Young Writers Society

Queenie let go of farm-boy's hand to lift her hair up off her neck and rub her knotted muscles there. There was a reason she never wore her hair down. The thick curls were like a thermal blanket all the way down her back, and twice as heavy. Sure, it hurt less when it was all spread out, but having it tied back was so much better.

She pulled it over her shoulder and parted it into sections for a loose braid.

"If Anna asks," she told Carter, pointedly ignoring Skull, "My full name is Annabelle. Make things easier." He could also give her a different nickname if he felt like it, but if he had more than two brain cells to spare he could figure that one out himself.

A minute later, Esther and Anna emerged from the store. Queenie tied off the braid by wrapping a strand of the hair used to make it around the end a few times and tucking it securely into itself. She preferred hair ties, but this wasn't the twenty-first century, and she wasn't sure if just asking for a spare hair tie was normal yet.

"Did you get what you were looking for?" she asked Anna pleasantly, tossing her braid over her shoulder to fall down by her legs.

Her father was always telling her to play someone likable nowadays. A few years ago, before she was good enough at causing pain to get out of trouble, the goal was to be unnoticeable. If she wasn't noticed, no one would pick her out as a target. Of course, that was also when he was the pushiest about her cutting her hair shorter. The one order she ever broke. Of course, that wasn't much of a problem anymore, and she was much better at her job because of it.

If she could draw attention, make herself into the nice, pretty girl at the party, it was much easier to get people to tell her things rather than having to dig through old text messages on stolen phones or sift through security tapes she wasn't supposed to access.

Her job really did become more fun as she got better at it.

Carter only nodded at Elizabeth's whisper as he followed the others around the grocery store, quietly observing. He didn't know what they were supposed to be doing yet, but he figured it would be best to let Esther take the lead. She'd already established a connection with her grandmother, Anna, and Carter thought it would be silly to try and insert himself into the conversation for no reason, especially when he was so unfamiliar with their environment.

I heard Elizabeth's whisper to Carter, but I knew it wasn't directed to me. Fine. It wasn't like I had spent all of our last little adventure worrying about her or anything - she could pretend like I didn't exist.

What had I even done to get on her nerves? Usually I had a good idea, but I was drawing a blank? Was it how I had acted around Adam? If it was, she really needed to stop holding a grudge.

Well, I was going to share the name they should call me by, but I was feeling a little spiteful and decide to ignore them, too. When Esther emerged with the actual Anna a moment later, I went over to her side and gave her a loving smile - resisting the urge to childishly stick my tongue out at Carter and Elizabeth.

Before long, Anna had gotten the groceries she'd needed and checked out and Anna said they could go back to her apartment so they could meet Jay, and Mildred, who would help them find a place to stay.

The apartment was only a few blocks away and it was cluttered and cramped. Clearly you weren't supposed to shove five people in a space meant for two. When Anna opened the door and set her groceries aside, a five year old boy with dark hair and blue eyes came running towards her. He may have been a five year old child, but it was unmistakable who he was. Who he would grow up to be. He hugged his mother, and from then on seemed surgically attached to his hip.

"Hi," Anna said. "I wasn't gone for that long." She turned him around to face the others. "This is Esther, and Van, and Carter...." she pointed to Elizabeth. "Her name is Anna too."
In response, Jay buried his face in his mother's side. Anna laughed nervously. "Say hello."

"Hi," he said quietly.

"He's a little shy," Anna told them. She looked around, and a petite woman with auburn hair came into the kitchen. Mildred? "Ethel," Anna said. So, not Mildred. "Where's Mildred?"

"She and George had to pick up their car from the shop," she said. "She'll be back later."

"Oh," Anna replied, Jay still hanging on to her. "Well, these are my friends. They're looking for a place to stay. I wanted to ask her if Edith still had two rooms in her boarding house."

"I don't know, you'd have to ask her," Ethel said. "I'm sure it will be fine."

"Sorry," Anna said, her face flushed. "She should be back soon, and we can ask her." Just then, Anna leaned down and whispered something in Jay's ear. "Mommy has to go to the bathroom. Why don't you show our new friends your surprise?"

Just then, Jay took the toy car out of the bag and started to play with it on the floor.

Queenie stuck by Carter all the while they were being led to the apartment. This act, it seemed, would be pretty easy. She'd have to thank Carter for that later. He was a hell of a lot more respectful than most of her other fake boyfriends.

