I am so very sorry for the wait on this chapter. Things are really hard, but I am still trying my very best to get more of this story done. I really appreciate your patience.
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Thank you so so much for keeping up with this tale. I should be feeling more like myself soon.
ONE LAST NOTE: The extremely talented MaryLikesStuff illustrated another chapter of the story! Head to chapter 19 and check the updated description for a link, or check out MaryLikesStuff on tumblr for a whole blog of cool stuffs and arts!
Chapter 21: Shadows
Riley's cousin stood frozen in time with one foot in the bathroom. Her mouth hung slightly agape, her eyes fixed on the creature on the counter top. Thoughts raced through her mind at light speed, trying to deduce what was happening. The creature, too, had halted. He stood solid as a stone, still dripping with the cooling drops of his shower. They both were utterly silent, the only sound in the room emanating from the sinks still running tap. They stood still for a solid seven seconds, both waiting for the other to make the first move.
Unable to come up with a proper response to the situation, the cousin reacted reflexively. All the muscles in her body tensed at once, and she let out a piercing scream that echoed in the cramped tiled room.
That was Anger's cue. Startled, his body suddenly surged with adrenaline, and he took off running on his stubby legs across the counter. Jumping from this height was out of the question, so he raced around to the sink faucet and ducked behind a container of hand soap, still only wearing the tissue towel around his middle. The cousin, meanwhile, backed her way into the hallway, screaming. She wrenched open the hallway closet and began to search for a weapon to fight off the strange monster.
The older girls cries of terror alerted the three in Riley's bedroom. They had been completely unaware that the cousin had ever come up to the second floor. Now, as they listened from across the hall to her startled scream, they knew instantly what she must have seen. Riley scrambled to her feet, destroying her well made bed, and dashed out of the bedroom, avoiding the creatures on the floor. She flew out the door, spotting her cousin half buried in the hall closet.
"What- What's going on?" Riley shouted, hoping with every ounce of her being that something else triggered the older girls fearful response.
"In... In the... Bathroom." Her cousin yelled through gasps, knocking over several objects on the shelves as she searched for something suitable. "There's some sort... Some sort of horrible bug!"
"Bug?" Riley parroted back, sweat accumulating on her brow. "What do you mean? What kind of bug?"
"I don't know!" The older girl shouted. She grabbed a decorated paper bag that said 'happy birthday' from the bottom shelf and tightly rolled it into the perfect insect destroyer. "Some weird, hairy, pitch black bug thing!"
Riley paused for a moment. Pitch black? That couldn't have been Anger, she thought. Or could it? Why had that description seemed so familiar?
Her mind distracted by a thousand questions, she almost didn't notice as her cousin reentered the bathroom, the paper weapon brandished high above her head. Riley tried to shout something to get her to stop, but she was already grabbing the hand soap container that Anger had ducked behind. Her cousin took a deep breath in, then quickly snatched the bottle and struck the counter beneath.
But to her surprise, there had been nothing behind the soap. Her weapon had impacted against bare counter top. There were no creatures of any kind to be seen. She quickly scanned the rest of the bathroom and found that it was clean.
She jumped a step backward, dropping the bag to the floor. "Oh no!" She shivered. "It's loose! That bug is loose in the house!"
Riley felt a peculiar mix of muffled relief and concern wash over her. She was thankful that Anger had gotten away, but worried as to where he could've gone to. She didn't have much time to think about it, though, as her cousin quickly stormed past, grabbing the smart phone from a pocket and heading for the master bedroom.
"I'm calling an exterminator!" She announced, a slight quivering in her voice. "There's no way I'm letting some nightmare bug roam free in this house!"
"Wait!" Riley cried, but was met only with the bedroom door slamming in her face as her cousin typed on her phones keypad in search of a pest control number.
The younger girl ran back into the bathroom, still concerned as to where the emotion had gone. She gazed at the counter top, specifically at the tiny pile of clothes that layed next to the still running tap. He wouldn't have gone far without those. Riley turned off the water and called out for her missing creature.
