Chapter 9
NINE
CONNOR
My mom and dad were too quiet.
I knew them well enough now from family vacations that Dad snored and Mom mumbled in her sleep. Usually about something Nova was doing, or my dad, but I had never heard her sleep yell at me for anything, so I assumed I was her favorite.
But tonight, neither of them was making any noise.
We were all placed into different rooms; our family was given the downstairs basement area, which had pool tables, a few couches, and really soft carpet.
I was on the floor in a sleeping bag, right next to my little sister, and my parents were on the pull-out couch, huddled close and from the sounds of it, whispering.
I held my breath, trying to listen. Thankfully down here the wind from the storm wasn’t as bad, and it was warm from the water heater or something like that. Dad explained it, but I wasn’t listening.
Not like now. I was right below their feet, so I should be able to hear them if I just…
“I can’t stop worrying that this is going to be the worst Christmas for our kids, and I know I’m being selfish, but they’re the ones I’m most worried about,” Mom whispered.
I heard my dad kiss her then reply, “They’re going to be okay, Pen. We’re together and that’s all that matters.”
“I know, but they’re not going to have any decorations or presents. Why can’t we leave and at least go to our house to grab a few things?”
I perked up at that. I really wanted to get my Nintendo Switch, and if we could at least go home to grab a few things, it would make all of this so much easier.
My dad waited a second then responded with a sigh. “Pen, they shot at us. On the road, in the middle of the day, while our kids were in the car. They knew where we were going to be…they are watching our homes. Which is why we’re here. We can’t go back, not until we know it’s safe.”
My mom seemed to accept that because they stopped whispering, and after a few minutes, they both seemed to fall asleep. Dad was snoring, and Mom was breathing in a way that told me she was out. I couldn’t seem to fall asleep, so I slid out of my sleeping bag and quietly walked toward the stairs.
I wasn’t even sure what I was going to do, but I knew that I wanted to walk around for a second.
Maybe see if I could find some way to help with decorations.
The door at the top of the stairs opened on quiet hinges as I slipped out.
The howling from the wind was the first thing I heard.
It was eerie and creepy, especially with all the lights off.
I always thought it was funny that this was supposed to be a dangerous motorcycle club, but any time us kids came around, it turned into an extra-large house that we were allowed to run and play in.
No one so much as cussed around us, or at least hadn’t in a very long time.
Most of the members became scarce when us kids were here, and I remember back when I was little, things weren’t always like that.
Members used to stay, hang out, and me and Ford would just hang with them.
It wasn’t until that first attack after we were born that things stopped.
A creak on one of the stairs had me twisting around in a panic, but Royce was slowly making her way down the staircase, her finger up to her lips, telling me not to be loud.
“What are you doing?” I whispered as she got closer.
She wore her unicorn pajamas that Ford made fun of her for being too old for.
I liked them though, mostly because they were familiar.
She’d been wearing unicorns on her pajamas since we were five years old; they were her favorite animal, even if they weren’t real.
Royce moved closer to me, ducking as if she didn’t want to be seen. “I wanted some water, what are you doing up?”
“I don’t know, can’t sleep.”
There was another creak from the opposite side of the house, and Ford crept out from where his parents were staying.
Once upon a time, there was an apartment on the other side of the club, but Uncle Killian did something to it.
From what I remember, he just made it to where the apartment was inside the club, all connected now.
“What are you guys doing?”
Royce let out a sigh before crossing her arms. It bothered me that the two of them didn’t get along. They were my best friends, but the older we got, the more it seemed they hated being around each other.
Ford walked past Royce, hitting her shoulder as he went.
“Hey!” I whisper-yelled at Ford, but Royce gently pulled on the back of my shirt to get me to stop. I didn’t want to though. Not with the way Royce had nearly lost her footing.
Suddenly Rook appeared out of nowhere, silent as ever.
“What are we sneaking?”
Ford and Royce froze, while I pushed past the two of them and walked into the kitchen.
“I think there’s cookies in the pantry.” I clicked the overhead light in the large storage room and scanned the shelves.
The other three came over, and the four of us began searching the space for cookies. My foot shifted, emanating a creak from below us, which had all of us pausing and looking down.
“The old cellar,” Royce whispered, bending low to trace her finger over the small outline of a door.
