I leap forward to slam it shut again. “Are you INSANE? Mom! Dusk Children could be out there!”
“Riley, this other place you’re going to is outside of Rimwick. And no one can leave Rimwick during the day. You have to go out at night.”
I gape at her. “But… Mom. Dusk Children, remember?”
“You have magic,” she says drily. “They won’t hurt you.”
“Flashy words that temporarily exist when I speak them! How is that helpful in the slightest? Glowing letters and minor explosions are not going to stop demons!”
“Is that what you think Dusk Children are?” Mom asks mildly.
“Demons, monsters, beasts, whatever.” I’ve never actually seen one, but does it matter? Everyone in Rimwick knows what they do. “They’re dangerous, Mom.”
She cocks her head. “They can be. But so can the people in this town.”
“No one in this town has murdered anyone, Mom! No one here eats human flesh! It wasn’t someone from Rimwick who killed-”
My voice breaks, and the small, gray words pour out of my mouth in a whisper. “It was a Dusk Child that killed Dad.”
He’d been an idiot. Mom was at Widow Lacey's house, delivering medicine. She used to spend the night with patients, sometimes, if they were very sick or expecting a baby. I don’t know why he went- we knew Mom might not be back, but I guess he wanted to check up on her. He thought he could make the trip before night fall. But he couldn’t.
“Riley,” Mom says, very quietly.
“Yes?” I ask. I’m not looking at her. My back is to the door, and I’m keeping my gaze steadily on the ceiling, trying to control the tears that threaten to spill my emotions across my face.
“This is a friend of mine, okay?”
I turn around and look right into the face of a giant wolf.
YOU ARE READING
Rimwick
Fantasy"The night is totally black, now, except for the guardian light of the street lamps. No one is out besides me. I fold my arms, missing my army jacket's warmth, and head home quickly. It's dangerous to be out at night. But I don't run. If you run in...
