Page 56 of Your Coffin or Mine
Me:
Now.
Dots surface on the screen and I scowl, watching across the table as Doyle’s fingers punch digits inhumanly fast.
Doyle:
Here you go, enjoy sexting.
A photo accompanies his text with a nine-digit number.
“What the hell is sexting? Plus one?” I whisper.
Aubrey
Sitting at the large,lavish dining table, I pout at Vlad sitting across from me, with Doyle next to him.
“Just try a bite. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.” I smile, looking down at my now almost empty plate and Doyle’s, which is practically licked clean.
Vlad has yet to touch a bite and has been staring at it for the last five minutes as if it’s going to jump off the plate and attackhim. I can’t help a little laugh that escapes me from the look on his face.
“Very well.” He sniffs hesitantly before popping a bite into his mouth.
I nod, waiting for his reaction as he chews. Gram’s recipe really is the best. “Good, huh?”
“Mmmm. It’s good. Just splendid.” Vlad digs in for another forkful and my phone pings just as Doyle burps loudly.
“Ugh, Doyle, gross,” I say, grinning.
He leans back in his chair and rubs a hand over his stomach, groaning like a man well fed.
“My apologies, madam, and my compliments to the chef. Simply marvelous,” he says, kissing his pinched fingers with a smacking sound and opening his hand. Suddenly, his eyes flare wide and he gasps, pointing out the window to my left. “Look! A wolf.”
“Where?” I squeal with excitement.
Rushing to my feet, I look out at the snowy hill just as Vlad lets out a horrible grunt. I turn around to see him clenching his eyes shut, and I scream, the sound shrill and piercing to my ears. The floor shakes violently, and the table quakes, shaking every dish on it as if there’s an earthquake. Even the light above flickers.
“Oh my god!” I cry out and move into action from what they teach in schools.
I duck under the table and cover my head with my hands. The room goes strangely quiet after a few seconds. When the shaking stops, I peek out from under the table, only to see a panicked look plastered across Vlad’s face.
“What was that?” I ask, my breaths shallow.
Vlad groans, a look of rage covering his expression before it clears. Anxiety creeps up my spine, making my skin flush as I slowly move to stand up, worried another quake may start again.
“Excuse me,” Vlad coughs out, his face cherry red, before he practically runs from the room.
“That’s unfortunate,” Doyle voices oddly, watching him leave from his seat.
I stare at Vlad’s retreating form in confusion. “Where are you going?” I blurt out and move to go after him, but Doyle hurries to cut me off and shakes his head.
“Stay here, Aubrey. He’ll be back soon.”
I frown and my shoulders droop. Between the earthquake and Vlad’s reaction, I’m wondering if maybe my cooking is cursed. “What happened?”
“Just a tiny tremor, nothing to worry about. They happen at random sometimes. I think Vlad went to go check the, uh, castle foundations, though.”
The foundations? Is that a thing?Crap, I bet everyone in the village felt that and a whole castle sits on top of it. Oh no. “Is the village okay?”
