Silent Night (Polite Leader/OC)

Chapter 8- Straying

Sorry this one took so long!! I haven't been too motivated recently, so this chapter isn't the longest or the best. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it :)

My mothers car felt colder than the winter air outside.

As soon as I got in the vehicle, she hugged me and fussed over how I was.

"Vale I- I have something I need to tell you." She began after asking me a hundred times how I was, peaking my interest.

I didn't reply, instead I silently waited, gesturing for her to continue.

"You can't stay in the house during purge night." She announced blankly, not looking me in the eye.

I try not to let myself smile.

Don't act like this is the best news you've heard this week.

"Oh.." I said, faking disappointment. "Why?"

She sighed, focusing on the road.

"It's your father." She said ominously. I didn't want to talk about dad, but I wanted to see her reasoning. "His house doesn't have any security systems installed, he's going to have to stay at ours."

"So why do I have to-

"I don't trust him around you." She said quickly. "I don't want you to get hurt, honey. You're going to have to stay at a friends house." She explained. "I'm so sorry, I just don't see a way around it. Nobody else would take him in, but I'm sure you have somewhere you can stay."

I was happy about the news. Really, I was. But was she really choosing my father over me? I wasn't planning on going to a friends house to be safe anyway, but wouldn't she rather I be alive than my awful father?

I bite my tongue, if I argue too much she might change her mind.

"It's fine mom, don't worry. I can stay at Rhys's house." I announced on the spot. It was either his or zoey's, and that phone call the other day about Henry killing her dad didn't make it seem like their house would be a wonderful place to stay.

"Does he have a purge security system?" She asked with a hint of panic to her voice.

"Yes, its probably better than ours." I reassured her.

She let out a breath. "Okay."

We sat there for a few moments before she pulled up to the school gates.

I thanked her for driving me and headed into the building, not looking forward to lessons.

It was lunch time currently, I would have around 10 minutes until I needed to get to my lessons.

There were many people in the hallways and outside, simply wasting time. I looked around and wondered how many of them would be killed during the purge. Or how many would kill others.

Deciding I had nothing to wait for, I began to walk to my next lesson. English. Great.

I zoned out through the lessons that I had, and waited until it was 3:15.

I know I was supposed to be trying to become more manic, but there was no way I could avoid dissociating during these lessons. It wasn't pleasant, but I refused to focus.

---

I wasn't being paranoid when I believed there was something different about Rhys.

I was leaning against a brick wall, trying to suppress the urge to smoke, when I saw him doing just that as he walked towards me.

I noticed he was only wearing a white school shirt without his blazer, that was still around my body.

"Let's uh-" he said distractedly "let's go." He began walking, and I walked along side of him.

He seemed jittery. Uneven.

He was smiling slightly, but it didn't look like a wholesome one. I couldn't help but be disturbed.

"I saw a dying bird earlier." He said eerily. He wasn't fully grinning, but his lip was curved up at one corner. I tried to ignore it.

"Oh yeah?" I calmly responded, prompting him to continue.

"Yeah." He confirmed. "For such a little thing, he bled a lot." He mused. "I couldn't take my eyes off of it."

"What did you do?" I asked slowly, not wanting him to reply.

"Stepped on its neck."

The lump in the back of my throat continued to grow until it felt like I was choking.

Why was I so uncomfortable? I had killed people before. Real life people. But.. those whose lives I've ended weren't good people. They were people who had hurt me or my friends.

But a vulnerable dying bird?

It was defenceless.

How was that fair?

I tried to ignore what was happening. I felt too overwhelmed. Not just because of the bird, but because of everything. I wanted to cry and curl up in a ball and never have to speak to anyone again.

But the world didn't exactly work like that.

Setting aside my thoughts, I noticed that Rhys was still smirking.

"What's the matter sweetheart," he began, noticing my look of discomfort "never seen anything die before?"

"I've killed people before" I blankly admitted. I didn't know if I was telling him, or myself.

"That makes two of us, then, doesn't it? Well, not for long at least.." I couldn't stop picturing his blood on my hands.

He had never done anything to wrong me, so why did I ever agree to this ridiculous killing bet?

Alcohol.

Ah, that'll be why.

I'd get it under control. I really would.

"Are we -uh- still doing that?" I quickly asked.

I looked up to see we were at our destination.

He turned to face me and tilted his head before whispering a stern "yes."

I began to walk inside, before he grabbed my wrist, forcing me to look at him.

"Whether you want to, or not."