Chapter 1409 (2/2)

Tim leapt to his feet as though the chair beneath him caught on fire as his dad walked through the front door. Even from his bedroom at the back end of the apartment, the sound of the door opening was attention-grabbing; their apartment simply wasn’t very big. So hurried out of his room, rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants while he did so. He surged past the kitchen, the hallway closet, and then arrived at the entry area that connected with the living room. And then Tim looked at his dad.

From the heavy frown on Derek’s face, it was obvious that his day had not been an easy one. Tim’s already pounding heart began to race as he tried to keep his face neutral. He put his hands behind his back. This is such a bad idea… But if I don’t do this...

“Uh, hey dad,” Tim began. His eyes were on the light dusting of snow that covered the taller Moss. Derek knocked his boots against the sill of the door to dislodge snow and began to take off his coat. “Here, let me help with that. Um, were you thinking anything in particular for dinner?”

Derek’s eyes slid to Tim as he slowly passed his son the coat. Tim tried his best not to jump. Then Derek chuckled. “What, you hear about some fancy restaurant from your friends? You are in luck; after the day I’ve had, there is no way I’m cooking. What sort of cuisine is it this time? I’m down for a little bit of a treat.”

“Ahaha.” Tim did his best to imitate his usual laugh. He honestly thought he sounded pretty convincing. He folded his dad’s heavy coat in his arms. “You know, whatever’s fine. I’ve just been… uh, especially hungry lately. Puberty and stuff. So whatever it is, let’s just get a lot, okay?”

Derek gave his son a slightly longer look as he struggled with the coat. “Puberty and stuff, huh?”

Something in Derek’s tone warned Tim that he had somehow gone astray. He frantically scrambled for something to distract his father. “Ah… just… can we have time with the two of us, you know? With you working in the Order Ducis- ah, no it’s really cool! But just…”

That softened Derek’s expression. He released a long sigh. “Yea, I haven’t been home much, have I bud? Sorry about that. So how about this: instead of ordering something in, do you want to head to that three-story game-center that you are always talking about? The one that used to be a bowling alley on the boulevard. Just the two of us. Some quality time.”

Tim’s initial reaction was to be very excited, but then he remembered the source of his anxiety and he began to sweat. “Ah… well… I think-”

Knock, knock.

Someone firmly rapped on the door to the Moss’ apartment, surprising both of them. After glancing at the door, Derek frowned and looked at Tim with some of his earlier suspicions. It seemed that Tim’s expression made something click into place in his mind. “So, you wanted to go out for some reason, huh? Tim, what did you do this time? Telling me first will make things much easier for you.”

No! YOU were the one that wanted to go out! I just wanted more food. Tim wanted to say. But his tongue was stuck in his mouth from nerves. He could only smile nervously. Somehow, his hands were sweaty again.

Sighing, Derek turned and took a few steps back toward the door. As his hand twisted the knob and pulled the door open, the hall closet burst open and the source of Tim’s stress burst out. “No! Don’t open that door!”

Delilah tumbled across the hall in a spray of cleaning supplies and broom handles until her forehead collided with the wall. Then she hopped to her feet and put her hands on her hips. The jumble of paper towels and bleach only served to emphasize how dirty her t-shirt and shorts were from several weeks of skulking around Kharon’s streets. Likely she would have continued to live out of dumpsters and floating tree forts if not for the sudden drop in temperature, which was why she came and practically begged Tim to let her live in his closet.

Tim’s dad just blinked as the door swung open.

Derek gave Tim a long look as he turned, the ‘we will talk about this later’ look. The open door behind him revealed a face that no one in Kharon would mistake. Tim’s jaw dropped. That’s… the Ghosthound….?

“Argh, you! Why couldn’t you just leave me in peace!!” Delilah’s faced turned ashen and she took several steps backward.

The Ghosthound’s mouth was open, but he seemed to pause as he saw Delilah. He frowned and studied each of them in turn. The weight of that examination was such that not even Delilah could move. Then he turned to Derek. “Delilah is staying with you?”

“If she is, now’s the first time I’m hearing of it, sir. Are you here to speak with her…?” Derek said slowly. But he did frown at the Ghosthound.

The Ghosthound waved his hand. “No, it’s honestly a good thing. I’ve been a bit worried about what Annie would do if she found out I let her daughter sleep in some igloo somewhere-”

“Ah! An igloo! Why didn’t I think of that.” Delilah pounded her tiny fist into her palm. Then she glared and the Ghosthound and shouted. “I’m blowing this dipshit stand!”

Then she spun around and bolted for the window at the back of the apartment while Tim stared at her back in wonder. Is she really just five years old…?

But as the young girl pumped her small legs as fast as they could carry her, Tim felt a pulse of an image behind him. It was brief but overwhelming. And in the next moment, a spectral claw phased out of the floor and caught Delilah, dragging her struggling form back down the hallway. During that time, she continued to display her rather expansive knowledge of swear words. Tim learned quite a few new phrases.

“Ah.” Derek Moss scratched the back of his neck, glancing over his shoulder at the struggling Delilah and then looking at the Ghosthound in front of him. “Do you want to come in for a scotch, Mr. Ghosthound? This has just been a really long day.”