Eli and his mother had been driving for over twenty hours. Only stopping to get gas, use the restroom and grab some gas station food.
Eli drifted off to sleep and awoke again when the car engine turned off and his mother shook him awake. It had to have been several more hours as it was now pitch dark out.
Eli got out of the car and followed his mother into what looked like an old abandoned barn.
"Now Eli, remember your promise. Do Not use your magic under any circumstances." His mother warned before knocking on the barn door.
Some shuffling was heard from the other side before a small window on the door slid open.
"What do you want?" A deep male voice with a country accent asked gruffly. Two blue eyes surrounded by wrinkles peered at them from the small window.
"My name is Racheal, and this is my son Eli. I've been told you know my husband Omar?" Racheal asked hesitantly.
The latch slid closed and the sound of locks unbolting could be heard on the other side of the door before it slid open with a rusty squeak.
"Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit! Is you really Omar's gal and kiddo?" The old man who opened the door asked.
"Yes, my husband told me to come to you in an emergency." Racheal responded.
"Well Omar has helped me out of a pickle more times than I can count. I'm more than happy to lend a hand to him for once." The man ushered us inside and slid the barn door closed, relic king the several chains,bolts, and latches.
"Last time I saw Omar he showed me a picture and this little fellow was knee high with a grasshopper." The man said as he nodded towards me.
"Ok hold on. Not to be rude, but who are you? And how do you know my dad?" Eli asked
"The names Bobby but everyone calls me Big Bob. Your pops and I go way back. He helped my wife and daughter escape the MDA for years."
Big Bob said as he sat down in an old rocking chair and gestured to the two seats arranged around the cozy living room.
"The MDA?" Eli questioned
"Lord have mercy! What you been tellin' this kid Racheal? He don't even know bout those mangy hounds in the MDA?" Bob turned towards my mother with a raised eyebrow.
"We told him it was dangerous to use his magic due to bad people, but we didn't think it necessary to go into detail." Racheal said quietly as she folded her arms around herself.
"We'll he looks old enough to know the full story now don' ya think?" Bob turned back to Eli.
"Now listen good my boy. What I'm bout a tell ya is very important. The MDA stands for Magic Detection Agency. It's run by a bunch of stuffy magi folk who have very strong opinions on who should know bout' magic and who they should interact with."
"How do you know about them?" Eli asked
"Let's just say my wife and daughter had a hankering for running and howling when that full moon comes around." Bob said in a steady but somewhat lonesome drawl.
"Had?" Eli asked, "what happened to them?"
"Eli" his mother intervened "that may not be something he wants to talk about, and it may not be something your ready to hear."
"It's ok, I ain't no porcelain plate. I think your boy here needs to know the dangers closin' in on him." Bob said in a sober tone.
"My wife and daughter were taken away by the MDA. Your pops tried to save em' just like he had several times before, but it was too late."
"Why though? Why would they take them?" Eli asked angrily after hearing of the old man's loss.
"Plenty of them magic folk don't like interacting with humans. Want to keep the cat in the can I suppose. Me being with my wife and our daughter being the result of our union rubbed some feathers the wrong way." Bob explained.
"You best be careful. I know your pops is a powerful one, but that just drawls even more attention."
"I'm afraid that's why we're here." Eli's mother explained and described the note Omar had sent.
"So the old dog finally got caught?" Bob said with a saddened huff. "I knew it would happen sooner or later with the target he's got on his back, but I was hoping it'd be later."
The three sat somberly as they discussed their options. They'd have to stay here for a few weeks while things settled down. Then Bob would help them relocate to a different town under new names.
Eli sat sullenly as he listened to his mother and Bob plan. It wasn't the first time they had moved, Eli remembered back in eighth grade when he had a sudden burst of magic power and his dad and made them pack that same day and by the end of the next day they were in a new house in Webster, Iowa. A small inconspicuous city. Well, most of Iowa was inconspicuous.
Eli understood the danger and knew he couldn't go back, still, he was going to miss Misty and her lectures on algebraic equations that he'd always tune out. She was his only friend and now she would probably never know what happened to him.
He wasn't allowed to have a cell phone since it could be traced. And he knew his mother wouldn't want him sending letters to her with the risk it presented.
"Well you two have been driving for so long, might as well head to bed." Bob lead them up spiraling stairs to an attic that had been renovated into a small bedroom with quilted blankets and rustic furniture.
"I know you're having a rough time kiddo, but get some sleep and maybe tomorrow will be better." Bob said consolingly as he closed the door.
As Eli lay down under the quilt and closed his eyes, he couldn't help but wish this was all just a bad dream, and he'd wake up back in his room, ready to go to the arcade and pizzeria with his friend and get a new postcard from his dad who was safe and sound.