13 Nights of Horror: The Disappearance of Rose Hillard Read Online Free
Author: Amy Cross
putting food on the table isn’t as easy as it might appear.”
“Most fathers do it just fine,” Rose muttered, picking up her fork and starting the process of examining her meal. “How the hell’s he going to manage when the twins are here?”
“Rose -”
“No,” Michael interjected, “honey, maybe she’s right. Maybe I can’t feed five mouths. Maybe it’d be good if Rose got on with her life and moved out. I mean, we sure as hell can’t afford to send her to college, but she seems to know the answer to everything so why doesn’t she soar high above us and show us how it’s all done?” He waited for Rose to reply, but the girl seemed to have suddenly fallen silent. “What’s wrong?” he added. “Not got any quick answers?”
“None that you’d like me to share at the dinner table,” she shot back at him.
“And what’s that -”
“You know.”
They fell silent.
“What are you on about now?” Carey asked with a nervous smile as she gathered a forkful of meat. “Sometimes I swear you two talk in code.”
“I’m just saying,” Rose continued, maintaining eye contact with her father, “that when people go out into the world, they tend to get exposed to new ideas, and that makes them question their old ideas. So, like, things that they used to do, things they were told were totally normal, might suddenly seem… not normal.” She paused, and this time there was a hint of fear in her gaze, even though she refused to look away from Michael. “I’m seventeen,” she added. “I’m starting to realize that maybe I fell for a few lies when I was a kid. That’s all.”
“Like what?” Michael asked pointedly.
“I don’t know. It’s natural to trust your father when you’re a kid, but then when you hit puberty and go a little way beyond, you start to realize that none of your friends did the same things that -”
“Can you please stop it?” Carey said suddenly, interrupting her with a frantic look in her eyes. “This isn’t the time to go raking over any perceived mistakes, Rose.”
“Perceived mistakes, mother?”
“Let’s just eat.”
“Shouldn’t we say grace first?” Rose asked with a mischievous smile. “Come on, I’ll lead.” Putting her hands together, she closed her eyes and waited. “You guys ready?”
Sighing, Carey followed suit, and finally Michael did the same, although he kept his eyes partially open, as if he refused to stop watching his daughter.
“Dear Lord,” Rose continued with a grin, “for the food we’re about to receive and so on and so forth, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We ask that you guide us and help us to do the right thing, ‘cause sometimes that can be kind of hard to work out. We know that you’re watching us, that you see every little thing that we do, and we pray for your forgiveness. We also know that we’ll all be judged one day, and that we can’t lie to you the way we might lie to other people down here. Amen.”
Once the prayer was over, the three of them ate in silence.
***
“Rose! Hey, wait up!”
Stopping on the stairs, Rose let out a theatrical sigh as she turned and looked down at her father. In the next room, her mother could be heard getting on with the dishes.
“Tonight,” Michael said after a moment.
“Tonight what ?” she asked hesitantly.
“The last time. Tonight.”
“You always say that.”
“This time I mean it. This time I’ll… I’ll give you something that guarantees it won’t happen again.”
“I’m going out,” she replied flatly, almost as if all the emotion had suddenly left her soul.
“Not all night,” he pointed out. “You promised to be back by midnight, so that still leaves a good five or six hours until morning.”
“I’ll be tired.”
“Don’t defy me, Rose,” he said firmly. “You’ve already pushed me far enough tonight. You want out? Fine, you can get out, but not until you’ve done it one final time. You owe me.”
“I don’t owe
“Most fathers do it just fine,” Rose muttered, picking up her fork and starting the process of examining her meal. “How the hell’s he going to manage when the twins are here?”
“Rose -”
“No,” Michael interjected, “honey, maybe she’s right. Maybe I can’t feed five mouths. Maybe it’d be good if Rose got on with her life and moved out. I mean, we sure as hell can’t afford to send her to college, but she seems to know the answer to everything so why doesn’t she soar high above us and show us how it’s all done?” He waited for Rose to reply, but the girl seemed to have suddenly fallen silent. “What’s wrong?” he added. “Not got any quick answers?”
“None that you’d like me to share at the dinner table,” she shot back at him.
“And what’s that -”
“You know.”
They fell silent.
“What are you on about now?” Carey asked with a nervous smile as she gathered a forkful of meat. “Sometimes I swear you two talk in code.”
“I’m just saying,” Rose continued, maintaining eye contact with her father, “that when people go out into the world, they tend to get exposed to new ideas, and that makes them question their old ideas. So, like, things that they used to do, things they were told were totally normal, might suddenly seem… not normal.” She paused, and this time there was a hint of fear in her gaze, even though she refused to look away from Michael. “I’m seventeen,” she added. “I’m starting to realize that maybe I fell for a few lies when I was a kid. That’s all.”
“Like what?” Michael asked pointedly.
“I don’t know. It’s natural to trust your father when you’re a kid, but then when you hit puberty and go a little way beyond, you start to realize that none of your friends did the same things that -”
“Can you please stop it?” Carey said suddenly, interrupting her with a frantic look in her eyes. “This isn’t the time to go raking over any perceived mistakes, Rose.”
“Perceived mistakes, mother?”
“Let’s just eat.”
“Shouldn’t we say grace first?” Rose asked with a mischievous smile. “Come on, I’ll lead.” Putting her hands together, she closed her eyes and waited. “You guys ready?”
Sighing, Carey followed suit, and finally Michael did the same, although he kept his eyes partially open, as if he refused to stop watching his daughter.
“Dear Lord,” Rose continued with a grin, “for the food we’re about to receive and so on and so forth, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We ask that you guide us and help us to do the right thing, ‘cause sometimes that can be kind of hard to work out. We know that you’re watching us, that you see every little thing that we do, and we pray for your forgiveness. We also know that we’ll all be judged one day, and that we can’t lie to you the way we might lie to other people down here. Amen.”
Once the prayer was over, the three of them ate in silence.
***
“Rose! Hey, wait up!”
Stopping on the stairs, Rose let out a theatrical sigh as she turned and looked down at her father. In the next room, her mother could be heard getting on with the dishes.
“Tonight,” Michael said after a moment.
“Tonight what ?” she asked hesitantly.
“The last time. Tonight.”
“You always say that.”
“This time I mean it. This time I’ll… I’ll give you something that guarantees it won’t happen again.”
“I’m going out,” she replied flatly, almost as if all the emotion had suddenly left her soul.
“Not all night,” he pointed out. “You promised to be back by midnight, so that still leaves a good five or six hours until morning.”
“I’ll be tired.”
“Don’t defy me, Rose,” he said firmly. “You’ve already pushed me far enough tonight. You want out? Fine, you can get out, but not until you’ve done it one final time. You owe me.”
“I don’t owe