19

The rain was still pouring outside, so I focused on its steady drumming.

A man in the distance stumbled out of an unknown car, parked in front of the house. He was clutching his ribcage while running up to the front door.

Oliver cocked the gun in his hand before looking over at me. "Grab a weapon." He uttered, his eyes wide with alertness. I searched the kitchen and grabbed a rusty butcher's knife from one of the drawers. Ellie was already holding a machete in her hands, she was frozen into silence.

"Help!" The man yelled as soon as he reached the front door. "Luke! Michael! Open up, please! I need your help! I know you're in there!" He desperately yelled as the rain continued pouring down his face.

"Oliver- how did you find this place?" I asked my brother in suspicion.

"We were searching for places to stay, remember?" He asked me.

"Don't bullshit me, tell me what's really going on." I angrily demanded, my voice mingling with the sound of the thunder as it roared outside.

"Dad gave me the address- back in the city. He told me to make it seem like we discovered it ourselves. He didn't want me to tell you or the others that he suggested this place." Oliver explained. "And with good reasons, you were going through a lot at the time."

"And when did you become the devil's advocate?" I asked Oliver and he ran a tired hand over his head.

"I'm not. I'm just saying that if Dad didn't tell me about this place, God knows what could've happened to you. I just wanted you to be safe, Hailey-Jade. That's why I kept this from you-"

"Yeah, and now there's a guy at the door, calling Luke and Dad!" I whisper-yelled at Oliver. "What if Marco sent him?" I asked, my eyes wild with fear.

"If it was Marco, we'd know. Trust me-"

"Hey, assholes! Our guy just collapsed." Ellie told us and I roughly pulled the door open. I frowned down at the man lying in front of us. Cooper kicked him over onto his back.

"Let's take him inside," I told Ellie and Oliver, and together we carried an unconscious unknown man, who could possibly be a threat to us, into our house.

Oliver sat the guy down on a chair inside the living room before tying him up with some rope.

He was heavy and wet from all the rain. His body seemed bloodied and bruised. His breath was shallow so I fixed his posture until his breathing evened out. Once it did, I did a little victory dance in my head.

"He's out like a light," Ellie uttered before curiously leaning into the man to get a closer look at him.

"Maybe don't- get too close to him," I warned her. "He could be infected for all we know," I told her before looking down at the bandage wrapped around my wrist.

"So, what? We're just gonna keep this guy here overnight and question him in the morning?" Ellie wildly asked us.

"Yes. That's exactly what we're gonna do." I told her. "We need to know how he knows my dad and Luke and what he knows about them. I mean why did he come looking for them here? On this farm."

"Right. I agree with, Hailey-Jade." Oliver told Ellie and she scoffed before watching us in disbelief.

"Majority rules, sweetheart," Oliver told her and she angrily stormed out of the living room. Oliver sat on a couch opposite the man. He tiredly rested his head in his hands.

"Keep your eyes on him," I uttered before I left the room. I walked up to the abandoned car in the driveway before making my way inside. I shut the door behind me to stop the rain from entering the car.

I rummaged through his glove compartment and found a bunch of medical reports inside. I grabbed the papers before going back to searching the car for anything remotely connected to the NecroVirus.

I grabbed his wallet from where it was lying on his dashboard. I opened it and found an ID safely tucked into his wallet.

"DeAndre Williams." I softly read the name written on his ID. My dad never mentioned a DeAndre but then again- he didn't mention anything about the NecroVirus or that he created it.

As I reached to open the door, a sharp pain shot through my arm. I looked down to where the rotter bit me. Dark tendrils suddenly appeared under my skin, pulsing like living veins trying to push through.

My breathing hitched as I watched my arm in horror. I pulled my sleeve down so that it could cover my wrist before nervously climbing out of the car. I placed the medical reports inside my jacket and clutched it to my chest before I ran back into the house.

I ran upstairs and all the way inside my room. I undressed before throwing the reports onto my bed. The veins had now spread all across my body.

I stumbled into the bathroom to look myself in the mirror, and when I did, I was instantly filled with regret.

My eyes seemed unhuman and blue. I squeezed them shut again- praying that I was just busy hallucinating.

After a while, I pried my eyes open again. This time, they were glowing an icy shade of blue.

What the hell is happening to me?