02 Masked-New World by Stalder Janelle

Author:Stalder, Janelle [Stalder, Janelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Dystopia
Published: 2014-02-24T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Sometimes she felt completely useless. Missy stirred the stew she’d been slow-cooking since that morning. The others had gotten home not too long ago, and from what she’d overheard, things hadn’t gone as planned.

At one point, she’d been out there with them, fighting the good fight. Now she was simply the girl that was left behind, and mothered them all when they got home from whatever new adventure they’d been out having. Her mind told her to toughen up and get back out there, but she always failed when it came time to put those thoughts into action.

One of the men laughed loudly. Missy flinched. Men were her biggest issue and having this group here was doing a number on her nerves. She’d practically peed herself this morning waiting until she heard them all leave. She’d been so afraid of running into one of them out in the hall that she’d paced her room for almost an hour just to avoid it.

“You’re pretty sad,” she said to her reflection in the large pot.

“Who are you talking to?”

Missy literally jumped, the spoon clattering to the floor. The bearded man with the tattoos watched her carefully as he stepped forward, bending down to retrieve the spoon. He held it out to her, but Missy couldn’t seem to find the strength to lift her arm and take it. She was frozen, just like she always was when one of them came too close. He gave her a confused look, before placing the spoon down on the counter. She took a step back, increasing the much needed space between them.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, the musicality of his Scottish brogue washing over her.

“I-I know,” she stuttered.

He tilted his head, unconvinced. His tongue flicked out to lick his lips, her eyes riveted to the movement. “Do you need help in here?” he asked. Her eyes snapped back up to his.

“N-n-no,” she replied. “I’m good.”

“There you are, doll,” Phoenix said, entering the room in the way only Phoenix could. Her presence demanded attention wherever she went. It had been that way since they were kids. Phoenix had always been the louder, more outgoing of the two. Even before her incident, Missy had been quieter, less likely to draw attention to herself than her older sister. She was much better at fading in with the background.

“What are you doing in here, tall, dark and tatted?” she asked, grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl and biting into it with a loud crunch.

The poor guy looked baffled for a moment. Missy knew it took most people a while to get used to her sister. This guy didn’t seem to know what to make of her. She would have laughed if she wasn’t having a minor panic attack at his nearness.

“My name is Tyler,” he said.

“I know,” Phoenix replied.

They stared at each other in some sort of silent stand-off. He seemed to be the one to give up as he sighed and shook his head slightly.

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