Life's a Bitch

Chapter Four

My heart ached, my breathing stilled and my forehead throbbed as I opened the front door with my keys. All the way home I couldn't stop thinking about that dreadful phone conversation with Dean. He wasn't safe in the hands of that Marik fellow, and I knew he was probably harming him and there was nothing I can do. I felt so useless.

I sighed and closed the front door. Renae tugged at my sleeve and I looked down at her with teary eyes.

"Are you crying, Kimmy?" She frowned. 

I smiled and wiped my eyes. "No. Don't worry, Renae." 

"But you're crying."

I shook my head. "I'm fine, honestly." I forced another smile and she scratched her head. 

"Where's Dean?" she asked, now looking around. Before I could answer she went to the living-room in search of him.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Too much stress wasn't good for me, especially since I was prone to depression already.

"Nae come here," I called. She appeared again looking more than upset. Poor thing. Every morning she would look to see if Dean was in the house, and he never was. They were very close. He had a stronger connection with Renae than I did believe it or not. She loved him dearly. 

"He's not here. Did he move house?" She was seemingly confused. It's been a full week and she had no clue what was going on in the real world.

I crouched down. "Dean will be home soon," I muttered quietly. 

"Why can't he come back now?" 

"He's really busy..." Having a near-death experience and going through captivity. Yep, very busy guy. 

"Doesn't he like us no more?" Her lip quivered and I sighed. 

"He loves us all very much Renae, don't be silly." She nodded but the frown still remained. "Tell you what, I'll buy you a nice ice cream and we can go to the park. Do you like the sound of that?"

Her frown instantly morphed into a smile. 

"Will it have flakes and nice strawberry syrup on top?" 

I laughed lightly. "Yes, of course it will." 

"And loaaaadddsss of sprinkles?"

I nodded to confirm. "As much as you want." She grinned and sat at the foot of the stairs. I gave her an odd look. "What are you doing?" 

She crossed her legs and faced the front door. "I'll wait for Dean to come and we can go park, okay Kimmy?"

I sighed and rubbed my face. "Dean can come another time." 

"No, I'll wait." She folded her arms and remained perched, staring at the door.

I heard footsteps and saw Aunt Cath descending the stairs. She gave me a quick glance. "Oh you're back. What took you so long?"

"Hayden and I were talking," I answered.

She spotted her daughter. "Renae get up off the floor." 

"But mummy, I'm waiting for Dean to come home. It could be any minute now; he'll come and we can go to the park and have lots of ice cream." She grinned at the very idea of it.

Aunt Catherine rolled her eyes. "That boy... It's been a week. I can't take the stress any more. I'll leave him to it." She grabbed her jacket. "He's going to be the death of me, I swear." She huffed as she shrugged on her jacket. 

"Where are you going?" I asked. 

"I need to get down to the lab. There's been another case. This girl has serious bullet wounds lodged right in her chest. It must be terrible for her parents, poor girl was only 15 years old. I can't imagine losing one of my children like that." She shook her head and slipped her shoes on.