What Walks Among Us (book one)

Just Trying to Help

Inside I found a can of tuna fish, and I let the kitten have it while I walked over to the window. Dawn was breaking over the other houses and the skies were lit up enough now that I could see part of the street. It was just as yesterday, and it would be the same tomorrow if we were lucky.

The world felt like it had been paused, and I waited around, hoping that maybe one day it would go on as if it had never gone bad. But in my heart I knew that that was an impossibility. I heard Mabel start moving around and the kitten moved around and settled into my bed, already falling asleep. I smiled. I would call her Chip. She was as sweet as a chocolate chip and.. oh I missed chocolate. I had a stash. In my grab bag that was also hidden in the closet, the only thing not packed into the grab bag was the dagger and a bit of the ammo.

I shut the attic door, and no sooner had I cleaned up the tuna can that I had given to Chip, did Mabel burst into my room. She looked sleepy still but that didn't stop the sneer that lit up her face.

"Kodi, Mom wants you," she merely sneered at me and left, leaving my door ajar. She didn't really look at me, I had noticed that as of late. The self defense lessons that our father had given us I had taken seriously whilst she had complained the whole time. I gained self confidence while she threw tantrums.

That was the biggest difference between my sister and I, other than our looks. I sported long curly brown hair with dark blue eyes while she had red hair and brown eyes.

But it was good, she hadn't noticed Chip, and for now, that's all I needed. If Mabel noticed her then I would have to be careful, my mom would complain about how we didn't have enough food already, and Mabel would probably hurt her.

I walked down the stairs, making no effort to hide that I was going downstairs. My step mother was in the kitchen, she looked frail, and ghostly. When she heard me walk in she turned around to face me, her body was hidden under the folds of a fluffy maroon robe.

"Kodi," her voice was sharp, it made me flinch but not as much as I used to, before all of this.

"Yes?" I asked softly, watching her.

She brought her robe closer to herself and her eyes were everywhere but on me, she turned away and towards the fridge. It was empty and didn't work but she still tried to open it and peer through it before slamming it shut and turning around to glare at me.

"You were supposed to make sure there's food. There's no food!!" she slammed her hand down on the counter to make her point better.

I took a step away without seeming to back up and gestured towards the cupboard that held one beef stew and three cans of beans, with a few random unmarked cans.

"We.. We've got food," I said softly.

She let out something that resembled a snarl and hit the counter again, stepping towards me.

"You are so ungrateful, Kodi. I let you stay in this house while I knew he had had an affair. I let you stay here even when that lazy bastard didn't return from the food run. I hope he was eaten by the corpse personally..." her voice trailed off and she stopped to look at me, and I mean really look at me.

She stared at me for several seconds, " he didn't die, did he?" she snarled and continued, "you helped him leave, he's going to come back for you, the vile creature that he bred up with some bitch."

She seemed to have come up with this whole idea on the spot, and I tried to put my hands up and calm her down, while saying that it wasn't true but she cut me off with a hand through the hair that hit my cheek. I was knocked back into the wall and I cradled my face. But I didn't cry. I wouldn't cry because of what she did to me anymore.