Ripper: An Indoraptor Story ✓

Bloodshed

"The chicken's good," Richard muffled, his pale skinned jaws still consumed with the soft seasoned tissue of bird meat. The very taste of the shaped food made his tongue flourish and twitch in ecstasy from the spicy delicacy, "What did you season it with?"

"Just salt and pepper," Elizabeth sighed rather quietly, rubbing her soft forehead upon the round end of her finger, "And some seasoned garlic."

"Well it's good honey," He smiled slightly, swallowing and shifting his fork about through the small pile on his plate, "Real, real good."

Elizabeth rubbed her head again, lifting up a few pieces of soggy greens to her mouth and slowly chewed on it before speaking.

"Thank you. But Emma helped me out this time."

"I sure did!" Emma cooed, rubbing her free hand against the frilled hairs on my spine as her eyes remained glued to the TV, "I better start working on my cooking skills before I go to college next year."

It was midnight in Colfax, California where a slower late night dinner was being held by the humans. Rather than conjoined together, Belle was laid to rest for the night after a long day at her camp, Emma had finished her share early for being home all day, and that left the two working parents to feast alone like herbivores in the faint glow of their kitchen island. Both of them looked ill or diseased, but their pale and sunken bodies were just the result of their fatigued corpses, wandering around as if sleep had never existed for months at a time.

The mother rubbed her face again and moved her hand to cup around her pink lips before lowering her fork with a quiet but strong metallic boom.

"I'm going to make some tea."

"Still tired?"

"I have an appointment tomorrow with Belle and I have work to do at the high school," She whined, fluffing her hair around her skull, "And the hospital needs me to take a night-shift thereafter."

"We're on summer break Elizabeth," The father muttered, lifting his eyes to stare at her, "How could they put you back into the system so early?"

"Because they got nobody else," She groaned, pushing away from the table and standing up with her hands folded, "They're lazy bums."

"You need your rest," Richard urged to her.

"I'm fine,"

"If you're going to make your decisions while you're tired, you're going to 'drunk drive' your life," Richard said, "So sleep, rest, and decide nothing until you feel okay. That's really the best advice I can give you."

"I don't need advice I need tea," the mother whispered, moving away from the island table to head to the cold black stove, "Please excuse me, I just need to quench myself."

"Do as you wish," The father worryingly responded, watching her stumble toward the teapot. He tilted his head and glanced at both me and Emma watching the TV blaring colors and lights and sighed, "You should go to bed too, Emma."

"But I'm wide awake," Emma retorted, her shadow flashing from the bright screen, "Can't I stay up for a bit?"

"It's 1 am sweetie, and if your mother is tired I'm certain you're fatigued too."

"Just an extra 5 minutes?" She pleaded. Richard snorted, then smiled warmly from the amusing begs of his own daughter.

"Fine," he smirked, turning back around to face his food, "Don't make me time you though. And take the..." He looked at me through his pause, then weakly continued, "...thing...out tonight, I'm certain there's nobody awake as of now."