Monster: Origins of Darkness #1 (On Hold)

Chapter 25 - Jake

Chapter 25 - Jake

“Well?” Anna-Marie probed when James returned to the kitchen. “Did you talk to her?”

James nodded as he stepped next to his wife, chopping vegetables on the counter next to the sink. The steady crunch-crunch sound of the blade slicing through carrots stopped. He rested a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Yeah.”

“And?”

“She went to a spiritual leader, Ann. I can’t punish her for seeking guidance.”

Her eyes left the cutting board then and looked up at him. “James! She snuck out! I don’t know how she did it without setting off the alarm system, but we can’t let this go unpunished! We have to stop this behavior in its tracks before it gets even more out of hand!”

He stepped away from her, eyeing the knife in her hand as she returned to finish chopping two slender carrots. “What would you have me do, Ann? She’s already grounded, and she doesn’t seem to care about TV, the Internet, video games, or anything worth taking away from her. She’s never snuck out before, so—”

“But how do you know for sure? That she’s not sneaking out, I mean. We know she did yesterday at lord only knows what hour…”

He shook his head. “I’m pretty sure she hasn’t snuck out before.”

Anna-Marie studied him through narrowed eyes. “You trust her?”

James didn’t want to argue with her, but he could tell she was building up to it. “I’m going to get changed.”

He turned before she could argue and headed back upstairs.

X

Friday evening was a quiet ordeal, with Gracie filling most of the silence in the house with her light-hearted chatter.

When Saturday came, everyone was a little less stressed. Gracie and Aiden were excited to go to the library with Mikayla; it was the first time they had gone out together with her.

As much as Anna-Marie didn’t want to allow Mikayla to leave the house and go to the library with her children, she couldn’t deny her educational requirements.

Mikayla didn’t neglect her appearance this time. She made sure that her makeup was extra heavy and chose her favorite pair of bondage pants to wear—the one with the dangling chains that she wore that first day of school. Her other two pairs of pants had belts and buckles as opposed to chains, but there was something more sinister about the chains, and the clanging sounds they made when they hit each other as she walked.

They all climbed into the car—James behind the wheel and Anna-Marie in the front seat next to him. Mikayla sat in the middle in the back seat between Gracie and Aiden because they both fought over who could sit next to her if she took a window seat.

Mikayla tried to ignore the daggers Anna-Marie shot at her with her eyes, but it was hard. Anna-Marie didn’t have to come, but she insisted so she could keep a closer eye on her children.

The library was a small community-sized library with an adjoining community center. It was all one-story with high ceilings and a sunroof in the middle. Mikayla could see the autumn-blue sky through it and sunlight lit up one portion of the library. The main checkout desk was directly in front of them when they stepped inside, and rows and rows of shelves were behind the desk. In the back right corner, she could see a pair of computers and a study area next to the encyclopedias. In the opposite back corner of the building, she saw an open sitting area with a low plastic play table and bean bag chairs.