Shhhh, Claire whispered to her. Michaels okay. Its all going to be okay. She didnt know why she said thatit was a lie; it had to be a lie; theyd all seenwhat happenedbut something told her it was the right thing to say. And sure enough, Eves sobbing slowed, then stopped, and she covered her face with shaking hands.
Shane hadnt said anything else. He was still watching his dad, with the kind of intense stare most guys reserved for people theyd like to pound into hamburger. If his dad noticed, he clearly didnt care. He continued to pace, up and down. The guys hed brought with himwalking slabs of muscle in black motorcycle leather, shaved heads and tattoos and everythingwere standing in the corners, arms folded. The one whod killed Michael looked bored as he flipped the knife in his fingers.
Get up, Shanes dad said. Hed stopped pacing, and was standing right in front of his son. Dont you dare give me any crap, Shane. I told you to stand up!
You didnt have to do that, Shane said, and slowly stood, feet slightly apart. Ready to take (or give) a punch, Claire thought. Michael wasnt any threat to you.
Hes one of them. Undead.
I said he wasnt a threat!
And I say that you just dont want to admit your friends turned freak of nature on you. Shanes dad reached out and awkwardly punched Shane on the shoulder. It was supposed to be a gesture of affection, Claire supposed. Shane just rode with the blow. Anyway, done is done. You know why were here. Or do you need a reminder?
When Shane didnt answer, his father reached into his leather jacket and took out a handful of photographs. He threw them at Shane. They bounced off of Shanes chest, and he reflexively tried to catch them, but some drifted free and fell to the wood floor. Some slid over toward Claire and Eve.
Oh God, Eve whispered.
They were pictures of Shanes family, Claire guessedShane as a cute little boy, arm around an even tinier little girl with a cloud of curly black hair. A pretty woman standing behind them, and a man she could barely recognize as Shanes dad. No scar, back then. Hair cut short. He lookednormal. Smiling and happy.
There were other pictures, too. Eve was staring at one of them, and Claire couldnt make any sense of it. Something black and twisted and
Shane bent over and snatched it up, fumbling it back into the pile.
His house burned. He got out. His sister wasnt so lucky.
Oh God, that twisted thing was Alyssa. That was Shanes sister. Claires eyes filled up with tears, and she covered her mouth with both hands to hold in a scream, not because what was in the picture was grossit wasbut Shanes own father had made him look at it.
That was cruel. Really cruel. And she knew it wasnt the first time.