Walking Amongst Them (Among Us, Book 2)

confirmation

I helped lower Stephanie to the ground, numbly aware of Trish as she appeared in the door frame, looking flushed as she took in the scene before her. Her eyes went to my father, who still lay in the doorway looking in the direction of escape.

"Took you long enough."

My voice felt dislocated from myself.

She looked at me, her eyebrows drawn together. A frown tugged her lips downwards and she looked at Stephanie next, eyes flickering to Cody and the rest of them. I mildly wondered about Ray, if she was keeping look out or if she was here at all.

"Is he dead?" Clara's voice shook as she asked.

"You're Clara, aren't you?" Trish asked, ignoring the younger girls question as she stepped over my father's fallen body.

Cody moved then, taking his sister from me as he pulled her nails out of my flesh. I could see a few of the spots welling with blood.

"Yes."

My feet moved.

"I'm here to help. Your father sent me."

In front of my father, I knelt.

"You're not the first person he's sent."

My father blinked. I was the only one to see it. I was the only one looking. Behind me, there was a silence, and then Trish cleared her throat.

"We're going to take you home, Clara. Back to your father."

I pulled a blade off of a holster he must have made himself, and pressed it to his throat. I kept my eyes on his while I pulled it downwards. The blood that was trickling from his purple lips now flowed from the gash at his throat.

"We?" Clara asked, the skepticism clear in her voice.

The man had the audacity to use whatever was still keeping him here to glare at me before his body finally fell limp, resting against the door frame.

Trish chose to ignore Clara's tone and turned away from the girl, eyeing the scene before her. I found my eyes doing the same as I turned my focus to the living. My mouth felt glued shut, my toes and fingers were no more than senseless nubs.

I noticed the bruise forming on Stephanie's cheek and felt the numbness deepen.

"This one is dead," Trish said, and then continued with a more strangled voice," is this the piece of shit who was there when Michael was shot?" she stood over Gary's body.

I blew out a forced breath, but Trish didn't need me to answer as she confirmed it from her own memory. She sounded as though she was speaking to herself really, and I heard a dull thud that I thought sounded like a body being kicked.

"Let's go," I said, feeling a strange calm in my voice.

Cody, who had been occupied with assessing his sister, looked at me then. I couldn't be sure what he was thinking, I looked away too quickly, not having realized I'd been looking to him in the first place.

I wondered if he'd ever forgive me for what my father had done.

For a moment I considered being angry at the way he'd been using me, but the thought faded before the anger could even bubble up. It was a smart move. With any other parent, it might have been worth a shot. But Cody had never met my father, and couldn't have realized how deep his discontent for the life he'd lived ran.

He'd had two whole families, and neither were good enough for him.

My mind snagged on some of the words my father had said. He'd always wanted a son. Hadn't Clarke had a younger brother?