Winter Has Come | ✔ #1 Winter Series

Chapter 26

The next few minutes are utter mayhem. Not physical mayhem you can see but the kind that's felt inside. The kind that makes your heart swell in fear and the kind that makes the adrenaline pulse through you like a second heartbeat.

"Okay," I say slowly. "I have a plan."

Angie turns on me. Her eyes are wide like saucers. "I want to hear it, Amelia. Quickly."

"Angie, get in the house. Try to act like you've come from the park. See if your Mum's all right. If the officers ask you about Zach, tell them you know nothing about secret powers and lead them off scent."

"Tell them I'm at the shopping centre on the other side of town," Zach snips in.

"Yeah. Lead them away." I agree. "Zach and I go back to mine. I'll hide you and Josh." I say to Zach. "Get you out of the way."

Angie nods, face hardening now as she knows what she's doing. I watch her march into the house, yelling to her mother that she's home and like her door isn't wide open.

Zach takes off walking quickly down the street. I suggest running but he shakes his head and tells me it'll draw too much attention to ourselves. So, we walk and pretend we're having a love-jovely walk and no, we're not running away from armed officers and yes, we are going to be a little late for this band practice we have to attend.

As we approach the house, I don't dare to look at the floor. Knowing Dad could be lying on these streets causes cold sweat to prickle on my neck. I tell myself that's impossible since they would have cleared away all the dead by now.

I reach the door and bang loudly on it. Mum opens looking slightly annoyed.

"Ring the doorb—"

"Sorry, Mum. No time for that," I say and I gently push past her, Zach hurrying in after me.

"Oh, Zach. What a nice surprise," my Mum says, changing her tone completely. "What are you doing here? And where's Angie?"

"No time to explain," I huff. "We gotta hide Zach, Mum. And Josh."

She frowns. "What? Why?"

"People are coming after me," Zach explains a little hurriedly. "Bad people. They want Josh too."

"Wait, you two know each other?"

"Mum," I grab Zach's hand tug him up the stairs, intending to hide him away in the attic. "Just trust me, Mum. We'll explain everything later."

"No we won't," says Zach decisively. "Too many people know already."

I ignore my mother's questions and Zach's stubbornness and concentrate on not having an asthma attack. I shove Zach into the attic room.

"There should be some cushions somewhere," I say. "Make yourself nice and comfy. You might be in here a while. And should I get Josh?"

"Yes. He's too young to die."

"Right."

I head down the stairs and almost ram into my mother.

"Where's Josh?" I ask frantically. "He needs to come upstairs right now."

My mother shrugs. "He told me he was leaving for town. Packed his big rucksack."

The colour drains from my face. My heart's ramming in my chest, threatening to pop out any second. "He left?"

My mother nods in a doomed way.

"Is he coming back?"

"He didn't mention anything of that sort."

I breathe in deeply, trying to calm myself down. There's no point in hyperventilating. It won't get me anywhere and anyway, I have Zach to take care of.

Then, suddenly there's a knock on the door. My stomach turns.

"Why can't people ring the doorbell?" Mum mumbles.

"That'll be them," I say.

She frowns even more. "Who?"

"Um... Mum. Pretend that everything is fine. We're a normal family. Our Dad's gone away on holiday and we know nothing of Zach's whereabouts."

Slowly, my mother nods.

I take a deep breath, fix up my hair and open the door. What I see on the doorstep is someone who I thought I wouldn't see in a very long time. His moth-bitten coat is wrapped around him, his beard gone untrimmed for weeks. And, I realise, that now there's more mayhem inside me than ever.

"Hi, Meelie," my Dad says with a weak smile. "Mind if I hide too?"

***
What do you think of this chapter? Any ideas for improvements?

Do you think it was right for Josh to leave? And do you like the cliffhanger with Amelia's Dad at the end or is that a bit much?

Thanks!

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