Ravenous

   And when the time came, we would not be able to take our mother with us.

   Maybe we could stay for a bit, maybe we could wait, and we could hope, but eventually reality would catch up with us. It was better to face it now, rather than wait and see. It would be better if we broke free while the aliens were distracted with the remaining people, than to wait for them to come to us. Better to leave here before they came inside and discovered us.

   “Oh,” I said softly.

   “Bethy…”

   I shook my head, holding up my hand to stop Aiden’s words. I could not hear them, not right now. I understood them, but I could not hear them spoken aloud. Bret rested his hand on my shoulder; I did not shrug him off. He was a good man, strong, and I needed his comfort and strength right now. “We’ll stay today,” Cade said softly.

   “No, we have to wait a few more days,” Abby protested.

   “They haven’t reached this part of town yet, the longer we wait the more likely they are to come here. No matter how many of them there are, it will still take them awhile to go through all of the houses. We need to get out of here before they reach us, and we need to leave under cover of darkness.”

   “You don’t even know if they are going through all of the houses and buildings!”

   “What do you think they were doing last night at home?” Aiden asked gently. My mind was spi

   “Wait,” Abby said softly, her words choked and sad. “We can’t.”

   “It will be ok Abby,” I assured her, hugging her gently. “It will be ok, you’ll see.”

   “But mom, we can’t leave her here, all alone. We can’t.”

   “We won’t,” I promised.

   “Bethy,” Bret said softly.

   I shook my head, hugged my sister tight again and released her. It would be ok I told myself, knowing full well that I lied.

CHAPTER 9

   Night came faster than I had expected. It wasn’t until I crept back upstairs to peer out the window that I realized it wasn’t true nightfall. The larger ship had moved; it was above us now, blocking out the light of the sun. The sun’s rays peeked around it, illuminating its dark color, reflecting brightly off of it, but the day was nearly dark now. I turned away from the window, hating the sight of that awful thing.

   “We should get moving soon,” Bret said softly.

   I said nothing, there was nothing to say. The bag of food was by the backdoor. Abby was crying silently, tears rolled down her youthful cheeks. Aiden couldn’t bring himself to look at either of us, I knew what he was thinking, but it wasn’t going to happen. He was the stronger one of us; he would have to be the one that stayed with Abby.

   “I’m not going.”

   I turned toward Cade, my eyes widening as he uttered the words. Those were supposed to be mywords; that was what I was supposed to be saying, not him. He was not going to be the one who stayed. “No.”

   “It’s not going to be you Bethy.” I gaped at Cade; his eyes were hard, distant. His jaw was clenched tight. “No matter what you may think.”

   “You don’t know what I think!” I retorted sharply, my hands fisting at my sides.

   “Yes, I do, and it is notgoing to be you.”

   “That is our mother!” I snapped.

   “Peter has been very kind to me, I will not leave him.”

   “Then I’ll stay with you.”

   “No.”

   “No!” I nearly screeched. “You can’t tell meno.” I was rapidly losing control, rapidly spi

   “Bethany,” Abby whimpered.

   I glanced sharply at her, breathing rapidly as I struggled to contain my fear and anger. Even if I hadn’t told anyone else about it, they seemed to have guessed that I’d intended to stay. Aiden was my brother, Bret was my boyfriend. They knew me well, yet I felt it was Cade that had first discerned the fact that I wanted to stay with my mother.

   I met his dark gaze, seeing the truth in his steady stare. He was not going to budge on his decision. It had been alright when I had decided that I would stay. I had been in control, I had been accepting of the fact that I would be alone. But the thought of Cade staying here was terrifying to me. I couldn’t leave him here. I would never be able to live with myself if I did.

   “It has been decided,” Cade said firmly.

   “By who? When?” Je

   “By us,” Bret answered. He took hold of my hand, holding tight to it when I tried to pull free. “Last night when you were asleep.”

   “You knew last night you were going to do this?” I breathed, unable to tear my gaze away from Cade’s dark beauty. I had just found him, I barely knew him, but I knew I couldn’t lose him. I simply couldn’t. I would be empty without him, I didn’t know how I knew that, but I did. I would be hollow, broken, a shell of myself without him.

   “Yes,” Aiden answered. “We have to go now Bethany.”

   “No. I’m not leaving.”

   “Please Bethy, please,” Abby pleaded. “Don’t leave me.” I opened my mouth to protest. I felt lost, hopeless, stu

   I didn’t know what she wanted me to do, what she wanted me to say to her. I didn’t know much of anything at the moment. “Abigail.”

   “Don’t leave me. We can’t leave mom, and you, behind. Please Bethany I can’t lose you both.”

   I closed my eyes, groaning inwardly at her soft, heartfelt plea. I bit hard on my bottom lip, fighting against the tears that burned my eyes. This was awful, just awful.

   “Bethany…” Aiden’s voice trailed off. He hadn’t stopped because he didn’t know what to say, but because a soft rattle had begun to shake the store. Abby clung tighter to me as she started to tremble. The ground beneath my feet vibrated; the merchandise on the shelves began to clink together.

   I held my breath, my heart pounded loudly in my ears. A loud, thumping bang shook the store, causing me to stumble slightly. A soft sob tore from Abby. The windows shook within their panes, the glass rattled more forcefully. Somewhere within the store something slid off a shelf, causing me to jump when it shattered upon the ground.

   Abby clung to me, burying her face against my chest as something else fell to the floor, breaking on impact. I barely managed to bite back a scream as the store lurched violently. Je

   The store pitched violently. The earth seemed to drop out from underneath it as the floor beneath my feet seemed to disappear for a moment before coming back up to stabilize us once more. Fear pounded through me, as boards began to splinter from the powerful upheaval. The front windows shattered, glass splayed inward. I ducked over Abby, covering her with my body as I tried to protect her from the cutting shards. Bret grabbed hold of us, pulling us back as another violent thump knocked shelves over, and caused one of the light fixtures to fall. Abby sobbed loudly, a cry of terror escaped her.