Dark Season: The Complete Third Series (All 8 books) (7 page)

"It's all true," Evan says. "We've known this day would come for a long time".

"It's true," Benjamin says "and it's imperative that we leave immediately".

"What's the rush?" I ask. "Can't I..." I turn to see Ruth and Evan hugging again, lost in their own world of joy, and it occurs to me that they don't need me any more. I was the fake daughter, the one who didn't quite work out. Now they're going to have a child of their own. "Can't I have one more..." I start to say, and then I realize it would be pointless to stay another moment. Part of me wants one more night in my old bed, one more night in my old room, one more breakfast at the same old table. "Are we leaving right now?" I ask.

"You can bring a bag," Benjamin says. "We have a van with plenty of space".

Ten minutes later, I've packed a large hold-all and I'm standing at the front door. Apart from some clothes, it turns out I didn't really have that much I wanted to take with me anyway. Benjamin, Todd and the woman are waiting out in the van, and now - somehow - I'm supposed to say goodbye to Evan and Ruth. To be honest, over the years I came to resent them, and until yesterday I just wanted to get away from them. Now that I'm being
pulled
away, though, I suddenly realize how much I'll miss them. For one thing, I want to see their happiness when Ruth gives birth. It feels like they're finally going to get the family they want, and I feel sad that I won't get to be a part of it.

"I'll come back," I say, close to tears. "I'll come back and visit. I'll come and see your kid". The words sounds so strange coming from my mouth. I'm still not used to the fact that suddenly I'm talking, like a normal person.

"We look forward to it," Ruth says. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she puts a hand on either side of my head. "I want you to remember," she says, barely able to talk through her sobs, "that you can always come back to us. I want you to know that we'll always love you, because to us you'll always be
our
daughter, okay? I'm sorry we weren't the best parents, but we love you so
so
much". She breaks down crying. Not knowing what else to do, I put my arms around her.

"She means it," Evan says. "You'll always be in our hearts, Abby".

"I know," I say. "I have to go and meet my father. You understand that, right?"

"We wouldn't let you do anything else," Ruth says.

Realizing I'm close to tears, I give them both another hug before turning and walking away. After fantasizing about getting away from here for so long, suddenly I feel like I don't want to go. I guess I'm scared to find out what my father's like. I mean, what if he's not a nice guy? As I reach the end of the driveway, I spot a familiar figure walking along the road, headed straight for my house. It's Donna, grinning like the psychotic bitch that she is. "Hey, fuck-head," she says, with a look of pure, delighted evil in her eyes. She's carrying a small cake. "I came to take your family up on their kind dinner invitation. I hope you're hungry".

"Whatever," I say as I walk past her. "Go fuck yourself".

As I walk away towards the van, I don't even look back, but I see Donna's stunned face reflected in the window as I climb into the passenger seat. Todd starts the engine and the van pulls away. I know it seems crazy to just go off with a bunch of strangers like this, but I trust Evan and Ruth when they say that this is the right thing to do. Besides, they're going to have a baby of their own - a
real
baby - and they don't need me around for that. I also get the feeling that maybe - just maybe - I'm going to find out the truth about who I really am, where I came from, and why I feel so different to everyone else. I've never been the kind of person who believes in things like destiny and fate, but right now I have this strange feeling deep inside that what I'm doing is right. Still, I'm scared. Terrified, actually. Something tells me this isn't going to be easy.

Chapter Eight

"So are you avoiding me or something?"

Staring straight ahead, I try to ignore Abby. After traveling non-stop for two days, we've finally taken a break at an all-night diner just outside Dedston. Since we left New Mexico, I've barely said a word to Abby. There are two problems here: first, I have no idea what to say to her; and second, her resemblance to Sophie is too spooky for words. It's as if someone has dug Sophie up and given her the mind of this dumb-ass teenage girl. I don't know what I was expecting from Abby, but so far she seems scarily normal. I was probably assuming that she'd be the spitting image of Patrick, but I guess there must be some of his personality buried inside her as well. She can't just be a younger clone of Sophie. For all these reasons, and more, I guess I
have
been avoiding her.

"I'll take that as a yes," she says, sitting on the stool next to me.

"I'm not avoiding you," I reply, turning to her. "I just don't know what we're supposed to talk about when -" I stop, stunned once again by the fact that she looks so much like Sophie. "Never mind," I say, looking back down at my drink.

"Do I look like her?" she asks.

"Yeah," I reply.

There's a pause. "Does it make you feel weird?"

I take a deep breath. "Yeah".

There's a sudden gurgling sound from next to me. Turning, I see that she's using a straw to get to the last drops of milkshake at the bottom of her glass. "Sorry," she says sheepishly.

"Don't apologize," I say.

She smiles. "Did my Mom like milkshakes?"

I think about it for a moment. "You know what? I don't think she did. Not so much, no".

"Well..." She pauses. "That's a difference, right?"

Finally, I smile. "Yeah," I say.

"I'm not used to talking," she says, tilting the glass to let the rest of the milkshake dribble into her mouth. "I've always been completely silent, and suddenly now I can chat away but I don't know if I'm doing it right. Am I talking too much?"

"No," I say, shaking my head. "It's just that I've got this..." I pause for a moment, watching her desperately trying to finish the drink. "For God's sake," I say, grabbing the glass and setting it on the counter. "Can we get another milkshake here?" The waitress smiles as she takes the glass to refill it.

"You're not like the others, are you?" she says.

"Who?" I ask

"Benjamin and Todd". She pauses for a moment. "You seem different".

"I guess so," I say.

"How well did you know my Mom?" she asks.

"Very well," I say.

"What was she like?"

I take a deep breath. "She was my best friend," I say after a moment. "She was also, at times, a god-damned idiot. Seriously, kid, she made some dumb choices".

