Inferno (Page 19)

He turned slowly toward Devon, his shoulders tight as if he were prepared for battle. But if he was expecting one from Devon, he would not get it. Not when it came to Chris anyway, Devon understood and accepted their tight bond. In fact, he had become exceptionally close to Chris before Cassie had been taken, she didn’t know what their friendship was like now, but she suspected that it had not changed much. Julian looked confused, dazed as his attention focused on her again. She offered him a wan smile, wishing that she could give him more, but knowing that this was all stuff he would have to figure out on his own.

“Why haven’t they spread out yet, if their food supply is low?” Chris inquired.

“Because, no matter what they are now, this town is still their home. They may not remember what they had here, or maybe they do, but this place is still safe to them, reassuring on some level,” Devon answered.

Cassie swallowed heavily; pity for the creatures swarmed her. She fought it rapidly back, she couldn’t have pity here. They would attack her, and if she hesitated because she sympathized with them, they would kill her. No there could be no pity here, there could be no thought about what the creatures had once been. Because they were no longer those people.

“We can’t let them out of this town,” Luther said fiercely.

“No, we can’t.”

“We need to get out of here,” Melissa whispered.

“And go where? We can’t leave this town until all of those things are dead. If they get out of this town all hell is going to break lose, they’ll destroy anything they come in contact with. We need to formulate a plan, we need to draw them out, and we need more weapons,” Devon told her.

“We also need to fortify this place,” Julian said. “Get some boards on these windows. I don’t think those things have enough reason left in them to realize that the windows will be boarded up when they come back. And we need weapons, and blood.” He looked pointedly at Devon before glancing sharply at Cassie. “Unless you want to keep draining her.”

Devon’s eyes narrowed, his hands fisted, a muscle jumped in his cheek as he grit his teeth tightly together. “Watch it,” he growled.

Julian’s face remained impassive, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the doorway. “Ok, so we need to figure out how to get those things,” Cassie said quickly, hating the tension between them.

“Yeah, because that’s an easy list,” Chris retorted.

“Not helping,” she hissed at him.

He shot her a rueful look as he shrugged his shoulders. His shaggy blond hair fell into one of his bright sapphire eyes. “I know where we can find weapons and blood,” Dani said softly, her voice oddly choked.

Cassie turned toward her. She was standing off to the side, a haunted look in her eyes as she stared at them. “Where?” Luther demanded.

Dani licked her lips as she nervously began to ring her hands again. “In the compound. There is plenty of blood, and a room full of weapons. ”

Cassie inhaled sharply, feeling as if she had just been kicked in the gut. There was a moment of stunned silence before Julian cursed loudly, spun on his heel, and disappeared into the dark store. Cassie stared after him, knowing exactly how he felt. She knew all he wanted to do was destroy something, but unfortunately, they couldn’t make any noise with those things around. The last thing that either one of them wanted was to go back into that hell hole.

But it seemed they weren’t going to have a choice in the matter. Chris squeezed her hand gently, holding tight to her as her skin began to crawl.

CHAPTER 6

“You don’t have to do this.”

Cassie glanced up at Chris, shaking her head slightly as she stared at the ominous school. Her stomach cramped tightly at the mere thought of entering it. Shifting, she tossed the crossbow higher up on her shoulder, clinging to the strap. “I’m not letting you guys go in there alone,” she whispered.

“We’re not alone.”

She glanced over at Devon and Julian; their heads were bent close together as they talked softly. At least they were being cooperative, and getting along with each other about going in there. Devon had done everything short of tying her up to keep her from coming with them, but she was here, and she had no intention of leaving. Dani stood slightly off to the side, her arms wrapped around her to ward off the chill. Though this had been Dani’s idea, she had not wanted to go back into the school. However, she was the only one that knew where the weapons and blood were, the only one that knew her way around the compound.

“Cassie,” Chris said softly.

She glanced sharply up at him, shaking her head firmly. “It’s too late anyway, I’m already here and I’m not going back alone.”

“One of us can take you back.”

“No, I’m going in there with you.”

He sighed loudly, shaking his head at her. “Fine.”

Devon and Julian stopped conferring; their attention came back to the rest of them. “Ok, Julian is going to take the lead with Dani behind him, then Chris, Cassie, and me.”

Devon’s eyes were hard as they met hers. She nodded slowly, hating the tension and anger in him, hating the fact that she knew it was because of her, but she couldn’t let them do this alone. She was one of the strongest fighters, they may need her in there, and if something happened to any of them she would never forgive herself if she hadn’t been there to help.

“Come on,” Julian said coldly, his eyes bright in the light of the moon as he glanced disapprovingly at her. He hadn’t wanted her here either, but in the end it hadn’t been his decision to make.

Cassie bit nervously on her bottom lip, trying to calm her fear and panic at the thought of going back in there. At the thought of being trapped within the bowels of that hell once more. Devon came slowly toward her, his jaw clenched tight as he held her back for a moment. “You are to stay close to me,” he ordered gruffly.

Cassie nodded, wrapping her hand gently around his. “I will,” she promised.

He studied her for a moment, and then shook his head. “You should have stayed with the others.”

She squeezed his hand. It had been decided that it was better if they separated. If something happened to them down there, Liam, Annabelle, Luther, and Melissa would be needed to make sure that the monsters did not spread out of this town. They would be needed to try and stop the flow of evil slowly seeping out from this school, and this town.