Rebel Born [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 6: Leafless Twinleaf

Lindsey's wails of grief were heard throughout the whole house. I ran towards the gaming room, my heart beating like a hammer in my chest. The others have formed a circle around Lindsey and Vincent. Vanessa heard me coming and moved to the side to make room a bit, tears were pouring out of her eyes and her lips quivered to keep her sobs in. The boys all had swollen eyes and were fisting and unfisting their hands. They're trying to be strong for Lindsey.

I entered the circle and properly saw Vincent. I nearly fell to my knees. Vincent had countless of knives in his arms and legs and a bloody hole in his forehead. He's definitely dead. The realization of that finally settled in and my mind started to go in denial. Tears found their way out of my eyes and down my cheeks. I haven't cried since Mum abandoned me.

I bowed my head as tears began to spill faster. On both sides of me, Vanessa and Hugh took my hands and all of us stood in a circle around Lindsey and Vincent, holding hands and bowing our heads. When the police and ambulance finally came, their sirens were only a faint noise in the background. Everything happened in a blur.

When the paramedics came with a stretcher, we parted our circle so they can pass through. The moment they tried to remove Lindsey from Vincent, she tried to bite them and hissed at them.

She yelled, "No! He's not dead!"

"Come on sweetie, you need to let go now." Mrs. Miller showed up beside us. A hand covered half of her face and her eyes were watery with tears.

"No!" Lindsey yelled louder before going quiet. "He... he promised me. He promised me!" She returned to screaming, "He promised me he would never leave me! So he's not gone! He never breaks his promises! He's not GONE!"

Lindsey screamed hysterically and tried to attack the paramedics. Vanessa ran forwards and wrapped her arms around Lindsey, holding her back. The paramedics used this chance to try to place Vincent on the stretcher. Lindsey screamed again and pushed Vanessa off her and punched one of the paramedics. Another paramedic pulled out a syringe and plunged it into Lindsey's arm. Lindsey went limp soon after. A sedative?

Vanessa cushioned Lindsey's fall, allowing Lindsey to fall into her arms. "No, Vincent..." Lindsey muttered as her eyes closed. "Why are you so far away? Don't leave me..."

With Lindsey now out cold, the paramedics peacefully placed Vincent onto the stretcher and retreated back to the ambulance before driving away. We stayed silent even as Mrs. Miller coaxed us out of the building, Kyle carrying Lindsey on his back, and into a black limo. The police in sector 9 entered the building as we left.

"We'll be booking hotel rooms for you until we can find another house for you." Mrs. Miller said, her voice soft and considering. I pulled my knees up to my chin, wrapped my arms around my legs, and rested my head on my knees. I stayed like that until we pulled up to a large, bright building. I kept my head down even as we were registered in and were lead up to our room.

They gave us a suite. There was a living room area and four bedrooms and two bathrooms. We agreed for Lindsey, Vanessa and I to share the biggest bedroom while the three boys take one of the smaller rooms each. As we entered, Vanessa took Lindsey from Kyle and placed her down on the bed in our room.

We all gathered in the living room, standing in silence. The sound of a fart broke the silence and we all turned to look at Hugh who stood with a slightly embarrassed expression. Max nodded, "That was a 7."

Kyle started to snicker and Hugh followed and soon all of us were slightly laughing. "Thanks dude." Kyle started, "I don't think Vincent would have wanted us to mope over him for too long." We all nodded in agreement.