The Dead and the Restless (Completed with undergoing editing)

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Hands off, Lease," Liam said, his voice dark and threatening. A chill ran up my spine as I felt something ache in my chest. "I mean it."

I lowered the knife and dropped my hands to my side, backing up as I did so. Turning around, I saw that Liam held a lantern in his left hand and a hunting knife in his right. His crossbow was slung around his back and he was suited up to go outside.

"Why are you?" I asked, my voice dropping at the end. He pushed past me and went for the door, wrapping his fingers around the handle. I shoved the door closed as he opened it. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

He scowled at me, but didn't let his grip go from the handle.

"Darlene left a minute or two ago," he said evenly. "I'm going to go get her. Get out of my way."

He tried to open it and I shut it again.

"You must be on crack to think I'll let you go out there alone at night," I said, staring into his eyes that I could barely see in the faint light. "Even if we're not on good terms."

He held my stare for a few seconds and then I heard a curse under his breath.

"Fine," he muttered. "Let's get going already. With every second we're losing her."

I opened the door and he pushed past me, but then I looked at Abbey. A bad feeling crept up my spine like a spider with the thought of leaving her here awake as everyone else slept, but I didn't see another choice. If we came back quickly, it'd be okay.

Or at least that's all I could hope for.

I followed Liam, keeping track of him by the small light. As soon as I heard the door click, a strange feeling took hold of me. It was one that I hadn't felt in a while, but it was also one that I recognized easily- fear. I hadn't been out in the darkness in so long that I forgot how utterly terrifying and empty it was when all you had was a small light to guide you to an unknown destination. But what scares me most about the darkness is not knowing where the monsters lay.

And what made me feel even more uneasy than that was that this was how it was going to be after tonight.

If we made it through the night.

The vulnerabilities absolutely petrified me, especially since I could barely see what was in front of me. As soon as I caught up to Liam, my hand automatically reached out to grab onto his arm, but I stopped short. I needed to give him space, and holding onto him to make myself feel safer wasn't doing that.

"Hey," I asked as we walked into the lobby. "Why don't I carry the light so that way you can have a weapon up in case you need to protect yourself quickly?"

He didn't answer for a few seconds, instead he kept walking. I knew he was thinking about it, and he knew that I was right. He was the one with his hands full and I had a free hand, it was basic math.

Slowing down slightly, he handed the lantern to me and readjusted his crossbow so he could hold it up. I stared at him as his strong arms held the machine and his eyes focused on the outside. More than anything I wanted to make things better, and I thought back to Darlene's words.

"That boy loves you, Lease. No matter how much he pushes you away, he'll always want you to stay deep down. You just have to wait for that opportunity, and you have to be there for him every second, because that's all it takes. It's truly all it takes to lose it all."

I wondered about what she said ever since the words slipped off her lips. Did he love me? Sure, we were close. And yes, we did have feelings for each other. But I had pushed him so far away, and after letting him in, I had pushed him even further. I wouldn't blame him if he didn't love me anymore. If I were him, I wouldn't.