"Anger?" Her voice cracked from fear as she spoke.
The large hand towel that lay folded by the faucet began to shift. From beneath its blue and green starry pattern emerged the familiar square face of the red figure. He paused to make sure that the girl in question was indeed Riley before completely revealing himself, still only covered by the tissue around his waist. He panted, laying a hand on his heaving chest, trying desperately to catch his breath.
Breathing a rushed sigh, Riley shot her hand out, scooping up the creature before he could protest. With her other hand, she grabbed his tiny discarded clothes, then made a mad dash back to her bedroom, kicking the door open with all her might. Fear and Disgust, who had been anxiously waiting near the center of the room, leapt backwards, startled by the sudden noise. But as the girl lowered her hand and placed their crimson colleague on the ground, their frightened expressions melted away to reveal faces of relief.
"Anger!" They shouted in almost perfect unison, dashing up to him as fast as their legs would carry them. Both reached their arms out to embrace the companion they had feared losing, but were swatted away by his blocky bear arms before they could even get close.
"Hey hey!" He shouted, still trying to find his breath. "At least let me get dressed first!"
The two emotions had been so happy to see him safe that they hadn't realized the poor thing was barely covered. Riley tossed his small outfit beside him haphazardly before once again taking off into the hallway. Now that he was safe, she had to stop her cousin before she summoned someone to bug bomb the house.
Right as she reached a hand out to open the master bedroom door, her cousin threw it open from the other side. She held her smart phone in her hand, glaring at it's sleek screen, rapidly tapping the red 'hang up' button at the bottom.
"Those stupid exterminators..." She growled to herself. "Why the heck are they closed on Saturdays anyhow?"
Once again, the young girl couldn't believe her luck. The emotions were safe from the pest control and their poisonous products. But it was clear now that she could no longer hide the growing secret from her cousin. She would have to fill her in on what had been happening to her. How could she, though? Her cousin would never believe it. Riley barely believed it for herself. How much info should she give, she wondered, and how much was unnecessary detail that only made the story far more unbelievable.
The older girl stepped further out into the hallway, tapping away on the electronic's screen. "That does it." She murmured. "I have to call your mom and dad."
Panic flowed through Riley's veins in a torrent. Not thinking and acting purely on instinct, she ran up and swiped the phone from her cousins hands. "No!" She shouted. "You can't! Please!"
Her cousin, her hands still formed around an invisible object, looked back at her younger relative, stunned. "Riley? What's wrong with you?"
With things happening too fast, the young girl found her eyes rapidly growing moist, her body beginning to tremble. She clutched the stolen phone tightly in her hands. "Please. You can't tell my mom and dad." She sniffed. "I can explain. You have to trust me..."
The older girl's anger and confusion melted away to concern for her relative. She knelt down to her level, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Explain what?" She asked in a controlled, calm tone. "What's the matter?"
Riley took a deep breath in. It was now or never. She was still too scared to tell every piece of the story. She feared that if the situation sounded too desperate, her parents would surely be informed. If it sounded too unbelievable, which the whole thing definitely did, than it would be quickly dismissed as fiction. It would take a delicate trickle of information to win her cousin over. And she would only get one shot.
"They're not bugs..." She exhaled.
"They're?" Her cousin repeated. "You mean there's more?"
Riley cringed at her own mistake. "Yes." She admitted, closing her eyes tightly. "But they're not dangerous! They're just... lost."
Even this little bit of info was quickly becoming hard to believe. Her cousin placed an exasperated hand to the bridge of her nose. "Lost. And how do you know this?"
"Because..." Riley tried hard to keep her attention. "I've sorta been... Remember when I told you I heard the scratching sound? Well, it was them. And I keep finding them, and I've kinda... been taking care of them."
"You haven't touched them, have you?" Her cousin lurched backwards, pulling her hands to her chest. "You don't know what kind of bugs they are! They could be poisonous!"
