“You need to get out of this room.” I moved away and threw the curtains wide.
Diane flung herself back down onto the bed, throwing an arm over her eyes as if the daylight burned her.
I ignored her, heading down the hall to set the shower running. I made sure the shampoo and soap were within easy reach and headed back to retrieve my mother from her pit of solitude.
“I can't face today Lincoln,” Diane muttered, pulling a pillow over her head as I reentered the room.
The words stung; I'd heard them before whenever she entered one of her dark moods. Sometimes they would last for weeks and my father’s rage would only be stoked by her inactivity. A rage that only ever had one outlet in a room just down the hall.
“You need to have a shower,” I insisted.
“Not today Lincoln,” she mumbled, her voice muffled by the pillow.
My fingers twitched in irritation and I stepped forward, scooping her up into my arms and heading out of the room. She didn't even try to fight me, just clung to my neck like a child as I elbowed my way into the bathroom.
I deposited her in the shower, flannel shirt and all. The water ran over her, plastering her hair to her face as she peered up at me.
“You're all grown up,” she commented as she craned her neck to look up at me. She was right, the scrawny teenager she knew was long gone and a six foot two marine stood in his place. I wasn't going to let my father’s ghost change that.
“I'll find you some clean clothes and leave them outside,” I said as I turned my back on her and headed out of the room.
I made short work of selecting something from her wardrobe and dropped it outside the bathroom door before continuing down the hall to my old bedroom.
My training flashed through my mind as I pushed the door open.
Fear is only as strong as you let it be. If you face it, you will see it for what it really is: Nothing.
Funny how I'd never found anything to fear outside this house. Death is inevitable, pain survivable but the unknown moment of my father’s arrival at my door was something else altogether. The anticipation of the moment he would arrive, the seconds it took me to discern his moods. That was fear. And it lived in this house.
I stared at my old room in silence, trying to figure out what it meant. Everything was exactly how I'd left it. My teenage self could walk straight though the door and carry on his life like nothing had happened. I could even see my old school bag beside the bed, spilling homework sheets that I'd never even started.
I pulled the door closed again and turned my back on it. The sofa would suit me just fine. Teenage Lincoln could keep his room and his memories. I wouldn't be here long enough to reacquaint myself with him anyway.
Chapter Three
Kaitlyn
We ran flat out for three blocks before I dared a glance over my shoulder and realised that the raccoon had given up the chase.
There was no sign of it anywhere behind us and I grasped at a stitch in my side as I slowed to a jog and finally stopped.
Lacey ran on for several steps before realising I wasn't beside her anymore and turned to look for me.
"Holy shit, I thought we were raccoon meat for sure!" she said, letting out a disbelieving laugh.
"Was it me or did that thing look like it was on steroids?" I asked as I bent over and massaged my stitch.
"It would certainly explain why it was acting so crazy! I've never seen one so aggressive, they're freakin' terrifying when they want to be!"
I stood upright and released a shaky breath as the adrenaline started to fade from my veins. We started laughing again, and I wondered if we might have overreacted a bit.
The school gates were visible at the end of the next block and we hurried to make it inside before the bell.
The morning's classes seemed to pass in a haze of stuffy classrooms and lectures that failed to catch my attention. I skipped out on lunch with the squad, taking the chance to do my English assignment and avoid Ryan.
If Demi wouldn't let me break things off with him then maybe I could just let it fizzle out through a general lack of interaction with each other. Not that I was sure that that was what I wanted. But if I did want to be in a relationship with him then shouldn't I actually want to spend time with him? Why did I let myself get into these situations?
At the end of the day, I hurried down the corridor to my locker with my books piled in my arms. There was still an hour left before the game but Demi always insisted on us having a last minute practice beforehand.
I dumped my books into my locker and slammed the door to find Tara standing on the other side of it.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" I scolded her as my heart leapt. I think the raccoon attack had left me feeling skittish and the last thing I needed was another fright.
Tara's face, arms and stomach were an angry pink colour which she had attempted to cover with pale makeup. Her light blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail which just showed that the sunburn extended to her ears too.
"It's bad isn't it?" she moaned as she caught sight of my face.
"Ummm..." I had thought it would be bottom of the pyramid bad but this looked bad enough to get her cut from the team if Demi was in the wrong mood.
"Should I put more makeup over it?"
I eyed the patchy foundation around her jaw and shook my head. "Maybe just try not to draw attention to yourself. With a bit of luck she won't notice." I shrugged apologetically; we both knew she'd notice.
"I can't believe I fell asleep in the sun," Tara said sadly as we headed for the locker rooms.
"Did you enjoy your holiday? Sun damage excluded," I asked.
"Yeah, we had fun. I mean my sisters were totally annoying, stealing my stuff all the time. And my mom forced us to go on all of these excursions, but I guess some of them were pretty cool." The closer we got to the changing rooms, the more Tara dragged her feet.
"Last chance to run for it," I said with a smile as we reached the door.
"Let's just get this over with - I mean, she can't kill me... right?"
