A light in the dark, Chapter three

Chapter Three

 

Allyson sat down on her couch, pulling a hefty book off the table beside her into her lap. She sighed, and fingered the bookmark quietly; the book had no appeal now. All of the letters simply jumbled around in her head, mixing with images of the bird boy. Finian. She grabbed a pillow and squeezed it, hard. She had, of course, already managed to develop a crush on him. He was handsome. She thought, blushing a bit.

Those bright green eyes, that dashing brown hair, and Oh! He was soo tall! She giggled loudly, the pillow quite crushed in her arms. The sound of gravel crunching outside dragged her attention to the window. Her parents’ blue van was coming up the driveway. Allyson squeaked, threw the pillow across the room and snapped her book open to a random page. She began scanning it, like she was reading it. A couple of agonizing minutes later, her parents walked into the room, dripping a bit from the rain outside.

Allyson froze. She had forgotten; she was still wet from dragging Finian to the barn! Allyson darted up the stairs to her room, yelling “Hi mom! Hi Dad!” behind her. She hurriedly changed out of her damp clothes and into her soft pajamas, and raced back downstairs.

“Sorry!” she said, a smile plastered on her face. “I sprayed myself in the face with the spray nozzle thingy while doing the dishes!” She held up a strand of droopy black hair to demonstrate. It dripped approvingly. Her mother rolled her eyes and smiled, setting her purse down on the table. Her father grinned and laughed.

“That’s my girl!” He rubbed a hand through her hair, making the shortest parts stand on end.

“Daaad!” She complained, attempting to put her hair back in place. “Don’t do that!!” He chuckled, a deep noise. She smiled, a bit grudgingly, and looked at her watch.

“Well, I was just about to go to bed, so, Goodnight!!” She dipped her head to kiss her mom on the cheek, and stood on tiptoe to do the same to her dad. They looked a bit puzzled, but returned the gesture. She grinned, and with another “’night!!” She raced back up the stairs and shut the door behind her. Collapsing on her bed, Allyson sighed in relief, looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling. She traced patterns in her head, and fell asleep thinking about angels and lightning.

A Man stood quietly at a gas station, under the protective covering the gas pumps provided. He scowled as he dialed a number on his cell phone, pressing the speed dial, impatiently tapping his foot as the speaker rang. After a few droning hums, the line clicked and then a man’s voice answered.

“What is it?”

“It’s me, Jonathan Briggs, sir.” Mr. Briggs pulled the trench coat he was wearing more tightly around him.

“Did you get the boy?” The sharp voice snapped, sounding metallic and irritated.

“Um… There was a problem.”

“What?” the voice almost literally growled.

“It started raining. I got the boy down, but then it started raining. I had to get back to my car or I’d sizzle. I already have a few burns on my arms.” Mr. Briggs sighed, rubbing at a red spot on his wrist.

“You are not returning until you retrieve the boy, do you understand me?” The voice yelled and the man in the trench coat held his cell phone a bit away from his ear.

            “Yessir.”

            “And hurry up!”

            “Yessir.” The line went dead. Mr. Briggs sighed again and looked over at his reflection in the mirror. He was fairly tall, with light brown hair, green eyes, and a thick mustache. Not very villain-like. He, however was more concerned about the dark bags under his eyes. He poked at them and groaned. “I really need a vacation.”

 

 -Kels