()%The Thing Within #ONC2023

Chapter 3

Candy ignored him as she continued to peer out the window.

A few men came into view suddenly between the lodge house and the houses where small embers burned. I couldn't believe it. All the houses were now reduced to piles of soot and ash. I swallowed the bile that rose from my stomach and almost choked as my eyes recognized the two men I'd seen earlier. They were the same men who'd killed Maggie, the neighbor's daughter. Why was Candy taking me to meet them? "They are the same men—." I said.

But Rupert had already seen. "The men who torched the houses," he announced.

Candy's words pulled me out of my thoughts. "That's him, Jason. He works with daddy. He'd love to meet you, Aria."

"No, he's one of those soldiers who torched the houses," James said. "He's on the enemy's side."

"You're lying, as usual," Candy said.

"I'm not." James shook his head at her, looking disoriented.

"Come with me now!" Candy grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the front door, as she pointed the gun at everyone else.

Rupert grew furious. "She's not going anywhere, Candy. Let her go!" he shouted before turning to James. "Your sister's not taking Aria anywhere."

I stood in front of the door, blocking her path, aware that she couldn't kill me. I was uninfected by this virus, so they'd want me alive.

James grew more enraged, deathly so. He grabbed a wine bottle from the kitchen counter and walked up to Daniel. "What have you done? Why did you call her?" he demanded.

Daniel backed away. "Look man, it's for the best," he replied, his voice low and etched with fear.

"Move away from the door, you little bitch!" Candy shouted at me as she pulled at my arm to move me.

I stood my ground. "I know you can't kill me," I said.

"Maybe. But. that doesn't mean I can't shoot you. Bitch!" Candy aimed the gun at my right foot.

James's rage intensified by his sister's and Daniel's defiance. "Let her go now, Candy!" he demanded. He walked up to his sister and before anyone could blink, he struck her an immense blow on the head with the wine bottle that shattered on impact, sending splashes of red wine and glass everywhere.

Candy collapsed and hit her head on the sharp edge of the kitchen counter, which bordered the front door. She was unresponsive, and within moments, blood pooled on the floor in front the door.

James' hands, wet with red wine, still grasped the broken bottle, as he stood frozen to the spot as if he could scarcely believe what had happened.

Daniel grabbed the gun and pointed it at James. "What have you done?" he shouted. "You asked for this!" He pulled the trigger.

I waited for it, but the gun never fired. What?

"It's blank! You killed her over a blank gun! Candy would never kill anyone!" Daniel grabbed James and began choking him. "You killed her!" he shouted before turning to me. "It's all because of you. I'm taking you to him," he said, grabbing my arm and trying to open the front door.

In the blink of an eye, Rupert was onto him, dragging him away from me. He broke free and rushed up to James, who'd broken out of his trance. The two engaged in a violent scramble that soon transferred to the center of the living room floor.

The men outside must have heard the skirmish as their voices grew nearer. "Did you hear something?" one man asked.

Fear crept into my brain as I thought of running into the library and bolting the door behind me. I soon extinguished the idea. They'd quickly find me there and carry me off to their ship. Hadn't they said that whoever wasn't affected, they'd take to some ship?