The Children and the Blood by Megan Joel Peterson & Skye Malone

Author:Megan Joel Peterson & Skye Malone [Peterson, Megan Joel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wildflower Isle
Published: 2013-02-06T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Ashley stared out the window as the morning sun crept over the horizon to welcome in another day. On her lap, Tala’s head rested, the weight of the dog leaning into the side of her knee. Flopped over her shoes and positioned awkwardly between the seats, Mischa snored softly and dreamed, occasionally twitching as she chased her phantom prey.

The others had traded off driving as the hours passed, and never stopped too long anywhere. When their turn was over, whoever had been driving took the place of the person in the rear of the van and quickly fell asleep on the bench seat till the next driver’s turn was done. They never asked her to take the wheel, didn’t even seem to entertain the idea, but kept to a schedule all their own with barely a word needing to be spoken.

She’d slept for a while, waking only as the others changed places. The dogs had huddled around her halfway through the night, responding to some unknown impulse of their own. But she was grateful for it. They were oddly soothing and, in the dropping temperature of the night, comfortingly warm.

Idly, she ran her fingers through Tala’s dense fur, her gaze on the morning light. The dog leaned into the touch, putting more pressure on her leg and then heaving a satisfied sigh. Ashley gave the animal a tiny smile. She’d never had a dog near her before; never even petted one that she could recall. It was nice. She’d miss Tala and Mischa when this was done.

Her thoughts turned back to their destination as the nascent smile died. In a few hours, she’d leave the only four people in the world she still knew and disappear. A woman she’d never met would take her away and then…

Safety. As the miles passed, she’d started to wonder what the word meant. A place to stay. Somewhere the monsters wouldn’t find her. Somewhere to stop for a bit, and try to understand what had happened.

Somewhere that would never be home.

She swallowed, struggling to push the thought away. The past few days had been like a flood, sweeping her along. Forty-eight hours ago, or maybe a bit more, there’d been home. Now it was gone. And in all the changes, she’d just hung on, waiting for it to end and something that made sense to begin.

Even if she was starting to think that wouldn’t happen. She didn’t like this new world away from the farm, because in it, Lily and her father and everyone she’d loved didn’t exist. No one knew them. No one remembered them. Not these people in the van. Not this strange woman she’d be sent off with in a few hours.

Just her.

Other people would have funerals. Memorials. Burials and gravesites and mourners who at least said how sad it all was before they went on with their lives. There wasn’t even that. Without even pausing, without even noticing the difference, the world had moved on as if everyone in her whole life had never lived.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.