Meet Amber, a teenage girl struggling with the death of her father, an overstressed mother- and lycanthropy. All she wants is for her life to go back to normal, but a magical corporation has lost a valuable test subject and they believe Amber will b...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Chapter Seven
The next morning came too early for me. Mom had still not come out of her room, and I was beginning to worry about her. She'd just had a nervous breakdown the night before. There was no telling what she could have done last night in the state she was in. I was comforted, somewhat, by the fact that there was no scent of blood coming from her room, which told me she hadn't done anything as drastic as cutting herself. A strange thing for a daughter to think about her mother, isn't it?
I was tempted to knock on her door and go straight in, forcing to her sit down and speak to me, but I decided that that would only worsen the matter further. Better to go in with some sort of peace offering to ease the tension. I made my way to the kitchen and got out eggs, bacon, and bread. Before this had all begun, Mom had told me several times that her favorite way to wake up was for Dad to bring her breakfast in bed. I may not be her husband, but surely it would count as something if I were to do it.
Soon, the smell of sizzling bacon filled the room, making my mouth water with desire. I held myself back, though. I needed to bring it to my mom, not eat it all myself. I did, however, make sure to fry enough for three people- one serving for her, and two for me. I methodically cracked the eggs and set them to fry in another pan, and then put some bread in the toaster. A good, wholesome breakfast, I thought to myself as I worked, sounded so much more appetizing to me than the endless barrage of sugary sweets Mom insisted we bake the day before. Not too much longer, I loaded two plates full of food and made my way back to Mom's bedroom.
"Mom?" I called through the door. My hands were full, so I kicked the door gently to get her attention. "Are you awake? I made breakfast!"
I waited for a few seconds, but got no response. I knocked with my foot again and asked, "Mom? Can I come in?"
A faint voice came from the other side, "That sounds lovely, dear. Please come in. The door is unlocked."
There was a click as the door unlocked, but I made no move to open it. Something was wrong here. Had my mother just said that something sounded lovely? And called me dear? Besides that, I hadn't heard any footsteps before or after the door had unlocked, which meant she had to have been standing right behind the door the whole time, and still be standing there now. Chills of apprehension ran down my spine, and I found that I no longer had any desire to go into her room. But what else could I do? I had to check on my mom...
I went back into the living room and set the plates down on the coffee table, and then returned to the door. With palms slick with nervous sweat, I reached out and turned the knob. The door opened with the usual creak of its hinges. It was a sound I'd heard a thousand times before, but today it raised goosebumps on my arms. Inside, the morning sun shone in brightly through the picture window, highlighting my mother's bed. There was a lump in the sheets, but the covers were pulled all the way up over its head. By the size and shape, it could have been my mother, but the sickening feeling of dread in my gut told me it wasn't.
