Read Online The Dead in River City by S.A. McGarey - Free Book Online Page B

to her.
    She didn’t respond, simply taking comfort in being
held.
    After the moments of silence, Alan spoke again. “So
what about the other 9 years?”
    Kendra, still being held, replied. “I lived alone.
Since the day I left that bloodbath of a house, I’ve been alone. I drifted
around the city, going to different shelters. I was old enough to know that
there were places I could go, places that were off the streets. I got food when
I needed it, slept when I could, stayed as clean as I could, and did everything
I could to survive. By the time I was 16, I’d found a place to live, and a
means of surviving on much better terms.”
    “And what would that be?” Alan questioned her.
    “Someone wanted to take me in. I met them by sheer
chance. It was a small family, just the two parents and their son. They were a
religious family, nice people. They took me in out of the goodness of their
hearts, and I accepted. I had very little choice, and it beat living with my
original family. I don’t know that I ever trusted them fully. It’s hard to
trust a new family when the patriarch of the old family was a drunken, abusive
rapist. With the new family, I took a chance.” Kendra continued.
    “Hmm.” Alan hummed. “How did that work out for you?”
    “Pretty good, for awhile.” She replied. “Of course,
all good things come to an end. The couple that took me in, Richard and
Victoria were their names, were great people. They were nice, caring, and they
showed me a lot of love. The son, however, was a different story. He was a
little younger than me, about 15 years old, and he was a massive pain. He was
the stereotypical rebellious kid, hated religion, and unfortunately for me,
seemed to have a crush on me. I can’t tell you how many times I had to smack
him for making advances. He’s lucky I didn’t break his hands. After living
there for 2 years, I’d gotten so sick of him that I’d decided to leave. Richard
and Victoria never knew the real reason I left. I lied and said I wanted t go
out on my own. Before I left, they gave me a parting gift of $1000 and told me
I was welcome to come around any time.”
    “You ever see ‘em again?” Alan asked.
    “A couple times, yeah.” She continued. “Until the
day I went to see them and they were gone. I got inside and saw the house had
been ransacked, essentially turned upside down, and generally just really
screwed up. A few minutes of searching turned up nothing, save for the bodies
of Richard and Victoria. It looked like they had a few stab wounds. I didn’t
know what happened, but I knew they didn’t deserve it.”
    Alan was enamored with the story by this point. “Did
you ever find out who did it?”
    Kendra continued her story. “Oh yes, I most
certainly did. The stupid little prick that they called a son had a group of
friends that were far from being pillars of the community. They were as close
to a gang as you could get without being labeled a gang. I saw a news report a
few days after I found their bodies, and the police had arrested their son, and
his little group of friends. They cracked under interrogation, admitting that
they were stealing money and valuables from them so they’d have money for
drugs. Richard caught them in the middle of the night, and one of the boys
stabbed him. Victoria heard the struggle and came out as well, only to be
stabbed mere moments later. I ended up going to the funeral, but couldn’t bear
to stay for the whole thing. I’ve been on my own since then. Used the money as
a few months rent on an apartment, got a job to keep making payments, and had
as normal of a life as I could.”
    Alan was still holding her. He had become captivated
by her story, and didn’t realize until this moment that he’d never been closer
to Kendra. He was comforting her as best as he knew how, and for a moment, they
both forgot that they were in the middle of Hell on Earth. There, in that dim
library, Alan and Kendra shared stories about their