--------------------
“Justine, what does Wila need?” Francine asked.
Instead of answering, the girl threw herself into Laura’s arms, regardless of the grave dirt covering her grandmother.
“Penny!” Edward bellowed.
Francine jumped to her feet. “I’ll deal with him and Wila while you take care of Justine and Laura.”
The last thing they needed was Edward to have a heart attack or stroke from having his dead wife in the house. Francine strode out of the living room’s second entrance and shut the door behind her. She was supremely happy her parents and Neal’s were all alive and living happily in Florida. She couldn’t imagine how she would deal with a dead parent showing up on her front porch.
Francine charged into the Hudson’s kitchen to find Edward on his cell phone. “Give it to me.” She held out her hand.
Surprisingly, he complied without complaining. When she lifted the phone to her ear, it sounded like Wila was in a vehicle.
“It’s Francine,” she said. “What’s going?”
“I think the Fifth Seal broke,” Wila snapped. “I’m on a call—”
Francine rubbed her forehead. “Please tell me you’re not calling and driving your rig at the same time.”
“It’s on speaker, bitch.” Wila was silent for a moment before she said, “I’m sorry. I’m freaking out here.”
“Just tell me what happened.” Francine looked up. Edward was paying close attention to her conversation. Too close. She needed to be careful of how she worded things with Wila.
“Brian and I were sent on a 9-1-1 call this morning,” she said. “The husband called it in. The wife fainted and hit her head. They’re both in the back right now with Brian.”
“And?” Francine prompted.
“We had a call to the same address last year,” Wila bit out. “The husband had a cardiac event. He was DOA.”
Francine shuddered. “Didn’t Brian notice it was the same person?”
“He’s talked himself into thinking this guy is the deceased’s brother,” Wila said. “For now anyway. Is Penny okay?”
“No, she’s not.” Francine sighed. “The last three weeks have cracked her mental health, too, not just Gene’s.”
A concerned look crossed Edward’s face.
“I’m dealing with a similar situation here,” Francine continued. “Can you call Dani for backup? I don’t know how long Penny will need me to stay here.”
Edward shuffled to the coffee pot and refilled his cup before he tottered out of the kitchen. Francine sagged in relief. At least, he wasn’t staring at her anymore.
“I’m finally alone, so listen fast,” Francine murmured. “Penny’s mother-in-law showed up here first thing this morning.”
“What?” Wila shouted. “She—we were at the damn funeral!”
Francine winced and held the receiver away from her ear. “I know. That’s why I have my hands full here.”
“Grandpa, no!” Justine shrieked. It was followed by a female scream that was abruptly cut off.
“I gotta go,” Francine said. “Call you when I can.” She ended the call, set Edward’s phone on the table, and raced for the living room.
Only to find Penny and Justine desperately trying to pull Edward off Laura. He wasn’t someone Francine thought of as a violent person, but the revelation he used to be a demon hunter for the Vatican showed how little she knew about Penny’s father-in-law, much less anyone else.
“Let her go, Edward!” Francine snapped.
When he didn’t, she stopped keeping Famine in check. Her jeans and favorite Halloween sweater melded into her black robes. The odd feeling of her skin tightening flowed over her body.
Penny and Justine backed out of the way as Francine strode over to the couch. She grabbed hold of his collar and belt and yanked him off Laura. Edward flailed. His kick sent the box of Long Johns flying through the air. The box hit the top shelf of the bookcase where Gene kept his collection of antique volumes. The white cardboard tumbled down, depositing frosting, crème, and pastry bits on the contents of the every single shelf until the last of the doughnuts splatted all over Penny’s brand new cream-colored plush carpet.
A weird gurgling sound came from Laura.
Justine rushed over to the couch. “Are you okay, Grandma?”
“Goddammit, Francine!” Edward shouted. “Put me down! We have to kill it!”
“Listen to me, Edward Hudson,” Francine growled. “Think about it. Demons can’t possess the dead. That is not a demon!”
His struggles slowed. “But-but—”
“She’s right, Edward,” Penny said. “If the first four Seals have broken, it makes sense the Fifth Seal would break.” She looked at Laura. “It seems sooner rather than later.”
On the other hand, Laura stared at Francine, shock muting her despite Justine’s repeated question about her status.
Edward stopped struggling. “Put your hair back on, Francine. I won’t fight you anymore.”
She set the elderly man upright. Obviously, he still wasn’t sure about having his late wife sitting on the living room couch, but he didn’t make a move towards Laura.
Francine took a deep breath and shoved her obscene hunger back into its hole. Her black robes faded into her jeans and black sweater with the Jack o’lantern family.
“What are you?” Laura stammered.
“I wasn’t joking when I said the Four Horsemen manifested three weeks ago,” Francine said. “As you could probably tell from my appearance, I’m Famine.”
She reached into her right jeans pocket and dug out her keys. “Justine, since your grandfather ruined this box of doughnuts with his homicidal tendencies, would you please grab the extra box sitting in my front seat?”
“Absolutely!” The girl grinned.
Francine tossed her keys to Justine, and the girl ran out of the living room.
“Edward, you are going to clean up the mess you made.” Francine waited for him to argue. He did shoot a pleading expression at Penny.
“Uh-uh.” His daughter-in-law shook her head. “You made the mess. You clean it up. And you can explain the damage to Gene’s books.”
“Francine’s the one who threw a demon through your front door!” he protested. “And I paid for that.”
“The girls are right. Clean it up, Edward,” Laura snapped.
“All right,” he grumbled before he shuffled out of the living room.
“I’m sorry for the way I acted toward you, Francine,” Laura said. “Or should I call you Famine?”
“Francine is fine.” She smiled.
Laura turned to her daughter-in-law. “Penny would you mind if I use your shower and borrow something to wear?” She brushed at the dirt on her left sleeve. “It seems digging my way out of the grave left my clothing rather disheveled.”
“Of course.” Penny started to leave but stopped and looked over her shoulder at Francine. “Is Wila okay?”
“For now.” Francine shooed Penny toward the door closest to their staircase. “Go take care of Laura and I’ll tell you the rest when you come back down.”
“I got the doughnuts,” Justine warbled from the front door.
“To the kitchen with those before there’s more chocolate stains on my new carpet,” Penny ordered from the landing.
Francine chuckled to herself as she headed to the kitchen, too. All her friends claimed she was the stuck-up one when it came to how her house looked. But she wasn’t cutting her chairs in half with a flaming sword or smearing Long Johns all over a priceless book collection and brand-new wall-to-wall Berber.
No comments:
Post a Comment