Seemingly Harmless: Chapter 3

6 weeks later.

Eric watched his sister stumble out of her room. She looked as if she got beaten up by a bodybuilder.
"Has the sleep been a bit violent?" Eric grunted at her. She didn't acknowledge his remark, just slumped into the chair in front of him. He sighed and caught sight of something on her finger. A small cut that was bleeding.
"Riley? You pricked yourself on your fork" Eric pointed out. Riley glanced at her finger, shrugged and began eating her food.
A knock at the door caught Eric's attention. He got up from his chair to investigate. There was a letter in the door, it looked like it was from the military.
"Must be word from my father" he thought to himself while opening the letter.
"Mr and Ms. Dòoncurt,
We are sorry to inform you that your father, Thû'amás Dòoncurt, was killed in action by a Hysterical class demon.
He served the military very well."
Eric tore up the letter. His hands were shaking.
"Is that it?!" He growled to himself, "All those years in the military, all the while raising two children and putting himself through all that and this is all he gets?!" He looked over at Riley who still looked dopey. It seemed as if she hadn't heard him.
"Dad is dead" Eric called over to her. Riley twitched her ears. Her dazed eyes showed a hint of shock, but other than that she didn't give much of a reaction. He decided he'd tell her again later when she was more awake and alert.
"Daddy" came a small voice from his side. He looked down at his daughter, Tawnya.
"What's wrong?" She asked him.
"Uh..." Eric paused for a moment to find his words,"Your grandfather...he is dead" he had to stop himself from shaking. Tawnya just stared at him blankly for a heartbeat before lowering her ears and muttering a soft "oh" while leaving the room. He knew it was going to hit her pretty hard later, but he tried to push that to the back of his mind. For now he would focus on organising a service.
Since there was no way they could recover Thomas' body, they just sat vigil for him. Hayley and Enrie had come over to sit vigil as well. After they had finished Eric noticed Riley leaving the house.
"Where are you going?" He called over to her.
"That's my business, not yours" his sister grunted in response. He watched her as she slunk out to the city.