Don't Whistle Past the Graveyard

Ch. Fifty-Three

Shane closed his eyes, his lips moving soundlessly as he thought, something I had noticed him doing more and more. Like his thoughts were going so fast he had to make his mouth slow them down. When his eyes opened, they were staring directly at me. Quietly, he said, "We can't move him, can we?"

My eyes widened, and I shook my head violently. Whispering, I said, "He's lost so much blood and just the trauma. What I had to do to him..." My voice cracked as the ghostly smell of burning flesh seemed to permeate my nostrils. I shivered and said, "I don't even want to think about moving him."

Shane ran a hand through his hair, not looking up when Kyle said, "It won't come to that."

"You saw those people out there," Cassidy said softly, her eyes flicking up to me briefly.

Shane turned on his heel. "Danny, you're comin' with me. We're gonna go do a little talkin'. Kyle, Cas, stay here."

I started to protest that I didn't need the guard detail, but Shane cut me off. "Ashley said someone needs to stay with you. I'll play nice until I can't."

He left, and fear started to brush at my heart, soft as butterfly wings. Getting up, ignoring Cas' warning, I opened one of the windows and was immediately assaulted by the sounds of a stirred-up crowd.

A voice I had come to hate was yelling, "They came in here and took over. Ash never gave any of you a say in that. Now they're up there, using our medical supplies on themselves while no attention has been given to us!"

I shuddered at the grumbled sounds of agreement. Cas slammed the window shut and I started toward the door, hissing when Kyle grabbed my wrist. Fury burning in his eyes, he demanded, "What in the hell do you think you're doing?"

"He's right. I hurt those people. And I know how to fix it. I owe them." I bit my lip, looking at Sacha. "Just keep an eye on him. Yell if anything changes."

But Kyle wouldn't let go. "That's not happening, Raleigh. I don't care what you did. You're safe here. If you go down there now, you won't be."

"Kyle's right," Cas said, still watching out the window.

I jerked away from Kyle, and darted toward the door. "I don't care!"

I heard them shouting after me, but I was already down the stairs. I hesitated at the front door though, my now overgrown survival instinct screaming at me. I jumped nearly a foot in the air, my hand going to my belt, when a voice said, "What are you doing, Raleigh?"

I turned to face Lauren, my heart slowing as she frowned at me. Swallowing, I whispered, "There are people out there who are hurt. And they're hurt because of me. Because of what I did."

Lauren held her hand up, cutting me off. "I was coming up to see you. Aunt Ash has talked to most of the people here. I'm supposed to make sure you stay put until we can get some things figured out about how this works."

"House arrest?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I shook my head, scoffing when Lauren nodded. With a scowl, I said, "At least let me have a look at—"

Interrupting me again, she said, "Honestly Raleigh? I think you're probably the very last person any of those people are gonna wanna see after what you did."

Closing my eyes, knowing I wouldn't like the answer, I asked, "How bad?"

Lauren didn't even hesitate, just listed the facts out brutally. "There are five people with some serious lacerations. You broke one guy's foot, it's swollen up like a football now. We did what we could for Justin's eye but it was practically gouged out, and then you killed someone. Can't forget that."