Em had gotten used to wearing the ring. It made day-to-day tasks easier, and she’d never slept so well in her life. She didn’t take it off, not even to wash her hands or take a shower. But when she’d gotten paint on it, she had to take it off so she could clean it and had forgotten about it before she went to bed.
In the middle of the night, she woke up screaming.
At least, she felt like she was screaming, but considering Susan was still sleeping peacefully beside her, that apparently wasn’t the case. Em snapped her mouth shut and breathed in slowly through her nose. She didn’t have visions. That wasn’t her gifting. Right?
She had to know.
The girl carefully slipped out of bed, creeping to the computer monitor on their desk as stealthily as she could. The girl typed quickly. If she managed to get the number within the next few minutes-
Susan’s cell lit up and buzzed quietly. Her old cell. The phone she hadn’t used since moving here. Without waking up Susan to ask if it was okay for her to pick up, Em snatched the device up and pressed the green phone icon.
“Hello, how may I help you?” she asked as she crept out of the room.
“Hello, this is Officer Casey Hartman looking for Miss Susan Dimmock.”
“This is she,” Em lied, just wanting to get on with it.
“I’m sorry to inform you that your mother was killed in a hit-and-run.”
Em’s breathing hitched, and she ground her teeth to keep from screaming.
“Miss?”
“I’m here.” She swallowed again and sat down heavily on the couch, grateful for Talia’s presence as the dog climbed onto the couch and plopped onto Em’s lap. Still, even the dog’s calming effect couldn’t keep the anger from creeping into Em’s voice. “Did you catch the bastard who did it?”
“He was killed also, Miss. I’m so sor-.”
“DAMMIT!” Em swore, barely managing to cover her mouth with her fist before the word burst from between her lips. She forced down a few more breaths and apologized softly. “We’re in Ireland- my sister and I, we’re- we’re staying with family so you don’t have to worry about that part of it. We’ll try to be there as soon as possible. I dunno who else would identify the body. She didn’t have many friends.”
That sounded awful.
“She worked a lot. She was a single mom, and-”
“Honey, I understand this is really overwhelming right now. It’s late there, right? Try and get some sleep, and the adults can sort it out in the morning.”
“Yeah,” Em rasped, nodding. “Sounds good.”
“You take care of yourself.” And with that, the police woman hung up. Em let Susan’s cell drop onto the couch so she could snuggle Talia better.
“If I didn’t know Jane, I’d hate Death,” she grumbled, pressing her face into Talia’s fur. By the time that John got up to make his morning coffee, Em was passed out on the couch, her eyes puffy and swollen.
heraclesstvalentine since it’s relevant to John ‘n’ stuff.
