Winter Went | #2 Winter Series

Chapter 17

I have a feeling you guys will like this chapter :)

|| Amelia ||

Around me, everything is black. My eyes still haven't grown accustomed to the darkness, and I look around, staring blindly at things that aren't there. Not for me anyway.

There's the sound of footsteps up ahead; I know Josh is moving on. Gripping Maisie's hand because losing her would be the worst thing imaginable, I follow him, trying to pinpoint his figure in the darkness.

I can see some things clearer now. There are blobs, all dark, the top of Josh's head, and the outline of a window.

"Where are we, do you think?" whispers a voice next to me. I jump, heart ramming against my chest, and turn to where it came from. "Probably still in England?" The voice is definitely Angie's.

"I hope so," I joke, but in the dark, in the cold, it falls flat.

"We just got to trust him." I fall silent, the words bouncing around in my ears. Angie notices the silence. "Oh, yes, about that. You're not on terms, are you?"

"No," I say curtly.

She pauses. "Why don't you just give him a chance?"

I bite my lip to stop myself from shouting abuse at her. "You know what he did. He lied to us, all of us! Just so he could obey the orders of his stupid boss."

"What if it wasn't his choice?"

"Oh, cut the crap," I snap. "I'm not in the mood for this."

The other side of me falls silent. Things are taking better shape. I can see the vague outline of a building, some trees that rustle ominously, a gate with a path leading somewhere.

We're approaching the building now. I can't see much of it but I know that it's big. Josh stops to rap on the door.

One.

Two.

Threefour... Five.

There's a slight pause, and then the door opens. A boy steps out. He's about Josh's height, maybe taller with honey-coloured skin, coffee eyes, dark, mussed hair, and flatteringly white teeth.

My brain is so slow I don't register who it is.

Beside me, there's a shriek, and then Angie is running into his arms, screaming in joy.

"Zach!" she cries. "Holy moloney... How did you get here?"

Zach.

Zach.

Oh. Yes. Zach.

Gosh, I'm tired.

"Hi, Zach," I say sleepily.

"Hi to all of you," he says, and he smiles weakly. Then he turns and begins walking into the building, beckoning us to follow. His arms are around his sister, but there's something tense in his shoulders, something unusual about the way he holds himself.

It turns out we're in some sort of barn house. If I breathe in deeply enough, I can catch the faint whiff of manure. Lining the floor underneath our feet is golden, soft straw. The walls are painted red with most of it peeling off anyway. And a naked, single lightbulb swings above our head perilously.

Angie is nattering at her brother, asking him all sorts of questions, but the one that appears most is:

"How did you get here?"

I notice that he readily dodges a straightforward answer by turning to us and asking the same thing.

Josh explains to him the situation of the prison, everything. I stand there, waiting, just waiting for him to slip up, anything I can get that will prove just how much of a jerk he is.

But no. He tells the story perfectly. Faint anger washes through me, but it soon disappears when Angie phrases the next question.

"What's wrong, bro? You seem a bit tense."

Zach shakes his head quickly and shrugs. "Nothing; I guess I'm just tired."

Angie accepts this excuse readily, and we troop along through the barn to something that looks like a pile of blankets at the back. This, I guess, is where Zach has been sleeping this whole time.

"What's that?" I ask, indicating to a small latched door running off the side of the barn. "Is there anything in there?"

Zach laughs a little nervously. "No, nothing. It's locked. Now, let's get some sleep. You all must be knackered."

As we prepare for bed, I catch Josh staring wistfully at the door. The light from the bulb illuminates his eyes, dark brown like... melting chocolate. I turn away, suddenly aware that I thought the same thing one of the first times I saw him, and I continued to think it, especially when I was unaware of what a monster he truly was.

Angie is laughing, bubbling away, delighted at having her older brother back. I continue to watch Josh, even as he stops looking at the door, and turns to me. His eyes burn through my skull, seeing right through me.

When the bulb turns off and I am gazing at the ceiling of an abandoned barn, the last thing I think of before I go to sleep are those rich, intense eyes.

* * *

A hazy, golden light filters through the underside of the door. It fills the barn with an unearthly light, making the straw shimmer and my heart lighter.

I prop myself on my elbows and glance around. The others have scattered themselves randomly around the floor, curled up in all sorts of positions. Zach stretches, blinks, and shakes straw from his dark hair.

"You're up and early," he says with a smile.

"Just woke," I say back, watching Josh who's facing me, hand touching the ground like it's sacred, a faint smile on his sleeping face. I catch the redness of Angie's ribbon somewhere in the gold to the other side of me. Her hair is still in plaits and looks the messiest I've ever seen it.

"Why don't you sleep some more?" Zach asks. "The others won't be awake for a while yet."

I smile thanks and burrow down into the inside of my coat again. There's rustling as Zach gets up, then creaking from the barn door, then he's gone.

I don't know how long I lie there for, breathing in the fumes of cow muck, listening to the slow breathing of everyone else around me.

And then there's a small clicking noise, another creak, and more rustling. Wherever Zach went, he didn't take too long.

I turn, curious to see what he's been up to, but the barn door isn't open. There's no one coming through the main entrance.

The side door is open; the same one I pointed out last night. The one that made Josh so wistful.

The black door creaks again, and now a pale hand curls round the side of it. Someone steps out; a tall figure, slim, blonde matted hair, and bright blue eyes.

My heart leaps to my throat, blocking the scream. I can only stare in horror at who it is. Her smile is brutal, and her eyes cold.

"Good morning," says Sarah.

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