Feral Claws [Completed/Editing]

Chapter Six

"Where's Momma?"

My father was crouched down beside my bed. It was night, and he had shaken me awake. The light shined in from the crack in my door, and I could see my fathers face illuminated by the shadows. His brown hair was a jumbled mess upon his head, and he looked like he had been crying. Something was wrong, Daddy never cried.

"There's no time for that sweetie, I need you to hide."

He shuffled over to my closet and began pulling up the wooden flooring.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Come, now!"

I followed him into the closet, and peered down into the hole. It was too dark to see inside, but I was sure I didn't want to go down there. I started to protest, but the look of fury on my father's face pushed me to submission. I climbed down into the darkness.

"I'm so sorry, baby. There's so much we never told you. I thought we could protect you if he never found us but... Just don't come out, no matter what." Tears began to drip out of my father's face, and now I was starting to panic. What was going to happen? Who was the person he was trying to protect me from? My father started to push down the floorboards to cover me up but I stuck my hand up to halt him.

"Wait, please tell me what's happening?" I cried.

"Just trust me. He won't be able to smell you down here. The only way we can protect you know is to make sure he doesn't know you exist."

I tried to reply to my father, but he pushed the wood down over my rising voice. I slumped down into the pit. The floor was damp, and the air around me smelled of mildew and rodents. I stifled a gag when claustrophobia started to set in, and I was about to reach for the floor and escape when I heard the first scream.

The scream turned into a gurgle, then it was silenced as roar radiated through the house.

"Juni, wake up."

I sat up on the couch. River was standing beside me, concern evident on his face. Max was nowhere to be seen.

"Sorry, I must have dozed off." I said, as I stood slowly from the couch. My eyes were sore and I rubbed them, trying to mentally sweep away any memory from the dream that tried to linger. I didn't want to think about that now, it was long past me. Why did my subconscious want to torture me so badly?

River grabbed my arms and pulled me into an unexpected hug. "Are you sure you're okay? You were mumbling about your dad." River said into my hair.

Damn, I was caught. The nightmare's didn't want to leave me alone. The current issues at hand had triggered more than just the normal worries. It was trying to bring back the beast that I had buried long ago. My parents.

"I'm fine, just a bad dream." I replied.

Max entered the room from the kitchen, holding a box of doughnuts in his hand.

"Did you leave?" I asked.

"Just for a moment. I thought River could probably handle things for ten minutes." He placed the doughnuts on the coffee table, and I beat River to the only chocolate glazed sprinkled one. I sent him a wink as I bit in. "Plus, it's already nine P.M. and we've had no sign of your rogue friend."

I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, and sure enough the neon digital numbers read nine o'clock on the dot. I had been asleep for at least two hours. But, it wasn't my fault. Cat's are just natural loungers.