I got up and turned on the TV, calling my twin downstairs. “Oliver! Dinner is ready!” I called. He ran downstairs, mad that I didn’t call him to help. The TV was playing on full blast, the news reporter speaking loudly. “I really wish you would let me handle dinner, Odette” Oliver said in a calmer voice. He turned to the TV and read the captions of the news report. I paid attention as well. The reporter talked about a twelve year old girl named June.

The missing girl had long blonde hair and blue eyes. The reporter said that she was missing for 12 hours and her parents are offering a huge reward. I turned off the TV and Oliver got out the Mac and Cheese from the oven. I must’ve been staring for a while because he asked if I was ok. I told him yes and set the table. I talked to Oliver a bit , but he stopped me and asked “Odette are you ok? You’re repeating the same thing without realizing”. I stood still rocking back and forth on my feet. I did that when my mind was somewhere else.

Maybe that case somehow scared me, Oliver sensed this. “Is this because of the news?”. I looked down, my throat feeling tight for some reason. “Wanna talk after dinner?”. I didn’t want to continue this so I gulped some warm water from my bottle and went upstairs to get our cousins until Oliver yelled for me halfway up the stairs.

I rushed downstairs and saw him in front of the front door, locking it. Next to him was the same girl on the news. She was drenched from the rain and her face was red from the cold. “Can you give her Rosalise’s room?” Oliver asked.

I nodded and took her upstairs and asked her to wait in front of the fireplace. “Odette?” I spun around to see my twelve year old cousin Alora rubbing her eyes. “What’s going on? Is dinner ready?”. “Alora, go downstairs with your cousins and have dinner”. She asked me who was at the door, and I told her Oliver will explain. She looked at June with confusion. “Are you -“ I cut her off. “Alora, go downstairs”. Alora can sometimes say too much. Alora’s older sister, Jessamine was already downstairs with our cousins Ezekiel and Noah.

I gave June Mac and cheese upstairs in Rosalise’s room and gave her some warm blankets. I asked her what happened and she told me she ran away. She didn’t want to say why, so I left her alone on the topic.

After dinner, my family met June and made her feel at home, while me and Noah talked about her. “Is she an orphan? Homeless?” Noah begin to ask. “I don’t know” I rushed. “But she’s been reported missing for half a day and we have to call her family”.

“Hold up” Noah said gripping my shoulders. “What if her parents are abusive? What if she doesn’t want to be found?”. I stared at him. It was a valid point. What if she wasn’t missing but just on the run? “We’ll call her parents in the morning, but for now we should talk to her” he said. I nodded and slowly walked up the first step.

“Actually” I started. He spun around to look at me. I turned around and stepped down. “I’m going to stay in Oliver’s room tonight.” I walked towards my brother’s room and knocked on the door. He opened the door, Ezekiel was asleep on the mattress on the floor.

“Can we talk?”

Oliver and I locked the door of the bathroom and I sat up on the counter. “Do you want to talk about the news? Or that girl?” he asked. Oliver always just got straight to the point, he didn’t see why he should wait for something different. “Yes”. “Ok” he said.

Silence filled the room until I asked him the question I’ve been holding all night; “doesn’t the news scare you too?”

He nodded. “Yes” he replied. “But”, he continued, “I know that ever since you and I moved in with Noah that we’re safe. We already got our family here as well, imagine how many more we can rescue”.

“Are you scared of rescuing this human?”

He giggled playfully. “I trust this human, and I trust me and our family that we can help her get her to her family”

“But doesn’t it remind you of the lab?”

He nodded, “yes, but we’re safe here. School is safer in Salt Lake, Noah has a good job, our cousins love it here, and we’re going home as soon as we finish our mission, and then, we’ll do what our parents did and live a good life”.

“Ok” was all I whispered. “Do you wanna stay here tonight?” he asked. “No” I replied back. “I’ll stay with the girls upstairs”. I walked back up to my room to see June sitting there on the bed. “Hi June” I said. “Is Rosalise treating you nicely? Did anyone say anything mean?” my voice came out in a babying sort of way. I don’t want to treat her like a little kid though. “No, she’s nice. But is it ok if I sleep here? Your room reminds me of my siblings”.

I nodded and gave her the bed and set up the blanket and pillow on the floor for me. “Good night” I whispered.