"Why don't we watch a horror movie?" Lillian suggested looking at Issac.
"Why don't you plan my funeral instead?" Issac replied in a dry tone. He was never a fan of that genre.
"I will let you hold my hand." Lillian said with a smile.
Issac playfully narrowed his eyes at her.
"Which one are we watching? This one or this one?" Lillian said showing him two options on her phone.
"You just really want me to die." Issac said when he saw they both were listed horror slash thriller.
She giggled hearing his accusation.
"Are you that scared?" Lillian asked emphasized 'that'.
"Scared?" Issac snorted. Hell yeah! He was.
"I just don't want you to get startled. But if you want, we can watch that. Just know that I'm right behind you." Issac said, as Lillian got up from her place to put the movie on, laying on his side in the couch- patting at the empty space beside him for her to get in.
Lillian looked at him over her shoulder with an evil look before playing the movie.
~~~
"Eenie....meenie....miney mo." The girl in the movie said in a scared tone in front of the mirror in her room. She couldn't belive that she had summoned a demon when she was a child.
Issac tightened his grip on lillian's forearm and closed his eyes tightly, not wanting to see the ghost that- he was sure- appeared behind the girl.
"He looks cute." Lillian said, aware of her boyfriend's frieght.
Cute? Did she just say a ghost looks cute? Issac didn't know whether he should be jealous of the ghost and question her sanity.
Issac slightly opened one of his eyes only to shut it immediately.
That thing was not cute at all. It had burn scars all over it's face and looked terrifying with it's evil smile.
Ok, he is never letting her choose any movie from now on. He concluded in his mind.
Lillian's cat woke up from her sweet nap when the couple were watching the movie and waited for her food that she was always served after she woke up.
She waited for a few minutes before huffing and walking into the living room where the couple were laying on the couch.
Issac gained some strength to watch the movie when the scene changed.
The friend of the girl was looking at the girl shocked and before the girl could ask what was wrong, her decapitated head was rolling on the floor- making both the girl and Issac scream simultaneously and Lillian laugh.
Kitty choose that time to jump on Issac to ask him for food, spooking out Issac even more.
He felt something touch him and he screamed and kicked his limbs in fear, thinking that the ghost came out of the television to kill him- startling kitty, making her fur stand up and pushing lillian out of the couch- and ran out of the living room.
Lillian was laughing, clutching her abdomen as kitty complained about her boyfriend to her, Issac's scream could still be heard in the background.
~~~
Alex entered his house and immediately went to the living room in search of Riley.
He felt his heart race when he couldn't find her there and looked around when his eyes settled on his mother's room.
The door was ajar. It didn't take long to figure out Riley went into the room.
A sharp emotion passed through him. Was it fear or excitement? Happy that he was dating a girl that cared about his mother or fearful that she was talking bad about his mother to her? He couldn't tell.
His tightened his heart, promising himself that he will not let emotions control him if he saw her talking down on his mother.
He peeked through the crack of the door, he could see the side of her face and saw her talking to her with pain evident on her face.
He couldn't say what she was talking about or see his mother's reaction, but he could say that talking about it was very painful for her.
His expression softened and he closed the door, leaving them be.
~~~~
Riley gave one last look to the women that was weeping silently on the bed and quietly opened the door And closed the door behind her.
She sighed, feeling better after sharing her experience. Now she could only hope that Linda would stop blaming herself.
She looked at her watch and her eyes widened in horror as she realized one hour had passed.
She muffled a scream erupting from her throat, looking at the giant figure sitting on the sofa she was previously sitting on.
"You startled me." Riley breathed out, placing a hand over her chest and she walked towards Alex.
"You OK?" She asked standing in front of Alex.
Alex pulled her closer to him and buried his face in her stomach. He didn't have the words to say how happy he was.
"Thank you."
Riley smiled gently and ran her fingers through his hair.
She liked this. Being here with him. It made her forget about things. It was just the two of them.
No Vincent, no mixed feelings, no guilt, nothing that made her feel miserable.
She could stay here for a lifetime if it was possible.
~~~~
And that's how the rest of the month went. Lillian and Issac were spending time together and so were Riley and Alex. Riley would visit her parents occasionally and spent a lot of time with Laura and continued to follow the same routine.
"Have a seat. I cooked lunch." Vincent said with an apron wrapped around his waist, pulling a chair back for his wife to sit on.
"You can cook?" Riley said, stunned.
Vincent and Laura gave her a weird look.
Riley looked at them sheepishly.
Well, it's a good thing that Laura thinks she suffers from amnesia, or else it would've been difficult to explain why she didn't know such a basic thing.
"Why, yes he can! He's the best cook I know. I'm sure you'll love his food." Laura gushed out, kissing her husband on his lips before sitting down.
Riley awkwardly smiled at that, feeling Vincent's scrutiny burn a hole through the side of her face.
Right. Dad said something about Vincent using his culinary skills to impress Laura.
"What would you like to drink?" Vincent asked her as he unscrewed the cork of a champagne bottle.
"Champagne is fine." Riley muttered under her breath.
Vincent poured champagne into her class before removing the apron and sitting beside his wife.
Riley looked at the food hesitatantly. It reminded her of her sister's. Guess now she knew where Lillian got her cooking skills from.
Riley moaned out as the food touched her tongue, the cheese almost melted as soon as it touched her tongue and had a rich taste.
Laura giggled watching Riley stuff her face with another slice of the food.
"I take it you like it."
Riley nodded her head with a glint in her eyes. It was delicious.
"Reminds my of my sis- my cooking." She said excitedly, correcting herself quickly. She didn't like lying about it. It felt wrong to take credits for someone else's talent.
Why couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut? She wondered as she rolled her eyes.
Laura looked surprised.
"You can cook?"
Riley looked at her weirdly. Well Riley can't cook but Lillian can and Riley was certain that Lillian knew how to cook before she started living with them. But how come Laura wasn't aware of her daughter's skills?
Riley glanced at Vincent only to find him already looking at her, he looked at her as if he was waiting for her to elaborate. Did he not know either?
How come?
Riley's phone rang, breaking the weird aura that wrapped the room.
"Excuse me for a second." Riley said as she looked at her phone screen and furrowed her eyebrows.
Casey? Why was she calling her now?
She answered the call and held it near her ear.
"Are you free right now?" Casey asked.
Riley looked at Vincent and Laura before answering.
"Kinda. What wrong?"
"I have the address of Oliver Saint. Do you want to interrogate him or should I ask someone else?" Casey asked, she knew Riley was too close to the case and didn't want her losing her cool while talking to him.
Riley mentally facepalmed. How could she have forgotten that?
"No, I will do it. Send me his address." Riley said.