I was released from the hospital two days ago, and I am staying in a motel in Jacksonville, just until my dad can come up with the money to fly us back home.
"But how?! How will you get the money?!" I shout as dad is driving us - in our cheap rental car -back to our motel.
"I can work from my computer! I have a job, Austin!" He fights back, his voice stern.
"Yeah, and leave us stranded here with my friends dead mom and my psychotic grandmother!!!" I fire back, immediately regretting the words that flew from my mouth.
"Psychotic grandmother?! She may be different, but she's still my mother! And your friends dead mother? Do you even know how offensive that is? Death is inevitable!" Dad hollers, his coffee cup in the cupholder beside me spills all over the cars' carpet. "AUSTIN! BE CAREFUL, THIS IS A RENTAL!!!" With one hand on the wheel and one digging through the glove compartment for a napkin, he swerves around the highway, other cars honking and shouting out the window, angry hand gestures being shown from out of their windows.
"HOW WAS THAT MY FAULT?! NOW DRIVE NORMALLY!" I shout as I push his hand back on the wheel and grab a napkin, hastily wiping up the dark coffee from the carpet and out of inside of the cupholder.
Scowling, dad focuses his eyes back on the busy road ahead of us.
Despite the anger crowding my mind, my thoughts still wander back to Jack.
***
My mattress in this motel is rickety, and very uncomfortable. The room itself smells of mold and cheap candles, with an added hint of cigar. Last night, my dad had to bang his fist on the wall to shut our neighbors up, they were blasting loud obnoxious techno music at 12:00AM. I hate it here, and so does my dad. But he still manages to keep an obnoxiously positive attitude.
"Get up, Austin!" My dad shouts, shaking my good shoulder without the scar on it. "Get up!" After another minute or two of unsuccessful 'waking me up', dad resorts to a different method. "AUSTIN ROSE! GET YOUR SLEEPY ASS OUT OF BED!!!" He flips me over to my back, and I open my eyes, my vision cloudy.
"Why do I have to get up..?" I grumble as I shield my tired eyes from the blasting rays of sunlight pouring in from the window that dad must've opened.
"Because." He turns away from me, picking up a shirt from the floor, folding it, and setting it on his bed. "Today I wanted to go visit your grandmother!" He smiles. "Excited?" He must be reading my expression wrong, after all I sat up extremely quickly, my eyes opened extremely wide.
"No!!!" I shout. But then I remember, dad has no idea what happened. I respond to his puzzled face, "I'm very excited!!!" I pull my covers to the side, and go to the ugly little bathroom to get myself 'ready', meaning putting my hair into a messy bun, throwing on whatever clothes go together, and slathering on some mascara. And just to be on the good side, I put on some deodorant and a couple sprays of flowery perfume.
"Ready?" Dad asks me as I head towards the door.
'No...' I think, "Obviously.." I pretend as I open the front door and head to the rental car, seating myself in shotgun.
"Alright..." My dad can tell something is wrong as he sits down in the car, setting a cup of coffee in the cup holder.
"Stop drinking so much coffee!" I grab the coffee from the cupholder, and despite the blistering heat, chug the whole cup down to a few drops.
"Austin, what are you doing, you little hypocrite!"
I smile, "I only did that so you wouldn't drink it." Shaking his head, dad pulls out of the parking lot.
***
We drive down the highways leading to grandma's house, and I remember all of the horror stories that happened here. Interrupting my crazy thoughts, "Maybe when we get there we can make some cookies, or we can play board games with grandpa." Dad smiles.
"Maybe..." I shakily respond.
I'm not willing to say anything about what happened. I don't want dad to think he's stronger than everything, like Jane. I don't want him to fight back to grandma. It'll only make things worse. My anxiety worsens as we pull into the driveway, gravel cracking and popping under our wheels. Without overthinking, I swing my door open and step out. Besides, coming back might be a good thing... I never got to pack my clothes, and grandpa is still normal. Grandpa is the only grandparent I have, now. Because he didn't get possessed. At least I'm excited to see him.
YOU ARE READING
3 weeks (Wattys 2017) | ✓
Horror[COMPLETE] [HIGHEST RANK: #75 IN HORROR] Austin Rose, raised in a big city, goes to Her grandparents house for 3 weeks. After being raised alone with Her dad, she is ready for a change of scenery from Her small two-bedroom apartment. Onl...
