The Chosen Ones: Book 3: The War

5

Jenna packed a few bags. Shaun sat on the bed watching her. He felt helpless. He knew she was devastated by the actions of her father, and that she felt responsible, despite not having a clue what he had been up to. He also knew she now felt awkward around the others.

"They hate me." Jenna said, as she threw some shirts on the bed.
"Jenna, they don't hate you. If they thought you had anything to do with this they would have killed you already. And I never doubted you for a second." He told her.

She stopped packing and kissed him. She never would have thought she would have fallen in love with a guy like Shaun. He was handsome, but not in a way some of her other boyfriends were. She used to be attracted to the star football player, or the gym rat. He was better than them. He could make her laugh and make her feel safe at the same time. Shaun was just what she needed.

"I love you, loser." She teased.
"I love you back." He replied. "Hey, what do you want to do after this is all over? I mean, where do you want to go?"
She thought about it. "How bout some place warm."

"I'll go wherever you want to go. As long as we're together."
"Maybe Florida." Jenna said, thoughtfully. "Or an island in the Caribbean."
"Let's do it! As soon as we get back." Shaun agreed.

"Should I bring this?" She asked, holding up Gucci sweater.
"We're fighting a war, Jenna. Is that what you're gonna wear?" He asked.
"I thought maybe we'd all do something before. Ya know, like hang out as a group." She said, hopefully.
"We'll probably just chill at Matt's house."
"You guys are boring." Jenna replied, as she stuffed the sweater into her Louis Vuitton bag.

She finished packing. When she was done she had three bags. Shaun thought it was excessive but he knew his girl was high maintenance, and that was okay with him. He carried them out to the car. Before Jenna shut the door she took one last look inside.

This was the house she was raised in. The house where she had so many memories of her mother. Things were never the same after she died.
There was no mysterious circumstances around her death, cancer had taken her. But things changed after she was gone. Jenna changed, and worst of all, so did her father.

Jenna didn't know if she'd be able to give the okay to kill her dad. That was going to cause a problem when the time came. She would have to deal with it then. Maybe the creatures in the Nest's dungeon were meant to protect Tyler, maybe something went wrong with them, that's why they attacked her friends and the kids at the Nest.

Maybe they weren't properly trained. Maybe her father knew nothing about it. Maybe he was too embarrassed to admit it was all an accident. All questions she would need to get answers to.

It still didn't make sense why her father was leading her to believe Casey was alive. And why did he want Tyler and the others at the Nest? Whatever the reasons, there were going to be hard decisions ahead.

She prayed she would have the strength to make the right ones when the time came.