The Insiders

Chapter 31

Chapter 31- Sharlene

"Girls are gross!" Coren shouts in a joking way. Joy's laughter fills the room. I'm amazed at how big of a laugh can come from such a little girl.

"No we're not!" Joy shouts back. I can't help but laugh with them. This must be what it feels like to have a happy family.

"Yes you are! You have cooties and everything!" Coren scrunches up his nose and makes a disgusted face.

"Oh that's a cute face." I smile towards Coren. I scrunch up my nose and mimic him.

"I did not look like that!" He says.

"Yes you did!" Joy and I say at the same time. All three of us begin to laugh.

"I did not." He repeats.

"Did too." I repeat making another face at him.

"I could never look as beautiful as you." He says as his hand slides across his bed to meet mine. We stare intently into each others eyes. A warm feeling begins to go through my hands. I smile at the feeling until I look at my hands. I bring them closer to my face because I don't believe what I see. They're covered in dark red, slippery blood. I gasp and l look back at Coren, but he's no longer there.

"Coren!" I shout, but there's no response. I stand up and begin to search for him. As I begin to go around the room, my feet hit something on the ground. I look down and scream. At my feet is Joy with blood all over. I fall to my knees as I scan her over.

"You did this." She struggles to whisper. Those are her last words. She falls limp and all her colour disappears.

"Joy!" I scream at her. I repeat this over and over but she's not coming back. I begin to cry. The tears streaming down my face cannot be stopped.

"You did this?" Coren asks behind me. I swiftly turn around and look at him.

"No I didn't!" I shake my head violently.

"Then who did?" He asks coldly, not caring about the tears on my cheeks. I shake my head, not wanting to tell him the truth.

"Who?" He yells. His yell vibrates through me causing more tears to flow down my cheeks. I begin to stutter words trying to tell him the truth.

"My-" Coren's yell of pain interrupts my statement. I scream as the wound in his stomach becomes noticeable by the blood that flows around it and covers his white shirt. I'm frozen in my spot by the shock that has taken over my whole body. Coren falls revealing the last man I expected to see in my room.

"Dad we need to help him!" I beg him as I lean over Coren on the floor.

"Why do I need to help him?" My dad asks cunningly, cleaning off a bloody knife in his hand. My eyes open wide as I try to process what just happened. I slowly begin to stand up.

"Why? Why would you kill him?" I shout at him.

"Because he's not normal-"

"And I am?" As soon as the words leave my mouth I want to take them back. My father doesn't respond, he just smiles and continues to clean Coren's blood off his knife. I go back to the floor to check on Coren.

"Coren." I whisper to him. When he doesn't move or respond, I begin to panic.

"Coren." I repeat his name a little louder. I move his bangs away from his eyes and gasp at what I see. Behind his bangs are Coren's lifeless green eyes.

"Coren!" I scream before I make a choking sound beginning my sobs. Over my crying I can hear my dad's laughter.

"You killed him!' I scream as I stand up. My dad continues to laugh. I lunge towards him and begin to beat him. He falls to the ground but I don't stop.

"You killed the man I loved!" I sob still beating him. The blood begins streaming from his nose.

"That's not the only person I killed." He manages to say. I try to figure out what he means stopping the constant blows to his face. Suddenly there's a gun shot. I quickly get off of my dad and stand up. My dad smiles, ignoring the blood coming out of his nose. I begin to turn around. We're no longer in my room, we're in a dark misty field. The only light is coming from the moon. I begin to walk forward but am stopped by a foot. I look down dreading what I will see next. At my feet is Amy's dead body. My eyes begin to search the rest of the dark grass uncontrollably. Next I see Bryce's dead body. Then Thomas's and Steve's. A gasp turns into hyperventilation as I begin to see everyone. In this field is every person who was in headquarters.

I turn back towards my dad, but before I can process what is happening a gun is fired and I begin to feel the warm flow of my blood running down my leg. I fall to the ground and hold my leg. I wince from the pain. I look up expecting my dad to be holding the gun, but when I look up I don't see my dad with the gun, I see Peter.

"Peter." I barely whisper.

"You love him?" He spits at me with more hatred in his voice then I've ever heard. He's still holding the gun. Before I can answer him he lifts the gun to my head and fires the shot deep into my temple.

I wake up with a gasp. I untangle the sheets around me until I see my leg. There's no wound. I look around the room to see everyone is still sleeping and better yet alive. I rub my eyes trying to wipe the nightmare away but the feeling of sadness and shock stay with me. I scan the room again trying to calm down. Amy and Bryce ended up bringing Bryce's single bed to the bottom of my bunk to make a double bed. The rest of us stayed in our normal spots. I look through the large jagged hole in the wall to see if I can see Coren, but there's no luck. I get out of bed, the floor cold against my feet. My long black t-shirt flows past my red pyjama shorts. I dash towards Coren's bed, not wanting to be out in the cold for long. When I reach his bed, I just stand there for a moment watching Coren peacefully sleep. He begins to open his eyes slowly as if sensing my presence.

"Shar, you okay?" He asks in his low grumbly sleepy voice. I shake my head no being sure to keep my tears inside. He begins to move closer to the wall making room for me. I lift the blankets and slide in beside him. I lay my head as close to his chest as I can. He places his arm around my side bringing our bodies closer. Just as I begin to fall back asleep hoping the nightmares won't come back, Coren kisses my forehead making me realize if they do come back at least I'll be right here beside him when I wake up.