Rage of Vendetta (The Vendetta Series #2)

Chapter 14

Author's Note: Well, it's been a long while! I'm going to have to blame it once again on school, and also actually the fact that this chapter had been written almost a week ago but then I felt like something was off so it underwent some (better) changes, which took a while. Okay, get reading, and you'll also perhaps want to listen to the little video linked on the side. You'll know when ;) Don't forget to vote or comment if you enjoyed, and thank you all so much for reading! (And oh my this is a very long chapter.)

Chapter 14

"I imagined it smaller," Vee remarks, squinting up at my house.

Eric, choosing to take it in another context, snorts in laughter. Sasha gives him a prompt whack across the head.

"There is a lot of perimeter to cover first," I answer Vee, pretending not to hear Eric. "I doubt Aunt Nel- Dr. White sent Cambions to guard the place, but someone's definitely been here."

There's almost nothing distinguishable that gives away the fact this house has been unoccupied for a while now if you didn't know how to look. My bedroom curtain sits askew, almost like someone had peered through and then yanked it back furiously after spotting something.

I take a deep breath, peering down my driveway and examining the narrow gaps between my house and the fences separating us from our neighbors. How many times had I crept over the cobblestone path when I was little, running from backyard to front, chasing imaginary fairies? Too many to count, but this time it isn't fairies we are chasing.

"Three go down the left path: duck when you pass the kitchen window, just in case," I order, pointing down the narrow alley. "Three go down the right: there was some sort of fire-ant nest there last I saw. Watch out for that."

Courtney, Vee, and I end up taking the left path, silently trudging down the driveway and pressing our backs against the outside wall, creeping along in case there really is someone guarding my house.

If I had any doubt my parents and Sebastian had truly run, it was gone now. The house is as silent and empty as a dead baby's crib. We lower our heads as we pass the kitchen window, but I can't help glancing through just so slightly to see dust gathering on the window pane. There is half-finished food on the table: a sandwich with the bread placed lopsided, beside coffee that had been spilled and never cleaned up, the brown liquid still a thin puddle on the table but now resembling more of a stain. I tuck my chin into my neck, drawing my gaze away and fighting back against a lump forming in my throat.

We emerge out the side of the house and into my overgrown backyard without a hitch, meeting up with Jesse, Sasha, and Eric coming out the right path.

"Everything clear?" I ask, moving over. There is something strange tucked in his hair, and my suspicions immediately rise and scream that some sort of tracking device has been attached to him. Upon picking it out, I realize it was only a bit of clumpy flower pollen

"Well, apart from nearly stumbling into a wasps' nest," Jesse grumbles. "I think we're good."

My house once so cherished and warm is now an abandoned paradise for insects. Lovely.

"Do you think there's anyone stationed inside the house?" Courtney asks, surveying the broken window on the second floor. I frown. I didn't even noticed the state my parents' bedroom is in. The glass is cracked in a spider-web state. Something like a knife must have been jammed into it. I clutch my sleeve. They're fine, I reassure myself.

"Let's go see," I say, taking care not to let my voice shake.

The backdoor is unlocked. When I twist the handle, the door opens immediately with a suction noise. Vee groans, her hand flying to her nose. I turn to look at her, eyebrows furrowed. Eric and Sasha immediately start to cough violently and dramatically.