Big And Bad (Book Two)

Chapter Eighteen

  The store was empty when we walked in through the back door. It was eerily quiet in here. I found a room with pictures of Tom with random women and their kids on the walls. Yikes. I knocked them all to the floor.

 Merlot and I just knocked over all the clothes in the store. This entire place felt like a mockery of my father. I tore up all the cash in the register. Fuck the Woods family and their profits.

We walked out of the store. Merlot lit a match and threw it in there. As it caught on fire, we ran across the street. Watching those flames grow in the store gave me a sense of catharsis.

"Good riddance," I said, smiling.

Merlot chuckled. "Damn right. You want to get some breakfast?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

We got in his car. A few raindrops hit the windshield as he drove down the street. Three minutes later, it was raining. 'Run Run Blood' by Phantogram played on the radio.

The song was already stuck in my head. I actually felt carefree when I listened to the chorus. The song paused when Merlot parked the car in front of Mc Donald's.

Both of us got out of the car and went in there. We waited in a line of six other people. It was quiet. Until Merlot's phone rang.

"Hey, Grandma. How you doin'?" he answered.

He looked worried. I heard Ruby crying on the phone. She started yelling in a panic. What was wrong?

"No. I didn't know they died."

 How did Ruby know that Axel and Maula were dead? They both got hidden. There were no witnesses. Merlot stared at me.

 After the people in front of us left, we approached the counter. We ordered our food and paid the cashier. Three minutes later, we picked it up and went back to the car.

 The music started playing again while Merlot was driving. I took a bite out of my bacon, egg and cheese biscuit. I hummed when 'The Man' by Aloe Blacc started playing. Merlot hummed too.

"We should celebrate this victory."

"You're right. Let's have drinks at my house," I said.

"Cool. I'll bring some."

He drove past some trees. Lightning struck outside. It rained harder. Even with the windshield wipers on, it was hard to see outside.

Then, he parked in front of a dark red house. The music stopped playing. I looked at the backseat and saw a green umbrella. It was the only one.

"Do you have another umbrella?" I asked, grabbing it.

Merlot glanced out the window. "Oh shit. No."

"Should we share this one?"

"Yeah. That's a good idea."

I opened it when I got out. Merlot rushed over here, covering his head with a blue denim jacket. We both walked to the front door. He opened it.

We entered the house.  I closed the umbrella and dropped it on the floor. The moment I walked into the living room, I saw two paintings of werewolves howling at a full moon. They reminded me of the paintings I saw at his other house.

 Merlot came in and sat next to me on the couch. He turned the tv on. An episode of 'American Dad!' came on. I laughed when Roger talked about how important he thought he was.

 I finished my sandwich as the episode continued. Merlot started eating his. Honestly, I was invested when Roger lied about being "the decider". His lie got so convoluted.

 " Imagine if what he said turned out to be true," Merlot said.

 I chuckled. "I doubt he could handle that kind of decision."

 "Yeah. He would wipe out the planet at the slightest inconvenience."

 We both laughed. The doorbell rang. Merlot got up and answered the door. Rose walked in and hugged him. 

 Merlot closed the door. He looked surprised. The moment was awkward. Rose pulled back and spoke.

 "It's been awhile. How have you been?"

 I'm fine. How did you get my address?" Merlot asked.

 "Candy told me."

 "Oh right. You look different, mom."

 "The last time we saw each other, you were chewing on everything."

 They laughed before they came in here. Rose sat next to me, and read a tweet about a 'vampire sighting'. There was a photo of bite marks on someone's neck under it. They didn't even look real.

 She nervously smiled when she saw me. I turned my attention back to the tv. We all watched Steve sing in the desert for some reason. Nothing could ever go wrong again.