Wings of Sorrow (A horror fantasy novel) by Iain Rob Wright Page B

me—” A yawn escaped her.
    “You are tired, kind Scarlet. You should sleep.”
    “I know, but I’m just going to stay here for a while. It’s too hot to go inside just yet.” She eased herself back into the bench and fought a losing battle against her drooping eyelids. The gentle swinging started lulling her to sleep within moments. She had not expected to fall asleep again so easily.
    ***
    The birds invaded her dreams before they did her reality. For a while, she imagined she was sitting in a rowboat in the centre of the town’s lake. Chirping robins and foraging sparrows surrounded her in the sky, but when her eyes fluttered open, she realised that the chorus was from the trees in her garden. She was lying on the swinging bench, while the morning sun hurt her eyes.
    Shoving herself upright, she glanced around, blinking. Sorrow sat on the grass against the fence and showed no expression on his face as he watched her. His voice, however, was full of concern when he spoke. “Scarlet, you are awake.”
    “How long was I out?”
    “From night until day.”
    She rolled her eyes, and decided to get the answer from her watch instead. It was almost 8AM. “Have you just been sitting there for the last four hours?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    “Where else would I go?”
    There was a noise from inside the house.
    “Sorrow, you need to leave! My dad will be getting ready for work. He can’t see you.”
    “Okay, I will meet you at Mr Chester’s trinket house.”
    “What? I’m not going back there.”
    “But we need answers, and he may have them.”
    She didn’t like it, but it was true. “Okay, fine. I’ll meet you there in an hour.”
    “Until then, kind Scarlet.”
    “Yeah, okay, weird demon-man.”
    Sorrow disappeared and Scarlet headed inside. She made it into the kitchen just as her dad entered wearing his suit and tie. “Oh!” he said, startled. “You’re up!”
    “I, eh, didn’t sleep well, so I decided to get up. You want coffee?”
    “No, thanks, hun I’m running late. I didn’t sleep well either. I’m sorry I shouted at you yesterday. If you’re not happy at your job, then of course you shouldn’t stay there. Things are just tough at the moment, and I want the best for you. I thought a job would keep you out of trouble.”
    “I know. I shouldn’t have just walked out. I’m going back there this morning to talk to Mr Chester.”
    He looked surprised. “You are?”
    “Yeah, I’ve thought about things. I don’t want to get into trouble either. What happened back when we lived in Birmingham… It won’t happen again, okay? I want to be an adult.”
    “That’s very mature, Scarlet, I’m proud of you. Hopefully Mr Chester will forgive you.”
    Scarlet almost frowned at that, but forced a smile instead. “Yeah, hopefully. I’ll have to speak to him; see what he has to say today.”
    “And if he doesn’t forgive you, we’ll find you someplace else—somewhere that will look good on your CV when you start applying to colleges.”
    “Can we talk about college some other time? I have a lot going on right now.”
    “Like what?” He looked uncomfortable. “Boys?”
    She stiffened. “In a way.”
    “Oh, Scarlet, please don’t end up getting pregnant, or something just as bad.”
    “Dad, what have I ever done to make you think things like that about me? I might have taken a bit of dope at my last school, and yeah, I might have got expelled, but that doesn’t make me a slut. I’m not going to get pregnant, okay? I’m not even seeing anybody.” He looked relieved, but she was so angry right now that her mouth was acting on its own. “You know, maybe you should try judging yourself for once. You’re not exactly dad of the year. Mum left us ten years ago, and you still take it out on me. You think I’m going to turn into some kind of massive bitch and leave you, but the truth is that mum left because of you , not because of anything I did . ”
    He reeled backwards as if she had