"They're not bugs!" The young girl shouted, beginning to become irritated. "They're little..! They're little creatures. And they're just trying to find their family so they can go home."
The older girl stood back up slowly, placing her hands on her hips. "You sound so sure, like you've been talking to them, or something." She said in a mocking sort of tone.
Riley put her hands over her face and growled. This was even more difficult then she had imagined. Explaining wasn't working. She had only one other option. Still holding tightly on to the phone like bait, she began to slowly make her way to her bedroom door. "Here." She sighed. "Just let me show you."
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about this with your parents?" The cousin asked, remaining static in her position.
Riley's face twisted in desperation. "Remember when Boss was sick?" Riley pointed an accusing finger at her cousin at the mention of the dogs name. "Dad told you that you weren't allowed to bring him to our house while you watched me. Who not only kept your secret, but helped take care of him AND helped clean up after so no one knew?"
The older girl knew she was defeated. It was true, she owed her cousin for helping her out when her beloved dog fell ill. She had said she would return the favor some day, thinking she would take her young cousin to an amusement park or something. This was not at all what she had in mind. But she supposed she owed her at least a chance to explain herself. So, while still not particularly enthused about the idea, she followed the younger girl as she opened the bedroom door.
Fear and Disgust, who had returned to sitting on their beds, bolted to their feet when they saw the second girl approach. Disgust gasped, Fear screamed, and they both began to shuffle backwards. Their nightmare had come alive: they were spotted. And it was Riley who had lead the girl right to them. Anger was no where to be seen.
"Wait, guys!" Riley tried not to shout, taking a few steps closer to the startled creatures. "It's okay. She wont hurt you."
Fear inched closer to his green companion, ducking behind her back. Riley, now standing almost centered in her room, turned to find that her cousin had frozen in the doorway. She glared at the creatures on the floor, the look of horror returning to her face. Her eyes moved to their point of origin, the makeshift beds upon the floor, then back to the figures.
"You-You made them beds?" She stuttered, barely getting her words out. "Riley! You can't keep these things! If they're not bugs, then they're wild animals! Wild... Smokey... Shadowy monsters..! We have to get rid of them!"
Riley vigorously shook her head. "No! Please! They're not monsters! They're nice and they're smart and they need my help!"
The older girl was encountering so much difficulty trying to grasp the situation. "But how do you know!" She yelled, raking her fingers through her hair.
"Watch!" The younger cousin instructed. She leaned down, placing her hand on the ground near the two quivering creatures. They looked back at her, shocked, making it clear that they wanted no part of this new person. But Riley curled her fingers and begged, the desperation clear in her voice. After a good amount of hesitation, it was Fear who finally began to slowly approach the platform.
Her cousin gasped as she watched what appeared to be a tiny black beast enter her relatives hand. Riley slowly brought the thing up and gingerly held it in front of her eyes. Through the smokey trails it's body was leaving, she couldn't even make out its basic shape. It was almost as if her hand was holding a wispy black storm cloud that she plucked from the sky. She swallowed hard, wishing she had never promised that favor.
"Go on." Riley urged the creature in her palm, appearing to her as a clear lavender figure with bright eyes and a slim build. "Say something. Prove to her that you can speak."
Fear nervously studied the woman in front of him. She bore a striking resemblance to Riley's mother, except with bright gold hair and a younger face. He could tell at a glance that she was frightened, but he knew the feeling was mutual. He began to shake uncontrollably, hugging his long arms around his middle in an attempt to hold himself steady.
"H-h-h..." He fought to get his mouth to speak. "H-he-hello... I... I-I-I'm-"
"OH MY-JEEZ. RILEY!" Her cousin flew backwards in a panic, completely terrifying Fear into a tense shivering ball in Riley's palm.
"What!?" The young girl cried, bringing the figure closer to herself.
"IT JUST..." She yelled, still at full volume. "IT JUST HISSED AT ME."