The Rain (Book 1 - The Unprotected)

Chapter 5 - Connaître les gens et les mer des os

It was late. The world beyond the window was embraced in darkness. Courtney looked at herself in the reflection of the window, the light from the bunsen burner next to her allowed her to see herself. Her legs were pulled up to her chest, her eyes were tired and bags hung under them, the bruise from her mother had faded now and could barely be seen anymore.

Her body had gotten used to healing itself and considering it happened a few days ago, it would be gone in a few days . She turned her head to see Drew and Jane sleeping beside each other, there was still some distance between them but they were facing each other.

She sat upon one of the desks at the window and looked out, she couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts evaded her mind and controlled everything. Her mother, her sister, where they were going to go. Was she capable of keeping people alive?

"Can't sleep?" His voice cut through her mind, silencing it. He had always been able to do that. She knew it was just a matter of time before he woke up too, he'd had trouble falling asleep and she watched as he constantly tossed and turned.

"No." She replied, wanting to keep the conversation to a minimum, she wasn't in the mood for a conversation. "I'll try in a minute or two." She lied.

"Okay, mind if I sit?" It wasn't much of a question because he didn't wait for her reply, he sat opposite her, leaning against the window with his legs hanging off the edge of the table. "Why are you looking out? There's nothing to see." He questioned keeping his eyes on her.

She replied, still staring out the window she could see his eyes shining in the reflection and she could see his body out the corner of her eye. "Exactly, you can't see anything. The beauty of the dark is that it hides all of the ugly. I can't see all the....you know." She was talking about the remains of people.

Ross turned his head back and looked out the window. "I was never afraid of the dark." She whispered then scoffed. "Spent most of my time in it." Courtney used to hide from her mum in her wardrobe, curled up in the corner always trying to push back further against the wood hoping that some secret door would open and take her away. When she grew older, she realised there was no hiding. You can't run from something that's always there.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused as if he should know what she was talking about. She sounded snappy and cynical making him worried.

"Nothing, nothing." She hid, keeping him in the dark. She was scared that if he knew, he'd see her as weak and the last thing she wanted was to be looked at with pity. Courtney couldn't stand Jane looked at her like that, she wouldn't be able to handle if Ross looked at her that way too.

He sighed, knowing she was keeping something from him but he decided not to push whatever it was. He kept looking outside, eyes scanning the darkness for anything that stood out.

"I'm afraid to fall asleep..." Courtney whispered, feeling his eyes pounce on her in surprise. She pursed her lips and swallowed, keeping her eyes locked on the world outside.

Ross's head rose up in shock, he didn't think Courtney could be afraid let alone admit it. He saw that she avoided his gaze. "Why?" He asked, unsure on whether she would give him an answer.

She turned her head around and stopped once her eyes made contact with his, she swallowed again, wondering if it was too late to back out of this conversation. She pushed forward, deciding to tell him. "The janitor. I keep seeing what was left whenever I close my eyes. You know, I remember walking away from the room with Jane and looking behind me seeing footprints of blood. At first, I thought they were his but then I realised they were mine. I was tracking his blood across the floor." She whispered quietly, moving her head back to look out the window.