Arriana's Return

Arriana's Return - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Arriana wanted to know if they had found any identification on the creepy man. After the EMS crew was finished bandaging him he started to wake up enough to talk with the police, so they turned their attention to her. After a quick once over they gave her the okay to leave. Arriana was picking up her backpack when the man shot his arm out from under the blanket the paramedics placed on him and grabbed her.

"I found you! You are needed, Arianna! It's time for you to go home," the man whispered hoarsely.

After he finished speaking he was back out cold. His hand went limp and dangled back at the side of the stretcher. She looked around, but nobody had noticed. Arianna was very confused.

Go back home? What? Is something wrong with mom and dad?

She grabbed her car keys out of the bag and ran to her jeep. She jumped in and sped away. Twenty minutes later she was pulling into her driveway. She barely gave the jeep enough time to stop before slamming on the breaks and turning off the engine. She ran through the front door yelling for her parents. She ran down the hallway to the kitchen but was flustered when nobody was there. Marianna and Scott ran into the kitchen. They were fine. Beau, Arianna's dog, came bounding in after them and jumped on her.

"Down boy. Sit." She pushed the dog off of her and stared, wide-eyed at her parents, "Mom, Dad are you guys ok?"

"Arianna Marie James, where on earth have you been all night young lady? We've been worried sick!" Marianna half asked half yelled.

"Mom, calm down, will you? I just had some problems at school. Some guy attacked me and..."

"What?" Scott asked in disbelief.

"Well, he tried to attack me. By the way, thanks for those self-defense classes."

"Young lady, you had better start explaining." Marianna's voice quivered, and it looked as though the blood vessels in her forehead were about to pop.

"Mom, relax. I'm trying to tell you what happened but you're making that very difficult when you interrupt me. Anyway, someone told me it was time to go home, that I was needed, and I just thought something was wrong here."

Looking nervously from one to the other Marianna finally spoke to her daughter. "We're all fine. Now go get washed up for dinner, it'll be done in a few minutes."

"Whoa now. Are you sure you're okay? You were just yelling and now you're just letting me go? Normally, if I'm late and didn't call you, I get lectured for at least an hour. You didn't even get past the 'where have you been part of your tirade," Arianna told her suspiciously.

"I'm just tired that's all, sweetie. Now go and get washed up before you are in trouble," her mother said sternly.

"Sure mom. Hey, are you guys coming to my meet tomorrow?" Arianna asked, pausing at the kitchen door.

"Of course, we are honey. We wouldn't miss it for the world. Now go!" Marianna replied, hoping she hid the fear in her voice well enough. 

She must have been convincing because Arianna was running up the stairs before the door connecting the kitchen to the hallway was done swinging, with Beau close at her heels.

Marianna and Scott knew their daughter was fooling around instead of washing up because they could hear the big dog barking and jumping around but tonight they did not care.

"Scott, it's him. Isn't it?" Marianna asked as a panicked chill ran down her spine.

"It can't be. It's too early and she's only seventeen! She is still a child!" Scott replied trying to keep his voice low enough, so Arianna wouldn't hear.

Marianna put her hands over her face, shaking her head as though she was trying to shake the thought out, "I know but he said that when the time was right somebody would come for her. What if this is it?"

"She's our baby, Anna."

"I know, Scotty. I know. I don't want this to happen either. Do you think we can stop it?"