Annika arrived home. One would not think that this was such a significant event. One did not know what Annika's home was like.
The first thing she saw was the numerous toys littering the front yard. The opening of the door brought her voices. Many voices. Children playing and talking.
Annika stepped through the door, hoping to slip into the routine without arousing too much attention.
"Annika!"
Dang.
"Yeah, mom?"
"Where have you been?"
Like she was real going to tell her she was job hunting. Yeah, that would go down real well.
"Hanging out."
Her mother stared at Annika, her latest baby in her arms.
"Define 'hanging out'," she said.
Annika shrugged.
"Y'know, just... hanging out."
"Annika," her mother frowned. "Now come on. You're always going out and leaving Brett here."
"I didn't think you'd mind."
"I don't. That is, I wouldn't if I knew you were doing something productive. Now Brett is six months old now and -"
"Mom," Annika sighed. "Let's just say I was out meeting new people. If you catch my drift."
Her mother eyed her, then she was all smiles.
"That's good to hear," she said, obviously pleased. "Let me know how things go."
"Sure thing. Where is Brett at the moment?"
"With Olivia."
"Okay, thanks," and Annika left to hunt down her son and her sister.
Olivia, her sister who had been suckered into her mother's lifestyle, was pregnant with her first child.
"Hey," Whip said.
Annika paused and stared, at her mutant brother, victim of her mother's love of soaps.
"Whip?" she whispered.
"It's getting worse," he swallowed. "I... I don't know how long I can hide this..."
Whip, who as a mutant had developed some teleportational abilities, now also appeared to be developing some invisability. A part of his chest was missing. Now that Annika saw the danger, he pulled his shirt over again.
"Don't worry," Annika said firmly. "I'm going to get you out of here."
"It moves y'know... that spot will fade and then tommorrow or the next day something else will disappear for a while. Annika, what... what if..."
"Whip. Don't worry. I'll get you out, I promise, and no one will suspect a thing."
Whip nodded, and the two parted. Annika continued, if a bit more slowly, towards Brett. She had to think of something, and fast. But what? What could she possibly think of?
"Don't panic," she told herself. "Start at the basics."
What were the basics? Their lifestyle. Mother encouraged all her daughters to follow in her footsteps. Her older sister Mildred was between children at the moment, with three to her name already. But the boys... mother expected them to do well at school. Not encourgaed, expected. There was a definite difference there. Mother wanted them to get into college on scholarships and stuff, and refused to spend any more than neccesary on their education. 'Neccesary' being the operative word.
Whip was fourteen though, waiting until college age wasn't exactly an option, assuming he could even get a scholarship. She supposed that they could run away, but that probably wasn't the best option for Whip's future - although certainly it would be treated as the 'if all else fails' option. In any case, Annika was divided over whether their mother would actually call the police when he went missing - if it were more profitable for him to be in her custody, she surely would.
So. Annika had to find a way to get Whip out of the house without arousing suspicion. Again it came to that.
"Maybe I should stop thinking about how to do it, and start thinking about where he could go," Annika thought to herself.
Indeed. Where could Whip go?