Shirley Sue lifted
her head from Buck's side, freeing herself from the arm which was
draped over her shoulder. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and
glanced around the room. Her ears perked up at the sound of a
floorboard groaning. The smell of rain filtered in through the
nearby window and the pitter-patter of the droplets intermingled with
the faint hum of the 1000 hertz signal playing through the speakers
of the television.
She stretched her
neck, attempting to work out the the crick which had developed from
laying against Buck. In the corner of her eye, she saw Roger
sprawled out along the couch, his arms crossed over his chest like he
had been placed in a casket. To her other side, she saw Sarah
stretched out in the recliner. She saw the glint of something
metallic; the hilt of the Aura's knife peeked up from between the
cushion and the arm where it was wedged.
The images of Sarah
and Roger escaping from Aura danced through Shirley Sue's head as she
absently gazed toward the dagger. Shirley Sue could still remember
the duo's frantic tones as they described their escape. SHe had
never seen Sarah that shook up over something except maybe that night
in the woods. The sound of the floor creaking once more drew her out
of her trance. She shook her head, as though she was clearing the
image from an etch-a-sketch, and returned her attention to the
television.
She gazed into the
screen of the television and watched the eye searing, multi-colored
test pattern. She reached for the smooth black remote that lay upon
the coffee table before her. The surface of the remote was covered
with a mind boggling quantity of buttons. She aimed the remote at
the television and pressed the power button. After a few moments,
her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She rose to her feet and looked
around the room. Her eyes made contact with the glinting blade once
more.
Shirley Sue jumped
at the sound of the creaking from above once more. She glided toward
the stairs and whispered up the stairs, “Rachel?” After a moment
of silence, she crept up the stairs. Every other step groaned with
protest as she made her way to the top. After cresting the last
step, she was met with a long thin triangle of pink light emanating
from Rachel's room.
The pink light
disappeared momentarily as a shadow passed between the door and the
night-light.
“Rachel?”
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