Her youngest child was squalling like a cat. If he had to go to school, he was going to fight her every step of the way. Edna’s two boys were polar opposites: Harry was like her, quiet and cautious. Ethan on the other hand, had fire in his belly. Fire that was constantly bubbling up if not sated with his own way.

Edna was losing this battle. Her husband, Kyle had already scarpered to the safety of work and had left her with the ‘easy’ job of convincing Ethan to get his ass out of bed. He may have only been thirteen, but it was thirteen years of learning how to get his own way in the easiest way possible.

Right now his tactic was burrowing under the covers and muling that he was sick, but Edna recognized him crying wolf, and hovered over the bedside, a full jug of water in one hand.

“I'm not afraid to use this, kid. The bus arrives in fifteen minutes, and you're gonna be on it, soaking wet in your jammies or dry and dressed.”

“MOM! You're so annoying!” The covers writhed and a leg emerged, kicking sheets onto the floor.

“Five minutes, or you get the water. Now move your butt.”

Edna ignored his protests and went back to the kitchen where Harry was scraping his cereal bowl at the table. His bag sat by his chair already packed and he was absorbed in his phone, occasionally pushing the screen up with his thumb. Scuffling from down the hall confirmed Ethan was at least on his way. “Three minutes, mister!” Edna called down the hallway, only to be met with grunts and scowls.

“Mom!”

“Don't you ‘Mom’ me,” she chided, “You'd better be dressed.”

“I AM!”

Harry placed his bowl into the sink silently. Being the eldest child, he got first dibs at the placid genes from his mother and left none for Ethan. “Do you have work today, Mom?” Harry asked as he turned to face her.

She nodded. “Yeah, you have soccer after school, right? If Ethan forgets, message him about the spare key under the plant pot.”

“I will, Mom. I'll see you tonight.”

Ethan walked in, hair dishevelled and his unfastened belt flopping uselessly off his jeans. His eyes were scrunched shut and one arm stretched out like a zombie, searching for nourishment on the table. Edna shoved a waffle into one palm and his bag into another.

“Are you going with Harry or are you catching the bus? Make your mind up as Harry is literally at his car door.”

Ethan stumbled out the front door, calling after his brother to wait. As the door closed, the silence coursed through her head, only the drip-drip-drip of the faucet remained as the steady rumble of Harry's car disappeared. Edna instinctively looked to the phone just before it started to ring.

“Hello?”

“The boys already been sent off?”

The voice of Thomas Lake rang in her ear; no sooner had she sent off her horrible gremlin child to school, another one called her up.

“I was expecting Agent Earle to call.”

“He was called away at the last minute.”

Edna inhaled, trying not to bite her tongue. “I really don't like when plans are changed at such short notice.”

“I know, Agent Jameson, but you've also been called to an urgent assignment. Just down the road. Missing persons.”

Edna hung up, and peeked through the window where a black SUV was waiting outside. The Bureau was always punctual, no matter where they carted her off to.

Although she had only expected to go into a meeting today, not to be assigned a new case. She groaned as she held up two fingers to the driver, buying herself a couple of minutes to throw on a pant suit that wasn't crinkled up at the bottom of the laundry basket and the cleanest shirt in the wardrobe.

Hair grips hanging from her mouth like tiny black cigarettes, Edna fumbled with her hair that was desperately in need of a wash. Her cell was buzzing relentlessly but she ignored it. She couldn't take any of the Bureau's shit today, not when there was a countertop full of unwashed dishes and a full basket of laundry to do. She pulled the front door shut with a disgruntled tug.

She opened the door of the very conspicuous car, and sitting in the air conditioned comfort, wearing an immaculate suit that had no doubt been lovingly sponged and pressed was Agent Lake. His hair was coiffed and slicked tightly across his head and he looked fresh out of the packet. He gleamed his perfectly straight stegosaurus teeth at her as she shut the door of the SUV.

“Leave it, Lake, I know I look a freaking mess.”

“Yeah, you do. I'm sorry for rushing you, but there's a missing person's case we need you to come take a look at.”

“Of course you do.” She huffed and sat back in the plush leather. Was the handsome salary the Bureau paid her really worth this? As far as anyone knew, she was the only person in the entire world with the ability to do what she could.

It was almost a shame her latent powers had been revealed after she'd begun life as a happily married mother of two. People who could contact the dead or demonstrate psychic powers were supposed to be young and easier to mold, not a slightly frumpy housewife with a few grey hairs who got excited about shopping for new laminate floor.

Not even her husband, Charlie, knew the exact ins and outs of her job, just that she worked part time for the Bureau. He'd never questioned beyond that, and Edna was forever grateful she never had to lie because he was always too absorbed in his own work to ever question further.

“Don't keep me waiting then, give me the details. I’d like to be back before the pile of laundry in the utility room starts growing a culture for itself.”

Lake nodded ever so slightly and with the twist of his wrist, passed her a manila file. She flicked through it, more out of formality than anything else.

“Do we have a personal artifact the boy might've been attached to?”

“On our way to get it.” Lake looked out the window. “Right now, in fact.”