The Marradith Ryder Series Part 33
Shannon Vega sat alone in her apartment, staring back at the computer screen.
She’d just gotten off the phone with Ryan. He’d called her with good news; he would be released from the hospital in two days. She made him promise that he would take off time from work as he said before. He sighed, but when he spoke she knew he was smiling. “We’re going on a real date,” he said. “And no talk about work, at all. We need to get reacquainted.”
She was looking forward to it, and she told him as much. It seemed that the focus of their relationship was quickly changing. He wouldn’t be a source or colleague much longer.
It made her a little anxious, like a teenager again. What exactly was she going to talk about that did not involve work? The only thing that eased her mind was she knew Ryan was probably thinking the same thing. Both of them were obsessed about their careers.
She logged off of her Facebook account and checked her email. As usual, she had over two hundred messages. Nearly half of them were spam. She started with the oldest first.
Her sister had sent her a brief note along with pictures of her four year old nephew, smiling into the camera as he sat on the rug next to the family dog. I am going to have to come back to New York soon, she replied. She hadn’t been back home since her father passed away the year before. It was hard to imagine a New York without Papi, but she was going to have to face it sooner or later. Maybe she’d have Ryan come with her. He was originally from The Burroughs, so it might be a good trip to take together. There was a source of date questions for her. She could ask him about how he grew up. She knew his family were Irish Catholics, that his father and uncle were both cops, but not much else. How many siblings did he have? And then there was the uncomfortable question of his exes.
She’d heard that Doherty was a ladies man, part of the reason she’d avoided him to begin with. Still, she was going to make sure she got a little more background. Better to find out early if he had anyone in his past that was going to interfere with the present….
“You’re getting way ahead of yourself,” she mumbled out loud, and went back to sorting through her email.
A window popped open for chat.
The message was from Abeyta79.
How are you? She asked.
Fine, Shannon typed back.
Abeyta 79 repllied quickly:
I’ve been thinking about what you said before. This girl you told me about, Marradith. We should really find out exactly who she is. How many people named Ryder can there be?
Shannon paused before typing back. They had a sort of code that they used, trying not to give their communications away. Just in case someone else saw them.
She’s not wild.
Okay, the woman typed back, and Shannon could imagine the sarcasm that would drip from her words. Not wild, maybe, but not like the rest of us either. We should know exactly what we’re dealing with. I’ve got problems here. Sounds like you have some of the same problems I do.
Shannon paused. She typed several messages and erased them before she decided exactly what she wanted to say.
Marradith is a kid. From what I can see she has not hurt anyone. The other people she’s around, I can’t be so sure about.
A long pause. Shannon watched the moments tick away on the computer as she waited for a reply. Five minutes elapsed before the response came up.
So what, she’s a kid. Like they care? Or have you forgotten how they like to prey on the weak? Maybe you’ve been away for too long. Maybe you need to talk to Terrance about it. He could tell you better stories about it than I could.
Shannon felt her heart skip a beat.
She must be really angry, Shannon thought, anytime she’s using Terrance against me.
I haven’t forgotten anything, Shannon replied. But I think some restraint is necessary. For now anyway.
There was one final message:
You think about it, Shannon, and I’ll talk to you later.
Shannon logged off. She knew she would not sleep well that night.
©2009 Lori Titus
Lori Titus’s The Marradith Ryder Series appears each Wednesday on Flashes in the Dark. She is the short story editor for Sonar4 ezine. Her stories have appeared on MicroHorror, Shadeworks, and The Daily Tourniquet. Her first anthology of horror stories, Tales for the Dark , is scheduled for release in 2010.
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August 22nd, 2009 at 6:34 am
Oooh….I was wondering how Shannon fell into The Circle/Sojourners drama! There’s more to her than little Miss Lois Lane after all!
August 22nd, 2009 at 11:34 am
Yep! This was part of a twist that I didn’t see coming, but it opens up quite a few things, including some new characters you’ll see a bit later.
June 16th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Ok so she isn’t normal, but still no hint at what she is. Could be a third faction trying to come up in power.