The Curse by Alexandra Riley

Author:Alexandra Riley [Riley, Alexandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 9781636796123
Published: 2024-08-12T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

The mound of tin foil rose steadily along with the sound of muffled popping as Frank shimmied the small pan back and forth across the burner. He was hoping the popcorn would cheer Ryder up, but he wasn’t holding his breath. The past few days had been trying, with Ryder staying mostly in her room reading. She’d devoured her first two books and had been begging for more. He’d purchased some for her at Walmart, but apparently she wanted nonfiction and he’d have to take her to the library for that. And unfortunately for her, he had no interest in taking her there. No interest in books really. What he needed to know he already knew, end of story. No damn book was going to help him or tell him otherwise.

He finished popping the corn and switched off the burner. The smell of it was wafting through the house and he had to admit it smelled good. It reminded him of times long ago when the wife would pop some and they would sit together and watch television with Diana. Back before things took to rot. Again.

He climbed the stairs and stood before Ryder’s door. She seemed to know he was there.

“Enter.”

He opened the door. “I made you some popcorn,” he said with a sincere smile.

She was on the bed on her belly, feet in the air, nose in a book. “The smell precedes you.”

His smile fell. “Thought you might like some.”

“I guess.” She pointed without breaking her focus from the book. “You can leave it on the chair.”

He chose to sit in the chair instead. “Whatcha reading?”

She sighed. “I’m just going over some points in this book about hauntings.”

He grimaced. “I don’t think it’s wise to be reading that nonsense.”

She looked up at him. “Uh-huh, because it’s totally crazy to believe such crap is real, right?” She rolled her eyes. “Please, Frank. Don’t be ironic. It doesn’t become you.”

He clamped his mouth shut. Then shook his head. “I just mean that with all that’s going on here, that stuff will only add to it. You just don’t need any more—”

“Craziness? Absurdity?” She pushed herself up and sat on the edge of the bed. She scooped out a handful of popcorn. “You’re right. I don’t. But what I do need is knowledge. And that book, believe it or not, is helping a little. I mean, if spirits can manifest, who’s to say zombies can’t exist, right? There are things in this world we simply can’t explain. You can’t explain it, can you, Frank?”

He didn’t answer for a moment. “You need to be in school, is what you need.”

“Duh. But Mom wants to wait until she’s home and feeling better.” She glanced up at him. “Unless you want to take me and register me and drive me every morning and pick me up every afternoon?”

He burped softly, not liking the sound of doing those things at all.

“See? So I must continue my search for answers in these books. Much like Deputy Defoe.

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