Seven Beasts (Haremworld)

Chapter 1: Anabelle

“It’s probably your fault!” My sister Cassandra stomped into the living room.

“Yeah, it’s her fault—she’s the one that didn’t have sense enough to ask for a reasonable present.” My sister Bethany followed Cassandra through the doorway.

“All I asked for was a rose!” I stood up and put my hands on my hips. “It was a joke anyway. I’m always happy with anything he brings us.”

“A rose in the middle of winter? You’re a delusional child.” Cassandra let out a long sigh. “Where the cute detective that was working his case anyway? He hasn’t been around in a couple of days.”

“He’ll be stopping by later today.” I kept my hands on my hips. “But all you two do is flirt with him, so I’d like to actually try to get some information this time.”

Our father had been missing for over a week and tensions were high in the Lewis household. I was worried about him, but my sisters seemed more worried about placing blame than trying to figure out what happened. The detective working the case had promised to stop by at the end of his shift and my stomach was in knots. Our father wasn’t the type of man to just abandon his family. He had been our rock after we lost our mother, and the thought of not seeing him again was torture that burned into my soul. My sisters had spent their teen years in rebellion, but I was already twenty-two and I had never even felt the need to disrespect him. I needed him.

There was no way I could spend the rest of my life dealing with my sisters without him to keep them in line. They tormented me to no end and it seemed like all they cared about was having him back so they could get the gifts they had asked for. I didn’t need a rose. I just needed my father back.

They eventually lost interest in laying their blame-fueled tirade on me and returned to their rooms. I waited around for what felt like an eternity until I heard a knock at the door. I looked towards the stairs to see if they would appear to hear the latest on our father, but when they didn’t come down, I opened the door.

“Hello, Ms. Lewis.” The older man standing at the doorway tilted his head and nodded.

“Please come in, Detective Crane.” I took a step back and held the door open. “Would you like a drink?”

“I wouldn’t mind some coffee, if you have some. It’s been a long day.” He let out a sigh when he stepped into the house.

“Right away! Please have a seat.” I turned towards the kitchen and motioned towards the living room.

As anxious as I was to hear the news about my father, I had been taught to be polite, so I walked into the kitchen and started making some coffee. My heart was beating in my throat so fast that I didn’t need any caffeine at that point. I hoped he had something positive to tell me. I didn’t think he would delay something that was negative, but I wasn’t prepared for another round of neutral news that didn’t have a hint of certainty in it. I tried to relax when the coffee was made and poured two cups before putting some various items on the tray like sugar and cream.

My sisters were still upstairs, so it didn’t seem like they were going to bother coming down. That was probably a good thing, since they seemed to care more about flirting with him instead of hearing his updates when they found out the news wasn’t that our father was coming home with his pockets stuffed with gifts for them. I walked the tray out to the living room and sat it down in front of him. He dumped some sugar in his coffee before lifting it to his lips.

“So, what have you found out?” My anxiety was demanding more than he was offering with the delay so he could sip his coffee.

“I wish I had better news.” He let out a sigh. “We found your father’s car, but it was abandoned.”

“Oh no.” Terrible thoughts started to cloud my previously optimistic view. “Where was it?”

“Near Lake Vaughn, about ten miles east of where he should have been traveling. Electronics don’t work very well out there, so our best guess is that his GPS wasn’t working and he got lost.” Detective Crane sipped his coffee again. “We’ll have boots on the ground tomorrow—if he is out there, we’ll find him.”

“It has to be colder out that way...” My words trailed off as dread started to course through my veins.

“Yeah, there is snow on the ground. We couldn’t find any tracks, but it was late so we couldn’t do much. I promise we’ll have every available person out there tomorrow. Even the local sheriff has offered some resources.” He put his coffee cup on the tray. “I don’t want to get your hopes up because this is a very serious situation.”

“He needs his medicine...” My mind started to wander.

“We’re doing everything we can—I really wish we could do more.” He stared at his coffee cup. “I wanted to give you an update, but I need to get back to the station.”

“Thank you for everything.” I nodded as he stood to take his leave.

After Detective Crane was gone, I gave my sisters an update. They were busy looking through catalogs and planning a future shopping trip, seemingly more focused on that than our father’s fate. There were times when I wished I could exist in that state of obliviousness. It was easy for them to just blame me and pretend our father was detained than face the reality of him possibly being in real danger. I cleaned everything up downstairs and retired to my room after my dinner which was little more than a snack.

I felt

worry creeping up on me as I thought about Detective Crane’s words. I had no idea why my father would be so far from his route. He was only supposed to be in the city for a couple of days, but it was clear that had turned into something that he didn’t expect. The thought of him lost in the woods somewhere without his medicine terrified me. I didn’t know much about Lake Vaughn, but I knew the area was popular with campers. There had been a few reports I had seen that mentioned wolves and bears in the area. The bears would likely be hibernating, but the wolves would definitely be around.

Please let him be safe.