This Night Has Opened My Eyes

Chapter Twenty, The Wonder of You

CHAPTER TWENTY, The Wonder of You

"Uh, yeah, sure. What's up, dad?" Samansa raises a brow as she follows her dad down the stairs, they walk into the entrance hallway, and begin to put on their coats and shoes. This entire time, Samansa can't help but imagine what he was going to say... ugh, nervewracking.

Her dad finished putting his shoes on, and then straightened back up. He looked down at her, his expression oddly serious. "I want to discuss something with you." He pauses for a moment, as if trying to figure out the best way to word it. "It's important. Come here, and follow me. We're going for a drive."

Samansa nods, albeit confused. Well... time to spend some time with her dad. How fun. She mentally rolls her eyes, and they step out of the house. Mr Hearsewell locks the door behind them, and walks over to the car. He opens the door, and ushers her in. He then walks around and hops into the driver's seat. He starts up the engine, and pulls out of the driveway.

"Buckle up, Sammy."

Samansa sighs as she hears the nickname. Hopefully he'd never call her that again... Manny is bad enough. Luckily enough, Mr Hearsewell doesn't notice her annoyance at the nickname. He drives out of the neighbourhood, and continues down the road. They pass a couple houses and stores, with the area around them being relatively quiet. The man kept his eyes on the road. The silence between them was... rather suffocating. It almost made Samansa want to say something... anything. But, she was never one for starting conversations. Thankfully, her father spoke up first. "Say, Samansa?"

"...What's up?" Samansa mutters back, looking up from the radio. It was playing some English music she didn't know. Probably something her dad was into...

The man glances over at her for a second, before looking back at the road. "I have a question I need to ask you."

He makes a sharp left turn, and they enter into a slightly more residential part of the neighbourhood. There were more houses around them now, and they began to pass them as he kept on driving. The houses were different now; rather than being spaced out like in their neighbourhood, these houses were a lot closer together and squished up against each other, a couple of them bordering on a sort of shabby or run-down quality. The roads were fairly dark, with the few street lamps that were lit up giving off a dim yellow light.

It almost felt like heading back from school, with the same scenery appearing pretty much the entire time. Samansa sighs to herself as she looks out of the window.

For another few minutes, the only sounds between them were the hum of the engine and the radio. Her dad, however, finally spoke up once more. "...Samansa, I..." He trails off, and goes silent again. Suddenly, he slows down the car, bringing it to a stop on the side of the road. The sudden halt makes Samansa glance over at him, confused.

...That was the Nishio Residence, what were they doing here? This is where she and Mr Yashiro first witnessed one of her dream's real-life counterparts. Yuzuriha's corpse in the shed. The sudden stop seemed to shake her dad out of whatever he was thinking about. He suddenly turned the radio off, and glanced out the window as well. H had a troubled look on his face as he looked at the building. His gaze seemed... distant.

"You were here, weren't you?" He pauses. "...Officer Takeo told me."

"...Why would I be at a fu... crime scene, dad?" Samansa cuts herself off. Yeah, maybe being vulgar around him wasn't the best...

Mr Hearsewell glances at her with a disapproving look on his face. "Don't swear."

He then looks ahead again. "You'll be surprised." Inadvertently, the man lets out a sarcastic chuckle. "Apparently, you stumbled into the crime scene with that teacher of yours. Mr Yashiro, right?"