The Rift

Chapter 1

"Aunty? Aunty is sleeping!"

"Not anymore," answered a disgruntled growl.

"Were you sleeping?" The bright eyes of a five-year-old boy peered at a young woman.

Marie rubbed her eyes. "Nope! You're seeing things."

"We're going to watch Frozen 2!" he announced before running off to join the rest of their family.

Marie smiled lazily. "Cool." Her head throbbed from her stepfather's homemade wine. She stretched her long skinny limbs and yawned loudly. It was 2020, and Marie was now 25. She rose and pulled her high waist skinny jeans back over her hips.

Her estranged uncle was lurking in the kitchen on the hunt for some cookies. He saw her stretching. "You should really consider modeling, Marie! You'd be good at it."

She smiled uncomfortably. "Thanks..."

Her sister-in-law scoffed from the sunroom. "That means she'd have to actually get a job." As chuckles of agreement filled the atmosphere, Marie frowned and headed for the front door. She did not want to hear any other snide remarks about her unemployment. She opened the door and stepped out into the cold. The winter had begun to thaw with the arrival of spring but was stubbornly hanging around into the night. She closed the door behind her and sighed. Her breath cascaded into the air. She watched it. Her parents' Australian Shephard, Rex, greeted her by creepily licking her hand and running back onto the driveway to patrol. Marie gave him a crooked smile and called his name. He sprang toward her and they dove for each other playfully. The woman romped around like a child, laughing at his attempts to grab her gloves and rip them off to declare himself the winner. She shoved him into the snow before tripping into it herself.

"Shit! No, no! I don't have fur! Stop!" Marie threw the snow onto him and pushed herself up. Rex huffed and trotted off proudly. She shivered and brushed herself off. She leaned down and picked up a bundle of snow, balled it together and took a bite out of it.

"Why do you always do that?" Her brother closed the front door behind him and sat down on the front step. He had grown into a handsome young man with reddish blonde hair. Marie's hair had darkened into a mousy brown as they aged.

"I was thirsty." She threw the remainder at Rex. "What are you doing out here?"

He pulled out a vape pen, their sister's, and smiled. Marie trotted over as he took a small puff. As she reached for it, the front door opened. Marie snatched the pen and hid it. Their mother rolled her eyes before speaking. "I need to talk to you guys. Something happened over at the Menlove's."

"So, their kid went missing and they want help looking for them? Why can't they call the police?" Marie nodded in agreement as her brother spoke. They had listened to their mother tell them that the family that now lived at the house John and Marie had grown up in was missing a child. This child loved to go into the woods but had not come back after nightfall. Marie squeezed her forearms. That was not a good thing at all, especially in those woods.

"They did. The police recommended that those who used to live there help look. It'll go by faster." The whole family was listening by now, even all of Marie's nieces and nephews.

Jack, her thirteen-year-old nephew, stepped forward. "Can I come with?" His little siblings piped in a chorus after him.

"No," Marie and her older sister answered at the same time.