***A Little Over 20 Years Ago
It was hot...and not just a regular kind of hot but a stupid hot. Christopher McDaniels hated days like this. Days when the Texas heat was so strong even the palms of his hands would sweat. He wiped his hands against his jean shorts. He wanted to play basketball but there was no one willing to play with him.
He had asked his father who simply answered, "No way kid. It's too damned hot out there."
Christopher just glared at his father who probably wouldn't have played with him even if the weather had been cooler.
He wiped away the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand and ran to a window of their home in the woods. Through the window, he could see his brother Tom and sister Beatrice talking to their father, Vincent McDaniels.
"Tom, I told you that the knife is dangerous and you can't use it to hunt." Vincent McDaniels was smiling as he held a butcher knife up in the air and out of reach from Tom's grasping hands.
"Dad!" Tom was trying to reach for the knife, "Me and Beatrice want to catch a squirrel."
"Noooo," Beatrice stomped her right foot, "I want to play princess and dragons!"
"Beatrice, the squirrel can be the dragon."
For a moment, Beatrice mulled over what Tom had said, then smiled, "Okay!"
Vincent McDaniels laughed. Christopher scowled. His father never smiled at him. He never laughed with him either.
"Idiots," he whispered.
He walked back to the driveway and began dribbling his basketball when Tom and Beatrice came running outside.
"Chris!" Tom looked excited, "Want to hunt squirrels with us?"
Christopher was torn. He wanted to hunt for squirrels but he didn't want to spend time with Tom and Beatrice. "No thanks," he said as he began bouncing his basketball again.
"Okay. We'll be out in the flower field if you want to join us," Tom said as he held Beatrice's hand and they ran together towards the woods. The flower field was a small patch of land covered in wild flowers that the kids loved to lay down in.
Christopher was about to walk back inside the house when he heard his parents fighting.
"You're going there again?" Lucinda McDaniels asked.
"Yes. I told you I need to go for research."
"Vincent...how much research could you possibly need? When are you going to stop writing? It's not like you need to anymore. Your last book made us well off."
"Lucinda you know this book is important to me."
"I do know...I just don't understand why you have to go to that police officer's home all the time. What's his name? Officer Torres?"
"I have to go Lucinda."
"And what about Tom? What if he has another one of his blackouts? What should I do?"
"Do what any other mother would do...call 911." Vincent laughed, "I'll be home before dinner." He stepped outside when he saw Christopher.
"Oh...you didn't join your brother and sister to play?"
"Nah...hey dad?"
"Yeah?" Vincent was unlocking the door to his car.
"Do you want to play some basketball?"
Vincent grimaced, "Sorry son. I have an important meeting set up. Maybe another day okay?"
"Okay." Christopher watched his father drive away and he looked over to where Tom and Beatrice were playing. He tossed his basketball aside and began walking to the flower field. He saw Beatrice picking white flowers and forming a circle with them.
YOU ARE READING
Bones of the Demon King
Horror[COMPLETED]"The search for my queen continues." He's known as the Demon King. He's a serial killer that brutally murders women. Eva Lewis is the reporter that named him...but is she also his next victim? The FBI must race against time to catch the D...
