The Characters In This Part Are Speaking Entirely In Dutch, But This Part Is Written In English
Chapter 1: START
2 Days Before
"Hey, Claire. Are you still bringing Zosia to my house on your way to the airport?"
"Yeah. I've got her things, I'm just going to bathe her and get her in the car."
"Okay, cool. I'll see you then."
"Bye."
Claire kneeled down, "hey Zosi honey. Let's go." She hugged the dog, patting her head softly.
With her suitcases in hand, her hat on her head, her phone and dog's leash tucked between her fingers and with her car keys held in her mouth, Claire walked out to her car.
Sitting in her car, a hand on the wheel, the other resting on Zosia's head, she drove through the streets of Southeast Breda, heading for her friend's house.
There was a song quietly playing on the radio. The radio was crackling too much, Claire could barely hear half the words.
With an eye roll, she turned the radio off and began humming to herself, looking down at her dog next to her.
Zosia was a beautiful dog. A large German shepherd, close in size to Claire herself. She loved to rest her head on Claire's lap, with Claire scratching her neck.
After a few moments of lying quietly, Zosia perked up. She was now barking at... nothing. Barking just for the sake of barking, apparently.
Claire began scratching Zosia's chest gently, "Zosia, wat is er aan de hand?"
Zosia whimpered, dropping back down against the seat. Claire sighed, "I love you, my honey"
Zosia calmed down, resting her head on Claire's thigh. "I love you."
Claire slowed down as she turned into the crescent, pulling up on the curb outside Klaus's house. It was a fair sized house: multiple bedrooms, a large garden with a patio. There was even a balcony - only large enough for maybe a chair and a potted plant - and a large bay window on the front. The house itself was still small.
Claire let Zosia out, even without the leash, Zosia ran up to the door and started barking.
Laura opened the door, "Claire!"
Claire ran up, "hey Laura"
Zosia ran inside, walking in circles around Klaus's legs. He stood just behind Laura, waving over her shoulder. Claire smiled, walking up to the door, "hey guys. What's up?"
Klaus hugged her, "I invited everyone round for a movie night. Are you sure you can't just go tomorrow night?"
Claire shook her head, "wish I could but they moved the event a day forward. I only had a few days notice so I didn't have much time to, like, figure things out."
Klaus nodded, "yeah. I understand."
Claire smiled, "so I've heard about this party Friday?"
Klaus nodded once more, "uh yeah. Your birthday party. Everyone's super excited about it, so will you be back in time? You better be. You usually bail on things cause of your photography."
Claire's smile grew, "yeah, I wouldn't miss it for the world. You are great with parties, you're good at brightening up a day."
Klaus turned slightly red, "oh."
There was an awkward silence. Claire sighed, hugging him, "I gotta go."
She walked away, waving and smiling. Rain started pouring down as she sat in her car. She looked over at Klaus. The door was now closed. There was a sudden gnawing feeling, her face grew cold. Something felt off.
YOU ARE READING
Hiraeth: Cities To Embers
Science Fiction'It came from outer space' or 'it was a bioweapon gone awry' The day a commercial airliner departs from London and a group of school students return from a trip to Paris, is also the day a disaster of biblical proportions begins to wipe out both hum...
