Picked It Up (6)

Cyril tugged and pulled at the rope for 10 minutes, trying to pull Jordan down.

Although he had a lean figure, he was quite strong, so it made no sense that the little girl wasn't moving.

At some point, he even pulled himself partly up the rope, and she didn't flinch, almost as if she had been pinned in the air.

It felt like he was trying to drag a cliff.

Finally, he gave up and moved to stand directly below her.

"Jojo?"

"Uh huh?"

"I need you to think happy thoughts about floating down, okay? Whatever power you used to get up there, you'll have to cancel it yourself."

"….I'm scared. What if the dogs come back? They always come when it gets cold wahhh"

As she began crying again, Cyril quickly interrupted after checking his watch.

"If you float down, we can get out of here before they come. But we need to move quickly."

"….I I I don't know how to get down."

"Sure you do. you floated up right? Uhmmm, what are they teaching kids these days in elementary school? Have you learned about gravity yet?"

"Isaac Newton? We started learning about his gravitational law. I want to be a physicist like him!" Jordan whispered with more excitement than she had shown the whole conversation.

"Yep. Mr. Newton. Great guy. When you jump up, you come down. If you throw something up, it comes down, right? Since you went up, you have to come down."

"But but-"

"Do you want to disprove the great physicist? All the amazing work he put in?"

"No…but…."

"Let's take a deep breath, make like an apple, and fall down? I promise to catch you."

"But…if I fall at this height, I might break something. You feel kind of skinny so I don't think you can catch me. No offense."

Cyril: ಠ_ಠ

Remembering that this was a child, Cyril took a deep breath before softening his voice.

"You have two options. The best one is that I leave to go and try to get reinforcements to help bring you down. But you might have to be alone for several hours, and I don't think the things running around here are dogs. It was definitely rats. Giant rat-"

"Ahhhhhhhhh."

As the child's body quickly dropped out of the air, Cyril braced himself and caught it, wincing as he felt his wrist let out a crack as a jolt of pain shot through his arm.

"Great! I guess we don't need the second option."

"R-r-rats? You say a giant rat…." Thin arms wrapped around his neck, almost choking him as the girl began to cry again.

"I was lying about the rats. Maybe?"

There had been some unidentified feces, so who knew?

"No sob sob sob. I hate rats, and bugs, and roaches, and -"

Throwing the crying little girl over his shoulder in a fireman carry, Cyril forced his way past the dumpsters again; and as he squeezed past, he began muttering to himself.

"How did all these dumpsters end up here anyway?"

"I picked it up."

"Pardon?"

"I felt something chasing me and needed it, so I picked it up to whack it. With magic. Like this." Jordan made a fist with one hand, smacking it against her palm.

Cyril: "……"

He stared at the large dumpsters blocking the house and noticed the dents embedded in each one as if they had been used to hit things.

Okay. Note to self: let's remember this scene. Even if she is a child, she's dangerous.

Cyril carefully placed her on the back of the wagon before removing wipes from his bag and clearing away the snot and blood on her face.

As he cleaned her, Jordan turned her head toward the general direction of Fen without really focusing on him.

"Is that your dog? He seems really big. Can I pet him?" as her little arm reached out, Cyril pushed it down immediately as Fen began growling.

"His name is Fen, and he doesn't like to be petted. Say hi to her, Fen."

Fen simply gave Cyril a dirty look.

"He doesn't like me?"

"He's shy."

Fen: ಠ_ಠ

In what world was he shy?

Since its internal clock said that two hours were up, Fen turned tail and left without saying a word, leaving Cyril to fend for himself.

Once the wolf was about 20 feet away, Jordan turned toward Cyril. "Your dog is leaving?"

"He's headed back since his shift is over. Actually…" Cyril glanced at the darkening sky before turning to the little girl.

"Do you mind coming back to my place for now? I need to wait for a friend if I'm going to take you to the police station since it's getting dark."

"Are you trying to kidnap me? They said I shouldn't follow strangers in school! Are you a child kidnapper?!" a blunt question came out, and Jordan held one hand in a fist over her open palm while glaring at him.

Sensing the threat in that gesture, Cyril held both hands up.

"Not in the slightest. Actually, I can just leave you here if you'd like. Since you're hungry, I'll give you lots of food and come back for you tomorrow, or you can find your way there by yourself. Your choice."

"I'm blind! Why would you leave me here? Why can't you take me to the police station right now? Didn't you say you were a police officer? Were you lying?"

"Ya. I lied. I'm not a police officer."

At Cyrils' bland tone, Jordan began crying again. Her face filled up with snot once more, causing Cyril to gently pat her hair.

Although his touch was gentle, his tone was strict as he responded.

