Chapter 3 Call of Caldiria rough draft

Chapter 3

Veredel drove home as quickly as she could. She had to make it home before anyone, especially her father, started asking questions. She was almost there now, she had just turned on to her street. The only sight around were the local farms.

Her family lived far away from the rest of society. It made her feel cut off from the world at times. Other times she enjoyed the relative peace and quiet when the neighbors weren’t having a skeet shooting tournament or something.

As she pulled into her driveway, her thoughts of getting away unnoticed were dashed. She spotted her father's vehicle sitting in the circular dirt driveway. He was sure to want to know where she had rushed off to after school.  Damit it, why is he even home this early?

She brought her car to as smooth as a stop as she could and then hid the “Call of Caldiria” game system in the trunk for now. If her father figured out she had gone behind his back, he would throw the game in the trash before she could give it to Sean.

Veredel locked her car after getting her backpack from school and then headed for the back door. She was going to try to go in a back way. She knew from experience that her father was most likely waiting for her. She walked up on the wooden porch in the back yard and slowly opened the back sliding door.

It was dark and quiet inside.

Veredel took a few steps inside before setting her backpack against the glass sliding door and closing it behind her. She then reached out for the light switch, only to have a robust muscular hand grasp hers. “Trying to sneak in?” She was pulled to the ground violently as her father flipped on the lights.

She had a blink a few times as she saw stars when she hit the ground. “Dad, I…”

He pulled her up by the shirt collar.

“Don’t try to lie to me, Veredel.

I know what you were doing. You were trying to buy some pot.”

“What?” He always thought the worst of her. If she wasn’t doing what he wanted, she was breaking the law or having underage sex, something that she should go to jail for. For as long as she could remember, he has had it out for her.

“Don’t what me. If I search your car right now, tell me I won’t find any drugs that you picked up after school.”

She was not sure what to say. Usually, she was more than happy to show just how wrong her father was, but this time she was actually hiding something in her trunk. Sure, it wasn’t as bad as what he was grilling her about, but he would still flip out over her going behind his back and getting Sean the Call of Caldiria game.

Just then, her mother walked in. “Charlie, what are you doing?”

Her father let go of her, letting Veredel fall to the ground. Her father looked annoyed to have to explain himself. “Just wondering where our daughter has been.” He reached down and helped Veredel somewhat gently to her feet.

“Isn’t that right, Vere?”

“Ya, sure.”

Her mother didn’t seem convinced, but at the same time, Veredel knew she couldn’t do too much anyway. The only thing stopping her father right now was the fact that he was not drunk. “Charlie, I wanted to say that dinner is going to be ready in twenty minutes.”

“Fine.” His voice was etched irritability. Her mother did not say another word before heading into the other room, hollow-eyed.

Her father then turned his attention to Veredel again. “We will finish this conversation after dinner, and I have had something to drink to forget that I lost a full night's pay tonight.” He turned around and headed into the other room.

Veredel stood where she was for a few minutes, trying to think of what she should do. She knew she had to get Call of Caldiria out of her car before a drunk version of her father searched it looking for a reason to turn her over to the cops. But she was afraid if she backed out of the house right now he would be watching for her. If not that, he would definitely notice when she walked through the living room with the game system.

Having a rough idea of what to do, she slowly backed outside, opening the sliding door once more, afraid that the slightest noise would alert her father. Once outside, she rushed to her car, popping the trunk. She then pulled the game out and started to carry it around the left side of the house.

She walked around until she was underneath her own room; she could see her window above her; left open by mistake earlier this morning. She was now thankful she had forgotten to close it, as she was going to climb into her room and hide the game before her father decided he would search her car.

The foundation of the house had errored to the point that a ladder had formed below her window. Veredel wasn’t sure how much longer it would last though, each time she used it, some of the handles eroded even more, and she ran the risk of them breaking beneath her weight.

Veredel took a second looking at the gaming box to think about how she was going to climb up. It almost took two hands just to hold onto the thing as it was. She was going to have to tie it around her if she had any hope of climbing up. She looked around, desperate for time. In about fourteen minutes, she had to be at the dinner table, or she would just make things even worse for herself.

Veredel quickly spotted a coil of leftover gardening rope that her mother used. There was more then what she needed, but she had nothing to cut it with. She used the line to tie the game to her back, maybe a bit tighter then she wanted to. She then started climbing up to her window.

The side of the house creaked as she ascended.

She climbed slower then she had wanted to, the game system a heavyweight on her back. The extra weight did not stop her from falling through, and after about three minutes, she reached the open window and crawled inside, crashing to the floor.

She immediately listened to hear if anyone was coming. She had made quite a bit of noise falling into her room. After a few seconds, she heard someone at her door. Fearing it was her father or little better her mother, she tried to find a place to hide the game system. But she was too late before the door opened.

