Right Chapter….actually I don't know which chapter this is, but hopefully it will be a good 'un.
Dan lay spread-eagled on his bed, the subtle tone of Coldplay echoing from the CD player behind him. He rolled over onto his side, to face the wall, and carried on thinking. Thinking about what Hunter had said, was he a killer at heart? Did he love the kill? Would he like to kill again? He knew the answer to all these questions and hated them.
He didn't notice when Violet walked in, softly treading over the creaking floorboards. In two hands she held a cup of coffee, ignoring the pain from the heat that burnt her hands. She stared down at the hunched figure lying below her, once again contemplating the boy.
In the past two weeks that was what both of them had done, becoming moody and withdrawn, contemplating Hunters words. And as Violet had done so her thoughts had turned from Hunter and the death of her farther to the boy himself. Dan had become a dark, sullen withdrawn figure to most of the family, spending his time alone in his room or out on his quad. Where he had played with Dash he now ignored him. Once again Violet wondered what Hunter had done to the boy while they where in captivity. For how long had he whispered dark thoughts into Dans ears?
Dash two had changed, he was still a fiery, lively child, but now there was a mature glint to his eye and manner. Violet knew where it came from and suspect that she had it herself. It was the look that came from the loss of a parent.
"Coffee?" she said, the boy before her started and looked round, always on guard. When he saw it was only Violet he relaxed.
"Thanks." He took the cup from her and took a deep sip while she placed herself on the end of his bed, ducking under the beams of the top bunk.
"You okay?" She asked, "Your moms worried about you."
"She is?" Dan replied in his strong Yorkshire lilt, "Aye, well I can't blame her, I've been pretty bad these past few days." He looked at Violet in the eyes and she glanced away, afraid of the dark secrets those eyes held. She looked down and swathe cuts on his wrists, he saw her glance and quickly pulled his sleeve down. "Things have been pretty bad over these last few days," He repeated, "What with Hunter and all. You heard didn't you."
Vi nodded and blushed as she felt a sense of admiration for the boy come over her, she didn't know from where. Maybe it was how incredibly honest the boy was, after all he'd been through he still didn't lie. She nodded again. "Yeah, I did."
"Did they?" By they he meant the rest of the family, had they heard what Hunter had said?
"No."
"What do you think?" Ah, the dreaded question, the one that Violet had been mulling over herself for the few days. Was Dan a killer? Did he like people to fear him? She rembered his face as he had fought Hunter, the terrible pain on face, but she knew that there had been joy there too. Joy of a fight. And then she rembered the devastation that he had wreaked upon Hunter layer. The Bodies.
"I don't think that your evil Dan." She replied at last, "I think you're a fighter, and you enjoy the fight, and I think you can kill. I think that you don't regret killing, but I don't think you enjoy it. I think…I think that…"
"You think what I think." Dan interjected. "That's what I've been thinking about over the last few days. I know I should have felt remorse over, you know, the ones I killed, but I didn't. I know I should hate fighting, but I don't. But I don't enjoy either of those things." He finished speaking and smiled at Violet in a vaguely conspiratorial way.
"Have I taught you how to ride the bike yet?" They left the room together, and if you looked closely you might have seen they where holding hands.
There we go. There still a long way to go with this, even though it's now 16,588 words long. But where getting there. I'd say where about midway. Dan and Vi are starting to get together, Hunters suffered a setback and everyone's growing up a bit.