The Green Rising

Chapter Eleven

“I can’t go? Why not?” I felt the color drain from my face. Father Xavier wouldn’t be able to keep me here against my will. I reached into my pocketbook for the can of mace that I kept inside. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it.

“The weather. The state has declared Monroe County under a snow emergency. You can be arrested if you are caught driving on the roads.” 

I breathed a sigh of relief and dropped the mace back into my purse. “I’ll be fine. It’s just a few miles and if I start to feel unsafe, I’ll park the car and walk. If the roads are this bad, my roommate won’t make it back today, and I’m sure my cat would like some company – and some food.” My cat was at home with my parents, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Obviously I can’t keep you here against your will, but you’ve been warned.”

“I’ll be careful, Father,” I said while opening the door. My lungs seized up as I breathed in the cold air, its freshness welcome after the staleness of the past three days. A full moon lit up the night sky as ice-covered trees glinted in the starlight. A shiver escaped me, but it was not linked to the temperature. This had everything to do with the darkness.

A sheet of ice blanketed my car, and water beaded down its windows as I inserted a key between the door and its jamb. Dad’s Christmas gift of having automatic start installed in my car had come in handy as it had done most of the work in melting large portions of the car’s ice, but I still had to pry open the door. After several passes with the key and a couple of pulls, the door creaked open, and I fell on my ass in testament to just how treacherous my drive would be. I climbed into my car and reached for my cell phone in the glove compartment; it was dead. It didn’t matter, though. I was still going home.

Twenty minutes later, I slid into my parking spot, thankful that I had arrived in one piece. As I entered the apartment, I flicked on every light in defiance of the weekend’s darkness. I plugged in my phone and listened to messages as bathwater filled the tub. My family was worried about me, and Holly was stuck in Virginia until the bad weather subsided. I turned on the news to hear that school had been canceled for tomorrow then dialed my mom’s number.

“Thank God. I was about to file a missing person’s report,” my mom said. “Where on earth have you been?”

“I’ve been trying to relax and just wanted some peace and quiet so I went to a spa. I misplaced my cell phone and found it a few minutes ago.” I removed a container of chili from the refrigerator and poured it into a pot, turning the burner to its lowest setting.

“I thought the worst, Lily. And with this blizzard – I was scared to death that you’d been in an accident. Please don’t keep us in the dark regarding your whereabouts. What would have happened if we’d needed to reach you?”

“I’m okay, Mom. I have plenty of food, and I still have power, which is probably more than you have. You know we’ve seen much worse.”

“I can’t help but worry about you. Your dad said you were probably fine, but you had us worried.”

Apparently we were going to rehash what she’d just said. Not in the mood for endless lecture, I cut her off. “I’m going to let you go because my bath is ready. I love you, Mom.”

“Love you, too, Lily. I’ll see you soon.”

I walked to the bathroom, and stripped out of my clothes, tossing them onto the floor before I stepped into the bath to wash away my lost weekend. My hunger didn’t allow me the luxury of dawdling. As I rinsed the last glob of conditioner from my hair, the doorbell dinged.