Starre clicked the receiver down, and went to crouch behind the couch. She cradled the egg in her lap, tracing the dark blue spots with her finger.
"When will you be here, my little friend?" she asked quietly. "I could use a little company right now."
She was answered by nothing. She shook her head in dismay, knowing that dispair was crouching a yard away, and would spring the moment she let down her guard.
**--**--**
When there was a knock on her door, Starre jumped. She had been watching the smooth surface of the egg slowly develop little cracks on its surface. She sat quietly, waiting for some sort of sign that it was the poliece and not someone that was more...unwelcome.
"Starre Copper?" asked a deep voice. "Are you alright? We're the crew that the operator said would arrive. We've come to investigate the assault and kidnapping of your father, mother, and brother.
"And what are their names?" Starre asked serenely, standing up.
"John, Nina, Stevan."
Starre unlocked and unbolted the door. "Come in."
The door swung open, revealing three dark figures in the doorway. They were wearing black poliece uniforms, and each one had glistening badges all over his or her coat.
The one that had been speaking was a tall, african-american man with a bald head and the bristly beginnings of a beard. His dark eyes pierced the room in scrutinizing detail, looking for any clue of crime, a task they were accustomed to.
The two officers behind him were both caucasian, one a woman and one a man. They looked like they could be siblings, with the same wispy blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes. The tops of their heads brushed the taller man's shoulders as they walked in, but they seemed at least 6 feet.
Starre felt oddly intimidated by the policemen and policewoman, but she felt she could trust them. She hoped she could trust them. She needed to trust them.
"Sergeant Jeff Grimes at your service," said the big man, holding out his hand for Starre. She shook it tentatively, noting with interest that it was twice as big as hers.
"Nice to meet you," she said, smiling and nodding despite the fear she felt slowly settling over her like a cloud.
"My associates here are Elaine and Ben McCarthy." So she had been right -- they were related.
"I need you to give me a full description of the men that kidnapped your family," Elaine said urgently. "What did they look like?"
Kidnapped your family, Starre thought bitterly. They manage to make it sound even more terrible.
"He was a bigger man, the one I saw," Starre said thoughtfully. "He had short, curly brown hair, green eyes, and a double chin. I think he had some chin stubble as well."
Ben, Starre noticed, had taken out a pencil and was sketching on a thick pad of paper. Looking closer, she saw that he was drawing a man to match her description.
"He had kind of an oblong face," she offered, "and a pointy little nose."
Ben paused, and finished the brief sketch. He then offered it to Starre with a questioning noise.
"Exactly!" Starre said, awestruck. "His ears stuck out of the sides a little bit more, but that's really close! How --"
"We've seen him and his cronies before," Jeff interrupted, his eyes dark with concern. "His name is Movak Shrinav, and he's very to-the-book anti-Kin. He'd do just about anything to get rid of them."
"Even kidnap them?" Starre cried, wondering just how someone could be so incredibly cruel and heartless.
"Oh, he's pulled every trick in the book," Elaine growled, reaching for her belt. She produced a hefty walkie-talkie, and pressed a button. "Road crew? It's Elaine. Do you hear me? Over."
In a few seconds, she got a reply.
"Hi, Elaine. This is Benson. Any news? Over."
"It's as we feared, Benson," Elaine replied miserabley. "Shrinav."
Elaine continued her conversation, but Starre still had unanswered questions. She turned to Jeff, who seemed to be deep in thought.
"Sir?" she asked, making the big man jump a little bit. "W-why didn't Shrinav just take my dad? Why'd he take my family?"
"Well," Jeff replied, scratching his chin, "no one knows quite what sort of thing goes on in that man's mind, but your family saw him, and he probably didn't want them to run off blabbing. That, or he thought they were Kin hiding their wings."
"Hiding their wings?"
"When you're older," Jeff explained, "you'll be able to make your wings and tail dissapear if you need to. That's why the anti-Kin folks had to use so much stealth while searching for new victims."
Starre shuddered, remembering the mangy Kin dying while spectators cheered and jeered.
Jeff patted her shoulder awkwardly. "Your family will probably be fine," he said gruffly. "Our road crew is fantastic. They'll catch that weasel Shrinav and put him in jail, where he deserves to be."
Starre smiled weakly, reality beginning to settle down upon her like a dark cloud. She coudl feel the small, wet tears welling up in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks in torrents. She quickly dabbed at her eyes with her shirt sleeve, embarrassed about her crying.
"There now," Ben said gently, walking over to Starre and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be ashamed. In fact, you'd be a fool if you didn't cry. You have compassion. That's nothing to feel bad about."
"Plus, you've had a long, rough night," Elaine said firmly, putting down her walkie-talkie. "The road crew is hot on the tral of that bozo. Why don't you sleep at the station tonight? You'll be safest there."
Starre smiled a watery smile at the three kind people. They didn't seem nearly as formidable as they had minutes ago. "That would be wonderful, thank you," she said. Clutching her egg close to her chest, she walked toward the door with the three officers.
"By the way," Ben said suddenly, "what's that you've got there?" He nodded sharply towards the egg.
Starre smiled. "It's something precious," she said, "and I must keep it with me. May I bring it?"
"Of course," Jeff said, opening the poliece car door for Starre. She got in, and they drove her to the station, where she was to try and catch up on some much-needed sleep.