Welcome To The Family

Late Night Kitchen Conversation

Gabe let out a deep breath as he rolled over for what felt like the thousandth time. He did not normally toss and turn, so I was unsure if he was dreaming. He would mutter something every now and then, so I assumed that he was. He only woke about an hour ago when Jared started to cry. He soon fell back asleep as I changed Jared and crawled back into bed.

I was staring at the bright red numbers of the alarm clock as I felt the mattress shift as Gabe rolled once again. This time he was facing away from me.

I could no longer stand to lie in bed and wait for sleep to come. I wanted to sit in the living room and read a book or at least grab a drink of water.

I slipped out of the bed and tiptoed over to the dresser. I pulled out a pair of Gabe's shorts and slid them on. I tightened the drawstring as much as I could to ensure they would not fall down. I could find my own clothes but I did not want to go searching in the dark and potentially wake up either Gabe or Jared.

I opened the door a crack and stepped out into the hallway. I squinted to see better in the dark hallway. A light was coming from the bottom of the stairs and I knew that someone must also be awake.

The stairs creaked under my feet as I walked downstairs. When I got to the bottom, I could see Jimmy sitting at the dining room table. He was pushing an empty glass from hand to hand. He looked up when he heard the stairs creaking. He tucked his long hair behind his ears, exposing that gruesome scar on his face.

"I wasn't expecting anyone else to be awake," I said.

"I couldn't sleep," he muttered.

I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water before sitting across from Jimmy. He raised a brow when he watched me pull out the chair.

"Why are you up?" Jimmy asked.

"I couldn't sleep either," I said. "I thought I would kill some time down here before daylight."

Jimmy smiled and it contorted the scar running across his cheek. I tried not to stare at it, but I know my attempts to act natural must have been futile. His smile disappeared and he ran his fingers along the deep indentation of flesh. I wanted to ask where it came from, but I knew that questions were not allowed.

"Was it hard for you to watch that?" he asked. I gave him a puzzled look. He cleared his throat before clarifying himself. "Was it hard for you to watch us kill those people."

"Oh," I said.

I bit on my bottom lip to stop my jaw from hanging open. I wanted to make Gabe proud of me and act fearless in front of his family, but something about Jimmy tugged at my heart. For some reason I felt safe telling Jimmy the truth.

"It's not easy," I said. "Especially not at the beginning. I was so horrified at first."

"How long were you with the family before it happened?" he asked.

I swallowed past the lump forming in my throat. Nightmare visions of Finn and my friends screaming for their lives flashed through my brain.

"Day one," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I looked over my shoulder at the staircase. The walls to the house were thin and I wondered if Gabe could hear me. If he could, he probably would not want me talking to Jimmy about this.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked in a harsh whisper.

The corner of Jimmy's lips twitched into a smile. He leaned in closer to me.

"Of course," he said. "What is it?"

"Noah did not go out and find me," I said. "I came here with a group of friends. They killed them all in front of me. Gabe asked Noah to spare my life because it was almost his twentieth birthday."