When He Calls (Moons of Nibiru - Book #1)

chpt - 24: bloody animals

warning: this chapter includes animal cruelty

and of course human cruelty

***

THE REMAINDER OF THE CAMPING TRIP wasn't at all as suffocating as the first night. Ryan got to swim in a lake that wasn't the Loch's, and he saw more stars in the night sky than he ever had in Marbel.

It was around 9pm when they drove into Marbel after Mr. Parrish had Ryan help him when one of the tyres burst against the side of the road.

Mrs. Parrish looked at Marbel with such longing as if she actually missed the town. Caitlin was playing a game on her phone. Ryan was pulling a piece of thread on the jeans he wore.

Ryan and his parents were good at hiding the tension between the three of them when around Caitlin, but the boy's cousin could tell even before Ryan finally told her during one of their hikes without Mr. and Mrs. Parrish.

"That's kind of unfair." said she after Ryan told her.

"I know, right!" Ryan let out. "Just because they're ready to move on, doesn't mean I am. And if what Old Lady McKay said is true, then there has to be a way to bring the children of the world back. Right?"

Caitlin didn't agree or disagree. "It's just ... a lot." she said instead.

"A lot how?" Ryan whispered.

"Bringing back millions of children who disappeared off the face of the earth? That sounds like something a fictional god would do. And even then that god would have to travel to the Underworld and battle Hades for the answer." said his cousin.

"How comforting." Ryan sighed.

Caitlin gave him a look. "All I'm saying is that we can't trust any of what we dreamed until we have the proof in our hands: the grimoire."

"So we're going to Stuart House when we get back to Marbel?" Ryan asked, but it sounded more like the decision had already been made.

His cousin nodded. "And only then can we involve the others. If any of this shit's real, it can't be just the two of us facing it."

"This shit still feels too unreal." Ryan claimed. He looked at the passing trees and wished he was one of them. They seemed so content and unbothered. They were just following their set of instructions handed to them by God and being at peace with Mother Nature. "Sometimes I wish I'd get run over by a car, wake up to my mom shaking me because I've been screaming in my sleep. 'It was just a dream,' she'd say. 'Cole is downstairs in the kitchen and Caitlin's taking a shit in the bathroom.' And I'd breathe and cry with relief."

Caitlin playfully punched his shoulder, but it left a sting.

"That would be nice." said she. "But that would mean me currently is a dream, and I'm not real."

"Sadly, I'm not dreaming." said Ryan, rubbing his shoulder. "I can feel every single hurt."

And the rest of their hike was quiet, admiring nature and the absence of noise.

Mr. Parrish parked the car in their driveway and the four of them took a second to realize they were home and had to get out of the vehicle.

"I'm going to shower." said Caitlin, the first to exit the car. Ryan was after him, then his mother, and then his father.

The night air was crisp. The streetlights shone dimly on the empty road and sidewalk.

Ryan took out his phone and messaged Amy he was home. It was the thirtieth unread text message he would send her.