REESE

chapter thirty six.

Warning - This Chapter Contains Content Under The Umbrella Theme Of War, Violence, Injury and Death- It Is Intended For Mature Readers

Reese POV:

It wasn't the distinct sound of a gun cocking beside me that woke me up, it was the banging.

Loud, frantic, manic banging that reverberated through the walls and was doing incredibly well in piercing the silence that usually accompanied the dead of night. My eyes were still heavy with sleep and my head pounded unrelentlessly, but despite my body's evident exhaustion, I was approaching lucidness fairly quickly as the banging grew louder. I jerked up out of bed, siphoning that lucidness and turning it into a sudden awareness of my surroundings. It only took me half a second to realize that Carver was no longer lying next to me.

"Carver." I whispered worriedly into the dark, quickly reaching for my gun at the same time.

"There's someone at the front doors."

Carver's voice was quick to untangle a small portion of the knot forming in my stomach. With no warning he switched on the lights, instantly making me cringe as brightness flooded our bedroom. "God damn it." I groaned, snapping my eyes shut and moving blindly off the bed. I vigorously rubbed my eyes trying to adapt to my new surroundings but by the time my eyes had finally adjusted to the light, Carver had already thrown a shirt on and was reaching for my hand. I moved towards him, placing my hand in his familiar hold and exiting out of the bedroom quickly. With our guns drawn and careful caution, we made our way down the main staircase and towards the epicenter of the sound.

"Ry." I spoke out loud once we were approximately ten meters away from the front doors. "Scan fron-

"What the bloody hell is going on?"

The sudden shock that came with hearing a voice made Carver and I's attention snap to the right while our guns followed. I watched as a figure jerked back and clumsily stumbled into the wall. "Stop! It's me!" With his eyes wide open in evident alarm and his hands up in surrender, Landon winced as he stared down the barrel of Carver and I's guns. His hair was flattened down on one side from sleep and he was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, an outfit similar to what Carver and I had on. I sighed in relief trying to control my thrumming heartbeat, rapidly trying to recover from Landon's sudden appearance. I had forgotten he was asleep in the house with us.

"For fucks sake." Carver murmured, lowering his gun.

"A little warning next time would be great." Landon huffed quietly, looking at us in offense. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Who's at the door and why are they banging on the frame so hard?"

Carver and I looked at each other in incredulity and then simultaneously turned towards Landon again. "I don't know Landon, why don't you go ask?" I whispered sarcastically.

Landon narrowed his eyes on me. "I do not appreciate your sarcasm." He deadpanned while reaching into his pocket. I furrowed my brows in confusion as he dug around for a couple seconds before a small satisfied smile stretched across his face.

To my absolute astonishment, the psycho pulled out a lollipop and popped it into his mouth with a happy sigh.

"What are yo-." I shook my head, realizing I was wasting time watching Landon lick a lollipop when there was an unknown person unrelentlessly banging on the door mere meters away from me. "Never mind, I don't care."

I turned away from Landon and looked down at my watch with the intention to command Ry to show me the live footage from the entrance cameras but Landon started talking again.