A Human’s Guide to Surviving Magical Mishaps by Kit Bryan
Rule 87- Difficult choices are like puzzles—sometimes you have to put the wrong pieces together before the right one clicks.

In the end, the kids are both sent off to the hospital. Mrs Logan goes with them in the ambulance. They have symptoms that are something like a bad flu and we have no idea how serious it is. Mr Logan stays behind to explain what had happened, but he's clearly in a rush and doesn't want to be here. He wants to get to the hospital to be with his family and I can't blame him. He tells us that the fae claimed the kids WOULD recover as long as they weren't given another dose of the poison and of course the implied threat was that they would be given one if the parents refused to cooperate. The threat was very effective of course and the fae has apparently been hiding out here the entire time. George has already carted the fae off to lock him up until Ashton is ready to transport him and my dad is here personally taking the statement from Mr Logan since this case involves Lara and he is taking personal responsibility for it.

"Start at the beginning and tell us everything that happened Mr Logan." My dad says in what is probably the most gentle tone I've ever heard from him. And here I thought he was only ever that nice to me. I think he's feeling some serious sympathy for the father whose kids have been threatened. I noticed my dad staring at the little girl with his eyes looking suspiciously misty earlier.

"Please, call me James. As for how it started... I don't know how that monster ended up here. It was the middle of the night and I woke up because Carrie, my little girl, was crying. When I went to check on her she was in tears and she was really pale. She told me that the boy hurt her arm and that she felt like throwing up. I thought maybe she had a bad dream or something, but she kept insisting there really was a boy. I heard voices in my son Lucas' room and when I ran to check he was talking to that kid. I thought maybe it was a friend of his who had snuck in, but he was terrified and he also looked really unwell. I demanded to know who the kid was and where his parents were." James stops and takes a deep breath as if struggling to stay calm, I can't blame the guy. Being threatened is scary enough, but your kids being threatened... That sounds so much worse. James continues.

"He laughed at me. Then he told me that he would let us call him Erren, he said it like he was... I don't know, doing us a favour or something. Then he told me that I would be doing everything he said from then on and that if we didn't then my kids would die. I thought it was a joke at first... but then he said he had poisoned them and he... I don't know, changed? He looked like a normal kid one second and the next he had strange skin and colourful eyes. I've heard about fae but never met one before. I didn't want to believe it, but my kids are so sick, and I couldn't risk them. You understand that right? I couldn't risk them. I had to do whatever he told me." James stressed that last statement with a tone of complete desperation, and... Guilt? I have an awful sinking feeling in my stomach, no one looks that guilty without a good reason. What happened to these people? We all sit quietly and listen. Ashton must notice my anxiety because he reaches out and grabs my hand and squeezes it gently before dropping it, probably because we don't need to annoy my dad right at this moment.

"Once I knew the kid was fae I figured there might be some truth to what he was saying. I thought that maybe it would last a few hours, then he would leave. But he just... Stayed. He always slept in one of the kids rooms, so there was no way we could run away while he was sleeping without leaving someone behind, and during the day he just sat around demanding food and entertainment. Really, the only reason I believe he truly is a child was how immature his sense of humour was, he was sadistic and once I showed him video games he spent a lot of time playing those. I had no idea what his end goal was. Whenever I tried to ask, he would say it was none of my business. He wouldn't let us leave the house, the kids were too sick to leave their beds and he was just... Here. Then that woman came by... Erren told us to pretend he was our son. She... She said that she was a cop, that her sister asked her to stop by and check in on us. I thought that it was our chance, that she could help us. I tried to subtly hint that something was wrong, made comments like could she tell her sister that all THREE of our kids were fine, we were just dealing with a family issue. But instead of leaving and coming back with help, she just... collapsed in the hallway. I freaked out and checked on her and that fae kid he... He laughed, told us not to bother and that it was too late to save her. It took less than three minutes and she was dead. She died and the kid thought it was FUNNY. He kept laughing and when I lost my temper and yelled at him he just shrugged it off and said that we shouldn't have tried to get help, that he couldn't risk having the police showing up here. I told him that they would probably come looking for her and he told me to... To..." James looks like he might be sick.

"Go on." My dad says gently. James' knuckles are white as he clenches his fists.

"He told me to take her body away, to drive it somewhere. He said if he found any sign that I had tried to call for help he would kill Carrie first, that she would die the same way the police woman did. I... I couldn't risk that. So I did it. I waited until it was dark, put her in the car and moved her to a local park and I just... Left her there. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to do it, but I had to. You understand right, I HAD to. I did tell him that the police still might know that she had come to see us, that her sister clearly knew. He just told us that we would need to do a better job of pretending to be his parents or more people would die. When the police came by I lied. I did everything I could to get them to leave us alone. I didn't know what else to do.” James' words are coming out faster and faster. Like he wants to get the conversation and his confession over with as fast as possible. No wonder the poor guy feels so guilty. He was forced to get rid of a body. I remember what dad said about how she was found. In a park, looking unharmed. Hard to even believe that she was dead. Not carelessly tossed aside. One look at this guy's face is enough to tell me that he found the entire thing repulsive, that he wanted no part in it. But as much as I hate it, I know I would have done the exact same thing. Lara was already dead, there was nothing he could do for her, he needed to prioritise his children.

“It's not your fault James. No one here thinks badly of you." I assure him. He gives me a weak smile. I don't think he really believes it. I'm sure he already will, but dad had better make sure this entire family is put in touch with a damn good therapist. They're all going to need it.

"Thanks." He says sadly.

"I was getting desperate. I was considering risking it, trying to knock the kid out or something and make a run for it when you came knocking on our door.” He nods at me.

"I don't know how you knew that we needed you, but thank you. Thank you so much." I can see tears in James' eyes. I'm awkward when I respond, not comfortable with this much gratitude.

"It's really fine. I'm just glad you're okay. Your kids are getting help now, and you will never have to see that fae again." I promise him.

James thanks us all again several times, eventually my dad sends him off to meet his family at the hospital. It's not like we can't find him to talk to him again later if needed. Dad gets Ashton to finish explaining how the fae was captured. Ashton is a little confused at that part.

"Honestly, it was very easy. We entered the house and he saw us immediately and just held up his hands to surrender. He said he was caught and would not insult me by pretending he was capable of fighting back. He allowed me to restrain him with no resistance. It was... Very strange. I will need to talk to him. Perhaps I can learn more about the poison that he used and how we might assist the children to recover faster." he decides. Dad agrees and before I know it, we're all loaded into my car and off to the station yet again.