Rook mirrored her movement and then I did too. I slightly remembered the cellar…but it had been years.
Royce reached for the metal handle. “We should see if there’s any Christmas decorations down there. Maybe cheer up the kids after the Mickey Mouse ones didn’t work.”
“We could get in trouble if anyone comes looking,” Ford said, looking around.
Rook moved to help while waving us off. “We can just tell them we were looking for more blankets.”
Rook pulled up, and Royce helped him lift the door. Lights flicked on underneath, lighting up the concrete floor and wooden steps leading down into the cellar.
“You go first. It was your big idea.” Ford nudged Royce, but she elbowed his arm in return.
“I’m not afraid.” Her bare feet hit the first step, and I rushed to join her.
She turned her head, her blonde hair flying as she looked at my hand that was now holding hers. She stopped walking, but I kept going. “I said I’m not afraid.”
I ignored her, scaling the steps until we’d reached the very bottom.
“I know.”
Rook and Ford followed after us, and once we were on the floor, we collectively stared at the large shelves and boxes around the room.
“Where do we even start looking?” Royce asked, with a slight tremble in her voice.
The floor was freezing, so I knew she had to be cold.
Letting her hand go, I moved to one of the storage shelves, inspecting all the supplies. Rook and Ford moved around to different parts of the cellar, sifting through things.
“Do you remember who Red was?” Ford asked, poking through a large box.
I turned toward them, shaking my head. “I think she died before any of us were old enough to meet her.”
“Isn’t this you, Connor?” Ford held up a framed photo of a baby being held in some woman’s arms who had white hair and a huge smile. My mom was next to her, so was Aunt Natty.
“That is me.”
Royce moved in, looking over my shoulder. “So you did know her then.”
I wanted to trace the woman’s smile because the way she was looking down at me, she must have loved me.
“There are more pictures in here,” Rook said, sifting through a box.
I started digging through it too, seeing picture after picture of this woman with my family.
It made me wonder about back then, when things were different.
When my mom and dad were just getting together from what they told me, at least. Dad had once told me all of it.
The whole story about where I came from, the club he once led.
The club my biological dad sabotaged and the way they had to come to the Stone Riders for help.
Just then, the wind started blowing, but the whistling came through part of the back wall behind the shelves.
“What is that?”
Ford moved first, walking down the hallway between two tall shelves as the whistling sound picked up.
“There’s a door back here…or at least there used to be,” Ford called from his spot behind the shelves. We all moved until we were behind him, crowding the small piece of wall that was boarded up, save for a sliver of space where cold air was blowing through.
Royce pressed her fingers into the crack, and Ford watched the side of her face with a grim expression.
“They boarded up whatever used to be here, but it wasn’t sealed off.”
Rook bent down and pulled the rug away from where we were standing. “The whole floor is just cold cement, except right here. Why would they put a rug here?”
He pushed the rug back, revealing a small wooden hatch cut into the floor.
Rook glanced up and around at all of us before tossing the rug behind him. “So a secret door that’s sealed, and now a secret door in the floor?”
Royce knelt down next to him. “Looks like the door that we came through for the cellar.”
Her blue eyes moved up until they were locked on me. Then Rook followed, as if they were both waiting for me to say something.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“You’re the oldest,” Rook said, but Ford clicked his tongue.
“By like two months.”
I crouched down and pulled on the metal handle, but it wouldn’t budge.
Royce was about to move in to help me, but Ford nudged her out of the way.
“Pull harder.”
Ford grunted as his shoulders heaved. “I’m trying.”
“Maybe we aren’t supposed to open it, maybe whatever is in there we aren’t supposed to see,” Royce said, placing her hands on top of the wood.
Right as she said it, we heard someone call for us from above the cellar.
We all straightened while Rook quickly moved the rug back over the floor.
“Let’s go.” I held my hand out for Royce, but she ignored it.
I glared at her while she walked past me.
Ford watched our interaction while running past Royce, so he was the first to exit the stairs.
I had no idea why my stomach felt weird watching it, but for some reason, I knew Ford rushed up there to make sure Royce didn’t get in trouble.
I looked down and pushed the weird feeling away, maybe they were finally going to be friends? That would be good.
But why did the feeling seem so bad?