Read Online Dark Throne, The by Raven Willow-Wood - Free Book Online Page B

Heather hadn't realized how many doors she
actually had . Doors to the
kitchen, as well as the cupboards lining the walls, doors to the
utility room and the bathroom. Then there were the bedrooms and the
closets. . . . Each door had to be checked, on either
side.
    And Heather's newly found enjoyment in DIY was rapidly
disappearing .
    "I don't know ,” Fade
gritted out as he fiddled with the tiny screws.
    He wasn't the most talkative of men . Hell, he was the least talkative man Heather had
ever known and she usually had a knack of drawing people out of
themselves. She would speak and more often than not, he'd ignore
her. It was rather annoying, but she'd continued to talk throughout
the day, because she'd realized that he would answer, if
he had something to say.
    That he'd chosen to reply to that particular question did
not bode well for her return to a mother who was awaiting her with
open arms .
    "Mearth be damned .”
The words were growled out and Heather watched, as almost in slow
motion, Fade hefted the doorknob and threw it against the opposite
wall. The doorknob smashed. Into a million, trillion pieces. It
shattered in midair and like a light fall of rain sprinkled over
the hall carpet.
    For a moment, Heather sat stunned and then she slowly
turned her head . "Why. Did.
You. Do. That?"
    Fade's head shot towards her and his glare almost quelled
her slowly rising fury . "I did
it, because the damned piece of shite is just that. Shite. It
obviously doesn't work.”
    "How do you know that ?
You haven't tried all of the doors.”
    "It was a small hope .
I know little of parallel universes. What I do know, is that the
traveler hardly ever returns. I'm stuck here. On this godforsaken
plane.”
    "Don't be stupid, Fade . My mother obviously knew all of this was going to happen.
The doorknobs must mean something and you've just broken the only
key we had.”
    "We have been wasting time working on this
doorknob . They rarely work
twice.”
    Noticing a slight movement on his upper lip, one which told
her was biting it, she had to contain her anger, because he
obviously did not believe his words . "Do not lie to me. That box was obviously ancient. There
were fitted out spaces for each knob. Why keep them if they don't
work again?"
    "Sentimentality?"
    On the brink of picking up the screwdriver Fade had been
using and drilling it into his head, Heather took the calmer
route . She stepped backwards
and away from him. "I can't look at you right now. I'll be in the
kitchen, making us something to eat.”
    As she stepped away, he called out, "I'm not
hungry .”
    "Tough .”
    When he didn't reply, she merely huffed to herself and
walked down the hallway and headed to the
kitchen . On the table, there
was the box containing the doorknobs and on top of that, the sheet
of parchment upon which her mother's note had been
written.
    Biting her lip, she picked up the parchment and knew that
she held it tenderly in her hands . This was the sole point of contact she'd ever had with
her mother and she refused to believe it would be the last. Hope
had not been lost when Fade had destroyed that doorknob, she hadn't
felt distraught, merely pissed off. That had to mean something,
didn't it?
    Instincts were usually correct, weren't
they ?
    She could only hope so, because while her belief wavered
every now and then, she intrinsically knew that she would
eventually meet her mother .
How or when, Heather didn't know and she fully admitted that. But
the longer Fade remained here, the longer she had to believe that
something freaky was going on in the world, something that the
majority of people were unaware of. She also felt certain that if
her mother had known Fade would arrive on that particular day, then
she could hazard a guess that her mother had also known he would
break the doorknob as well as commit countless other irritating
acts.
    At least, Heather prayed that were so .
    She'd only come to the kitchen to cool
down . It was strange how
annoying a