Nothing to Hide

The night was dark and cold, as most nights are in the Nevada desert. Two figures, black silhouettes, shuffled through the deserted suburban streets of Summerlin, a housing complex filled with middle class, fit, functional families, or so it was rumored. Really, it looked like the two didn’t belong in such a place as Summerlin, Nevada; so it made one wonder why on earth they were there.

Their skinny little bodies were clothed in what barely qualified as rags. Their hair was greasy and their faces were so dirty, you could barely make out their distinguishing features. The pair looked quite out of place in the nice little neighborhood, even though there was not even a soul in sight.

One of the two was a little boy, probably no older than twelve or thirteen. He was a bit on the scrawny side, but you couldn’t tell how unhealthy and thin he was from first glance. He had a mess of thick, light brown hair atop his head that fell almost below his earlobe. He was rather average size, and hadn’t had a chance yet to hit his growth spurt.

Walking next to him was a girl, probably at the average height of most teenage girls. She, like the boy, was quite small, and looked rather weak and fragile even with her rather baggy clothes covering her fatless body. Her hair was also light brown, but had a tint of auburn in the undertone. She held onto the boy’s shoulders as they walked at a dawdling pace. But no one could really blame them. After all, they had already been walking for many hours.

The two walked upon the black asphalt for a long while, before the streetlights illuminated a place that seemed to be the perfect resting spot, a park bench. The pair grudgingly walked towards it, one reading the other’s mind. The boy sat down first, leaning his bare neck against the back of the bench in exhaustion. “Do you know where we are?” his hoarse, dry voice rang softer than a whisper, but the girl seemed to clearly hear it. She shrugged.

“Somewhere in Nevada,” she told him, as she brought her body down next to him on the bench. “I’ve only seen a state sign from where we crossed the border five hours ago,” she finished as she pulled out a make shift blanket out of her book bag and tossed it over the both of them. The boy nodded.

“We should check a gas station for a map in the morning,” the boy said before yawning and leaning his head against the girl’s shoulder. She nodded, and leaned her own head against his. “Maybe we could find some food somewhere too?” he asked her, looking upwards at her with his tired gray eyes. The girl nodded.

“Yes, food would be nice,” she said as she began to close her eyes.

“Mhmm,” the boy replied, as he too began to close his eyes.

And soon, the pair was fast asleep on the bench.

Hours quickly passed as the moon fell back into the horizon and the sun began to rise in its place. The pair on the bench was still sleeping, though. But while they were still sleeping, half of Summerlin was already getting up. It was a lovely Saturday morning, and the lovely families of Summerlin were all eating a wonderful pancake breakfast with fresh berries and buttered toast. But of course, there were a few exceptions.

Michelle Urie, a local mother and active member of the community, was out for her morning run. Michelle was a very fit woman, and had a tight, well-shaped body. She had dark auburn hair and dark amber eyes to match. She only had wrinkles around the corners of her mouth; due to the amount of smiling she had done in her lifetime. She was forty-six years old.

She was working on finishing her regular mile around the housing development, when she noticed a body of a teenage girl, which from behind, very much resembled one of her daughters. Curious, she stopped her running and wandered over to the park bench, wondering what on earth her Rachel was doing out at the park so early in the morning.

“Rachel!” she called, her sweaty brows furrowed with confusion as she walked towards the bench. The girl didn’t move. Michelle was starting to become frustrated, but as she got closer to the bench, she saw that this was not her daughter. Now she was even more confused. She looked upon the girl and the boy sitting next to her with curious eyes. She most definitely had never seen the two of them before, and they looked like no one had seen them or taken care of them for a very long time. They seemed to be in a very deep sleep, and by the looks of the dark bags under their eyes, they hadn’t gotten a good rest in a long time.

Michelle felt pity on the two children. She wondered where their parents were and why they were off all by themselves. It was quite apparent to her that they were not legally old enough to be out on their own. Why weren’t they with someone? Michelle thought about calling the local orphanage and asking them if they were missing any children, but for some reason, she felt her heart melt for the two. She sighed and gently lent a finger forward to poke the girl’s arm. She awakened with a start, her eyes filled with shock and slight panic, but when she saw Michelle in front of her, she relaxed a bit. She looked at the woman with a raised eyebrow. The boy started to stir at the movement from the girl.

“Pardon me,” Michelle started, oh, she didn’t know how she was going to say this without offending the two of them. “But I noticed that you looked rather…erm…under fed,” she continued, watching their skeptical faces carefully as she continued to speak to them. “And I was wondering if you would fancy a bite to eat at my house,” she told them, putting a friendly smile on her face.

The girl looked at the boy, and he looked back at her. The girl held her finger up as if to tell the woman to wait a moment. “A bite to eat sounds real good,” the boy whispered to her. “And maybe she could give us directions?” he said, grinning hopefully at his companion. She pondered on it for a moment, looking at the boy and then to the woman.

“Alright,” she told him, “but only for the food and directions and not a second longer,” she told him sternly. He nodded in agreement. They turned back to the woman and the girl nodded. “That sounds great. Thanks,” she said shortly, with a small toothless smile.

Michelle grinned wildly. “Splendid!” she exclaimed, “Come, come!” she said, ushering them over to her. The two looked at each other before standing up. The girl gathered the blanket and pushed it back into her book bag. She grabbed the boy’s had and followed the woman away from the bench.

