Read Online Summer Shorts-Four Short Stories by Jan Miller - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jan Miller
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me.
I'm doing the show with or without your support."
He stormed off to the bedroom, slammed the
door, put on his headphones, and practiced the rest of the evening.
Libby asked Terri "Are you and Daddy fighting again? Is it about
his new guitar?"
Terri bent down to her, kissed her forehead
and whispered "Sometimes I forget which of you is the child and
which one is the parent". After putting her to bed later that
evening, Terri had a glass of wine and curled up to sleep on the
sofa. She tossed and turned her way into a nightmare. In her dream,
the dog Sykes appeared through the fog at night. He morphed into
Phoenix, all dressed in black. Terri demanded "Why are you here?
What do you want?" Phoenix took her by the shoulders and stated
coldly "He wants his price paid …through sacrifice. He wants Libby.
I am here to take her to him". Then in her dream, Terri cried "No.
You cannot take my daughter." When she turned to re-enter her home,
Phoenix had changed back into Sykes…snarling and growling at
her…blocking her path back into the door.
Terri emerged from the dream soaked in sweat
and shaking. She didn't go back to sleep that night. She wouldn't
sleep for nights to come either. The next morning while Craig
slept, she showered and dressed for work. She left without saying
goodbye to him. At the office, she threw herself into her work to
try and push the nightmare out of her thoughts; but at her lunch
break, she remained at her desk and searched the internet for
stories on Phoenix Gressil. Most particularly, she read all she
could about the demise of his fellow band mates.
******
Craig awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. It
was Edon with news that she had managed to get Craig a spot at a
music festival the following night in Austin Texas. All it took was
the mention of Phoenix being there for the event, and the promoters
insisted that he play. She hadn't informed them that it would be
Craig playing in his place. Phoenix agreed to go and introduce him.
They would leave for Austin later that very evening…with Craig.
Terri was not at all happy with the news when
Craig called her at work. "What about Libby and me? We can't go.
We'll be all alone without you. We're not used to you not being
there. I don't like it."
Craig reassured her "Phoenix will have
someone to stay with you from his security staff. You'll be safer
than if I was there." Clutching at straws, Terri added "Well, what
will you wear? I don't suppose your golf shirt and khakis fit into
that crowd." Craig blurted out without thinking "Edon will take
care of that." Terri snapped "Oh yes, of course. I should have
known. Will there be three rooms at the hotel or just one?" Craig
ignored that. He concluded the call with a "See ya before I
leave."
******
Back at her internet search, Terri found that the
three former Black Raven members died from separate, non-related
incidents. Reading the archived news items, one common thread
linked the deaths: the presence of a black dog…a large black dog.
Ian the lead singer had swerved his car to avoid one. Jake, the
bassist, died from a heart attack caused by being startled by a
large black dog. James, the drummer, died from what was reported as
a strong allergic reaction…to a black dog.
Curiously, no one had noted the common
denominator in the deaths. The press had previously described the
deaths as being "drug related", and as is normally the case with
inaccurate headlines, when retractions were later issued, they were
relegated to back pages. "Death by dog" was just too un-rock &
roll, and was deemed bad for the band's image.
More interesting and disturbing were the
rumors surrounding Phoenix's so called "pact with the Devil" and
Satan worship. Some insinuated that Phoenix's bandmates refused to
join his pact and were punished by Satan. Others alleged the
bandmates were sacrificed for Phoenix's personal fame and
longevity. It became clear to Terri that as far as the Satan
worshipping clique
I'm doing the show with or without your support."
He stormed off to the bedroom, slammed the
door, put on his headphones, and practiced the rest of the evening.
Libby asked Terri "Are you and Daddy fighting again? Is it about
his new guitar?"
Terri bent down to her, kissed her forehead
and whispered "Sometimes I forget which of you is the child and
which one is the parent". After putting her to bed later that
evening, Terri had a glass of wine and curled up to sleep on the
sofa. She tossed and turned her way into a nightmare. In her dream,
the dog Sykes appeared through the fog at night. He morphed into
Phoenix, all dressed in black. Terri demanded "Why are you here?
What do you want?" Phoenix took her by the shoulders and stated
coldly "He wants his price paid …through sacrifice. He wants Libby.
I am here to take her to him". Then in her dream, Terri cried "No.
You cannot take my daughter." When she turned to re-enter her home,
Phoenix had changed back into Sykes…snarling and growling at
her…blocking her path back into the door.
Terri emerged from the dream soaked in sweat
and shaking. She didn't go back to sleep that night. She wouldn't
sleep for nights to come either. The next morning while Craig
slept, she showered and dressed for work. She left without saying
goodbye to him. At the office, she threw herself into her work to
try and push the nightmare out of her thoughts; but at her lunch
break, she remained at her desk and searched the internet for
stories on Phoenix Gressil. Most particularly, she read all she
could about the demise of his fellow band mates.
******
Craig awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. It
was Edon with news that she had managed to get Craig a spot at a
music festival the following night in Austin Texas. All it took was
the mention of Phoenix being there for the event, and the promoters
insisted that he play. She hadn't informed them that it would be
Craig playing in his place. Phoenix agreed to go and introduce him.
They would leave for Austin later that very evening…with Craig.
Terri was not at all happy with the news when
Craig called her at work. "What about Libby and me? We can't go.
We'll be all alone without you. We're not used to you not being
there. I don't like it."
Craig reassured her "Phoenix will have
someone to stay with you from his security staff. You'll be safer
than if I was there." Clutching at straws, Terri added "Well, what
will you wear? I don't suppose your golf shirt and khakis fit into
that crowd." Craig blurted out without thinking "Edon will take
care of that." Terri snapped "Oh yes, of course. I should have
known. Will there be three rooms at the hotel or just one?" Craig
ignored that. He concluded the call with a "See ya before I
leave."
******
Back at her internet search, Terri found that the
three former Black Raven members died from separate, non-related
incidents. Reading the archived news items, one common thread
linked the deaths: the presence of a black dog…a large black dog.
Ian the lead singer had swerved his car to avoid one. Jake, the
bassist, died from a heart attack caused by being startled by a
large black dog. James, the drummer, died from what was reported as
a strong allergic reaction…to a black dog.
Curiously, no one had noted the common
denominator in the deaths. The press had previously described the
deaths as being "drug related", and as is normally the case with
inaccurate headlines, when retractions were later issued, they were
relegated to back pages. "Death by dog" was just too un-rock &
roll, and was deemed bad for the band's image.
More interesting and disturbing were the
rumors surrounding Phoenix's so called "pact with the Devil" and
Satan worship. Some insinuated that Phoenix's bandmates refused to
join his pact and were punished by Satan. Others alleged the
bandmates were sacrificed for Phoenix's personal fame and
longevity. It became clear to Terri that as far as the Satan
worshipping clique
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