The Dark (DEVON) // ✔️ // [NEWADULT]

|| Chapter Twenty-Six - Kat ||

Parker excused himself swiftly after Devon had left. The awkward silence that followed Devon's departure clearly wasn't lost on Parker.

Despite his last ditch efforts at having a normal conversation, I couldn't get past my fear from last night. It wasn't irrational in my worries, Devon had made his knowledge of the spy living among us known. That terrified me to the bone.

The tin kitchen felt cold and empty when I was alone inside it. Alone. The idea of it left me vulnerable, so I hurried from the kitchen to find any other signs of life.

Fortunately, Jodi was wandering toward the kitchen herself as I bustled my way to the right. She gasped, her hair was tied up in a bun atop her head and the bun shook separately to her after she jumped backward, "Hey darl', how are you holding up?"
Her tone, weary and concerned, didn't match her outwardly cheerful appearance.

"Um- yeah. I just think I need some-" Jodi shushed me with a piercing squeal. For a moment, I went on the defensive, looking behind me instinctively, half-expecting someone to be standing behind me with the barrel of a gun pointed at my head.

When there was no sign of anyone, I released a shaky breath, turning my attention to a very solemn looking Jodi.

"I'm so sorry-" she hung her head, "-I didn't mean to frighten you I just knew you were going in the direction of company and it occurred to me that..." she abruptly ended her words with a strangled sound before tucking a stray curl behind her ear, "...I shouldn't hassle you, I'm really sorry babe you're going through a lot."

She pulled me into a tight embrace before smiling sadly at me, her dimples appearing as prominently as always.

"No, don't be silly Jodi. What's up?" I honestly wished I had the steely conscience to just accept her apology and lock myself away in my room, backed into a corner and watching the door with eagle eyes... but I wanted her to see I appreciated her effort.

She visibly perked up, "It just occurred to me that since getting messed up in all of this," she waved her hand around exasperatedly, "you haven't actually had time to really bond with the other guys, like Joe, Ace, Harrison-" her eyes narrowed, "don't bond too much with my man-" she teased, I chuckled, "but yeah, plus I'm sure Megh-" Jodi cleared her throat, "'Meg, she hates Meghan, would benefit somehow from getting to know you a little better. We were all planning on meeting Kat later today. You should tag along." The look in Jodi's eyes suggested that if I rejected her offer, she'd be disheartened.

I put on my best fake-smile and nodded, "Sounds fun." I said, as nonchalantly as possible.
Jodi squealed again and squeezed my upper arms.

"How come Kat isn't part of the whole... thing?" It'd never really been a primary concern of mine that Meghan wasn't involved in this gang business, but my curiosity was piqued.

   Jodi seemed to go stiff at the question, looking around her cautiously she crooked a finger and slipped into a small closet to our left. I followed her.

   She propped herself up on a shelf and motioned for me to shut the door.

   After she'd locked it from the inside, she tugged on a string and a black-light came on. I shielded my eyes from the glare but eventually managed to accustom myself to it.

   A blue hue set over the room.

  "Here's the deal - I tell you about the mystery around Kat and you keep it hush, hush." She raised an indignant finger, "you don't know how you came across this information, and if you tell anyone I told you... Sweetheart act goes out the window. I'm part of a gang and telling you this will set me on the road to a downward. Spiral." She emphasised her last two words, I didn't doubt this would be detrimental to her position here. Her sternness unsettled me.

   Maybe the receptionist was right when she told me that looks could be deceiving...

   "Kat has always been too good to be true. When she first started getting involved with all the gang stuff, we were-" she paused to think of the right word, "-unsettled by her indifference to the most heinous of incidents. Even Devon was dubious about her uncanny lust for blood. I mean - butter wouldn't melt in her mouth!" Jodi's face was almost comical, her disbelief was evident even now, "eventually she became uncontrollable, we would go out on the simplest of missions and end up hauling broken and bruised bodies back to the house with us"
   I winced at the thought of KAT doing that to someone. Alone. Sheer brute.

   "Devon eventually deemed she was too unstable to be involved in the gang. She was drawing far too much attention towards us. The most important thing about a big operation like this, is that we stay on the DL. Kat wasn't making it easy..." Jodi took a breath and levelled me with a stare, "...so we staged an operation that we knew would force her to leave, we paid some upcoming members to act as faux cops to shake her up a bit..."
   "We staged an important operation that we knew would spiral out of control - it did, she killed someone. In come the fake cops, we all scramble and left her totally alone. She didn't fight them, oddly enough, she just broke down into tears - real tears - and pleaded her innocence."
   "There was a fake compromise between the "police" and Devon in which we claimed they'd agree to let it slide given they never see her involved in gang violence again. Those were our terms. Fortunately enough, the idea of being locked up for years on end wasn't appealing to the psychopath and she quit."

   Jodi took a breath and bared her palms, "to this day, she won't set foot back here."

   I released a breath and shook my head, "I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't that..." I admitted, "so innocent, harmless, away-with-the-fairies Kat is actually a raging affection-less psychopath?" I said, more to myself than Jodi.

   Jodi hummed her agreement and hopped off the shelf, "There you have it. Still wanna' meet her later?" She said, as a joke of course, but the urge to say "NO" danced along my tongue.

   I followed her from the closet after she'd unlocked it and we headed out separate ways after she gave me a final hug.

   I walked straight into Devon. He looked mad.

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There's your long awaited info on Kathrine. Soooo welcome 🤗

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