Daughters Of Blood (BOOK THREE)

CHAPTER THREE- Her Smile Made Me Talk (MIC'S PERSPECTIVE)

It was dark. Soft beams of moonlight illuminated the tent, making Taco just visible against her cot. I turned my head and just stared at her, her beauty almost mesmerizing. I saw her start to stir and quickly pretended to be asleep.
She slipped out of bed and quietly zipped open the tent. She stepped out.
I snuck out of bed and followed her.
She had joined Paper, Lightbulb, OJ, and Test Tube at a bonfire not far from camp. I looked at them, confused, but continued to stay hidden.
"He has to have done this," I heard Taco say.
"We don't know for sure. Maybe the boiler blew. The hotel was pretty old when I bought it," OJ replied warily. I documented the note of uncertainty in his voice as he said that.
"The boiler was fine when you last checked it," Paper mumbled. OJ shot him a look and returned his gaze to Taco.
"I just don't want you to look into it. You know what happened last time you did that."
Taco stayed silent for a minute before saying, "I want to keep her safe."
Lightbulb cut in. "We all do. But this is the wrong way to go about it."
"I don't care if this is the wrong way to go about it!" Taco yelled, standing up. "I thought when I killed him, he was gone for good. I don't know why he keeps coming back."
"And you think we do?" Test Tube said bitterly. "Pickle isn't gone, and we need to find out why. And how! You stabbed him, I thought he was dead this time!"
Taco froze when she heard his name. She whispered, "Don't even say his name."
Test Tube looked into the fire. "We have weapons. Why can't we strike?"
OJ sighed. "He'll only come back. He had... modifications anyways, so I don't think our guns could kill him."
I wondered what modifications he had. And how they'd seen him.
Paper looked at Taco. "Why not tell Mic about this?"
She met his gaze levelly. "She'll only get hurt if she knows he's alive. But I was so close to killing him, what... how'd he stay alive?"
"I guess you didn't, like, kill him hard enough," someone said. The party looked into the bushes and out came Salt and Pepper.
"Yeah, like, do better," Salt continued. "Me and Pepper don't have a good place to live now... my dad owns a lakehouse, sure, but he won't let Pepper in."
"Do better?" Taco said, fury seeping into her voice.
"Yeah. Like... kill him. I wanna get back to the hotel."
OJ muttered, "The hotel is blown up."
Salt laughed. "Oh, right."
"Do better!?" Taco yelled. She was seething now. "You've never tried to kill anyone!"
Salt went dead silent. Taco realized.
"O-Oh. I'm sorry," Taco murmured.
"Yeah, you're fine, I guess," Pepper said blankly.
"I'll kill him this time," Taco declared. "And I won't feel bad or hesitate. I'm so ready for all of this to be over."
"And you're sure you don't want Mic to know?" Paper asked.
"I'm sure," Taco replied. "I don't wanna make her situation worse."
She got up and headed toward where I was hiding. I quickly ducked down and stayed as still as possible.
She walked right past me.
I breathed a sigh of relief, listening to the fire crackle. I would've waited until it was silent, but OJ spoke. I wanted to listen.
"She's deteriorating. I don't know what to do."
I slowly popped my head above the brush.
Paper had his hand on OJ's. "There's not much you can do. She doesn't want to believe that he's alive, but in a way, there's no avoiding the fact that he is. She's strong. She'll be okay."
I shook my head and sighed.
"We shouldn't try to make it worse," Test Tube murmured. "It won't help her. But at the same time, I don't want her to look into it. It's just too dangerous."
I stared at the floor wordlessly.
"I think we should turn in for the night," Lightbulb said. "It's been a terrible day."
The others nodded and started to pack up. I slid out of the bushes and made my way back to camp.
The new information overwhelmed me. I could barely think, one thought overlapping another. Pickle's alive? How? Where could he possibly be hiding?
My mind raced as I paced anxiously back to camp. I tried to block the thoughts out but it was near impossible. My thoughts blared like a rock concert's speakers.
When I finally stumbled into camp, Taco sat wordlessly in the clearing by our tent. I walked to her and sat down beside her.
Taco jolted and looked at me. "I thought you were sleeping."
I shrugged. "I was taking a moonlight walk. Your bonfire was beautiful, by the way. I liked the warmth."
Her eyes widened as I mentioned the bonfire. "...You heard that?"
I nodded and turned to her. Her eyes showed the guilt she felt, but there was a tint of comfort there, too. "I'm sorry."
I sighed. "So he's alive."
She nodded wordlessly.
"We should look into this." I leaned into her to show I wasn't mad. She returned the gesture.
"Yeah. They don't want me to."
"You're a spy. I'm kind of a spy. Why don't we do it in secret?"
Taco glanced at me. "Are you sure?"
I nodded. "Sure, yeah."
She couldn't hold the smile. She punched me lightly in the arm and said excitedly, "Tacophone back on! God, I haven't done this since the competition!"
I smiled back. "You have to keep a poker face."
She nodded excitedly and hugged me. I hugged her back, my smile fading to a soft frown.
"What "modifications"? I heard he had modifications."
She sighed. "You don't wanna know."
"Oh."
We fell into a comfortable silence, just enjoying one of these moments together. It's not like we had moments like this often.
And I thought everything would be okay. Like it was fine.
It wasn't fine.