»» BOOK #2 of the X-MARKS: Shadows Series «« Valen and her friends are on the run once again. After their camp is disassembled, they take shelter in a series of traveling homes and meet hosts that will shape their journey in unexpected ways.
When...
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"He's - he's insane," I said, still huffing back tears.
The others looked at me. Their concerned faces were wide awake now. No doubt, stirred by the noises that had just ripped them all from their sleeping bags.
"All this over a lousy bucket,' Mat said and shook his head.
"It wasn't the bucket," I said and steady my breathing.
Evee sat up from her sleeping bag, "Then what was it?" she said.
"I saw, something. I don't think, I mean I know I wasn't supposed to - "
The others leaned in and waited for me to speak, but I couldn't. I remembered what happened that last time I tried to explain something I had seen. I wasn't about to do that again.
"It's okay Valen," Ocean said and tipped her head towards me, "You can tell us."
I let it out in a hurry. Speaking so fast my lips tripped over my tongue. When I finally whispered about the doll, the others drew their bodies back. Their faces were an odd mix of terror and excitement. I wasn't excited. All I wanted was to go back to bed and forget this ever happened.
"I knew something was up," Mat whispered and bent down away from the bunker door, "What a creep."
I let out a relieving chuckle. It felt good to hear someone say what I had felt. For once, I wasn't alone.
With a fiery stare Ocean hushed us both, "Don't say that!" she said.
"You heard Valen, he kissed the doll," Evee said, her eyes growing wider with every word.
Nate twisted his mouth in disgust, "That is pretty weird."
"I think Mat's on to something," I said and fed into the others enthusiasm, "I wouldn't be surprised if we came upstairs tomorrow and that old doll is sitting with us at breakfast."
Ocean's eyes lit with a fury I had never seen while the others laughed at my wisecrack.
"Good one," Mat said and raised his hand to meet mine.
"You shouldn't say hurtful things like that," Ocean said and inched away from me.
Evee softened her voice, "Ocean, come on you heard what Valen said. We've all seen it. He's just a rotten guy, there nothing more to it."
Ocean bent her mouth until it was a knot beneath her nose.
"No one would take in strangers and risk their life if they were simply rotten," Ocean said and blew out the lantern, leaving us to sit in the dark with our whispers.
Our far-fetched tales sparked into playful flames that lit up the bunker until the early hours. It fueled me to no end. The more I spoke, the lighter I felt and the taller the tale became.
He was rotten. It was just that simple.
It was the next night that I came to another simple revelation. I was the stupidest girl to have ever lived. I forgot the bucket, again.
