The Skeleton In Me

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Cousin and I began to walk again only a few hours later. At first I tried to fill the silence with uplifting words, like how we were going to make it, and that it shouldn't be much father. I didn't really know what to say, since only hours ago he asked me to kill him, again.

I admit, it's hard to recover from that.  

The sun was beginning to make its way into the sky at this point, and I begin to worry that along with daylight, came people, and an audience was the last thing we needed right now. Besides, he's had his fair share of audiences, and I was sure he wouldn't want to see another anytime soon.

We had to stop multiple times, due to him fallen to the ground in exhaustion, and I tried to hard not to act concerned that we weren't moving quick enough, but God, I was concerned.

During one of our many stops, I eagerly scouted ahead, hoping I could find anything more than just plain fields, and a road.

The sun was lighting up the dirt, and the warmth of the June weather was hastily increasing, and I hoped we could find trees for shade before the sun began to beat down on us. Cousin's skin was whiter than mine, and the last thing I wanted was for him to get a nasty burn.

I almost gave up searching and began to head back to Cousin when I noticed a speck in the distance. The longer I stared at it, I realized it was a building.

Excited surged through my body, as I ran back to Cousin, who was leaning up against a large rock. "There's a building." I tell him quickly, "Over there." I pointed the direction of the speck, "It's not that far, I think we can make it, maybe someone there can help us."

He stared at me, but said nothing, not that I expected him to.

I offered to help him to his feet, but he recoiled when I reached out to him. I quickly stepped back, my heart suddenly feeling heavy at the thought of him thinking I'd hurt him.

I forced myself to shake it off.

"Come on." I tell him, and we both walked through the field, much slower than I wanted, but as long as he was moving, I refused to complain.

The closer we got to the building; I began to make out what it was. It was an old barn, one that looked as though it'd collapse with only a small gush of wind.

It did not look safe, but it was our only hope for any sort of help. There had to be something inside to help us, canned food, or perhaps by miracle; some water.

There was a large hole on the side of the barn, and as we approached it, I knew we could easily slip through the hole where a wooden board must have been.

I pulled myself through the hole and waited for Cousin to follow me through. For a long moment, I thought he wouldn't, but he surprised me by slipping in only a moment later.

The barn looked even worse on the inside. There were empty stalls where animals used to be, the wood broken, and rotting. This barn must date back a century, maybe even longer.

I searched around the barn, heartbroken that we couldn't find anything, but not surprised either. I was about to call for Cousin so we can leave, but something on the floor caught my attention. There was a hatch, on the floor of one of the stalls.

The barn had a basement.

Curious, I open the hatch, and look down, the room was lit, and for a second I feared I'd see someone inside, but as I climbed down the ladder, I was sure nobody was in the room.

The light that was on was an old lightbulb, and I was astonished that it was still on. Whoever turned it on must not be far, as there is no way a bulb that old can last long.