"I hope not, 'cause you know she'd make the rest of us dispose of the body," I laughed as I pushed the door wide.
The rest of the squad were already there and my eyes landed on Demi. She was standing on one of the benches while the other girls looked up at her. She had platinum blonde hair which hung loose around her face in gentle curls. As usual she had flawless makeup and the perfect tan (thanks to her mom's sun bed which none of us were allowed to use).
Demi spotted us and her mouth dropped open, she had clearly been in the middle of talking to the rest of the squad but her attention zeroed in on Tara.
"What the hell is that lobstrocity?" she asked angrily, pointing at Tara.
"It's totally going down," Tara said defensively as I ducked aside. "When I'm out of direct light you can barely even-"
"Oh so you're telling me that you look better in the dark?" Demi asked, stepping off of the bench and moving towards Tara. "Because that was true before you turned yourself into a goddamn tomato."
"I swear, in a few days it'll be back to normal, I'll probably even be left with a tan," Tara said placatingly.
"You can sit out tonight, change out of your uniform and don't wear it again until you look human. And if you start to peel like some sort of gross lizard then you're out for good." Demi turned her back on Tara and looked at the rest of us. "That leaves us with an uneven number." She pursed her lips as she thought about that. "Chloe you're out too, don't think I haven't noticed you need your roots dying. I don't need people thinking we have a skunk on the squad."
Chloe opened her mouth to protest but Demi stared her down. Her roots were getting a little noticeable but it was hardly a reason for her to be benched.
"Great, now the rest of you can stop staring at me and head out to warm up. We don't have all day here and now we need to adjust the routine to make up for these two letting us down." She swept out of the room and I hurried to join the others as they follow
ed her.
"I'm so glad I don't dye my hair," I muttered as Lacey fell in next to me.
"I swear she's getting worse," Lacey replied. "She's enjoying having all this power, she really puts the itch in-"
"Bitch?" Ella offered from behind us.
I turned towards her with a vague smile, hoping she didn't feel the need to tell anyone what Lacey had said. Ella was nice but she had a big mouth and loved to gossip far more than I deemed natural. She had developed a knack for sneaking up on people which I figured was because she was trying to listen in.
"I heard you were attacked by a raccoon," Ella said with a giggle as she pulled her long, black hair back into a ponytail.
"Yeah, that thing was huge," I replied.
"You should have seen Reese's impression of you at lunch. He's so funny." She smiled a little too widely and I fought to keep my anger at my brother to myself.
"Reese never saw the raccoon," I said, fighting to keep my tone neutral. "So I don't see how he could do an impression of me."
Lacey bit her lip to stop herself from laughing which told me all I needed to know about how far Reese had gone. My mom constantly insisted that I'd grow to love my brother but I was wondering when that was going to happen because I was seventeen and I still couldn't stand the sight of him.
"Well Reese pees sitting down so he should stop paying so much attention to me and work harder on his potty training," I said lightly, hoping Ella would stay true to form and spread that little rumour around the school.
Lacey let out a snort of laughter and I tried to hold back a satisfied smirk.
"Alright, line up and let's sort this mess out. Bryony you're in Chloe's spot and Kristen you can take over from Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn you're next to me in Tara's place, don't screw it up," Demi directed and I hurried forward to take my place beside her.
We practiced for an hour until Demi was happy with the modified routine then headed back to the locker room to get ready for the game.
By the time we made it back out to the football pitch it was getting dark and the bleachers were pretty much full. The home crowd cheered as we arrived and we all waved and smiled at them.
We started a few basic routines and cheers to warm the crowd up and I felt myself really starting to relax for the first time all day. That was why I put up with Demi being such a brat all the time; I loved to cheer. No matter how bossy or obnoxious she wanted to be, there was nothing she could do that would take away the feeling I got when I was performing with the squad.
The rival football team were announced and we stopped cheering as they ran out onto the opposite side of the pitch, dressed in green and white. As our team were announced we jumped up and down, showing our support and getting the crowd riled up for the game. The team’s red and white kits matched ours and they waved excitedly as they jogged to their positions.
Ryan slipped away from the team as he emerged and made a bee line straight for me with his helmet tucked under his arm. I realised what he was doing just before he dropped his helmet and grabbed me.
The smile froze on my face as he lifted me into the air and kissed me in front of the whole school. The crowd cheered wildly as he set me back on my feet and I had to remember not to scowl as he jogged back out to join the team. His sandy hair looked almost golden under the bright lights and he tossed a perfect smile over his shoulder at me just before putting his helmet on.
"Consider yourself peed on," Lacey laughed as she shook a pom pom in my face.
"Who wouldn't want to be publicly marked out as someone's property?" I grinned back at her just as Demi signalled for us to start the first chant.
As the game started up, we cheered on our team and fell into the rhythm of our routines. When Ryan did well, Demi insisted that I do a backflip to celebrate and the crowd went wild for it.
As I flipped for the fourth time, someone screamed.
