter in the pan began to bubble along the edges, and Mrs. Rogers flipped it, revealing a golden brown side. After a while, Mrs. Rogers moved the cake to a plate and drizzled a sticky substance on it. Pouring some type of juice in a cup, she served up the meal. Narixia picked up her fork, unsure of what to do. Cautiously, she cut off a piece of the pancake with her fork and stabbed it, examining the food. Finally, she took a bite.

Thankfully, it didn't taste that bad. The sticky stuff was very sweet, and the cake part was also delicious. She finished the food and dumped the dishes in the sink. Wandering upstairs, Narixia saw Alex in what she guessed was her room.

"Where is it?!" Alex shouted, throwing clothes, toys, and pillows every which way.

"What?" Narixia asked, curious.

"Oh, Colette! Help me find my English essay. It's due today, and I'm in big trouble if I don't find it!" Narixia shuffled in, unsure of what to look for. "Essay", like many words in the English language, had more than one meaning. One definition classified it as a verb, and it meant an attempt or try. But the way Alex was wording it probably meant it was the noun definition; a short piece of writing on a particular subject.
Narixia began to look around, peeking under books, toys, and dirty clothes that littered the floor. She finally spied a corner of a paper under a stuffed bear with button eyes. Retrieving it, she silently handed it to Alex.
"You found it!" Alex squealed, hugging Narixia and shoving the paper in a bag. Shouldering the bag, Alex ran outside. Watching her from the window, Narixia watched Alex as she caught up to another girl and started chattering excitedly about her new sister; whoever that was. Together, the two girls boarded an ugly, smelly, yellow bus, along with about another dozen kids. As the bus drove away, Narixia wandered downstairs, where she found Mrs. Rogers donning a coat and hat.
"There you are!" Mrs. Rogers exclaimed, taking Narixia by the hand. "It's time to go!"
"Go where?" Narixia asked and she was led to a primitive car.
"Why, to the orphanage, of course! We can't just keep you, you know." Narixia cursed under her breath. Her plan was falling apart! "We don't have the money." Mrs. Rogers continued. "Harry and I have been trying to have a baby, and I'd love to keep you, but we can't afford the adoption expenses." We'll see about that, Narixia thought as she was buckled into the backseat.

Concealing her arm from view, Narixia's skin rippled and parted, revealing her Mem-Pad. In order to keep it safe, Narixia had concealed the device in the middle of her arm. She would have to disassemble the device later so she could begin her tracking mechanism, but for now she was glad that she had it. Within minutes, Narixia had hacked the relatively simple passwords on government files. She constructed a phony file under the name Colette Tracy Clark. According to the file, Colette's parents [Also phony files, under the names Debbie Polly Allen and George Robert Clark] had died in an awful drowning incident. Colette was taken in by her last of kin; her aunt Lisa. Lisa was a heavy drinker, and had cared for Colette for two years before reporting the child missing two months ago, then dying in a drunk driving accident a month later. The child was completely alone. How.........tragic.
Satisfied, Narixia shut down the Mem-Pad and re-absorbed it into her arm. Pretty soon, Mrs. Rogers pulled up to a large building, gray in color but not too run-down. Mrs. Rogers and Narixia walked into the building, where they saw an empty room besides the one lady sitting at a desk, typing away. She looked up and saw the pair. Her hot pink glittery glasses slid down a bit on her nose.
"Can I help you?" She asked, adjusting her pink cardigan. Her brown hair was up in a bun, decorated with a single pink flower.
"Yes, um, I'm here to register Colette here. She just showed up at my house last night." Mrs. Rogers said.
"Mhm, I see." The lady applied another layer of pink lipstick and smoothed out her-yep, you guessed it-blue skirt. "Full name?"
"Colette Tracy Clark." Narixia spoke up.
"Okay..........Ah! Here it is. Let's see..no next of kin.....missing for two months....." The lady pursed her lips. "Everything appears in order. Now, do you wish to adopt her right now or later?"
"No, no! I'm not adopting! We don't have that kind of money. I'm just here to drop her off."
"Sorry, no can do." The woman shrugged. "We don't have enough room. We'll have to transfer her to a different facility; and that is expensive. Are you sure, miss?"
"Well, I-" Mrs. Rogers stammered. She looked at Narixia. "What do you want?" Mrs. Rogers finally asked.
"Whatever you think, Mommy." Narixia said, keeping on a perfectly innocent and angelic face. Just as she thought, that little comment put the situation in the bag.
"We'll take her." Mrs. Rogers said firmly.
"Congratulations." The lady said drily. "You'll need your husband to sign these papers. Bring them in by tomorrow."

"All righty, then." Mrs. Rogers replied, pulling out a pen and paper. Scribbling something down, she handed it to the receptionist. "Here's my address, name, and number if you need anything. Come on, Colette. Let's go." Narixia slipped her little hand into Mrs. Rogers, and beamed at her. Inside, she was cheering. She would be home in no time.

Author's Note

This is where Narixia completely integrates herself in the Rogers's family. What do you think?

Reviews

[CrimsonBlaze]

Forst of all pleas excuse my spelling errors in the reviews. Canr type eell on my nook... anyway wgat do I think? I tjinkk that Narixia either might accidentally reveal herself orbecome attached to the family..but im not one od those fortune telers so yeah.. the chapter itself was epicness as always, short and sweet to the point