Chosen By The Dragon by Imogen Taylor

Author:Imogen Taylor [Taylor, Imogen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-09-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8: Cold Dark Nights

Wendy walked home from work, arms hugging her middle, but only half because of the cold. The wind blew around her, chilling her ears. She kept her head down against it, hair flapping behind her. A few stray strands found their way across her face, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Why hadn’t he called? It’d been another day since they’d talked on the phone. She knew she’d told him off. She’d been angry and scared. She meant every word she said, but still… Nothing? He wasn’t even going to try to make it up to her? It was hypocritical, she knew, but it felt like he was just letting it go. Letting her go. Was it that easy?

She’d said it in anger over the phone, but as she walked home, she really began to feel that everything they had shared together was a lie. All of his dodging her questions and giving her cryptic answers fell into place. It wasn’t that he was reserved; he was not letting himself get close to her. He didn’t want to be close to her, just inside of her.

Wendy sniffed against the wind, her nose running. It was the cold that made her nose run, she told herself. It was also the wind making her eyes tear.

It was 3 o’clock in the morning; her shift had ended half an hour ago, and she’d never felt more alone in her life. Walking up to her front door, she put her key into the lock and turned it only to find it unlocked already. Wendy tilted her head slightly and tried the doorknob. Somehow, she expected it to not work, but the door squeaked as it opened, just as it always did. She couldn’t say what it was that set her on edge.

Wendy stepped slowly, cautiously into the house. The lights were dim--only the ones in the living room were on and they were low-wattage. She didn’t expect the house to be a beacon of hope, but somehow it felt off. Wrong. Wendy closed the door behind her, the latch locking with a click.

“Sophie,” she called out.

The nurse was nocturnal, which made her perfect for watching Wendy’s mom while she was at work. In all the years they’d worked with one another, she’d never come home and caught Sophie sleeping. Not that it would matter. Her mom was hooked up to enough machines that if something were to go wrong, the beeping and blaring would wake the dead. Still, it was a matter of professional courtesy.

As she came closer to the living room, she heard the TV on low. Was Sophie just watching TV and hadn’t heard her? Mom’s machines were beeping. Why hadn’t Sophie wheeled her into her bedroom? Just as Wendy stepped to the corner to look inside, she heard a man laugh. It was a soft, throaty laugh. Genuine. It was also familiar.

The sound of that laugh made Wendy cold all over. She wanted to scream, to run, but mom was in that room with him.

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