Other Worlds - The Wilds

Chapter 37

  Truth was, Martha was probably getting sick of the early morning, Toni just loved being awake, or she hated being asleep. It was either or both, she wasn't sure yet.

  Toni's body hummed with excitement. It had been years since she'd had a good, normal Christmas. She had helped the Blackburn's hang up the lights, decorate the house and she even went with them to pick out a tree, despite her not being able to walk too well, Martha just hung onto her arm and walked her around, stopping when she got tired.

  She had cried when they said she could put the angel on the tree. She felt their pity even though they tried not to show it.

  Toni saw that Martha was trying to go back to sleep. "Okay, suit yourself. I am going to have the best Christmas morning ever. Without you." She added cheekily. The threat was empty because she was not at all likely to have a better Christmas morning without Martha than if she was with her.

  She left the room quietly, letting Martha sleep and too feeling too nervous to wake Martha's parents.

  She squinted at the clock in the kitchen, The numbers flying around in her brain. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and opened them again calmly. 6:43am. The Blackburns were late risers, so she grabbed her coat, keys and hat, pausing as she put on the coat, as she often did now, remembering that it, and the ring in the pocket, was the last thing she had of her mother's. She shook the thought away, taking a breath to calm her palpitating heart.

  The family dog, Milo, stirred slightly at the click of the lock as she slipped out the door. The scrappy little terrier had a tendency of barking at even the sensation of air. Toni thanked whatever God existed that he didn't go wild like he normally does. Goes to show that if someone actually robbed the house, Milo would be elsewhere, barking at a change in the wind. Good thing they didn't need a guard dog where they lived.

  The neighbourhood looked ethereal at this time of the day with only the moon and Christmas lights brightening the sidewalk. The cast on her hand made it hard for her to warm her fingers due to her being unable to clench her fist. She stuffed her already frozen hands in her pockets, her fingers already fiddling with the ring her her pocket.

  As she walked, she wondered once again if it was worth anything, Sentimentally, at least, or if she was really just carrying around junk that her mother never got around to throwing away. She pulled it out with a sigh, inspecting it again. No initials, no engraving, nothing.

  Maybe she would never know. It meant something to her, she would just have to live with that for now.

  Her feet carried her while she tried to focus her mind. She wondered how Shelby was doing. Her Christmas was probably going to be terrible. Maybe they would let her come home for Christmas? Not like that was really a break or pleasant event for her. She shuddered at the thought that Shelby's home was better than the camp. She technically already knew that but every time she reminded herself of it her heart broke a little more.

  Toni suddenly stopped. A familiar door in view. Perhaps it was because she couldn't multitask any more or because she instinctively needed to be there, but her still weak legs had carried her all the way to Shelby's house.

  From the outside it didn't look like a sinister place. Though, she had once thought the same thing about Carol's house.

  Impulse that she struggled to resist now-a-days carried her the rest of the way to the door. The Goodkind's would be awake. She knocked. Cursing herself in the process for not just turning around and having a relaxing Christmas.

  Dave. A face she was genuinely found repellent, despite him being an objectively handsome man. He was dressed in a suit, which she considered to be an odd choice for Christmas morning, but what did she know?