CHAPTER 123: 123-IAN’S OFFER

Clementine:

"I’m your friend. Open the door. I need to get inside. That monster is out there. It’s waiting for me to look into her eyes," the little boy said urgently, making me keep staring Haiden in the eye. We were alert at this point, but I don’t think Yorick was at the same level as we were, because he spun around as if to head for the door, out of the bedroom, and who knew where else.

The moment he took one step out of the bedroom, Haiden rushed behind him and held him from the back, dragging him into the room. But Yorick was quick. He elbowed him in the face, making Haiden let him go for a few seconds. That’s when I rushed in and spread my arms in the doorway, stopping him.

"Clementine, get out of the way," he warned me.

"No, that’s not your friend," I said, my eyes moving toward the boarded window.

"Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t even care about you," the boy complained from behind the window. Yorick looked at me again after giving the window a brief glance.

"Yorick, you need to open your eyes. How can your friend be here?" I said, watching him shake his head.

"That is him. I need to save him," he said.

It was confusing to me. Why was a young boy friends with this grown man?

"My friend, come on, open the door. I’m scared."

Rocco—that was the name of the boy Yorick mentioned.

"Clementine, I don’t want to hurt you. Please get out of the way," Yorick said, but at that time Haiden had also returned. He was now standing in front of me, between us.

"You’re gonna get us all killed," Haiden said before pushing Yorick back.

"Oh, really? You only care about yourself. That’s the truth about you. You don’t care if someone is out there dying," Yorick argued. Then he looked at me. "Of all people, I would expect you to get out of the way. And don’t use your power over me, because you know I will never push you. That would be so messed up for you to use against me."

"You don’t understand, Yorick. It is not your friend. How do you expect a young boy to survive in the north and come the same night when there is a monster outside who can mimic your loved ones?" I hissed at him, frustrated because I didn’t even know why that boy was so important to him. We had only dated for one month, so of course we didn’t have time to ponder on each other’s past.

"What is going on?" It was Troy, probably woken up by the commotion.

"Ah, one of you is hearing the monster mimic their loved ones?" Ian complained from the couch, turning around to give us his back before falling asleep again.

We all stared at him, like we always do, and then looked back at Yorick, who was also staring at Ian. I guess realization was hitting him, because he closed his eyes and stepped back until he met the bed and sat down.

"Go away, you’re not Rocco," Yorick yelled, letting the imposter know he was not falling for the tricks.

"Ah, so I will die once again because of you?" The way the monster said it in a childish tone, and the way we all shared a glance before looking at Yorick, was creepy. What did he mean by again? Did Yorick do something in the past? Is that why he was hearing his friend’s voice? But none of us spoke a word. We just stood there in silence.

Yorick got up, walked among us, and went to lie down on the couch.

"Okay, listen, we can’t have just one person stay awake, because if the mimic gets to them, they’re done. We need two people. That way, if one starts falling for it, the other can stop them," Troy explained in his usual rambling way. That was his specialty. At least we understood.

"Then Clementine and I will stay awake."

However, Haiden took the chance, and I guess Troy didn’t like it because he instantly wagged his finger.

"No, she’s too tired. She will sleep. You and I will stay awake." Troy gently hit Haiden on the chest, letting him know to leave the room.

"Fine." In a very grumpy tone, Haiden agreed, walking out of the room after giving me one last glance.

I have been to the North before, and we had our nights here. Even when I spent one of those nights just walking across the road with a baby in my arms, it was never this uncomfortable. Lying in that bed after I had shed off the sheets, because I didn’t know who slept there last, I felt so fucking weird. The room felt alive, not like someone hadn’t slept there for years, and that made it so uncomfortable for me.

However, whenever I opened my eyes, I saw the door half ajar with a view of Troy and Haiden walking around, talking, sitting. That gave me comfort. I knew they were awake, so no danger was coming to get me or anyone else sleeping.

Somewhere in the middle of the night they must have switched, because when I woke up early morning, I saw Ian and Yorick sitting up while the other two were sleeping.

"Why didn’t you guys wake me up? I could have done a shift too," I said, rubbing my eyes as I stood in the doorway of the bedroom.

Ian turned to look at me while Yorick lowered his head before turning toward me.

"We decided we wouldn’t ask you to wake up for a round," Yorick said, and Ian started to chuckle while looking away. His response made me think he was making fun of the fact that the alphas were hitting on me and trying to impress me.

I walked back to the bedroom and then to the bathroom, where I washed my face. After flossing, I walked out and sat with them on the stairs where they were sitting now.

"There’s plenty of food. You should eat something," Yorick said as he handed me a bag of chips.

"Chips for breakfast, wow. An ideal breakfast for a kid," I said, laughing at the fact that I never had the chance to eat anything good growing up. I would sneak into the kitchen and steal whatever I could find, which explained why I was always getting in trouble.

The maids were nice enough to me, to be honest. They would always get me food, but then my stepmother would somehow find out. The maids would take the blame and get punished for me. That’s why I wanted the best for my pack because I knew they weren’t bad people, just scared. In fear, they couldn’t help me or any other victims. I mean, they were victims themselves.

"Do you want to explore the second and third floor?" Ian asked, pointing upward and it caught me off guard.