Page 5 of A Lesson in Obedience
Mrs. Monroe placed her hand on her chest, her eyebrows furrowing “Something happened to Riley?” Her breathing was becoming quicker as she gave Asher a curious expression. “Wait, who are you?”
“This is my brother, Asher. He—” I struggled to find the words. “He was at the meeting too. He came as…support.” Asher scoffed, moving out of the way when Beau almost took him out from behind his knees. The barking was causing a nasty vibration in my skull and I just needed him to be quiet so I could fucking think.
Riley’s mom nodded quickly. “Okay, well, what happened to my daughter? What do you know? You need to tell me what you know so—” She stopped talking when there was a small thud from upstairs.
Asher and I gave each other a look before we headed in that direction. Beau cut us off, sailing up the stairs and straight towards Riley’s room. He clawed at the door, attempting to use his teeth to rip at the wood.
“Beau, back off!” Riley’s mom yelled, trying to shove the dog away.
I turned the knob, pushing open the door. Beau caused the door to fly open and hit the wall behind it when he rushed into the room, leaping onto the bed. My eyes followed him, and relief washed over me when I saw Riley laying on her bed. Her eyes were closed, but her chest rose and fell letting me know she was alive.
Relief morphed into confusion and dread when I took in her clothes. Blood stained her jeans; her hands and even small bits were on her face. I stepped further into the room, feeling Riley’s mom knock against my shoulder as she took in the state of her daughter.
She clasped her hand over her mouth, hurrying over to the side of the bed. She took Riley’s hand and then immediately dropped it. “She’s burning up.”
“Burning up?” Asher asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Her skin is fire.” Mrs. Monroe attempted to place the back of her hand on Riley’s forehead, but yanked it away, hissing. “What’s wrong with her!?” Her voice was full of panic. “Whose blood is that!?” I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back. I tried to do my own assessment, but a low growl came from next to Riley’s body.
Beau had curled his body right next to her with his head on her shoulder. His tail was stiff and standing at attention. He didn’t bare all his teeth, but his nose scrunched up with every little growl that left his throat. What was going on with him?
“Hey, buddy. It’s just me.” I put my hands up, palms out, hoping that he would understand I meant no harm. I would never hurt her.
His ears went back while his large eyes looked down at her. He ran his snout over her cheek and licked her skin.
Wake up. Please wake up.
I blinked when those words entered my mind. I knew what my brother’s mind sounded like and that wasn’t it. It could have been Riley’s mom, but the voice was off. It was almost childlike. I tried to reach out and touch her again, but Beau growled…again. It was as if he needed her to be alright and awake before he let anyone in her personal space, except for her mom.
“From what I can see, she doesn’t have any wounds, so I don’t think the blood is hers.”
Asher scrubbed a hand down his face. “The problem is that it is someone’s.”
“She wasn’t here early. I swear I checked her room. I’m not going crazy! I’m…” Mrs. Monroe looked up at the ceiling as she held her tears at bay. She tentatively sat on the edge of the bed while getting no resistance from Beau. She was careful not to touch her daughter’s skin but ran her fingers along her braids. Her body stiffened, her breath catching. “Where’s her necklace?”
“Her what?” I asked, squinting.
“Her necklace. The one I gave her when she was twelve. The one her…” she stopped talking, clearing her throat. “Did she have it on when you last saw her?”
I nodded slowly. “She did, but…it got destroyed.”
“Destroyed!?” Mrs. Monroe screamed, scrambling off the bed and placing her face in her hands. “That can’t happen!”
“Mrs. Monroe, it’s a necklace, I hardly think that’s the most important thing—” Asher started, getting a glare from Riley’s mom when the room started to shake. Tiny vibrations here and there. Various objects around Riley’s room began to lift, higher and higher.
“What the fuck?” I said, looking around. The objects started to fly across the room, causing each of us to duck. Different items started to circling through the air, breaking as they hit the wall. Glass from picture frames and clay from random ceramics she’d made when she decided to take that pottery class shattered, leaving remnants all over the floor. The glass from her window shook, cracks developing slowly.
“Is she…doing this!?” Asher yelled, catching a canvas that had flown off the wall before it could do any damage.
“I don’t know!” I answered.
“Riley, wake up! Riley stop!” Her mom begged, ducking her head down to avoid any flying objects.
“Get inside her head! Talk to her!” Asher demanded, pointing to my girlfriend.
It sounded ridiculous, but ever since I promised her that I wouldn’t read her mind, I had conditioned myself to automaticallynotdo it. I almost found myself wanting to argue with him that I couldn’t. We needed to stop whatever this was, so I opened my mind to try to dive into hers. Before I could even peel back the layers of her mind, I felt an internal punch to my head.
She had unconsciously kicked me out. I held the side of my head, looking up at Asher and shook my head. “I can’t!”
