The Rain (Book 1 - The Unprotected)

Chapter 7 - Accusant l'innocent et pardonner le mauvais.

They walked along the road heading for Jane's house, an emotionless look on all of their faces. They still couldn't accept what had just happened. Annie was dead. She was gone. Dead. They were never going to see her again. They kicked the bones to the side, finding it harder to do now especially now that they knew someone who had died.

Every time Alex looked down, he imagined the bones to be Annie's and he couldn't bring himself to kick them away. Instead, he walked through them, feeling numb as they wrapped themselves around his legs.

Courtney marched ahead, Alex's words still spinning in her mind, Annie's face still plastered behind her eyes. She knew. She knew Alex was right.

-20 minutes ago-

"This is all your fault!" Alex yelled running over to Courtney and pushing his finger into her shoulder. She didn't look at him, just kept her eyes on Annie's remains. Letting him continue to jab his finger into her shoulder, she didn't feel it. She was numb. "She only left because of what you said!" Tears rush down his face and his prodded her shoulder again, harder this time.

His words caught the attention of others and Ross managed to pull his eyes away from Annie's remains.

"You're not a leader Courtney, you can't do anything!" Alex continued, screaming inner face. Spit and tears flew and landed on Courtney. "She is dead because of you! Now try live with her blood on your hands, she didn't deserve to die. She was just going to find her parents, the ones you said were dead! You bitch!" He screamed at her tears, running down his face, she looked to him. Eyes connecting and she could see his heart break, his world crumble.

Ross ran forward pulling him back from Courtney before he could pounce on her. She could still hear him mumble. "You fucking murdering bitch, you should've kept your mouth shut." He whispered but Courtney still heard. She moved her head from Alex's struggling figure back to Annie's remains.

-Present time-

The street they were walking along was empty of both bones and life. The silence between them was heavy and tense. They were all thinking about Annie, they just didn't know what to say. They didn't bury her bones, they didn't move them. They left them where they were. Jane was surprised they could even move at all. The last half an hour was a blur. She knew words were said and looks were exchanged but she didn't hear them.

Courtney strode ahead of them all. Her jaw was clenched to prevent tears from escaping, she swallowed every 20 seconds and kept her clenched fists by her side. She didn't even tell her limbs where to go, they moved on their own.

Ross was numb, he kept replaying Annie's death over and over in his head.

Annie, the girl who worked her ass off at school every day.

Annie, the girl who stared dreamily at the back of his head. He knew Annie had a crush on him, he always knew. He just never had the heart to tell her he didn't feel the same way. And now she was dead and he would never get the chance. He felt confused, as if it wasn't real. It all happened so fast that it didn't feel right. He kept walking along after Courtney. Feeling as if he should say something but not knowing what exactly to say. A part of him didn't blame her, but the other, the part he hated, it agreed with Alex.

Once they reached Jane's house, she tore her hand from Drew's and ran up the stone steps taking two at a time. She stood in front of the door, debating on whether or not to open it. She argued with herself for a moment until the smarter side won. She fished her key from the front pocket of her bag knowing that no matter where her parents were, they would've still locked the door.