Where The Raven Sits

WTRS Chapter 3

"Just...don't tell your mom and we can pretend that wasn't a thing."

Kadie looked at her dad like he had lost his mind. Who could pretend to have not seen that...creature? Monster? Thing! How was it even walking around without anyone seeing it?! She glanced at the passenger side mirror, wondering if the thing was still in view. It was relieving and almost disappointing that it wasn't there. What the heck even was it? She looked back at her dad who was uncommonly silent as he sat with the car sitting idle. He was slightly pale and she was sure his hands would be shaking if he hadn't spent years seeing things people with weaker stomachs would have passed out over. That thing had touched him. No matter how many times he said it hadn't hurt him, that thing had put its claws on her dad. He could have been killed! They could still be killed, so why weren't they driving away?!

Kadie had to stop and calm herself down. This is a really messed up day, she told herself. What the heck all is going on?

"Dad...what...do you think that was?"

Her dad was quiet another moment. "I don't know. If we're lucky we may never see it again," he sighed. "As much as I don't like it, that creature isn't hurting anyone; we can just leave it alone and it may continue not to bother people. I mean...it let us go. But we are never coming here again."

Kadie nodded and they sat in silence for another few minutes.

"Can...can we go home now?" she asked. "Why are we sitting here?"

"I-I guess I'm kind of curious about it. What is it? Where did it come from?"

"Can we kill it?" Kadie offered.

"That too," her dad nodded.

"Maybe we should tell someone?"

Her dad looked at her. "Who's going to believe that we saw a giant monster?" But as he said it, he nodded. "It wouldn't hurt. Just so if it's ever seen again there's already a report or something."

He started the car, putting it into reverse to back out of the parking lot. The tires trudged along over the dirt driveway until cluncking onto paved road. From there the ride was smooth. The streets were mostly clear. The sky and everything around them was turning a rustic shade of orange. Half way there, Kadie started noticing more and more people pulling out of the parking lots and structures of businesses. Their progress slowed. Her dad turned on to the side streets to avoid the hordes of cars that would be leaving their jobs. There was no music, no talking, nothing of the usual sounds that would normally fill her dad's vehicle. On occasion there would be a sigh or one of them would clear their throat, but it was not enough to get rid of the silence. As they pulled up in front of the house, the car seemed shrouded in a heavy force field that stopped either of them from getting out. Kadie fiddled with the handle, feeling a strange emptiness.

"MY CAR!!!" Kadie screamed. "Mom's going to kill me!!"

"Oh yeah," her dad frowned. "I suppose we forgot. Well, let's go face the music. You have to die by way of mother and I have to get laughed out of a police station. Great day. Let's do this again tomorrow."

"No, for real, Dad. What am I going to do?"

"You should have went and talked to that girl."

Kadie was not amused. She got out of the car, slamming the door behind her, and watched as her dad drove off. Fishing the keys out of her pockets, she trounced over the grass to the front door. Before unlocking it, Kadie tried to look through the living room window in an effort to see her mother. The inner layers of curtain were drawn, allowing her to peek through the thin material into the family room. She could just make out the silhouette of a person sitting on the couch, slightly hunched over. The figure shifted and Kadie dropped to the ground, smashing the roses in the flowerbed. She needed a plan. She needed an excuse. She needed a miracle. Kadie sat amongst the rose bushes for ten or more minutes. It was tempting to just stay there until her dad got home. She would give him the most pathetic look she could muster and he'd go in and make everything better.

No he wouldn't. Kadie groaned. He'd haul me to my feet, drag me inside, and drop me off right in front of Mom. That was something she didn't want to go through. Whining to herself, Kadie got up and unlocked the front door. Her mother called out a greeting to "whomever" was entering her house. Her house. Kadie frowned. She couldn't once remember it ever being referred to as their house. Everything is hers. My car is hers even though I paid for it. Swallowing the thoughts, Kadie kicked off her shoes and tried to will her skin to return to its natural color. She was normally a pale person, but the day's event had drained every drop of color from her. She was sure her mother would notice.

"Hi, Mom," Kadie said as normally as she could.

"Where have you been?" her mother questioned. "You should have been home twenty minutes ago to get dinner started."

Kadie frowned. "It's my turn tonight? Shoot, I completely forgot. What would you like?"

"Your father, where is he?" her mother asked.

"I can't cook Dad, Mom. That's illegal."

"Kadie, I swear you and your father are the same, annoying, person sometimes. Your father got a call from you several hours ago. He said he was going to meet you for coffee. Where is he?"

"Oh, he's out doing something else right now. He should be home soon. What do you want for dinner?"

"I was hoping for a sweet crumbled stuffed chicken, but since you're so late we would starve before it is ready. So pasta and scallops will be fine. Perhaps a salad with it."

"Cool, Mom." Kadie headed for the kitchen. "I'll start on that now."