The brush scrubbed across the floor in harsh motions, the bubbles slowly turning red as the soap removed her blood from the floor. Hecate sat back on her knees looking down at the mess of red soap bubbles in front of her. The bubbles seemed to grow in size and the room took on a red tinge. Hecate’s chest began heaving and she fell back onto her hand. The red bubbles exploded around her, tinging the room in even more red. Mitch moved in the background, flickering in and out of existence before appearing solidly in front of her. He grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off of the ground, her feet kicking towards the floor. Hecate’s hand flew to her throat. Her lungs ached as she tried to scream, tried to rip him apart with her voice. 

A small warm hand landed on her back and the red tinge disappeared with a pop. Hecate sucked in a huge breath, her lungs burning with the effort. Panting, Hecate turned to see who had pulled her out of her vision. Bella stood behind her, her feet scuffing the floor but her hand remained on Hecate’s back. Sucking in another breath, Hecate turned on her knees to face Bella. Hecate’s arms wrapped around Bella’s back as she began to sob into Bella’s hair, shaking in the arms of a child so much smaller than her. A gentle rubbing lulled Hecate and eventually, tears stopped falling from her eyes. Pulling back slightly, Hecate gave Bella a small smile before pulling her back into a hug. 

Something white and fluffy appeared in the corner of Hecate’s eye and she looked over to see Kylan holding a towel towards her. Looking at the door relieved that all the kids were gathered in the threshold, hesitant to cross it. Smiling, Hecate took the towel from Kylan and wiped up the remaining soap and blood from the floor. Standing up, Hecate threw the towel into the hamper in the corner of the room. 

“I see that everyone is ready for school. Alright, let's go.” The children’s faces broke out into smiles and they ran down the stairs, their shoes clomping. Shaking her head, Hecate turned around and scooped Bella up, carrying her down the stairs. 

When Hecate reached the bottom of the stairs, the children were all already lined up by the door, vibrating with energy. 

Laughing, Hecate said “Alright, Alright. We’re going now.”   

Unlocking the door, Hecate barely had time to open the door before the children rushed the door, bursting out into the crisp August air. Hecate followed the children through the door and breathed in the cool air, letting the sereneness of nature wash over her. Closing her eyes, Hecate drew in a deep breath before opening her eyes and locking the door. Turning back around, Hecate lunged forward calling to the children. “Do not run in the street, you could get hit by a car!”  

Hecate’s voice washed over the children, tugging them back to the sidewalk and out of the street. Whipping her head around, Hecate breathed out a sigh of relief seeing that no one had noticed several children flying off the street into the sidewalk. Jack ran up to Hecate, Jill in tow, and tugged on Hecate’s hand bringing her attention back to the children. 

“Hecate,” Jack started. “We were just having some fun. We didn’t mean to worry you.” Jack and Jill both looked up at Hecate with their lips sticking out. Hecate laughed and ruffled their hair before gesturing for them to join the rest of the children who were waiting at the end of the driveway for her. Hecate followed, stopping short of the group. 

“Alright, before we go let’s do a ‘ready for school check’.” The children groaned and lined up in a row each one holding their bookbags towards Hecate. Hecate worked her way down the line, ensuring that each child had everything that they needed for the school day. With everything accounted for, Hecate scooped Bella up. 

“Alright, let’s head to school.” The children’s faces brightened at the statement and they began running down the sidewalk towards the schools.
Reaching a hand towards their retreating backs, Hecate belatedly whispered, ”Slowly.”  

Heaving Bella further up her hip and giving her a smile, Hecate brought up the end of the staggered line of children. 

School was the best thing that had ever happened to these children. Mitch had tried to keep them out of school but the Heros are very strict about education laws. Hecate thought back to Mitch arguing with the official Hero lawyers who told him that all he had to do was to put them in public school, it was free. Mitch was a stubborn son of a bitch about it but the lawyers were able to convince with a monetary incentive. Going to school, or daycare for Bella, gave them time away from Mitch. It also could help them get out of the city, into a better place. Hecate gave a quick shake of her head as if Mitch would ever let that happen. 

A touch to her shoulder brought her back to the present. Aryan looked at her concern before stating, “Hecate, we’re here. Are you going to be okay at work?” 

Looking around, Hecate spotted the other children running towards their friends in front of their respective schools. Looking back at Aryan, Hecate responded, “I’m fine. Just lost in thought.” Aryan raised an eyebrow in disbelief and Hecate chuckled at him. “Seriously, Aryan, I’ll be fine. I should go though, I’ve got to get Bella to daycare. They hate it when I bring her late.”

Aryan gave Hecate one more look before ruffling Bella’s hair and leaving. Bella let out a little giggle and grasped his hand in goodbye. Hecate waved to the children before setting down the road towards the daycare. Before she could get very far, a voice called from behind her. “Hecate wait up. Please stop. I need to speak to you.”

Hecate heaved a sigh and turned around to face Principal Adams, the principal of the high school. “What do you need sir? I really need to get Bella to school.”

The slightly out of breath, portly man with patchy brown hair looked up, his brown eyes looking into Hecate’s green ones. Hecate shifted Bella on her hip, uncomfortable with the attention. Bella yawned and leaned her head on Hecate’s shoulder. Sucking in a deep breath, the principal launched into his usual speech. “Hecate, I know that you dropped out of school for family reasons but know that you always have a place at this school if you ever want to finish your high school education. You were such a brilliant student. You could have gone so far.” Panting, still out of breath, Principle Adams looked at Hecate expectantly. 

Hecate gave him a small sad smile before responding as she always did. “Thank you Principal Adams but I don’t think that high school is for me. Also, thank you for the vote of confidence but I would never have gotten very far. Now if you’ll excuse me I really need to get Bella to daycare before I head off to work.” Principal Adams opened his mouth to speak but Hecate beat him to it. “Don’t worry about me, Principal Adams. I’m fine, I promise.” Turning her back, Hecate began walking again. 

The principal shouted at her, “You will always have a place here,” before turning around and heading back into the high school. 

Hecate stood rooted to the spot, squeezing her eyes closed. Tears dripped off of her cheeks onto Bella’s hair, waking the small child. Bella gently wrapped her hands around Hecate in a hug. Hecate slowly opened her eyes and bopped Bella on the nose, saying, “What did I ever do to deserve you? Let’s get you to daycare.”