She tuned in to the conversation around her, gave a small wave when she was introduced, and was otherwise quiet until they were left to watch the kid mess around with his new toy.

She didn't show her annoyance with that fact. What was it with people and thinking that she would be a fan of their sticky little mess-makers? In this era, it was probably the fact that she was a girl - well, woman, assuming she would be sent back home to exactly the time she left. Four days away from adulthood and she was dealing with this mess.

She shook her head and reviewed the earlier conversation in her head.

Two rooms.

...Shit.

She was no fan of sharing rooms. The few hours she could be just slightly off her guard, drop her acts, and relax for a moment or two being invaded by someone who was basically a stranger was far less than ideal.

She swept her braid back over her shoulder and fiddled with it. It would be fine. She'd just have to act a little more, a little better.

Carter waved and smiled when he was introduced, but when Anna left the room, he looked around at the others. Elizabeth didn't look interested in Jay, and he wasn't either, but he had their "mission" in mind, even though it was vague and difficult to define. What was it that made people better? How could he know what would be helpful for Jay in the long run?

He walked over to Jay and sat down in front of him, about a foot away. The cramped space didn't give him the room he would've normally given as a safety net of comfort between a child and a stranger.

He tried to think of how he'd seen other people connect with children. He'd always found it difficult, even as a child, to connect with kids, but Jay wasn't just an average kid, right? He felt like it'd alluded to that Jay was never quite "right" or "normal."

"How fast do you think your car can go?" Carter asked, pretending to be interested and invested for the sake of establishing some kind of rapport with Jay. It wasn't a difficult act to put on, though children were always the hardest to deceive.

That was Jay?

It wasn't that I had forgotten Jay was a kid once. I just hadn't been expecting to see what he was like as a kid. There wasn't really any sign right now that he was going to lead a cult someday - he just seemed kind of cute, like any other kid. He was even a little shy, going off of how he hid his face when we first showed up.

But now he was playing with his toy car, and Carter was being friendly. I couldn't tell how genuine it was. Maybe it was just because I didn't like him already, but Carter hadn't even worried about Elizabeth and Esther when they were gone. Why would he care about the kid he knew would turn out to be a murderer someday?

Well, it wasn't like there was anything else I could do right now. I could keep pretending to be Esther's lover, but I wasn't really sure how much attention I had to give her for our supposed love to be supported. I had done my part already; I'd ham things up later if I had to.

I sat down near Carter and Jay, watching as Jay played with his new toy. I was admittedly intrigued by it - cars hadn't even existed when I was a kid, much less toys of them.

Esther watched her father play with Carter, trying to think of words to say. Of why the Librarian brought them here. She thought she knew, but it gave her a sinking feeling.

Anna came back from the bathroom and offered them all something to drink. Esther said she was fine with water. Then, she sat down next to her son and commanded most of his attention. It was clear. She loved him, and he loved her.

After what seemed like forever, a woman with dark hair and freckles walked through the door, followed a handsome blonde man in suspenders.

"Got the car fixed," the woman announced.

"Mildred," Anna said with a smile. "My friends were wondering if Edith still has two rooms in her boarding house."

Mildred shot them a look. "She should," he said. "Let me call her." She walked over to the telephone.

"You just got here," said Jay, in the direction of their group.

"I know, but they can't stay," Anna replied.

In response, Jay slammed the car down on the floor.

"Jay!" Anna exclaimed.

"Every time you bring friends back, they leave!" Jay darted down the hallway, and Anna after him. Shortly thereafter, Mildred hung up the phone.

"Edith says she can accommodate you," said Mildred. "As long as you all help with work."

"That sounds good," Esther replied.

Mildred shot a glance in the direction of the hallway. "Jay's always been a bad kid. I wouldn't worry too much about it." She smiled wearily. "We can take you first thing tomorrow. You might have to sleep on our floor until then. But hey, at least it's a roof over your head."

"We were at the Hooverville in Idaho Falls before this, heard the work is better out west," Esther said, glad now that she paid attention in history class. "So, like you said, a roof over our head is an improvement."

I stared down the hallway.

"Thanks," I said, a little absentmindedly. A bad kid? Jay was probably around four or five. I knew he was going to be a cult leader - it wasn't like he was going to turn out to be some kind of saint. But still. Kids picked up on things like that. And, considering the circumstances, it made sense. Jay didn't have anyone his age living here. His mom was probably raising him alone. Things weren't exactly so hot financially, going off of the state of things outside.