“So, what are your names?” Michelle asked them, after they had been walking for a bit. Again, they glanced at each other.

“Sean,” the boy muttered, holding tightly on the girl’s hand.

“Kristen,” the girl said immediately after. Michelle nodded.

“Do you have a last name?” She asked the older girl, since she seemed to do most of the talking. Kristen nodded.

“James.”

Of course these weren’t their really names. They decided long ago that they would have to go by different names for less than obvious reasons. They had to come up with something that would satisfy the curiosity of the few people they would need.

“Well, I’m Michelle Urie,” She said, smiling at them wildly, “and I’m very pleased to meet you.” Michelle grinned at the two. She really was glad that she was able to meet the pair.

“Are you siblings?” Michelle asked, noticing that the two looked very similar in appearance. They nodded.

“Yes,” Kristen said. Michelle smiled. She thought they were darling little children and much more sweet to each other than she could say for her own children. She decided against asking anymore questions, not wanting to overwhelm them, because for some reason, she felt a nagging deep inside her that wanted to get to know the odd siblings that just seemed to have appeared out of no where.

Michelle continued to talk, mostly to herself because the siblings didn’t say much of anything, but they had learned a lot about Michelle. They learned she had five beautiful children, a handsome husband, a nice job, two dogs, and a truckload of money. The James siblings were internally dripping with envy.

It was only a few minutes later that the trio appeared in front of the Urie residence. By now the siblings had let go of one and another’s hands, but they were still walking very close together. Michelle smiled back at the two before she opened the door for the two of them. They were hesitant to walk in at first. “Well, go on!” Michelle persisted, “You don’t want to food to get cold!” she told them, smiling warmly. At this they briskly walked into her extravagant house. They were in awe as soon as they stepped passed the threshold. They had a beautiful house. It was neat and tidy, and was decorated in the most modern, clean-cut way. They had beautiful maple wood floors and shiny white walls.

Michelle then ushered them into the kitchen, where it was just as beautifully decorated, if not more than the entranceway. Michelle told them to sit at the bar and they complied. She walked over the refrigerator and pulled out two plates that looked like pancakes and put them into the microwave. Michelle chatted with the two, again most of the conversation coming from her.
Meanwhile, three of Michelle’s five children were listening to the conversation her mother was having with the strange new visitors. The three were the youngest in the family; Rachel, Rose, and Brendon Urie sat on the staircase steps secretly peeking at the two new comers. They were all confused and all wore a look of pure curiosity. They looked dirty and rather gangly. The three wondered why on earth their mother had let them into the house.

They were quietly debated which of the three would have the privilege of asking their mother why the dirty children were inside their house.

“Brendon, you should go,” Rachel whispered, pushing him on the arm slightly.

“Why me?” he whispered back.

“Because you’re the youngest,” Rose replied.

Brendon glared at his two sisters before he stood, grumbling to himself about how he had to do everything. He walked slowly and hesitantly over to his mother. As soon as he crossed the doorway to the kitchen, all three pairs of eyes were on him, on pair making him nearly faint in his spot. “M-mother,” he spoke to her, looking at her warily. The James siblings watched him carefully meander over, eyebrows raised as they contently chewed on their pancake breakfast.
“Yes, what is it, darling?” Brendon looked back at his sisters and then quickly glanced in Kristen’s direction before his mother understood what he wanted from her.

“Ohh,” she drawled out, smirking lightly at her son. She pointed to Sean. “Brendon, this is Sean, and his sister, Kristen,” she told him emphasizing Kristen’s name. Brendon rolled his dark brown eyes at his mother. Oh, she could be so clueless sometimes. Brendon smiled at the two lightly and somewhat waved to them. Sean nodded in his direction and Kristen forced a small smile.

“Well, we appreciate your hospitality, Mrs. Urie,” Kristen started.

“Oh, please, call me Michelle,” she told Kristen, smiling warmly at her.

“Michelle,” Kristen corrected herself, rather awkwardly, “But my brother and I really should be going now.” She stood from the bar, flattening down her clothing. Michelle’s face fell.

“Oh, but must you go?” She asked, scrunching her eyebrows together in disappointment. “Perhaps you’d like to clean up first? Oh! And I could wash your clothes too!” Michelle insisted, not wanting to let the children leave.

“But we really should be going,” Kristen persisted, looking at her brother for help.

“Please stay,” Michelle begged, her large brown eyes pleading with her. Kristen stood there dumbfounded for a bit. She didn’t know what to do. She again looked over at her brother for help.

“Sure, we’ll stay,” he answered for her, smiling, “Thanks.”

Michelle was delighted, “Wonderful!” she said, “Come here, Sean, you can take a shower in Brendon’s bathroom,” she beckoned Sean over and he obliged, coming under her arm. Brendon rose an eyebrow at his mother as she wrapped her arms around Sean and led him away. Michelle glared at her son, before leading Sean into his room.

Brendon looked curiously at Kristen, and she seemed to be looking at him in the same way. She wasn’t very happy about having to stay here, and Brendon didn’t seem too happy about it either, but neither said anything.

Brendon turned away from her, grumbling about how he didn’t want to share his bathroom with some hobo his mother found off the street, but really, he was very curious as to why they seemed to be in such a hurry to escape his mother’s hospitality. He would have to keep an eye on them.