“Cassie…”
She shook her head, brushing aside the strands of hair that fell across her eyes. “No, I’m coming with you.”
Devon glanced wearily at the store then back at her. “She’ll be fine; she’s been through far worse than this. Now let’s get going, the sun is coming up,” Julian said briskly. “Luther open the back door.”
Luther sat in stunned silence for a moment, Devon’s hand tightened on hers as they all slowly turned their attention back to her. Cassie found herself staring defiantly back at them, her eyes narrowed, her chin tilted up. She knew she was not the Cassie that had been taken from them, that she had changed, but she was getting really tired of their strange, questioning looks. She may be tougher now, but at heart she was still the same person. Well, mostly, there were a few changes that were frightening and unsettling. Changes she wasn’t sure she would ever understand. She wasn’t even sure that she wanted to.
Luther sighed softly before leaning forward to push the button inside of the glove box, popping open the back door. Julian slid out the back and slammed the door behind him. Devon hesitated for a moment longer, but Cassie continued to cling to his hand, unwilling to let go. “Ok,” he relented after a moment.
“I’m coming too,” Liam said, shoving open the door and plunging into the brisk predawn air.
Cassie shivered in response. When they had fled their prison, she had been too hyped up on adrenaline and fear to really feel the cold, but now that she was safe with Devon again, the cold air seemed to pierce her to her bones. Devon slid out of the car, helping her out behind him. Cassie winced as her brutalized bare feet hit the ground. It was another thing she hadn’t felt until now, but her feet were bruised, cut, and bleeding. She glanced absently down, noting that she had somehow lost the nail on her pinky toe. She shuddered in disgust, looking quickly away from the bloodied mess of her feet.
“Are you ok?” Devon demanded, anger blazing from his eyes as he looked down at her wounded feet.
She managed a wan smile as she nodded. “I heal fast, remember?”
He glanced sharply up at her, a small smile curved his full mouth but his eyes remained hard. “I remember.” She grinned up at him, leaning forward to drop a soft kiss on his hard jaw. She may heal fast, but she couldn’t regenerate a toenail. “I’ll carry you.”
He bent to pick her up but Cassie quickly shook her head, holding up her hand to ward him off. “We’re both going to need to be ready in case something happens. I’m fine Devon, really.”
He studied her for a moment longer, before nodding briskly. “The door is open.” Cassie glanced over at Julian as he slipped through the darkened doorway. A moment of panic descended over her as he disappeared from view.
“Stay by me,” Devon ordered in a low voice.
Cassie nodded as they moved forward, entering the dark store. Her eyes found Julian instantly, standing amongst the shadows as he surveyed the building. The store smelled tantalizingly of oats, honey, corn, sweet feed, and leather. The sweet scent of food caused Cassie’s stomach to rumble in hungry response. Liam reached forward, searching for a light switch but Julian seized hold of his arm. “They’ll see the light if you do that.”
“You don’t think they haven’t already seen the headlights?” Liam retorted.
“The lights stay off,” Devon told him.
They moved slowly into the store. Cassie glanced wildly around, her senses on high alert for any hint of danger. Although it was dark, her eyes picked up most of the details. She kept her ears trained for any hint of movement, any furtive sound that might signal the impending attack of one of the monsters that haunted this town.
They crept slowly forward, the wooden floor boards squeaking softly under their weight. They passed by the glass countertop, there was a cash register placed neatly at the end of it. Inside the countertop was an array of jewelry tucked neatly, and oddly, next to some brutal looking hunting knives. Next to the glass countertop was a large display of penny candy set off to the left, with even more candy bars set up on the wall behind it.
“Those will come in handy,” Julian’s eyes were latched onto a foot long bowie knife behind the glass. It was well honed and completely lethal looking.
“Good thing this is a hunting community,” Liam said softly, his eyes focused on the back row of the store.
Hung neatly on the back wall was a wide assortment of crossbows and long bows. Cassie’s eyes widened on the weapons, a thrill of excitement shot through her. She suddenly itched to get her hands on one of those crossbows. It had always been her favorite weapon, and she excelled at it. Devon pulled her gently to the side, leading her past rows of brown Carhartt jackets, pants and coveralls. Across from the outdoor gear was a row of sweaters, sweatshirts, and long johns.
Devon paused to tug a jacket from the hanger. He slipped it gently around her shoulders, tugging it gently into place. She hadn’t realized she had been shivering until the warm material encircled her, drawing her attention to the goose bumps that covered her skin. She slipped her arms through the sleeves, relishing in the smooth inner lining and warm down that filled it. The sleeves were too big but Devon quickly rolled them back and snugged them into place.
She stared up at him, love filling her as he brushed the hair back from her face, his fingers lingered on her cheek. Cassie turned into his tender caress, so very happy to feel his touch once more. “There’s some food over here,” Liam said softly.
Cassie tore her attention away from Devon, her hand slipping easily into his as they moved further down the aisles. Liam and Julian were standing in the far left aisle that ran the length of the store. Freezers full of soda, ice cream, and frozen goods filled the wall. A row of canned foods, bagged foods, and junk food lined the shelves on her right.
Julian moved slowly toward the back of the store, his ice blue eyes alight in the glow from the coolers. Wide double doors opened into a large back room that was packed nearly to the ceiling with bags of animal feed. There was food for dogs and cats, but most of it consisted of cow and horse feed, with a stack of grain in the back for chickens, goats, and sheep.
“Everything you could possibly need in one little store,” Liam said softly.
Cassie walked over to the back wall. The room was held up by stilts, the backyard sloped down a steep rock and dirt hill. Staring out the window, she wasn’t surprised to find a mixture of tractors, mowers, trailers, and other assorted equipment in the back. There were also a few chicken coops and dog pens. Nausea twisted through her stomach, bile rose up her throat at the sight of the carnage of the animals that had once lived within those pens. They had been violently slaughtered and strewn about. Closing her eyes against the disgusting site, she turned stiffly away.