"Benjamin Crawford," Lainey echoed.
The boy nodded.
"Again. Th-Thanks," she said.
Lainey turned to exit the room again but soon after found herself unable to move. Or unwilling to rather. She had no idea where she was--where was she going to go?
"What's wrong?" Benjamin asked.
"Where are we?" Lainey asked, turning to face Benjamin again.
"Uh . . . the cul de sac on Willowstone Lane."
"Willowstone . . . you mean Deadman's Lane?"
"Is that what you call it?"
Lainey made her way toward the second window in the bedroom and opened the curtains. It was a street she was all too familiar with. A cul de sac of abandoned houses that was known as Deadman's Lane by the community.
"I thought these houses were abandoned." She closed the curtains and faced Benjamin. "You live here?"
"For about a month," Benjamin said. "I'm . . . always moving."
Lainey nodded.
"Okay, well . . . I can make it home from here. Thanks again."
Lainey made her way to the bedroom door again and finally stepped out. She took one final look at Benjamin before making her way downstairs and out of the old house.
A little over half an hour later, Lainey walked through the front door of her home. Mom sat in the living room, staring at the blank TV and sipping something that was probably cold. Lainey wasn't sure how to begin explaining what had happened let alone where to begin. How will she explain to her mother details she still wasn't sure had transpired? Details too absurd to take as fact. Do she tell Mom about the dead walkers? About Rita being dead, yet somehow alive? About the man called Joseph who wanted her dead?
About Benjamin Crawford?
"Welcome back," Mom said in an eerily calm tone, still facing the TV. If she was going to yell, Lainey would rather she do it right then and there to get it over with.
"M-Mom . . ." Lainey started. But she had no idea how to continue.
"Have a seat," Mom said, patting the space on the sofa next to her.
Lainey cautiously made her way to the sofa and took a seat. Mom took another sip of her tea or coffee and gently placed it on the table before them. Lainey noticed the home phone on the table as well. Did she stay awake all night? Lainey had answered her own question as soon as she glanced at her pale-faced and puffy-eyed mother.
"How was your night?" she croaked, placing her elbow on the back of the sofa and resting her head against the back of her hand. Lainey had never been more creeped out by Mom in her seventeen years of life. What was going on? Was she not going to yell? Was she just grateful that she finally came home?
"Mom, yesterday was . . . " Lainey fished around for the right way to explain the events of the day before. But after several seconds she came to the conclusion that there was no right way to explain what had happened. Mostly because the day before shouldn't have happened at all.
"I . . . spent the night at Rita's," Lainey lied. "You know Rita. Nicki's friend. She's still really broken up about Nicki's death. So I stayed over to, you know . . . help her through this hard time. And as always I forgot to call. I'm so sorry, Mom. I suck, I know. Please forgive me."
Mom merely nodded at Lainey's explanation. And soon after, did the one thing that Lainey wouldn't have expected in a million years: she opened her arms for a hug. Lainey slowly and cautiously leaned in to hug Mom as if she thought Mom was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike her.
She didn't.
"I'm so sorry, Mom," Lainey said again as they hugged.
"I know," she croaked. "Did you check the time?"
Lainey hadn't even thought of checking the time, now realizing she had no idea how early it was. She pulled out her phone and saw that it was almost nine o' clock.
"Crap! I'm going to be late for work!"
Lainey's mother smiled.
"No you won't, sweetie."
Dread fell over Lainey like a sack of bricks.
"What . . . what do you mean no I won't?" Lainey said slowly.
Mom nodded toward the phone on the table.
"I want you to call Amy and let her know that you can't work for her anymore."
"You've got to be joking, Mom!" Lainey shrieked.
"I don't find anything funny about this, Elaine. Do you?"
"I'm not calling Amy," Lainey said, getting to her feet. "I'm going to get ready for work."
Mom grabbed the phone.
"You call Amy or I'll do it myself," she said, voice rising. "Either way, you're no longer employed there as of today."
Lainey's vision grew blurry as her eyes got warm.
"Mom, if you make me quit, I'll never forgive you," she said as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I promise you that."
Mom nodded.
"Whatever it takes, honey."
She stood and made her way over to Lainey.
"I'm going to get some sleep," she said, placing the phone in Lainey's hand. "Have a good day," she added before making her way down the hall and into her bedroom.
Lainey stood in the living room, frozen and speechless. She still wasn't sure if what had just happened actually happened. And if it had, Lainey was almost certain that she hated her mother.
***
Fawn reached Sancova High at noon exactly. A pale-skinned lanky kid in a green corduroy jacket and red cap with a small pizza logo on the front sat atop the steps leading up to the school, bent over his phone. She approached the steps and made her way up, distracting the kid from his phone. His eyes widened when they met her. He had a long face and nose and his dark brown hair fell down either side of his cap.
"Miss Wright Ninety Four?" His voice was surprisingly deep and amiable.
"That's me," Fawn answered. "And I'm assuming you're Lazer Nine Seven Seven Zero Zero?"
"Right," he said, getting to his feet. "That's me."
"Hi, I'm Fawn," she said, extending her hand.
