Skeleton Keys (on hold)

Chapter Fifteen

I pulled Dad's SUV into the driveway, and turned off the engine. Someone had left the porch lights on against the dark winter evening. I sat for a few moments watching the moths and bugs flicker around the light fixtures.

Too much had happened today, and I didn't even know where to begin processing it all. Dad would come around, eventually. I couldn't expect to mend years of silence and awkwardness between us in just a few hours. Now that I knew about the store, about what drove him and my mother apart, and the Keys, I could see why he treated me the way he did. It didn't make it hurt any less... but I could understand his reasoning.

Glancing at the clock on the dash, I groaned. I didn't want to go in the house. I didn't want to pretend that I hadn't just been to the Underworld and back. I just didn't want to lie anymore, because that's what it felt like I'd been doing ever since I found out that Grandpa had died. Lied that I was okay, that I could take care of this myself. Lied to mom-

I closed my eyes and rested my head against the steering wheel. My life was spinning out of control and every attempt I made to grab at anything to steady myself, only spun me faster. I'm going to end up in a ditch somewhere, or worse - a mental hospital, if I didn't get a hold of things soon.

Taking a deep breath and then another, I tried to focus on what I could do now. I could go inside and get some rest. Maybe even a chat with the weird guy in my dreams.

I pulled my Key free from under my shirt, and studied the chain. The dreams were real, even if I wasn't sure about how it could happen. I didn't have any proof he was real, but maybe Hypnos would be straight with me. At least one person in my life had to be, right?

I gathered my things and got out of the car. When I stepped inside the house, I was met with a wall of sound. Happy, carefree screams of children, Max and Corey's to be exact, came from the living room with the announcer of some racing game. I set my jacket and purse down and peaked around the door frame to see Dad and the boys each with a controller in their hands and racing spaceships on the television.

It hurt to see Dad spending time with them the way he hadn't with me. Hadn't he left the keys for me so he could work late again. How did he even get home anyway? He hated taking cabs.

What really erked me though was I really didn't see a reason we couldn't have been close and Grandpa and I have the special relationship we needed too. How many times had I wished for him to just spend time with me when I was growing up, like he was doing with the boys now? It infuriated me.

I turned and grabbed my purse, wanting to make it up to bed before anyone noticed. I was half way up the stairs when Elise appeared at the top with the baby monitor in hand. She jumped a little when she saw me.

"Oh, Mary! You gave me a fright," she said with a smile. "Did you get some dinner? I left a plate in the microwave for you."

I paused on the step. "Uh, no. I was just going to put my bag away first," I lied. Again. I realized that I should be hungry, I'd barely eaten all day. But really, all I wanted to do was take a hot shower and sleep.

Elise slipped past me on the narrow stairs. "All right, I'll go ahead and heat it up for you. Should be ready in a moment." She patted my shoulder and continued down the stairs.

I kept my groan to myself. "Thanks," I said with a smile and continued up the stairs to my room. Tossing my purse onto the bed, I thought about tossing myself there instead. All I wanted to do was climb between the sheets and just sleep. With the training this morning, the trip across the Stix this afternoon, I was just exhausted.

After another second or two of fighting the magnetic pull of my bed, I pulled the door shut behind me and headed back down to the kitchen. Elise was nowhere in sight, but had warmed my plate just as she said would. I eyed mystery casserole number two with skepticism and reluctantly speared a piece of broccoli with my fork.

"Those boys get so excited over that game theirs," Elise said as she came in from the living room. "Even your father was getting too loud. I thought they were going to wake the baby."

I ate the broccoli and forced myself to chew. "Are they staying the night?" I asked, and scooped up another gooey bite.

She nodded and closed the dishwasher. "Lizzy dropped them off before dinner." Elise wiped her hands on the kitchen towel and came to join me at the table.

"Her and Will were going to a dinner out, but," she hesitated. " You might know this better since you don't see them as often as your father and I do. Do they seem - okay to you?"

I stared at her a moment. Was she really asking me to comment on my stepsister's marriage? "I don't think I've seen enough of them lately to get a good sense of something like that. Has she said anything?"

Elise shook her head. "No, just a mother's feeling I guess. I hope I'm wrong." She glanced up at the clock above the stove. "I better go round up the boys and get them in bed."

She left me staring at the food I really didn't want to eat.

I scraped the rest of my plate into the trash and rinsed it in the sink, thinking over the few times I had seen Lizzy and Will together since I'd come back. Nothing seemed different about them, but then again, appearances weren't always what they appeared to be. I'd learned that the hard way.

In the hallway, I passed Dad on my way to the stairs. He paused, looking like he might say something, but I didn't stop. It felt like forever ago since this morning when we had argued over whatever information he and Mr. Ward were discussing. I didn't have anything I wanted to say to him. Not until he told me the truth.

"Mary," he called.

It was only by habit and not by choice that I paused, but I didn't look back at him. I didn't want him to see the tears anger had caused in my eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to keep secrets from you, not anymore."

"Then don't," I said, glancing back at him. It struck me suddenly how much older he looked in the dim light of the hallway. The grey that was sprinkled in his dark hair, the lines that had deepened around his eyes. He held my gaze for a long moment, then finally looked away.

"I can't."

Of course he wouldn't say anything. Nothing had really changed between us. Just the topic of the secrets he kept.

"I'm going to bed." I left him standing in the hallway, and headed for my room.

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Thanks for reading! I felt a little rushed getting this chapter out, so it may still be a bit rough. Chapter 16 will be published on May 20th, so please check back then. And as always, I'd love to hear your comments!

<3 JD