In the unusually shadowed living room, a crumb littered plate that once held grill cheese beside her, Qween was trapped in an unnatural sleep. A dark and sinister figure loomed over her, so close yet so far from the presence of the voices echoing from the dimly lit kitchen. The living room was drowned in inky darkness and a frozen chill.
A heavy curtain rose and fell in the wind of an open window, blocking a starless sky and a full moon, well the old and rich staircase quietly creaked. The basement door was open and swinging back and forth silently, but it never closed. Chairs and couches had returned to the centre of the room after the dance that Cookie had screamed was for plot purposes and Queen's body lay shivering on one of them.
One hand lay dangling off the side and almost touching the glass coffee table with her legs cast at random it was as if she had fallen onto the couch rather than lay down. Her clothes were dishevelled and wrinkled, well her short and hair, an odd shade of faded purple, fell across her eyes. Her glasses lay on the floor, cracked, and occasionally her expression would twist into one of pain.
Only a few feet away from her, a second girl, Sofi, slept peacefully, a blanket over her small frame. Her arms were empty and curled around each other. She shifted and the figures heavy head titled in her direction, but she did not wake. The small light of the kitchen could fall less than a foot into the dark of the room and even the voices were muffled and blocked.
"So, if Marc R. Tro huh? That's a pretty stupid name" Ty remarked, sound normal in the kitchen, as they leaned against the edge of the marble counter.
Cookie nodded, eating a raspberry from the bowl beside her and chasing it with some form of raspberry flavoured alcohol. From the other side of the room, Fanta groaned.
"Mars turn you down again, dad?" Cookie asked tactlessly, swallowing another berry. Mary's shoulders shook as she chuckled, but the laughter stopped when Fanta looked up a deadly annoyed look in her eyes.
"No- well, yes, but no. Something about that name is bothering me." The room nodded along with Fanta's words, accompanied by the scribbling of Mary's pen as she took notes. For a moment there was a heavy silence, Shawm's gaze drifted to the door and her eyebrows pulled together, but it was broken by a stumbled crash layered with a betrayed gasp. Eyes drifted to the counter where Cookie was sitting, pushed over so far she was only a few centimetres from falling into the sink and clutching her bowl of raspberries close to her chest. Her gaze was locked onto Jay, his hand lingering where Cookie's raspberries had been moments before.
Cookie sputtered something along the lines of "I trusted you!" but it was lost to the laughter of the room as Ty reached the few inches to grab a raspberry from the unprotected bowl. Cookie tipped in the other direction only to give Jay full access to the bowl.
"Dad! Make these devil twins leave me alone!" She cried, stuffing as many of the berries into her mouth as she could. Fanta prepared to speak over the laughter and screaming, only to stop cold.
Cookie froze violently, swallowing the berries thickly and shivering. A small wine escaped her and her hand clutched the fabric around her heart in a shaking grip. The twins lay a hand on each of her shoulders to steady her as her breathing became deep and forced. Her eyes were wide as she groaned out a single name.
A scream followed Cookie's word and Mary, Fanta, and Shawm were moving before the last syllable had even fallen from her lips, dashing into the living room with glowing eyes and readying blades.
As they passed the threshold they simultaneously picked up on something, unable to say or describe what, but feeling it suffocate them without an inch of hesitation. Sofi was kneeled at the side of the larger couch, her face distraught with her eyes glowing and lips whispering soft chant that the others recognized as a powerful and draining healing spell. Fanta and Mary exchanged a glance and rushed to join the youngest girl, working in tandem and reciting the same spell. Mr. Carrot sat, slouched against the side of the couch, and ignored by all.
YOU ARE READING
The COATS Files
Mystery / Thriller"You done yet?" A voice fell into the room, impatient, brash, and accompanied by the faint smell of smoke, meaning it could only be one of them. "No, and neither are you, don't you have a job to do?" Shawm asked, without turning around. There was a...
