After Midnight

Chapter 29

Barry told us that whoever wrote the letter was close to-and in love with me. And I told him that the only people I was close to in this town was him and Dalton, and we all know that they have nothing to do with them.

"Rain, wait up!", Tom shouted after me. I stopped walking and turned to him. He jogged up to me and smiled.

"Hi, Tom"

"Are you going to the dance on Friday?", He asked.

"That depends", I looked down."Why?"

"Cause..", He took a deep breath."I wanted to know if you'd go with me"

I smiled up at him and nodded."I'll go only because you asked me"

He laughed slightly."Okay. I'll see you there then"

I nodded and he walked ahead of me. I turned a corner and saw Dalton talking to a blonde girl with her hair tied back. I leaned against the wall and scrolled through my phone until she left. I heard her squeal once she turned the corner, which made me laugh.

I turned and Dalton was standing in front of me. I jumped and almost screamed, but stopped myself.

"You can't do that", I shoved him lightly.

"I got Susan to go with me", He said.

"I know. I heard her squeals of excitement"

"Dear God..", He mumbled.

"I'm going with Tom", I said.

"Great then. Mission accomplished, right?"

I nodded."Sure"

"What's wrong?", He asked.

"I just-", I shook my head."Want to go to enjoy myself. Not go to used as bait"

"You know we can use Barry. Especially not now."

"I know..", I mumbled."But why do they just have to be everywhere?", I asked. He put his hand on my cheek.

"Because they want to hurt us like they've hurt Barry. We aren't going to let that happen"

I nodded. He dropped his hand."We should go before people start to talk", He looked down.

"I'll go first", I said and turned away from him. I walked to my next class and rubbed my eyes.
*
I knocked on Barry's door and waited for him to open it.

"Hi", He said. I smiled at him.

"Can I come in?", I asked. He stepped aside and motioned or me to come in. I stepped inside and waited for him to sit on the sofa before I did.

"You okay?", He asked.

"Are you?"

He shook his head."No", He looked down at his hands."I have to tell you something..", He trailed off.

"Sure. Anything"

He took a deep breath."I-", He sat up straighter."I can't do this", He looked up.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this", He motioned between us."They won't keep me alive for much longer. I don't want you to hurt, and I don't want to hurt anymore. I can't watch you suffer. I can't be with you like this"

I blinked a few times and shook my head."We-we don't have to-"

"Yes we do", He whispered."I wish that we didn't, but we do"

I shook my head."They're not going to kill you-"

"Before you guys came, they sent Jason out to get a gun. They were going to shoot me"