There's an awkward pause as the waitress sets a new milkshake on the counter. "How did she die?" Abby asks eventually.

I glance at the waitress, and I can see from the look on her face that she's overheard part of our conversation. "You should ask Benjamin," I tell Abby. "He's the one with all the answers".

"I'm asking you," she replies. "Benjamin keeps telling me he'll give me answers when it's the right time, but I want to know now. I mean, I'm not gonna get to meet her, so I figure I at least deserve to know what happened". She waits for me to say something. "The more you guys refuse to tell me," she says after a pause, "the more worried I'm getting about the answer".

"It's complicated," I say.

"That's what Benjamin keeps telling me. You're just like him".

"I'm
nothing
like him," I say. "Look, if two people say the same thing, then maybe you should just accept it's true? Have a little patience".

"Why's it such a big deal?" she asks.

"It's not!" I reply, exasperated. I just want to stand up and walk out of here. I could be in New York right now, partying and drinking and not worrying about any of this. Instead, I'm sitting at a diner, close to a town I left sixteen years ago and to which I swore never to come back, and I'm being pestered by a girl who looks like the ghost of my dead best friend. We're the only people in here, apart from the bored-looking waitress. Todd and Benjamin are outside, working on the van. I kinda wish they'd come and join us, if only so I wouldn't have to talk to Abby so much. I look over at the window and see the van outside on the dark forecourt. Something moves over at the other side of the window, but by the time I look over, it's gone. I wait a moment, but I guess I must have imagined it. Lack of sleep, probably. "Just leave it alone for now, okay?" I say eventually, hoping to shut her up.

We sit silent for a few minutes. "Were my parents happy together?"

I can't help but smile. "If only you knew," I tell her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," I say.

She sighs. "I guess I'll have to ask my Dad when we get to him," she says. "Hopefully he's a little more talkative than the rest of you".

"I wouldn't count on that," I say. At that moment, I hear something directly overhead. Looking up, it sounds for a moment as if something is running across the roof of the diner.

"Did you hear that?" Abby asks.

I turn to her. "Yeah," I say. Behind her, I see the door open and Todd hurries in. I immediately tense up as I see the worried look on his face.

"We need to get out of here," he says, with a sense of urgency in his voice. He grabs Abby's arm. "Let's go".

I want to laugh, but I can tell from Todd's concerned expression that something's wrong. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see something move over by the window again. This time, when I look over, I see an indistinct shape move up the pane of glass on the outside, quickly disappearing out of view. Looking up, I hear something scuttling across the roof again.

"What was that?" Abigail asks, clearly concerned.

"Nothing," I tell her.

"Tenderlings," Todd says. "I knew something like this would happen. We have to go". He damn-near pulls her off the stool, marching her to the door. She still has her milkshake. I follow, starting to worry about how things are going. When Benjamin said the other day that 'things' would start seeking Abigail out, I kinda thought we'd have a little longer before they'd show up. I knew we might be in danger, but I didn't know it would be quite so direct.

"What's a Tenderling?" Abby asks, turning to me. "What the fuck's going on?"

I shrug, trying not to worry her too much. I think I heard Sophie mention Tenderlings once, but I can't remember what she said. Sophie used to talk about a lot of crazy stuff. "Let's just go," I tell Abby. "We can talk about it later".

"It's not safe to be here," Todd says as we reach the door. "There's not a -" Suddenly a face appears at the window directly in front of us. I feel my blood start to run cold as I stare at the horrific creature: it's like some kind of small red goblin with bright yellow eyes, and it seems to be resting on the side of the building, clinging to the glass and looking intently at Abigail. It doesn't look very friendly.

"What the fuck is that?" Abigail says, backing away. I grab her arm.

"Stay calm," Todd says, but moments later another of the creatures appears at the window. Reaching forward, Todd locks the door.

"Hey!" shouts the waitress from behind the counter. "What the -" Suddenly she falls silent, which I guess means she's seen that more and more Tenderlings are starting to swarm outside the window. They're scratching at the glass now, trying to find a way in.

"I know this is probably a silly question," I say, turning to Todd, "but are those things dangerous?"

"Something's wrong," he says as more and more Tenderlings appear outside. "Tenderlings are solitary creatures. They don't hunt in packs like this. They're dumb, solitary creatures. I've never even seen two together before..." By now, there must be twenty of the things outside, all trying to get into the diner, and more are appearing at the window every second.

"Where's Benjamin?" I ask, starting to feel as if we're seriously outnumbered.

"He's outside somewhere," Todd says.

"By any chance, does he have a flamethrower?"

"What the hell's going on?" Abby says, turning to me. "What the fuck have you got me into? Who are you people?"

"It's okay," Todd says. "There can't be that many of them. Just wait until I give the signal, and then run out through the back door".

"Run?" I say. "Is that your big idea? Is that what years of being a Watcher have taught you to do?"

"What's a Watcher?" Abby asks.

"You want to stay in here?" he asks, just as one of the Tenderlings opens its mouth and bites straight through the window, smashing the glass. Realizing that the technique worked, the others start doing the same.

"Now!" Todd shouts. The three of us turn and run, making our way through to the diner's kitchen and straight out the back door. As we go, a Tenderling appears straight in front of us; without thinking, I push it out of the way, feeling its slimy red body against my hands. We run a few meters from the diner and then Abigail trips and falls; her milkshake falls to the ground and the glass breaks. I help her up, glancing back and seeing that the Tenderlings are literally swarming all over the diner, tearing the building apart. It's as if they haven't noticed that we've escaped yet. Moments later, the waitress comes running out the front door, with three or four of the creatures hanging onto her. She doesn't get far before she falls to the ground and the Tenderlings start ripping chunks of flesh from her body.