The Listener

Chapter 5

Quin turned off the main road and pulled the car into a parking garage. We clambered out of the compact black car and collectively stretched our weary muscles. I felt as though I hadn’t moved for weeks. My skin was grimy and my hair was greasy, desperately in need of a shower. My stomach screamed for something to fill it that didn’t come from a vending machine in an abandoned rest stop. I was exhausted beyond belief because I hadn’t achieved a proper night’s rest in days.

Lynne’s tired eyes met mine. “Come on, you’re bunking with me and Amelia.” She led me out of the garage and across the street to what looked like an old inn, with the boys following behind us. I stumbled along on the unfamiliar terrain with my eyes at half-mast, unable to take in details on my surroundings, mainly making my way based on the sounds of Lynne’s sluggish footsteps.

She opened our bedroom door and the boys disappeared down the hall. “Here’s some clean clothes for you to sleep in. The bathroom is over there if you want to take a shower before bed.” Lynne shoved clothes into my hands, pointed a finger at a door on the other side of the room, and then flopped onto an empty bed that had all of its covers pushed to the foot of it. She fell asleep immediately, apparently unconcerned about a shower and clean clothes for herself.

I blink my bleary eyes and take in the room. It’s plain with tan walls the same color as my morning coffee doused in creamer and there are three twin beds. Two have already been occupied. It must be Amelia asleep in the other bed.

I troop to the bathroom and clean myself in lukewarm water that feels like heaven before I follow Lynne’s example and flop onto the third bed.

“So, who’s this Deacon person?” I asked over breakfast to no one in particular, bringing up the name that had been mentioned by the group in the past and over the course of the morning.

We all sat at one end of a long oak table with bench seating in the dining room of the antique inn. You could tell that once upon a time the room we occupied was very beautiful, and it still is in a way. Even with the peeling wallpaper and broken chandelier, I could see quant elegance to the room through the age and wear. It was like looking at the ruins of an ancient city. Sad, but breathtaking.

The other end of the table was occupied with people of all ages and I enjoyed listening to the comforting sound of endless voices. Their chatter was music to my ears that had previously felt bereft. A part of me was even enjoying that they were all new voices that I had no name to attach to them. It was an experience I hadn’t had in years, until I met the Renegades sitting around me.

“Deacon’s the leader of the Renegades and you’re supposed to meet him in twenty minutes, so finish up.” Nate informed me between shoveling huge piles of food into his mouth.

I blinked. “Why does he want to meet me?”

“He likes to meet all the new recruits.” Lynne smiled reassuringly, as though what she had just told me was supposed to be comforting.

“Recruit?” I repeated in a squeak, choking on my eggs.

“What did you think you were?” Amelia asked dryly from her spot beside Will on the edge of our group. Her food sat untouched before her, but her coffee had long been drained. She was currently eyeing Will’s, like a hawk about to strike.

Amelia, from what I had gathered so far, was only slightly less unpleasant than Will and she had only earned that distinction because she had yet to produce a gun aimed at my forehead. But the day was still young.

She was startling to look at, to say the least. Amelia’s white blonde hair hung long and tangled, in some places so matted that dreadlocks had formed. Her skin was paler than any I had ever seen before; so white it appeared translucent with blue veins showing clearly through. Strangest of all was her eyes that changed between pure white, without any sign of pupil or iris, and ice blue eyes without any warning.