Burning in the Dark

Chapter 5 Surprise

Era's heart leaped to her throat. The dining room was dark.
And quiet.
Too quiet.
"Dina? Chief?"
The only response was the ticking of the clock, which did nothing to calm her down. In fact, it made it worse. From behind the silence, she seemed to hear the malevolent laughter of the voice inside her nightmare, sneering and mocking at her helplessness.
She panicked. There was no way the Chief and his wife could have fought against that Thing. She didn't know how she knew this, but she was sure of it. Something about the air of power that seemed to evolve around that Thing in her nightmare indicated that it was one of the many things you don't want as an enemy. Thoughts about how the Chief and Dina might be tortured appeared in her mind, making her want to cry out in despair.
She was about to bolt for the door to get help when she heard a shout.
"Surprise!" shouted Dina with a cake in her hands. Chief was standing at his wife's side, grinning widely, and his normally messy clothing was surprisingly neat today.
Era breathed a sigh of relief, releasing that pressure in her heart that had almost crushed her. The previous tension seemed to have broken, leaving only the happiness and comfort that seemed to emit from the glow of the candles shaped '17'. "You shouldn't have bothered," she said, smiling.
"And it's time for you to eat your birthday cake," announced Dina, dismissing Era's remarks with a wave of her hand. "I will not have you forgetting your birthday when it is such a joyous thing to us," she whispered. Era smiled sadly. Dina didn't know the whole story; if she did, she wouldn't have said this.
Dina was a short woman of five feet tall, with short coppery hair and deep blue eyes that seemed to twinkle when she smiles. Her delicate features had a babyish quality on them, her cheeks rosy red and her skin a tan color, and her wings were the color of storm clouds. The Chief, although much taller, looked very similar to Dina. At first sight, many will assume that they were siblings rather than couples.
She, on the other hand, had a light blue hair that stretched until it reached her knees; purple eyes that always contained a storm within them; and wings that were as white as the mountain snow. Being 5'8 feet tall, she towered over them.
This was one of the main reasons why she never called them Mom and Dad; there were too many differences between them to have any sort of blood relationship, their different appearances constantly reminding her of her heritage.
Dina set the cake down. The cake was gorgeous, its blue icing shaped into little waves that seemed so realistic, she could almost smell the salty tang of the sea. Pink chocolate shells adorned the edges of the cake, each carved delicately by the skilled hands of Dina, and a little small island stood proudly by the side, carrying both the candles and the love Dina and Chief felt for Era.
Era, though, looked at Chief for reassurance. Although Dina was an excellent cook, she tends to experiment with the food that more often than not made them... unhealthy. The memory of having to send Chief to the hospital last time because he was brave enough to try Dina's latest experiments was still fresh in Era's mind, and she was in no hurry to be the next.
This time, however, the Chief nodded. "No experiments this time," he whispered. "She saved this occasion just for you."
Nodding back, she was just about to take a seat when something struck her. "Dina, I'm sorry, but I'm almost late for school."
"Oh that's no problem, we told the Principal that today was your birthday and he gave you a few days off," said Dina as she began to cut the cake.
"He did?"
Era was taken aback. The principle was normally the one that would lecture you the whole day if you took a day off for being sick. In his definition, to take a day off will either mean your dead or the world is ending and if none of it is happening, then you're in big trouble if he doesn't see you in the school. For a guy his age, he has a pretty sharp memory and can remember most of the student's faces, so don't expect him to accidentally miss you, and he most certainly will not tolerate people who take a day off for the sake of having fun, so you can imagine Era's shock when she heard that the principle actually allowed her to take a few days off.
"But Chief said-"
"I had to act casual so you didn't suspect us," Chief said in a hurry. He took the seat next to her. "You're normally too sensitive for your own good, but today you actually slept late, so I reminded you of school to make you hurry so that you wouldn't smell anything fishy."
"Oh, okay, then I'll have a piece I guess," said Era as Dina handed her a plate.
"By the way, have you seen Gabus?"
Yaaaayyyyy! I actually managed to break my record this time! Anyways, guys, if you see any grammar or spelling errors please remember to correct me. Also, please do comment and vote; it'll mean a lot to me.