He eagerly wiped his hand on the side of his faded jeans before taking Fawn's hand and shaking energetically. His hand was cold and damp.
"Beautiful name. Very fitting," he said. "I've never heard it before."
Fawn smiled.
"It was my great-aunt's name."
He stared at Fawn for a few moments with her hand still in his.
"Is . . . everything okay?" she asked.
He quickly let go of her hand.
"Yeah! Yeah. I'm sorry, I just didn't expect you to be so . . ." he trailed off.
"So . . . ?" Fawn persisted.
"You probably get this all the time but you are really, really, pretty."
Fawn laughed.
"I do, actually. But I read people well and can tell you that most guys are full of it." Fawn narrowed her eyes. "I'm not getting that feeling from you. However, I do get the feeling that you're nervous. Very unlike the guy I chatted with online last night."
"It's easy to find confidence behind a computer screen."
"Well, you're going to have to work on that. Confidence is a social necessity and very attractive, I should add."
He eagerly nodded.
"I'll try."
"So, you have a name?"
"Oh . . . it's Eliezer," he said, his eyes on the ground.
Fawn narrowed her eyes.
"What's with the downcast?"
He shrugged.
"I don't know. I never tell people my name. It's so . . . archaic." He sat down on the steps again. "Please, have a seat."
Fawn sat down next to him.
"I guess we should get right to it," Fawn whispered. "Where's the proof that these so-called demons exist?"
Lazer had an intense and serious look in his eyes.
"I need to know if I can trust you," he said quietly.
"Sure you can."
"I'm serious. I can't show you anything unless I can positively trust you."
"I said you can. How am I supposed to prove it?"
Lazer responded with a nod.
"I haven't recruited in a while, so I'm just a little cautious--"
"Whoa, whoa . . . recruited?"
"I'm the leader of a small group of people the demons call dead hunters. You'll be meeting the others later. We all met on the same website. And we're all dedicated to learning as much as we can about the demons and putting a stop to them."
"So . . . you're all demon hunters?" Fawn asked.
Eliezer nodded.
"H-Have you seen one of them? In person?"
A strained expression washed over his face. He nodded again.
"Holy hell," Fawn gasped.
"They're . . . they're real," he said quietly. "And they're unbelievable." He looked at Fawn with glossy red eyes. "This will change your life forever, Fawn."
The look in his eyes told her he was telling the truth.
"How do you guys . . . fight the demons?" Fawn asked.
"The undead has a couple of major weaknesses we use to our advantage," Eliezer said. He pulled what looked like scarlet plants from his pocket. "This is amaranth."
"Amaranth?"
"It's a plant that weakens the undead, for whatever reason. There are theories supported by mythology as to why, but I'll spare you the fairy tales for now."
Fawn scoffed.
"The hell's a fairy tale anymore? So, how do you fight demons with . . . greenery?"
He offered the plants to Fawn. She cautiously took them and studied them.
"Amaranth burns dead walkers to the touch," he said, pulling a small bottle of a powdery, red liquid from his pocket. "We weaponize it. This is grounded amaranth and water. It's like acid to the undead."
"Damn. You did your research."
"All thanks to the Messenger," Eliezer said.
"The . . . Messenger?" Fawn said, handing the amaranth back to Eliezer.
"He's a vlogger. Known as the first to expose the undead to the world. He's gotten his hands on undeniable photos and videos the media hides from the public." He placed the amaranth water and plants back in his pockets. "He's been doing it for years--gained a huge following."
"With a name like the Messenger, it sounds like a cult following," Fawn said.
Eliezer laughed as he stood.
"Come on, there's still much to show you and talk about. I live only a few blocks from here."
He made his way down the steps.
Fawn followed.
***
Benjamin had searched all over the small town of Sancova for Joseph. He was nowhere to be found. Benjamin wanted to kill him. He wanted to rip his head off and stomp it into the ground. He was outraged and disgusted at how far Joseph was willing to go to get his way. His actions were unforgivable. Not only had he deceitfully attempted to kill Lainey, he permanently changed a young woman's life merely to do his bidding. That was another thing Benjamin was worried about. He had to find Rita before she caused any more trouble.
Benjamin entered his hideout and slammed the doors behind him. He had fled to Sancova to remain under the radar. Now he had two dead walkers in town to deal with--one of them he had to kill. Just as Benjamin was about to take a seat on the sofa, he thought of one place he hadn't checked for Joseph. How could he have been so negligent?
***
He leaned against Lainey's window, watching her sleep. Joseph admired the strength it must take Benjamin to keep himself from mauling the human girl--she smelled incredibly exquisite. In fact, Joseph wasn't sure he'd be able to tame his urge to rip her apart.
He crept over to Lainey's bedside, brushed long brunette locks out of her face and sniffed her neck. Benjamin always did have good taste.
"Lainey," Joseph whispered into her ear.
The girl stirred and moaned as she turned over and met Joseph's eyes.
"Good afternoon, sweetheart."
---
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please, leave a comment and if you liked this chapter, don't forget to vote! I appreciate it. Thanks~