Daughter of the Legend: Soul on Fire (#Wattys2018)

Chapter Eight: Case Work

"So there wasn't anything they could have done?"

"No, he was supposed to die." Cassidy said, picking at her fries. "I don't understand the dramatic jump though..."

"Maybe souls get damaged as they grow older. Younger more ambitious people looking for an easy alternative to success." Bentley replied with a shrug. I ran my hand through my hair, sighing in frustration.

"I hate this stuff." They looked over at me, "It is so unclear. Like is it a demon? We don't know. It is a cursed object? We don't know. Is everyone get really lucky and then really clumsy? We don't
know!"

"Feeling okay there Rae?" Bentley asked.

"I just hate not knowing." To much of my life is spent not knowing.

"Well, I was planning on meeting with the kid tomorrow. We should know after that." He replied.

"Sounds great." I said, pulling my laptop out of my bag. Clicking the power button, I waited impatiently for it to turn on. After about two minutes it flashed on, displaying the dead battery symbol. I groaned.

"What the hell is wrong now?" Cassidy demanded, looking up from her book.

"Dead battery. I have to go get my charger from the truck." I grumbled, standing up off the bed.

"It's locked," Bentley said, tossing me the keys before I left the room.

"Thanks." I walked outside, shutting the door behind me.

Grumbling about how stupid it was having a battery die, I thumped down the stairs of the motel to Bentley's truck. I was agitated and moody. Everything felt numb but also over stimulating. Honestly, I think it was because I was here. This wasn't a good time to be here. Unlocking the truck door, I pulled out the small backpack that I had left on the passenger side.

This was the first year. When I was running for my life, it wasn't hard to ignore the pit in my heart. But stuff like this, slow cases, I missed her more than anything else. Everyone tried to help the best they could. Dean talked to me about it last week. He knows what it's like, but part of me can't help but feel like he doesn't understand completely. Which isn't fair to him. He's trying.

Leaning against the side of the truck, I watched the sun sink lower. God, I have missed desert sunsets. The only thing that even compares to it is when the sun sinks over the ocean, but even then, it is a whole different feeling...I smiled, thinking about when my mom took a painting class at the art center. The first thing she painted was the sunset over the ocean. I bit my lip. I wondered if all of our stuff was sold at auction or maybe locked up in a police holding.

"Rae?" I looked up to see Bentley, who was standing by the hand rail. "Are you okay?" His expression was concerned.

"Yeah, just reminiscing." I replied, looking up. He nodded as he came down the stairs.

"You don't have to work this one, you know that right?" I laughed bitterly.

"Ya' know, I wish that was true." He raised an eyebrow. "Bentley, this is my home town. The place where I spent my entire life, whatever is going on here, I owe it to my mom and to my past to stop it. I can't let what happened to me happen to anymore people. No one deserves to die because of a demon..." I trailed off the end of my sentence.

"Well, you at least don't have to do it alone." He stated coming up next to me, watching the sunset fade. The vibrant colors were now soft, pastel oranges with the dark blue of night creeping in slowly behind it. "Come on inside. Tomorrow is going to be one of hell of a long day." I nodded. Slinging the backpack over my shoulder, I followed Bentley back to the room.