Among Us

Chapter Two - Nocturnal Shifts

Chapter Two

It was warm for a February, despite the sun disappearing behind the spires of a nearby church. Outside the window, Oxford City flew by in a blur. The historical architecture was still beautiful, even with the edges hazed and the colours of the city swirled in the dwindling light with the speed of the bus. As if it were being viewed in a watercolour painting.

Lain unfastened the top two buttons of her coat, letting the cool breeze from the cracked window tickle her neck; it was nice, like a sip of water after a dry day. The bus was crammed; she was surprised she'd even managed to find a seat, let alone one at the very back. She was grateful for that. The bus was like tinned sardines except crammed with people instead. It was far too claustrophobic and the ache in her head was getting worse. If she'd have had to stand amongst all the people, grasping a handrail for support whilst being pushed from all sides, she didn't think she could have coped.

She pushed her hair out from behind her ears, letting it fall forward across her face. When she covered her eyes with the palms of her hands, she groaned, and the elderly lady in front huffed, peering over her shoulder with her beady little eyes.

It had been a close call with Sophia, but she wondered whether this pain was worth the last-minute escape she'd achieved. She'd hoped it would pass before she got home, but as the familiar tree-lined estate came into view, she knew her luck had run out.

Rising from her seat, Lain reached for the stop button on the nearest handrail and then made her way awkwardly through the packed sardines. The bus slowed to a stop and she jumped out, two stops early.

"Have a good evening," the bus driver called after her.

She pretended she hadn't heard and turned away from him, staring at the street ahead. He shrugged and closed the doors. The bus continued with a sigh, huffing and puffing down the road resembling an old man after years of sucking on a wooden pipe.

The aching only grew as she paced the sidewalk. It rolled down her arms and legs and lay heavily in the pit of her stomach. She turned down a quiet footpath and crouched beside the flawlessly trimmed hedge. Whilst steadying herself with one hand against the hedge she seized her hair out face with the other. Another ache perpetrated her, clenching sadistically at her muscles as she began to heave out the contents of her stomach. She heaved again, and again, till her stomach was empty.

This always happened afterwards. The sickness. The first time she discovered she wasn't normal; she'd been so ill afterwards that she'd spent a week in bed. Her mum wanted to call the doctor round, but her dad waved it off as just the flu, insisting all she needed was fluid and sleep.

It wasn't that bad anymore. Of course, she never did it if she didn't have to and even then... It wasn't worth people finding out. That's what her mum said when she found out. She never could keep secrets from her mum, who was basically telepathic anyway. Of course, this was just a joke between her and her dad, she couldn't really read their minds. Secretly Lain wished that it was true, so that she wasn't the only weird one in the family.

She forced herself upright, wiping the back of her hand across her clammy forehead. Her stomach still twisted, but there was nothing left in it anymore. There was no danger of throwing up in any more of the neighbour's gardens.

Lain admonished herself, emerging on the other side of the footpath. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Was it worth risking people knowing about her? An image flashed in her head of her curled up in a ball on the floor, Sophia kicking her with the full force of her fury. Maybe it was worth it. But her mum probably wouldn't think so.