I guess I could emphasizing with a future murderer to the list of morally questionable things I had done in my life.

I slipped down the hallway.

Anna probably had things covered with Jay, but I wanted to see how he was - partially because I wanted to spite Mildred by proving that he wasn't a bad kid, somehow, and partially because I was honestly concerned.

Queenie nodded in agreement with Esther, giving a convincing imitation of a grateful smile. "Thank you," she said with the same false, humble, sincerity.

If these people knew where she really lived, that statement might get a little hollow. Fortunately, they'd be long dead by the time her home would be built, or even by the time she was...by the time she existed. Not that they would ever be invited in, and none of them seemed the type to break in, or care. They all had their own issues.

Though, they may be a little bothered that they were hosting a girl who could buy everything they'd ever touched without putting a dent in her yearly allowance.

"We really are grateful for all your help," and for not once having the good sense to be suspicious, she said, and didn't say, to Mildred. Sure, Queenie was exaggerating the act a little, but...she didn't know. Perhaps she wanted her little group to shift their perspective on her.

She couldn't imagine why. She didn't like them, and they didn't have to like her. It was that simple.

I sound like Briar.

Carter was surprised to be mildly enjoying himself until Mildred showed up. Mildred... what an unfortunate name.

He watched as Jay ran off and noted that Skull followed. As much as he didn't trust Skull to not screw something up, he didn't want to make things look more suspicious if he followed. He simply stayed back and hoped Skull wouldn't genuinely mess Jay up more than he already was.

"Yes, thank you so much," he said with a small bow of his head as he mirrored Elizabeth's thanks.

Their first night passed in 1939.

Esther was expecting to wake up in the library, but they didn't. They were back in Anna's apartment. All this time, she'd never really gotten a chance to explain anything to her companions.

They weren't from her world, so they didn't know. They didn't know the name Jay Whitman was synonymous with evil. That Alex Altman was synonymous with brainwashed zealot.

Somehow, even with all of them squished together on the floor, Esther still managed to fall asleep. As she slept, she had a vivid dream. Driving, driving, driving, a cliff getting closer and closer.

It was just past six in the morning when she woke up and saw her father staring at her. Anna followed shortly thereafter. "Jay," she whispered. "We don't stare at people."

Queenie woke up far earlier than the rest of the house. The hard, stiff floor beneath her seemed to have passed those traits on to her limbs, and she had an awful headache. For those reasons, and an acute desire not to have to deal with anyone who happened to be a light enough sleeper to wake up by nothing more than her movement, she stayed where she was with her eyes closed.

It would be easy enough to sneak out. Find some way home that didn't involve these people, even if she had to invent time travel from the ground up by herself to do it.

But she wasn't Briar, she didn't have the technical skill to pull off something like that, and even if she did, a slight miscalculation could land her farther from home than ever.

She continued this debate, back and forth in an unproductive loop until she heard the telltale signs of people finally waking up. Then, she peeled herself up off the ground and stretched out her sore limbs. She got to her feet and smoothed out her now-wrinkled clothes, picking up her jacket from the ground where she'd folded it and slipping it back on. Her braid, which was never all that neat to begin with, was a frizzy mess, and she thus undid it to try to correct that.

As her hands worked, she looked over her little group. Esther was being stared at by her dad, and the words Anna had said to alert Queenie that others were awake had been chastising him for that.

"Good morning," Queenie said to Anna, quietly enough that those who were still asleep could stay that way. Queenie didn't feel like listening to Hamlet's-more-emo-cousin say, well, anything, really.

Carter was used to sleeping on floor and the earthen ground from his early days as a soldier, so he slept fine. He woke to the sound of hushed talking - Jay, being scolded, and Elizabeth greeting Anna.

He opened his eyes and sighed, sitting up to look at the others.

Jay seemed like a curious little boy.

"Did you sleep alright?" he asked Elizabeth, with the sincere concern and tenderness of someone who might've been her spouse, but wasn't. He hadn't expected to spend a whole night at Anna's home, but considering they were still there, he would keep trying to sell their cover story.

She nodded, giving him the small smile of a loving girlfriend. He was playing his part far better than she'd expected him to. If she wasn't in on the act, she might actually believe him.

"I slept well," she said, still keeping her voice down as a courtesy to Skull, something she'd never give if she wasn't supervised, "Did you sleep okay?"