After Hours

Chapter 15.

Grayson's POV.

12 years ago...

   I took my lunch my mom made me and scan the small elementary cafeteria. My 6 year old eyes scanned the room looking for a place to sit. My eyes landed on a small girl, sitting alone, with tears in her eyes. I walked over to her and she looked up at me.

  "Hey," she said, wiping her eyes.

  "Hello," I answered. "Can I sit with you?"

   She nodded. I sat down next to her and opened my Batman lunchbox. I took out my food, not speaking to the girl. I see her tears drip onto the table and I couldn't take it anymore.

  "Why are you sad?" I asked.

  "My brother and sister are gone," she said after a few moments of silence.

  "Why don't you go find them?" I asked.

  "Because I can't. They aren't coming back," she answered.

  "Where did they go? To their grandparents house?" I asked, smiling at the thought.

  "No. They are with Jesus, my mom says," the girl answered.

   I frowned. "Why?"

  "I don't know," she said.

   I smiled. "That's ok. My name is Grayson. I'm 6, almost 7. My dad says I'm a big boy."

   She wiped her eyes again and smiled. "I'm Veronica. I'm 6, too..."

   Back to Reality...

   My thoughts fade back into reality and notice I have fallen far behind the group. I walk faster to catch up, my mind still thinking about the first time I met Veronica, 12 years ago. Ember falls into step with me and I catch her eye.

  "Are you ok?" she asks.

  "I'm fine," I say, running a hand through my hair.

  "You don't seem fine," she says.

  "I'm fine,ok?" I say, a bit harsher than I meant too.

   She bristles, obviously offended at my tone. She brings up her pace and falls into step with Cameron, and I feel a sharp pain in my stomach. Jealousy? No. Maybe? I don't know. I don't know anything right now. But I am confused as to where we're going.

  "Where are we going exactly?" I ask, walking up to Vanessa.

  "To the heart of Disneyland. Where the Leader is," Vanessa says, her phone's flashlight shining into the fog in front of us.

  "Where is that?" I ask.

  "Well, according to the Tracker, it's in the underground tunnels. I have been getting a bunch of signals of Them being down there so that should be where it is. It's almost like a ant hill. The "Queen" is hiding down there with a way out of here and It's "Workers" are Them, trying to get us killed. Make sense?" she asks, looking up at me.

  "Sure," I say. "But won't we have a higher risk of getting killed or turned into Them by going down to where they all are?" I ask.

  "Do you have another plan?" she asks, obviously done talking about her plan.

  "No, sorry," I say, falling to the back of the pack again.

   I walk behind Ember and Cameron, hearing her giggle to literally everything he says. She sends such mixed signals. One second it seems like she might like me, then the next she's either mad at me or flirting with Cameron. Actually, flirting with Cameron is a new one, I must say.

  "Grayson, watch out!" I hear Eva scream.

   I turn around and see on of Them. But, I'm almost sure this one is Devan. The same brown hair and bright blue eyes, just more zombie-like. He takes a swing at me with his sword and I just manage to duck out of the way. Eva runs forward, knife ready. She suddenly stops, a look of horror on her face.

  "What?!" I scream at her. "Eva, what?!"

   Devan takes a swing at her with his sword, making a deep gash on her arm. I push her out of the way, getting hit in the head with the butt of his sword. I put a hand to my head and try to steady myself. My eyes are making everything blurry and I feel like blacking out, but I hold my ground. I watch Cameron shield Ember from Devan and he shoots him several times in the head. Devan falls to the ground, but we all know he isn't dead.

  "Go, go!" Cameron yells, flagging me and Eva down.

   Vanessa leads the way as we sprint to go inside the Castle. We run in and shut the doors behind us. We all turn in our phone lights and shine them into the Castle.

  "I liked this Castle, until now," Ember says, standing closer to Cameron.

   I feel my cheeks redden and my eye catches Vanessa glaring at Ember and Cameron. This is so weird. Who on earth likes who?

  "Eva, you ok?" I ask her.

  "It hurts, but I'll be ok," she says, ripping the sleeve on her jacket and wrapping it around her arm.

   She winces when the cloth touches the wound and now it's worse than she says it is. But I don't want to bother Eva. She knows when it will be too much.

  "The tracker says that the hidden tunnels are back here," Vanessa says, swinging her braid around her shoulder.

  "Lets go, then," Eva says.

  "Wait," Ember says.

   I look at her. "What?"

   She looks at all of us and counts our heads. "There is only five of us."

  "So?" me and Vanessa say at the same time.

  "Where's Jess?" she asks.

Hope you liked this chapter!

Thanks for reading!

The picture is of Cameron.