The Price of Blood

Chapter 28

*Authors Note:

Some may find the scenes in this chapter disturbing.  Please read at your own risk.

E x*

The truth hits me like a bus. Or an anvil. Or 'insert object with a considerable amount of momentum' here. Kenny, alive? I swear Jake killed him. I swear we killed him. I remember it.

*5 DAYS AGO*

"Wait a minute, what has this boy got to do with Lauren?" I say to my siblings, at our dinner table at lunchtime (we've skipped school again to discuss the plan). My parents are out, at a governors meeting for Rocky Green, leaving me stuck with my lovely brother and sister.

"He's her weakness." Jess replies.

"When I went to her house, you should have seen the way she looked at him." Jake explains, "It was like she would do anything for him, anything to protect him, to keep him safe. We get rid of him, we get her in a vulnerable position, and then."

He smashes a glass on the table, causing my sister to laugh coldly.

"But, he's just a child. Surely, he is innocent." I try and reason with them. I don't want a little boy's blood on my hands. There is too much already.

"The Poderosos are getting impatient, and I can't say I blame them." Jess tells me irritably, "We haven't had a good killing in a couple of weeks now. We need to show them that we have the ability to strike the hearts into the fear of our enemies and be able to wipe them out."

I realize my brother and sister aren't going to be swayed, and just decide to drop the subject. They start to discuss how they are going to carry out the diabolical feat, whereas I just stare at the steak that I have on my plate, losing my appetite. See, I can eat normal food as well as blood. Just, blood provides more sustenance than a hamburger and chips. Eventually, I get bored of being left out and pipe up.

"So, what's the plan then?" I ask them nervously.

"You and Jake pick him up from school, tells him he's taking him home instead of Lauren." Jess tells me, and I feel bile about to rise to the top of my throat, "You drive him to the woods just outside Manhattan. Jake slits his throat, feeds and then chucks his body in the river."

I can't speak, I just nod. My obedience will be my downfall.  Throughout the afternoon, I have a feeling of dread inside my throat. Do we have to do this, I think as I go about my business, sharpening my knife.  Is this the right thing to do, I ask, and then answer, absolutely not. But I can't do anything. I have no control over what my brother and sister want to do, and I can't stop them. But being party to this plan makes me feel sick. I just want this madness to end.  

We drive to Kenny's school, River East Elementary School, and wait outside his classroom.  Eventually, Jake just gets impatient and leaves me in the car, walking into the school's reception.  I quickly enter the mind of the receptionist to figure out what is happening.

"Good afternoon sir." the receptionist's bored drawl irritates me already.  Jake flashes a winning smile, and says:

"Hi, my name is Jake.  I'm hear to pick up my girlfriend's younger brother, Kenny Jones.  I believe he is in 1st Grade." Jake smiles at her again, however she is not to be swayed.

"Sir, it is against the school's policy to allow students to leave the campus before 3 o'clock.  It is now 2 o'clock, so that will not be permitted." she begins the close the hatch, but then Jake starts to fool around with her.  Her look of shock as she is being strangled to death, as her eyes go blurred and roll back into her sockets scares the hell out of me, and I almost lose connection.