Read Online Between the Cracks and Burning Doors: Book 2 of The Extraction List Series by Renee N. Meland - Free Book Online
Authors: Renee N. Meland
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startled myself when a laugh escaped from my own lips. It crept up on me, like a car taking an unexpected corner. “What, stupid like helping someone else bury a body? Is that the kind of stupid you’re talking about?”
Maybe it was the sleep deprivation. Maybe we were both just really sick people. Whatever the reason, we just sat there laughing. We laughed until our ribs hurt and we could barely breathe. When we had finally exhausted ourselves, she turned to me. “Just keep your head down and you’ll be fine. Trust me.”
I didn’t yet, but I was starting to.
The next morning, two children showed up at the church door. I had only gone to bed a couple hours beforehand. By the time Nick and I got home from Maureen’s, neither of us spoke, we were so exhausted.
The morning came sooner than I wanted it to. The sun peeked through a crack in the curtains, drawing a line from the window to one of my eyes. I forced myself to open them. When I heard the knock on the front door, Nick didn’t even stir.
Each child carried a gift basket, stuffed so high that I couldn’t see either of their faces; they just looked like wicker baskets with legs, bursting with canned food, fruit, and even some doughnuts. The baskets were so big that I thought the children might tip over. I thought at first that they were trying to sell me something. “Who are you?”
The first child smiled brightly. “Maureen sent us. Said we’re gonna live with you now.” She dug into her pocket and produced a small white piece of paper.
I hoped she wasn’t about to ask me to bury another body.
I carefully unfolded the paper, bracing myself for impact. Instead, I found myself smiling.
We’re having a two-for-one sale on small people today. Buy-one-get-one-free, so to speak. Even comes with bonus packs. Can’t have you letting them starve, can I? –M.
Maureen wasn’t wrong. I really hadn’t thought past buying the children’s freedom. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I was now responsible for feeding them. My parents’ house was always full of food; it didn’t dawn on me until right then that they had to pay for that food with money that I wasn’t sure I had enough of. I was beginning to see there would be a lot more going into this than I thought.
I couldn’t keep them forever, that was for sure. What was I even supposed to do with a bunch of kids?
The woman on the TV flashed across my mind.
Of course. The blonde woman on the TV would get her bill passed. She missed her chance to rescue me, but somehow, she would be able to help them. I’d fill up the church as much as I could, and once the bill passed, she’d take it from there. She would save me after all, my guardian angel with nothing but a microphone and a camera.
I hoped.
Until then, though, I had two children on my porch with nowhere to sleep.
I shuffled them inside and had them carry their gift baskets up the stairs. As I put the food away, I asked them their names. Alexis’s big green eyes almost reminded me of Maureen’s, and I scolded myself for liking her simply based on that. Her parents were both arrested for robbing a store. She was eleven and had stayed with her grandmother for a year before running away. When she mentioned her grandmother, she squeezed her hands together and seemed to shift her weight from one foot to another. Quickly, she introduced the boy next to her. Felix was ten like Nick and had lived with his brother before he went to the grocery store and never came back.
That’s as far as I got in Felix’s story before I heard another knock at the door. Nick ran to the window faster than I could. “It’s just some guy; got a flannel shirt on.”
I grabbed him and pulled him from the window. “Get yourself and them to the basement. Now.”
They obeyed. For once, Nick didn’t ask me any questions.
It only took about a minute for the children to slip downstairs. I guessed they were used to following orders and staying out of
Maybe it was the sleep deprivation. Maybe we were both just really sick people. Whatever the reason, we just sat there laughing. We laughed until our ribs hurt and we could barely breathe. When we had finally exhausted ourselves, she turned to me. “Just keep your head down and you’ll be fine. Trust me.”
I didn’t yet, but I was starting to.
The next morning, two children showed up at the church door. I had only gone to bed a couple hours beforehand. By the time Nick and I got home from Maureen’s, neither of us spoke, we were so exhausted.
The morning came sooner than I wanted it to. The sun peeked through a crack in the curtains, drawing a line from the window to one of my eyes. I forced myself to open them. When I heard the knock on the front door, Nick didn’t even stir.
Each child carried a gift basket, stuffed so high that I couldn’t see either of their faces; they just looked like wicker baskets with legs, bursting with canned food, fruit, and even some doughnuts. The baskets were so big that I thought the children might tip over. I thought at first that they were trying to sell me something. “Who are you?”
The first child smiled brightly. “Maureen sent us. Said we’re gonna live with you now.” She dug into her pocket and produced a small white piece of paper.
I hoped she wasn’t about to ask me to bury another body.
I carefully unfolded the paper, bracing myself for impact. Instead, I found myself smiling.
We’re having a two-for-one sale on small people today. Buy-one-get-one-free, so to speak. Even comes with bonus packs. Can’t have you letting them starve, can I? –M.
Maureen wasn’t wrong. I really hadn’t thought past buying the children’s freedom. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I was now responsible for feeding them. My parents’ house was always full of food; it didn’t dawn on me until right then that they had to pay for that food with money that I wasn’t sure I had enough of. I was beginning to see there would be a lot more going into this than I thought.
I couldn’t keep them forever, that was for sure. What was I even supposed to do with a bunch of kids?
The woman on the TV flashed across my mind.
Of course. The blonde woman on the TV would get her bill passed. She missed her chance to rescue me, but somehow, she would be able to help them. I’d fill up the church as much as I could, and once the bill passed, she’d take it from there. She would save me after all, my guardian angel with nothing but a microphone and a camera.
I hoped.
Until then, though, I had two children on my porch with nowhere to sleep.
I shuffled them inside and had them carry their gift baskets up the stairs. As I put the food away, I asked them their names. Alexis’s big green eyes almost reminded me of Maureen’s, and I scolded myself for liking her simply based on that. Her parents were both arrested for robbing a store. She was eleven and had stayed with her grandmother for a year before running away. When she mentioned her grandmother, she squeezed her hands together and seemed to shift her weight from one foot to another. Quickly, she introduced the boy next to her. Felix was ten like Nick and had lived with his brother before he went to the grocery store and never came back.
That’s as far as I got in Felix’s story before I heard another knock at the door. Nick ran to the window faster than I could. “It’s just some guy; got a flannel shirt on.”
I grabbed him and pulled him from the window. “Get yourself and them to the basement. Now.”
They obeyed. For once, Nick didn’t ask me any questions.
It only took about a minute for the children to slip downstairs. I guessed they were used to following orders and staying out of
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