The Demon Inheritance

FOURTEEN

The train came to an early stop in Mississippi and, thankfully, no one questioned anything they saw. After all, they were scared and they knew someone had fought the killer, but they weren't sure what they had seen. That was what every witness had told the law enforcement that arrived, including me. I was in a position of acting that I absolutely hated: being a scared little girl. Of course, I was scared, but I faked myself to the point of crying.

For some awful reason, I couldn't come to cry for the people that had died. I fear blood, I fear death, and I can feel empathy. But for some reason, I just can't cry for these people.

The stop was made in Starkville, who had only recently built the train stop on this outskirts of their town. From the looks of it, there wasn't too much to do but eat and shop. The apartments looked better than the ones back in Millton, although Millton seemed to have more oppurtunities. Sad fact about that was, Starkville was so much bigger than Millton.

Carter was the one to tug me away from the scene, telling the cops that he was mine, Oliver's, and Delta's parent. The other Apotropaics saved the other Extants (plus Ace, who looked only seventeen) from being questioned by claiming them and putting them to the side.

"You keep an eye on them kids now," the cop told Carter, eying my Apotropaic, Oliver with suspicion and distrust. He could probably smell the smoke on him.

I suppressed a smile. Like he, of any of us, could do anything bad. But I was supposed to pretend to be afraid. Instead of smiling in amusement, I wiped my wrist across my eyes, clearing the tears.

Carter nodded his head at the cop. "I will... Thank you..." He took me by the back and gently urged me in the other direction. When we were far enough away, the blonde boy hissed in my ear, "You have to burn your shoes."

"What?" Delta said. "Her shoes aren't that ugly."

Carter rolled his gray eyes, exasperated. From the gape, I could a slight space in his front teeth I hadn't noticed before. "Soon, Emma's parents may call someone to find their daughter, and they will track the shoe prints. After all, she's been missing for two days already. It's already suspicious enough that some of her clothes are missing. Speaking of which, we might need to find a gas station with a shower and change."

"Do they have those up here?" Oliver asked, pulling a cigarette from a little pack in his pocket. Being close to him, my nose twitched when he wafted the scent of oranges and smoke. "I know that I haven't really seen a lot of gas stations with showers..."

"I hope they do..." Delta said, scratching the back of his neck. "I smell like something died."

"We all do," I added, hurrying beside him. The four of us kept a steady pace, shoulder-to-shoulder. For the most part. "But I don't suppose people stop here often."

"I don't smell like death," my Apotropaic whined.

Carter said, "You're the one who killed somebody. Even if it was just a vessel. No way you don't smell like death."

Another group of Cromans - Mun, Fango, and Nahara - made their way towards us. The last group - Dillan, Caleb, Gan, and Ace, were still being questioned by the cops.

We finally stopped at a bench, each duffle sitting on the ground at our feet. When Dillan's group caught up to us, the first thing the tacosexual did was ask, "How much money do we have?"

"I brought fifty dollars," I said. Beside us, the gas station breathed with life. People were inside, scurrying around the food and early-morning coffee. My stomach suddenly felt hollow. We buying food? "I got it from my allowance. I'd have more, if it weren't for me buying so much Metallica merch..."