She looked up at the doorway but saw nothing, instead of hearing her uninvited guest. “You got it? I can’t believe you got it!” She looked to see Sean rushing towards her. Veredel let out a sigh of relief, if but momentary.

“Sean, you scared me.”

He did not seem to fully hear her. “I can’t believe this is real. Thank you, thank you. Umm, why were you sneaking in through the window?”

“Umm, because I needed the exercise. Look, Sean, you can’t tell mom and dad where you got this.”

He was already trying to lift the massive gaming package. “Why not.”

“Well, just for a little while.”  Until I figure a way to explain this to them without dad killing me.  “Can you promise me this?”

“I don’t know.” His voice was playful. She still thought he did not fully understand.

She took his hands. “Please, Sean. Please do this for me.”

He looked slightly upset. “Aww, fine. But you aren’t going to stop me from playing it tonight.”

She smiled as he dragged the box towards his room.

She doubted she could. She could only hope that her parents wouldn’t catch on that he had the game until it was to the point that the game couldn’t be returned. Veredel then snuck back out the way she came so she wouldn’t have to answer to her father coming down the stairs. Going back down was much easier than climbing up. Not only did she not have the game tied around her, but about halfway down, she was able to jump without injuring herself.

Veredel then hurried inside, and to the dinner table, before her father even noticed, she had left the house. That was one problem adverted for the time being. Veredel looked around the dining room and the long wooden table that had steaming hot pork roast on it. She was the first person to arrive at the table for dinner.

In the center of the table were long burnt-out candles that had never been taken care of. On the walls hung pictures of the family happy phots from over five years ago that tried to show things were still ok.

Her mother soon walked in with a bowl of lettuce in one hand and carrots in the other. She set them down on the table before yelling at the top of her lungs, “Charlie, Sean. Dinner.

I won’t say it again.” She then sat down, looking exhausted. Her father soon walked, giving Veredel a dark stare.

Sean rushed in after sitting down, ready to tear into his food.

Dinner progressed mostly in silence for about five minutes. Veredel tried avoiding her father's gaze, knowing he still wanted to lay into her.

Eventually, her mother spoke up.

“I know you don’t get to come home and spend this time with us that often Charlie, but I don’t think things have to be this quiet.”

He didn’t look up as he spoke. “I am perfectly fine with talking. I am just wondering if there was something Veredel wanted to talk about.” He narrowed his eyes at her.

You suspicious ass.  “I have nothing to say.”

“You sure? Nothing about what happened after school?”

Sean suddenly chimed in. “I have something… offh.” Veredel cut him off by kicking him under the table before he could say she got him the Call of Caldiria game. She then gave him a look to try and reminded him not to say anything.

Her ever-iniquitous dad asked, “What did you want to say, Sean?”

He looked at Veredel and back at their father.

“I just wanted to say we are getting a new janitor at school.”

Charlie rolled his eyes and returned to finish his dinner. Veredel would have sighed if she didn’t think her father would notice her relief inside though she was happy that her father was done with her for the moment. The rest of the dinner was uneventful. Charlie eventually grew bored and took what little remained of his food out to the television in the living room. Veredel waited a full minute before bringing her plate to the sink and excusing herself for the night.

She then tried to sneak by her father while he watched tv in the living room. He had his back turned to her as he watched CSI. She was almost to the stairs when she saw him put his beer down. “Where are you going, Veredel? I am not done talking with you.” He stood up with a belt in his hand.

Veredel, knowing where this was going to lead, ran upstairs. She wasn’t about to let him beat her. He could hear him calling after her, “Where do you think you’re going? Get back here right now, Veredel Lyn Stanwick.” She hurried to her room and locked the door behind her. She knew from experience that this wouldn’t keep him out, so she ran to brace the door.

As she pushed her dresser in front of the door, she could hear her father coming down the hallway, calling out to her. “You are only making things worse for yourself.

Come out now.” He tried the door just as she pushed the dresser in front of it.

“You know I can still get in. Why play this game?”

She could hear him trying to fit his key into the lock on her door. A few seconds passed before the attempted to open the door, only to immediately hit her dresser. His fist slammed on her door. “Dammit, Veredel. Open this door right now!”

She wasn’t going to. She took enough abuse from her father. He hated her, and she didn’t even know why. He never treated Sean or her mother this badly. She sat on her bed, waiting for him to tire out. She sat there for a half-hour as her father furiously pounded on her door before he finally gave up. “You have to come out eventually.”

She laid back. She couldn’t wait until the end of the week, and she graduated. Then she could get away from her father for good.

She loved him like any daughter loved their father, but she was tired of living in the same house as him.  Only three more days.