demons | lrh

-02-

demons
the storm
—02—

The weather had taken a drastic turn for the worst, the second they got onto the motorway and drove out of London. Rain wasn't unusual to see in England, especially at the beginning of November, but the clouds were as grey as lead, not a single slither of sunlight could be seen anywhere in the sky.

Thunder and lightning had began to strike only a little while ago, and the visibility was so poor, Nora didn't know how her mum had managed to stay on the road.

Still, they drove on to Aunt Helen's. It was like her parents hadn't even noticed the storm. But Nora had. She absolutely despised them, and with every rumble of thunder, every crack of lightning, her heart skipped a beat

Aunt Helen's house was in Rolvenden; a tiny village in the middle of Kent, with only one corner shop to serve the locals and a bakery that you could smell from anywhere in the area. It was a hotspot for the elderly, the recluses, and not much else. Her aunt fit in with at least one of those categories.

Safe to say, Nora was not happy that it was her destination for her eighteenth. And the sky was even less pleased than she. It grumbled out a menacing drum beat of noise as if in agreement. She sighed and caught her mother's unimpressed eyes in the rear view mirror.

"I'd stop huffing before the car inflates if I were you."

"That's scientifically impossible." Nora muttered and instantly felt bad for her mood, but she couldn't help it. Rolvenden was the last place she wanted to see today. "Just like this weather is scientifically unsafe for you to drive in. So I think that we should go back."

"Oh stop it," Her mother rolled her eyes, "just think, soon you'll be at your aunt's, watching a film and eating something warm, all cosied up by the fireplace."

"Yeah," Nora grunted, "that's if she doesn't try to throw me in it."

"Nora!" Both parents scolded at the same time, and the girl shrunk into her seat.

"Aunt Helen does not hate you." Her dad tried to reason, but it only made Nora more agitated, because she knew that they knew her aunt was a miserable excuse of a human being and yet that was who they were shipping her off to. On her birthday.

"She once stuffed my teddy into a shredder!"

"Well..." Nathan struggled, "she probably just misplaced it."

"In a shredder?"

"Accidents happen." He shrugged, and Nora wanted so badly to respond in the same, sarcastic and moody tone she'd been using ever since waking up, but thunder cracked once more. Loud enough, it seemed, to shake the car, and the sky lit up with forks of light, muffled by the heavy, looming storm clouds.

So all that came from the girl was a whimper. Nathan and Rena shared brief, anxious glances between them both, and, above the sound of the immense downpour hammering against the car, Nora just about heard the words they exchanged.

"This can't be a good sign, Rena, perhaps we should've stayed—"

"You and I know that wasn't an option. Not anymore."