Wake of the Dead | One

Chapter nineteen

Without Jasper, the day had been grueling. Killian moved with a sluggish reluctance whenever the group began to gather in Tom's room for dinner. He wasn't sure he wanted to join them, but the gurgling of his stomach and the scent of fresh meat was all too tempting for him. Killian had attempted to join Casimir and Samantha on their hunting trip, but Casimir quickly rejected his offer for help. He didn't want to admit it, but that simple rejection had felt like a stab to the heart. How was Killian supposed to prove himself to the group if they wouldn't give him the chance to?

There was a crackling fire safely kept outside of the room. It was barely flickering due to the humid, damp atmosphere. Luckily for the group, it smelled like they'd managed to cook whatever they'd caught that night. Killian pushed his way into the room, where he was met with a few awkward stares of the rest. Tom rubbed the back of his neck, Cohen avoided eye contact. Narrowing his brows Killian demanded, "What? Am I not allowed to eat?"

The first person to reply was Casimir, blunt and crass as always. "You were too late. We have lots of hungry people here, and the fact of the matter is that everybody beat you to it." Killian's lips parted, speechless. An almost painful, aching rage slowly melted into his chest, twisting his stomach and rising bile to the back of his throat.

How dare they? How dare the rest of them disregard his needs above their own. Killian was still suffering from a bit of malnourishment, even after Jasper had found him it was hard to find food as it was. Now he was being denied dinner--something crucial to his survival--because some of the people in the group had decided to be gluttonous that night? His stomach rumbled, demanding something of any substance. Even water could be just enough to fill it, but he knew none of the sorry bastards there would spare any sort of drink.

Shaking with rage, it took every last bit of Killian to keep his self-control. Without another word, he shook his head and stormed out of the room. Tom got up to follow, as did Casimir and Cohen. Casimir snapped, "Maybe if you made yourself useful we would have saved something for you."

That was all it took. Killian whipped his head around, his hands clenching into fists and his stomach twisting. The anger was almost overwhelming, so intense he felt like he would throw up. "You..." Killian could barely move his lips. It took everything in his power to stop him from raising his voice immediately. "I offered to hunt with you!" Killian finally managed, his snarl loud and scathing. Casimir's eyes flickered dangerously, almost a warning. Killian didn't care.

Tom widened his eyes with alarm, and the rest of the group glanced towards him for any sort of judgement on the situation. Dominick and Wilson turned to glare at Casimir, and Killian could see Wilson muttering something in Dominick's ear. A chatter amongst the rest of the group began to spread, and Killian noticed with nothing but satisfaction that it was mostly of disapproval. Tom looked down at Casimir and Samantha, who were both casting him deadly glares. "Casimir, Sam, is this true?" He prompted, a deep rumble in his chest.

Casimir narrowed his eyes to study Tom's expression, a challenging gaze daring any of the group members to ostracize his decision. His head whipped around back towards Killian, staring the other man down. His bright eyes were like a cobra's, cold and locking Killian from averting his gaze no matter how much he wanted to. "Yes," Casimir said firmly. Lifting his chin, the man's voice grew stronger, more confident in his reply. "Samantha and I didn't want him to ruin our hunt."

"Killian brought back a rabbit from his last hunt, before we were forced to leave the previous camp." Cohen pointed out. The doctor took off his glasses and began cleaning them with his white cotton shirt, casting Casimir a sideways glance as he did so. "I'd say he was skilled enough to accompany you. We could have had a lot more food brought back if you hadn't run him off." Killian could see Casimir visibly bristling more and more at every word that left Cohen's lips.