Burning of the Beast

Chapter 3

           

Ray fell asleep on the couch, waiting for River to come back down. But he never did. She wondered if he left. The clock on the wall dinged as the big hand hit seven. Sunlight spewed in through the thin red drapes on the window.

Yawning, she rose off the couch, and headed upstairs, intending on waking Ashlynn up for school. But as she opened her door, she paused in the archway.

River lay in her bed fast asleep with Ashlynn snuggled into his side, her head perched on his chest. She leaned against the doorframe, a soft smile on her lips.

That was the River she remembered. A gentle giant. Kind in every sense of the word.

Their soft snores filled the room. She backed out, closing the door behind her. Missing school for one day to stay with her father wouldn't hurt. In fact, it's probably what Ashlynn needed the most. And maybe River needed it too.

Maybe it'd remind him of who he used to be.

She went to the bathroom and took a scalding hot shower, his words replaying in her head.

Did he really sell his soul? It would explain the emptiness in his eyes that last week. And even now. The glow was missing from them. They were dull and flat.

She had told him the truth though. She didn't know how she had gotten back. Last thing she remembered was closing her eyes, and the next she was staring at the machines around her in the hospital room.

As she wrapped a blue towel around her, she stepped into her room and opened her antique teal dresser. Mentally, she had decided she was not leaving the house today, and maybe not even tomorrow either. She threw on a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt that hung two sizes too big.

A rattle of the front door told her that her grandmother was home. A loud bark sounded, and it didn't stop. In fact, the barking got angrier. A set of four heavy feet dashed up the stairs. She heard Ashlynn's door slam open. A wave of panic suddenly overcame her.

"Oh shit, Butters!"

Rayanne ran down the hall to her daughter's room. The white pit-bull stood on the bed, it's nose buried in the empty sheets where River had laid.

"Butters, why were you barking?" Ash asked the dog groggily, patting it on its head. The dog gave her a wet kiss in reply.

Scanning the room, Ray wondered how the man managed to vanish so fast. Another magic trick?

"What was that all about?" Her grandmother hobbled toward her, her purse still in her hand. "I opened the front door, and she flew up the stairs raising hell."

"She probably smelled Ash's new bunny." But Ray knew that was a lie. Butters had sensed River, and apparently, the dog hadn't like what it smelled.

"New bunny?" Jeanine fixed her glasses on her face as she neared the doorway.

Right on time, the dog jumped off the bed and ran to the small cage sitting on the floor beneath the window, checking out the new pet.

Her grandmother peeked her head in. "Well, good morning, gorgeous."

Ash yawned and rose with a stretch. "Morning, nana."

"Did you two party all night?"

"No, my daddy finally came home." And that was when the child looked over to the empty bed next to her. "Where did he go?"

"Uh, he had to go to work. Just like you were supposed to go to school." She was starting to become a pro with these white lies.

The girl frowned. "Oh."