The Bite (Edited)

*Pretty

I walked home, needing the quiet to process everything. I hugged my arms, it wasn't the wind that made me cold, it was the sadness. Why did so many people in my life have to leave? Why did I need to suffer so much? What did I do wrong? Wasn't my father's death enough?

I would trade Mr. Luke's life for anything right now. I should have checked to make sure that woman was really knocked out. Then this wouldn't have happened. I reached the house after about half an hour.

I unlocked the door and stepped inside to find my mom waiting at the dinner table. She quickly stood when I walked home. "Why did you walk home in the cold? You could've called me!" She quickly ran over, pulling a blanket over me. "What happened?"

"Liam's uncle died."

"What? How?"

"...he had cancer. The cancer won the fight."

"I'm sorry, Laina," She said.

"Mom, you need to tell me why you have that closet full of weapons."

She stepped back, looking at the floor. "Laina, after dad died, I was afraid that we'd be attacked again. So, I bought all of those."

"A closet full of them? Mom, that pistol in the car is more than enough protection!"

She sighed. "Laina, you and your father are one of the most precious things to me. If I lose both of you, I don't know what I'd do. Better safe than sorry."

I stayed quiet at that.

"Also, I've been noticing. You've been acting weird lately-"

"Don't blame this on me!"

"Look at yourself! You're always on guard and cautious these days, I see you look over your shoulder many times during the day. And that just makes me more nervous!"

I sighed, exasperated.

"Look, Laina. This is for your own good. Just drop the subject and forget about it. It's there for your safety, nothing else. I'm doing this for you, nothing else. I'm just asking you to keep quiet about this, alright? You should really be thanking me. You should feel safe not in danger."

I looked at her for a few seconds, then I gave her the key. I saw the sincerity in her eyes. I knew that she did love me, and not wanting to stress her out, I obliged. "Fine. I'll forget about it."

She smiled, touching my arms. "Good. Now go to sleep, you need it, you look exhausted."
...

Liam had been absent from school for two days so far. He had not contacted any of us and Tessa was becoming worried. "Do you guys think he's okay?" She said as we went to our last period class which we had together.

"Yeah. He just needs space for a bit. If he doesn't contact us or go to school tomorrow either, then we should stop by his house," I said even though I was worried sick for him.

"Maybe we should stop by today," Ronnie suggested as we took our seats.

I shook my head, despite wanting to agree with him. "Too much attention might be bad for him. We'll go tomorrow."

We all went home, with our friend on our minds. I managed to finish my homework and ate dinner with my mother. I then stayed in the living room to watch some TV, trying to stop myself from worrying.

I went to bed after a while and I fell into a restless slumber. I woke up again to my phone ringing at midnight. Crawling out of bed, I grabbed it. "Hello?" I mumbled, not bothering to look at the number.

"Laina," said Liam in a sing-song way.

"...Liam?" I was wide awake now. "Are you okay?"

"Me? Am I okay?" He sounded genuinely confused. His words were all jumbled up and slurred.