The rock dug into my side, but I had to lay still. The sun had just set and the occupants of the house we've been watching all day were getting ready to work the night shift somewhere. I could easily concentrate on the threats around us and forget about the sharp rock jabbing into my side.
We laid perfectly still as the occupants walked right by us, hidden in the small ditch. The moonlight plaid in our favor as it cast shadows from the bushes behind us, over our bodies.
"Ready?" Kyle twitched impatiently beside me.
"No," I whispered.
"I'm starving! Come on!"
"Kyle, keep your ass hidden until I give the okay. I don't want to go saving it this raid. I'll leave you to the parasites this time."
Kyle cursed me out under his breath, but I ignored him.
"Andy, the house clear?" I whispered as I kept my eyes on the now dark road. The car had pulled out of the driveway a good five minutes ago.
"Black as anything." He answered me.
"Let's do it." I shoved away from the ground and sprinted silently towards the back door.
We slipped in silently and found our way to the kitchen.
Kyle dropped his box on the floor and I immediately began to fill it, working fast, but organized. We could pack more if we didn't just throw all the food into the boxes.
Kyle and Andy moved through the kitchen, tossing me boxes and bags of food. I filled the boxes with no room to spare; making each food item fit perfectly beside the others. A pen wouldn't have fit in the tiniest hole by the time I was finished.
The night went smoothly as we hurried, invisible in our dark clothes, to every other empty house on the street.
It wasn't until our third night that we ran into trouble. Turns out the occupants of the house we were raiding had forgotten something, and returned back home to retrieve it.
The car lights flashed across the wall of the kitchen in front of all of us.
"It's got to be the neighbors pulling out of their driveway." Andy whispered.
"Stay low!" I hissed, ducking behind the counter.
I reached into my pocket and gripped my knife tight in my hand, pointed directly in front of me. I wouldn't hesitate to kill a parasite. With the vision of the one back in the caves, I was hoping to kill one.
The fairly large, middle-aged man walked up the front walkway. The motion light in the front lit up the yard as he approached the house.
"The back door," Andy whispered, shoving Kyle in the direction.
"No!" I growled. "It's too late."
The front door opened and the man whistled to himself as he wondered through the house.
Behind me, something hit the kitchen table and the candle that was on the center toppled over.
I bit my bottom lip until I tasted blood.
I spun around on the floor to see who made the racket. Andy and Kyle were both frozen on the floor. They were heading towards the back door. Why did I always need to save them?
"H-Hello?" The man stuttered. "Someone in here? You lost?" He flicked on lights as he moved through the house, towards the kitchen.
"No!" I yelled when Kyle reached out and grabbed onto his foot as he walked by him.
The man went down, smacking his face on the tile floor. He cried out, cupping his hands over his broken nose.
We all jumped to our feet, towering over the man.
"Who are you?" He cried out, shaking on the floor.
"You never saw us."
"I'm going to call a Seeker if you don't tell me who you are, please. I wont hurt you!" His sentence ended with that last statement. I couldn't bare to hear those words come out of the very mouth of a creature that caused Melanie whatever pain she inflicted when they captured her. I knew she wouldn't have went down without a fight.
I shoved the knife back in my pocket and we ran from the house.
"I think we should raid a few states away from here." Any said once we got in the car.
"Jared, man, you okay?" Kyle patted my back from the back seat and I flinched away from him. "Deep breaths, it was his own damn fault for coming back into the house. You've got a lot of anger locked up inside. It's something we all would have done."
He continued speaking, but I stopped listening. My mind wrapped around all the possible scenarios that Melanie went through when she was captured; how scared was she, did she feel anything, how much pain was she in when it happened, how she said her silent goodbyes-if she even had time to do that- how long she was awake or aware of what was happening to her… the questions went on and on as we drove in silence.
The last house we were raiding was closer to home, since we were making our way back. Kyle and Andy both still wanted to capture a parasite so we could experiment a little more. I didn't mind; if there was a way to get Melanie back somehow- save her- I would do it.
"Oh, this is too easy!" Kyle cheered as I pulled up behind a man walking his dog on the sidewalk. The street was a dead end road, so no cars were on it, besides ours.
Andy rolled down his window just enough for the man to hear his voice and not see his filthy face.
"Excuse me, sir." Andy said politely.
"May I help you?" The man asked, immediately approaching the car.
Kyle and I slipped out of the car and hurried around to where the man was standing.
The dog never even barked as me attacked its owner.
Once the man was limp in my arms, we shoved him in the backseat and hurried back home.