I scrambled to get upright again and tried to make sense of what was happening on the pitch. A scuffle had broken out and a member of the opposing team was screaming inaudibly as his teammates tried to restrain him.
As we watched, he managed to throw them off and ran straight at Devlin, our linebacker. The player in green knocked Devlin to the ground and started pounding on him, his fists slamming against Devlin's body armour.
I turned to Ella who was next to me and opened my mouth to ask her what had started the fight but the attacking player let out an inhuman shriek which pulled my attention back to the pitch.
Having realised that his fists were having little effect against Devlin's body armour, the player had forced his hands beneath Devlin's face guard and was attempting to strangle him.
The other players were sprinting across the pitch towards the fight and I quickly lost sight of what was happening.
The sound of the referee blowing his whistle squealed out loudly again and again as he attempted to regain control.
"What the hell?" Ella muttered, mostly to herself.
The huddle of players finally moved apart and the half-crazed player was dragged away between six of his teammates. They looked like they were having trouble controlling him even though there were so many of them.
Devlin lay unmoving on the ground and the coach was crouched beside him, shouting desperately for a medic.
We were positioned near the entrance to the locker rooms and the other team approached us, still dragging the crazed player between them. We huddled together into a tight group as they passed and watched as they hauled him away.
The player caught my eye as he was dragged by and let out an inhuman scream of rage again.
A chill that had nothing to do with the temperature raced down my spine.
Chapter Four
Kaitlyn
The silence that had fallen in the wake of the attack was suddenly broken as Principal Emerson spoke over the tannoy.
"In light of this event, tonight's match has been forfeited. Please leave the grounds in an orderly fashion and make sure you're on time for class in the morning." He finished speaking abruptly and everyone burst into speech at once.
The rest of the squad split in half as most of them rushed across the pitch towards Devlin who was being tended to by the medics. He still wasn't moving as far as I could tell from the glimpses I caught between the feet of the crowd that separated us.
"Are you all right?" someone asked nearby.
I craned my neck to try and catch a better glimpse of Devlin and Lacey elbowed me. I frowned at her questioningly and she inclined her head towards something behind me.
As I turned around, Ryan took hold of my shoulders and caught my gaze with his piercing blue eyes. "I asked if you're okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked with a slight frown.
"The shock," he said, giving me a little shake.
"You might wanna be more concerned for Devlin," I replied, trying to shrug his grip off.
"I think I'd better walk you home," Ryan said as he pulled me into a hug.
"Honestly, I'm fine. You should be with the team," I insisted, my voice muffled against his chest as he held me tightly.
"No chance. I'm looking after you whether you like it or not. C'mon, do you need anything from your locker?"
"Really Ryan-" I tried one last time.
"You can have my jacket," he said as he started to steer me off of the pitch.
I sighed as I gave in to the inevitable and waved goodbye to Lacey.
Ryan didn't release me as we made it into the building and he led me towards the boys' locker room. I pulled up short as he tried to bring me inside with him and he frowned at me.
"I'm not allowed in there," I pointed out.
"I think under the circumstances-"
"I'll meet you by the water fountain," I said as I pulled away from him and headed down the corridor.
The door banged shut behind me as he went inside and I made my way down the deserted corridors. I'd always liked the feeling of the school at that time of night. The usually bustling corridors were
quiet and empty. The fluorescent lights switched off and just the dim emergency lighting illuminating the darkness.
I walked slowly, enjoying the peace after the madness.
By the time I made it back outside to the courtyard at the front of the school there were a few other people leaving too. I weaved between them and took a seat on the edge of the water fountain, listening to the gentle splashing.
"I thought you always travelled in packs?" my brother's voice travelled to me and I looked up as he approached. He hadn't bothered to change out of his football kit and the extra padding made him look huge.
"I'm not in the mood," I sighed.
Reese closed the distance between us and stood before me, towering above me where I sat. I craned my neck to frown up at him.
"Aren't you gunna ask how Devlin is?"
"Have you seen him?" I asked. "Is he okay?"
"They're taking him to hospital. We won't know any more until tomorrow." Reese ran his hand through his dark blonde hair and looked over his shoulder.
"Lost your shadow?" I asked scathingly.
Jason appeared beside him before he could reply and I smirked at my accurate guess. He was still wearing his red and white kit too, always following Reese’s lead.
"Hey Kaitlyn," Jason said, his cheeks reddening slightly like they always did when he spoke to a girl. He'd had his brown hair cut since I'd last seen him and I forced myself not to roll my eyes as I realised he'd gotten the same style as my brother.
"Hi." I smiled lightly, wondering how long they planned on hanging around me.
"Dad's working in the city tonight," Reese said. "I think Mom might be going to stay with him too."
"No."
"You don't even know what I was going to-"
"You're not having your stupid friends round to the house," I said firmly.
"Why are you always such a bitch?" Reese walked away before I could reply and I made a rude hand gesture at his back. Jason ducked his head in what might have been a goodbye gesture and turned to follow my brother.
"Glad to see you're still getting along as well as ever," Ryan said as he approached me, holding his jacket out.
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