Crimson Desire

Chapter 3 part 1

Chapter Three

Something's beginning

 I yawned as I descended the stairs later that morning. It was seven thirty and no one was home. I walked into the living room and discovered I was wrong. My father had either fallen asleep or passed out on the couch. I went over to him and sniffed his clothes. Definitely passed out. He was a college lecturer, a very good one at that, but after my mother died he filled the void in his heart with alcohol. That was one of the reasons my brother Sam moved out as soon as he turned eighteen.

I shook my head as I walked into the kitchen. I really wished Sam were still here. I grabbed a bowl and spoon from a cupboard and drawer and then poured Cheerios into the bowl as I checked the fridge for milk. We were out, again, thanks to my dad. You couldn't trust him to get anything done.

I pushed the power button on the little television on the counter and ate my Cheerios one by one, not even bothering with the spoon. The screen blinked to life and I flipped channels until I found something bearable. The local news reporter Henry Perkins was reporting the recent disappearance of a woman named Mary Johnson. He said she was last seen wearing a red t-shirt and grey jeans. A picture of her was displayed on the screen then. Mary was very thin, or at least she looked that way in the photo, she had extremely short black hair and brown eyes. This was rather shocking, the disappearance that is. This had always been a quiet town; I mean the biggest crime there had ever been around here was when a group of boys broke into the arcade to play Pac-man.

My phone vibrated in my jean pocket and I fished it out, already knowing who it was.

"Hey Justin" I said.

"Hey Red" he greeted. Red was my nickname because I was short and I always wore my red jacket so some people said I was like Little Red Riding Hood. No one actually called me Scarlett, not even my dad.

"You ready yet" Justin asked.

"Am I ever?" I laughed.

"You have five minutes"

"I'll be ready when you get here" I said.

"I'm already here, stupid"

I set my bowl down and looked out the window; sure enough there was Justin's old beat up VW Bug, and there he was waving through the car window.

I rolled my eyes and said "Give me a minute"

I heard him mutter "Bloody Americans" before he hung up and smiled. Justin was half Japanese and half American but he was raised most of his life in England with his Aunt Gemma and his cousin Willa. He looked Asian though his eyes were blue, just like his mother.

I turned off the television and searched for my jacket, a red hooded sweatshirt. I finally found it under the table and pulled it on. I glanced at my unconscious father once more as I crept down the hall before I headed out the door.

Once outside I ran down the drive way to Justin's car. As I opened the passenger door a loud voice blasted from the speakers. I didn't understand a word the guy was saying. I buckled my seat belt and asked "Justin, what the hell are you listening to?"

He turned down the volume and said "I'm freaking out about my French quiz today. I've been forgetting all kinds of stuff. This is a CD of French verbs"

I suppressed a laugh and said "Oh, I believe you about that"

He looked at me quizzically and asked "Why"

I smiled "Well, Justin we take Spanish not French"

Justin banged his head against the stirring-wheel and groaned. "And you're still wearing your Pyjama top" I added.