"I lied about being an officer, but I have food and can point you in the right direction if you want to walk or help you hide. It's getting dark, and it's dangerous at night, and I have no plans putting myself in danger for you. Either come along without crying or stay here. I'll give you a minute to decide."

"A-a minute? Hic"

"50 seconds. If you come with me, I have food, hot water, a soft bed, and will take you to the police station once my friend gets back or tomorrow morning when the sun rises. Again, you can stay here. I don't really care."

"….."

"30 seconds."

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The sound of Jordan's stomach rumbling rang out causing her golden face to flush red.

"…hic You promise that when your friend is back, you'll ask him to take me to the police station."

"If he says yes, we'll go tonight. Otherwise, we'll go first thing in the morning. I don't want to hurt you and don't really care what you choose so make a decision quickly. If you don't like the options I gave you, you can come along. There's a church I can drop you at on the way back to my place."

"Do you know the church people?"

"No clue. But it's catholic. They like kids from what I've heard."

It was silent for another minute before Jordan bit her lips tightly before speaking in a bitter voice.

"…then I'll come with you, Cyril Taylor, the lying police officer who tricked me."

"Okay, Jordan Johnson, the blind floating girl who's so scared of fake rats that she fell down."

"…I don't like that name." Jordan immediately began sulking as she glared in his general direction.

"Well, I don't like the name you gave me either, so change it or get used to your new name, Jordan Johnson, the blind floating girl who's so scared of rats she fell down."

Jordan: ಠ_ಠ

Cyril: (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

"Fine! I'll call you Cyril! So stop calling me that!"

"Great choice, Jojo."

Cyril casually pulled out a blanket from his bag and wrapped it around her. Then, he opened a container of food, stuck a fork in it, and handed it to her.

"Eat and be quiet. There are water bottles next to you."

He then got on the ATV, turned it around carefully, and began driving it the way he came.

As he drove past the giant hole in the street and remembered how the house he found Jordan looked, a faint premonition filled his mind.

"Hey, I know you're blind, but do you know what made this giant hole?"

"It was me. Mmph, this is so good." Jordan spoke while stuffing her face with the food. There was sauce smeared everywhere but she seemed to be enjoying herself.

"You made the hole?"

"Yeah, it felt like a big animal, and people were screaming around it, so I picked it up and smashed it through the ground. Then I smooshed the air over it like a hammer. Bang. Does it look cool??"

"Wow. Yeah, it does look pretty cool."

"Right? Should I show you?"

Glancing at the giant hole in the ground and the young girl's tiny fist slamming into her palm while imitating a hammer, Cyril felt a cold sweat dripping down his back.

He immediately resolved to drop the girl off at the nearest police station as soon as Alexei got back.

For his own health.

"Are you sure you don't want to see it?"

"How about you show your family when you find them later? It can be a fun surprise. Like a party trick!"

"Oh…sure," It was a subdued response, unlike the previous smile, and for the rest of the drive back, she was completely silent.

When they got back to the waystation, Cyril sent Jordan to the bathroom with a change of clothes and toiletries.

After about an hour without a sign of her, he knocked on the door and tried the lock, thinking she was stuck or had fainted.

Instead, a childish voice yelled at him.

"Go away! I'm not coming out until the morning, you kidnapper!"

Cyril: "……"

Cyril: ಠ_ಠ

Why was he getting treated like a kidnapper after she ate his food, walked into his place with her own two feet, and was using his stuff for free? And after he had sprained his hand while catching her?

Just forget it, he was the adult in this situation.

Sighing, Cyril walked to the kitchen, brought a warm plate of food with snacks and beverages, and put it outside the bathroom door. Then he piled blankets and pillows next to it.

"Miss Jordan Johnson. I'm leaving more food and drinks outside of the door. Get it whenever you want or don't. There are extra blankets and pillows as well. Let's happily go to the police station tomorrow so they can find your family. Good night." 

Relocating to the common room, Cyril relaxed, reading some agriculture books stolen from the library while waiting for Alexei to come back.

And when Alexei finally entered the Waystation at dawn, completely covered in blood, it was the exact moment that Jordan decided to come out of the bathroom and walk slowly down the stairs.

As she reached the bottom, she stood still, staring in Alexei's general direction before turning her head as Cyril walked over.

"It smells like blood. Are you Cyril's friend? You're injured?"

Alexei looked at the tiny child up and down before looking at Cyril with a cold expression.

"Get her out of here. Or I will."

"That's the plan. I was just waiting for you to come back. Go clean up and escort me to the police station, please."

"I'm not leaving!"

At the completely unexpected scream, Cyril turned to look at Jordan with a confused expression while the chains on Alexei's wrist began slithering on the wooden floors.