Love Bites

Chapter 26

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--Chapter 26--

The rest of the day passed in an agonizing blur until I finally made it home from school. I entered my house and immediately took the home-cooked meal scent into my nose. It smelled heavenly, I only hoped that the food was done even though it'd be quite early.

I approached the kitchen, seeing that my mom was pretty much multi-tasking. She held the home phone between her ear and shoulder as she cut a tomato into slices within a certain careful pace. "It's so nice to hear from you, honey!" She spoke into the phone, instantly pulling my attention and making me curious.

I sat on the high chair behind the breakfast counter as I set my exhausting binder and tote bag upon it, equalizing my shoulders thankfully.

"Who is it?" I scrunched my nose, beginning to hear the country music playing lightly on the radio as the TV was also turned on. Mom, your electricity bill.

"Yeah, we miss you terribly!" She exclaimed excitedly into the phone. I grew a smile on my face from how joyful she teased me. It was torturing me!

"Is it dad?" I whispered hopefully. I really hope it's him.

"She's right here. Let me put her on." She smiled. "Yes, it's your father."

"Hi dad!" I yelled unintentionally. I was just way too thrilled. Finally, something good came out of this tiring day. This was great.

"Hey, Mel. How's everything goin'? Are you and your mom doing good?" He croaked from the other line. The call sounded scratchy and foggy, but I was still grateful to even receive a call.

"We're all good. It's not the same without you, we miss you." I smiled, imagining the usual grin he would have on his face right now. But I couldn't hear anything back. It just sounded like a broken walkie-talkie.

"Dad?"

I started to hear the rumbling again, which began to sound like words. "Sorry, the signal's not too good around here. I miss both of you too."

I smiled, glad to know that the call was still going. I spun the chair around to face the TV. "I'm glad to know you're safe. Call us, text, email, whatever. Just do it when you find the time, so we know you're still okay."

"Of course, honey. I love you. See you in a couple of months." He assured, making my heart warm up from the thought that he's okay and safe. It's amazing hearing his voice.

"I love you too. Be safe."

I passed the phone back to my mom, where she took it and placed it between her ear and shoulder again as she continued her slicing routine. "Hello?" She called, trying to make sure the call was still going.

"I'm trying to follow the recipe you left for me, so my lasagna turns out like yours. I'm hoping to get it all right." She chuckled, causing me to lightly giggle at her statement. I guess I'm not the only one that misses dad's cooking.

I began to focus on the TV, where my mom had the news on and it really didn't seem to bother me much. At least I can know what's going on. I took a tortilla chip into my mouth before tuning into the conversation between the two news reporters broadcasting on the TV.

"I don't know Peter, this is getting a little bit suspicious. Look at this live feed right now by the Harling Springs Memorial. Just entering the woods, it looks like there was a group camping last night and each got killed by an animal." The blonde lady informed the man beside her before the point of view was suddenly switched to a different location.

"Yes, here we have three dead bodies of unidentified teenagers. They all seem to have died the same exact way; each bitten in the neck and suffered from extreme loss of blood. It's very strange, but we still haven't found much clues on what animal could've done this. This exact scenario sure does remind me of the incident from just a couple months ago. It's all starting to get very confusing and frightening. An animal that marks you by the neck? I don't know what to say." He rose his eyebrows, quickly making me bite my tongue.