(also written by the giraffe, MusicIsLife_13)
The next morning was nothing short of eventful. Eryk spent the entire time at breakfast staring at Andy like he was a piece of meat. My mother was desperately trying to start conversations with us, but I wasn’t in the mood and Eryk wasn’t paying any attention to her.
A hand came down on the table fast and hard, startling me. I looked up into my father’s angry eyes. Uh oh.
“Raven,” he growled. I didn’t dare correct him. “A word alone?” I didn’t dare turn him down either. Gulping, I followed him into the kitchen. He turned suddenly and shifted from the human he was portraying to the demon everyone else sees him as: a skeleton clothed in a black cloak with burning red eyes glowing in the darkness of his hood.
I took a deep breath. “Yes father?”
“Why did you not wait for me last night? You know how dangerous it is to leave a dead body-”
“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t stand being there so long-”
“Staying there is for your own good! The cops don’t go near you when you’re with a dead body, but when you leave, there’s a chance they’ll find it and find evidence you did it.” He sounded less angry and more...worried.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized again.
He sighed and shifted back into his human form. “I just don’t want you to get caught,” he told me sadly.
I raised an eyebrow. “So you have someone to do your dirty work for you?”
He looked shocked. “Absolutely not! Believe it or not, I actually do care about my children.”
“Oh really?” I challenged. “Have you talked to Eryk about him killing innocent people?”
“What Rubicante does is his own choice-”
“Oh, then what I do is my own choice,” I countered.
He looked taken aback. “Well, of course it is.”
I smiled. “Good. Then I don’t want to kill anymore.”
His eyes narrowed. “That’s not an option-”
“But you just said it was my choice.”
“Dammit Raven!” His hazel eyes flashed red, but he immediately calmed down. “You know I need you to do this. You’re the best.”
I tried not to feel good about the compliment, but failed. It felt good to be noticed. “I won’t do it anymore, unless you talk to your son.”
My father sighed. “Alright, you win. Send him in here.”
I left the kitchen smiling. Yeah, I knew he would never let me quit the ‘family business’, but I also knew that threatening to would get me what I wanted. I flicked Eryk on the back of the head. “You’re wanted in the kitchen,” I told him in the freakiest voice I could muster. Which was pretty freaky, considering the fact that my father was the freaking Grim Reaper.
His face paled as he stood and made his way into the other room. I cleaned up my plate and Andy’s and quickly took them to the sink, bypassing the men of the family arguing. Looked like I was going to get my way this time.
When I returned to the dining room, my mother had disappeared and Andy was waiting for me. He grinned. “Thank you, again.”
I giggled. “Like I said, no problem. So, what would you like to do on this fine Saturday?”
He smiled sheepishly and held up his cell phone. How the hell could he afford that and live on the streets? I honestly don’t understand how the world works...But anyways.
“Kaiya texted me. She wants you to hang out with her and Macin today.”
I actually brightened up at his words. Usually when we moved to a place, everyone chose to ignore me. But these people actually wanted to be my friends? Sweet.
Maybe I could make friends, just this once.
I grinned at Andy and nodded. “That sounds awesome!”
He chuckled. “Alright, I’ll tell her you agreed. Go ahead and get ready.” I nodded and practically ran up to my room. I heard Andy following. I guess he was going to hang with Destery and Aaron today.
I pulled on my yellow skinny jeans and Batman shirt, along with my black converse and multiple bracelets. I met Andy out in the hall.
“Ready?” he inquired. I nodded. “They want to meet at the park. I’ll walk you there, yeah?”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
He shrugged. “No problem. No problem at all.”
You’ll never believe what he did next, as we walked outside.
Andy Stator...held my hand.
