Dawn of Deception Series Boxset: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller Series, Books 1-3 by A. R. Shaw

Author:A. R. Shaw [Shaw, A. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Apocalyptic Ventures, LLC
Published: 2019-06-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 38

Wren

In the silence of night, Wren left her cot. She didn’t think they knew about her little expeditions. She walked around among them, quiet as a mouse, listening to her mother’s quiet snores and Kent’s louder ones. One night, she picked up a knife. The worn wood hilt felt good in her hand. She’d seen her mother use it to filet the fish they’d pulled out of the small freshwater streams leading into the major waterway of Cannon Beach. She brought the knife back to bed with her, feeling the comfort of the blade just under her pillow. It kept the nightmares away…sometimes. The sharp edges gave her some control back over her shattered life.

“Wren?”

One hand still on the hilt under her pillow, Wren opened her eyes. Her mother stood there. The sunrise had come and gone. “Wake up, babe. Maybe you and I could take a walk today? After breakfast. You could use some fresh air.”

Day after day, her mother tried this ploy. Most of the time, Wren remained in bed all day. Other days, she’d get up and help with various tasks but never left the little home they now shared near the town of Cannon Beach.

Today, Wren heard the gulls squawking over the beach. She wondered how it would feel to have the beach air on her face. The smell of the sea in her hair. Maybe…she told herself.

Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t think so,” to her mother.

“Well, think about it,” Sloane said and then a look of horror struck her mother’s face again. Her eyes wide, her mouth agape, the tendons in her neck stood out like scaffolding.

Wren followed her mother’s line of sight and saw that she stared at scratches on her inner thighs. Quickly, Wren covered herself. She’d been so careful to keep that a secret. That was her own burden to bear. Not her mother’s. It wasn’t her fault.

Her mother turned away from her then. She heard the sob Sloane caught in her throat and tried to suppress.

“I’m all right, Mom,” Wren said. White-hot anger flooded her veins. Why did she think it was her fault?

Sloane nodded and walked away. “How about we start with breakfast and then see about that walk?” Sloane said all in an inhale, without looking at her daughter.

Sitting up in bed, Wren said, “If I’m going on a walk, I’m going alone.”

Sloane’s shoulders jerked.

She didn’t mean to hurt her mother. She just didn’t know how…not to. The words spilled out of her mouth before her conviction.

“Mom…” Wren began.

Her mother lifted a hand and nodded her head.

She was going to say something else, but Mae walked in, eyed her sitting up on the bed and then nodded to Nicole.

Their mother missed the whole silent engagement.

Wren noticed, though, and they avoided her like the plague now. She’d become ‘the damaged one’. Or that’s how she felt. Nothing was the same anymore. Everything felt upside down.

Her younger sisters also took it upon themselves to stand guard over them all, even Kent, it seemed.

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