The Night Children

Chapter 31

Edited. 

"Where's my car?" I asked accusingly, scanning the dirt road for the familiar shiny bonnet. Isaac glanced at me as I spoke, but didn't pause. He instead continued to walk forwards, making his way down the dirt road.

"I had to hide it," was his only answer. Surprise coursed through me.

"You what?"

Isaac trudged forwards, ignorant of the snow that gathered in his curls. "I hid it. I assumed a Parade member would come down this way sometime tonight."

I shot him a questioning glance. He met it with a raised eyebrow. "I thought it was common sense not to leave the keys in your car."

I felt my lips pull into a frown. "I had other things on my mind," I grumbled.

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Clearly."

Once the silence claimed us again, I couldn't help but revisit his admitting's. Everything I thought I knew about Isaac was wrong. He was a part of this so called cult. He knew the walls of the warehouse before I had even discovered its location. He knew who Pincel was well before the Sheriff pointed a gun at my head. The yellow eyes, fast healing, known sources, found bodies. It all linked together, and yet I couldn't get over the feeling that Isaac was only telling partial truths.

Was it his duty to brush the tears from my eyes? Was it his duty to induce my vomiting to stop my seizures? He wasn't protecting me from the Forsaken – he was protecting me from a substance I was allergic to.

I side eyed him. He seemed lost in his own thoughts, his eyes glazed and distant. I wondered if he was regretting everything he said tonight. Going over every answer, every detail he had told me. Deep down, I knew he was furious at me.

He couldn't see it – my need for answers. I knew he wouldn't understand. He never could. This was my nightmare, not his.

'You are nothing more to me than a job that needs taken care of.' I swallowed against the ruthless comment, squeezing my eyes shut. I almost loathed myself for the internal reaction that came from his words.

I had felt something for Isaac, although minor, it was still present. A tiny spark kindling in a wildfire built for Aaron.

However, Isaac made his opinions very clear. I was a nuisance. A girl meddling with his plans. Nothing more.

We reached my car in silence, its surface hidden amongst a line of bushes. I opened the car door without a word, then paused.

"Where's your car?"

Something glinted in his eyes, and he seemed to hesitate with his answer. "I left it further up the road, I'll collect it later."

I felt my own eyebrow raise in curiosity. "So what, you're going to walk home?"
Isaac snorted, a noise that brushed his old careless demeanour. "No, I'm coming with you."
I gave him a look. "I can drive home myself."

Isaac opened the passenger door. "I didn't offer to drive you." He drummed his fingers on the metal surface, the noise ringing around the empty road. "Plus, a tunid like you needs protecting."
I was too caught up in his choice of words to even give him another sharp response about his need for 'protecting me.'

"What did you just call me?"
Isaac stared at me blankly, then seemed to blink in realisation. A small snigger escaped his lips to be whisked away by the wind. Despite myself, I felt my heart flutter in my chest in response to the light noise. "So oblivious," he almost whispered to himself with a shake of his head.