Protection Crew

Part 3; Chapter 15

JORDAN

I'd been warned about Katelyn before. People told me she would break my heart, that I wouldn't keep her, that her and I would never last, not even in a perfect world. Maybe that's because of who we are or what we are. But even whether they'd told me ten times or a million times, I was still gonna fall for her. Stupidly, I always would.

We walk slowly through the woods, unsure about what we're doing. This should be Katelyn; she was always the confident one when it came to missions. Maybe that's how she hid it all. She was the best of all of us, no one thought for a second that something might've been wrong with her.

"What did she say to you?" Alex asks. I can't stand him, but I need him. He's the only one of Katelyn's friends that lasted, that didn't die or kill everyone. He was also the one who was slowly gaining evidence that it was Sean.

"None of your fucking business," I sneer.

He stands upright and stops moving. "You can't possibly hate me."

I push my shoulders back, trying to get back the few inches he has on me. "Uh, yes, I can."

"Why hate me? Katelyn was the one who..."

"Don't bring her into this."

"She chose me over you. Get. Over. It."

A familiar fire burns inside of me and I have the urge to punch him. He catches on almost immediately and ducks down around me. He walks away carelessly, knowing that I'm not finished.

"You don't understand her like I do," I yell at him.

"I do, actually. You have daddy issues, so does she. Well, so do I."

"Your parents don't fight every night. Your father never hit someone."

He sighs. "You know when your parent's divorce and then get remarried and have you. And then everyone else in your family hates you because you're the reason they got remarried?"

I look him up and down. "Poor you," I sneer. "Your parents share a bed. Calm the fuck down."

"Listen to me. I blindly drove a car into a girl's house and then left the scene. All while drunk. My family can't stand to acknowledge me as their son. You're rich and your parents love you. Yes, abuse is never okay. But we all have shitty things. At least, no matter what, people will love you despite them."

I stare blankly at him, my thoughts racing. "Maybe that's why Sean did it."

Alex laughs, almost manically, spreading his arms wide as he yells. "I thought that was obvious! Of course, that's why he did it! He was a minority in a small town, not accepted by anyone. He did it to get revenge on the people that hurt him. In small towns, you have to do anything you can to be noticed."

"Is that why you killed a little girl? To get attention?"

"No! But that's why Katelyn kills, same with Sean."

"How would you know?"

"Because sometimes people do big things to get noticed. It's not hard for you. For me, people refuse to look at me, they're so ashamed."

"What have you done then? To be noticed."

"I'm here, aren't I? I'm trying to right a wrong by helping Katelyn. Why are you here?"

"I'm trying to right a...oh."

"Yeah, everyone's trying. Okay? I sympathise with Sean, I really do. But not of the way he did it, I sympathise with his reasoning. Just like I sympathise with Katelyn, and you."