Secrets in the Dark 의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 5

Scorched marks clung to the edges of the brick beneath my fingertips.Black soot dusted my skin as I traced one of the darker patches, the powder crumbling beneath my touch. Someone had burned bodies here. Recently, judging by the smell still hanging between the abandoned buildings.Burned flesh.My stomach twisted.I pulled my hand away and wiped it against my jeans, but the smell seemed to follow me. It coated the back of my throat, bitter and thick, until I had to breathe through my mouth.I understood why people burned them.Everyone did now.You killed the dead, and then you burned what remained. It was the safest way to make sure they stayed dead.That didn’t mean I had to like it.“Violet.” Liam’s voice drifted from somewhere behind me. I ignored him, stepping around the corner of the vine-covered building.“Violet, can you please slow down?” His footsteps scraped against the pavement as he hurried to catch up. “You’re getting too far ahead for me to keep you safe.”“I don’t ne

The city looked different in daylight. Not better. Just easier to see. Which might have made it worse.We moved through streets that had once been clogged with traffic. Cars sat abandoned at strange angles, doors hanging open, belongings scattered across seats and pavement.A child’s backpack lay beneath the tire of an SUV. I tried not to look at it.Grass had begun pushing through cracks in the road. Vines crawled across buildings. Without thousands of people constantly cutting everything back, nature had wasted no time reclaiming what we’d built.Liam walked a few feet ahead of me, machete hanging loosely at his side. “Do you think the school will actually have food?” I asked.“Yes,” Liam answered as if he had already been there.“You sound very confident.” I glared at him with a smirk.“It had a cafeteria.” He smirked back, as if the cafeteria still served a daily lunch.“It had a cafeteria before the world ended.” I clarified.“Canned vegetables don’t disappear because civilizati

The stranger stopped a few feet away. Up close, he looked around our age. Maybe slightly older. His gaze moved from me to Liam.“Backpacks off.”I blinked. “What?”“Backpacks. Ground,” the man ordered.Liam stepped slightly in front of me. “We’re not giving you our supplies.”The stranger’s eyebrow lifted. “Didn’t ask for your supplies.”“Then why—”“I need to know whether you’re carrying anything that’s going to get someone killed.” The man cut Liam off.Liam’s jaw tightened. The stranger stared back. Neither moved. Great.We’d been inside thirty seconds and Liam was already having a silent argument with someone. I pulled off my backpack.“Vi,” Liam said, folding his arms over his chest.“He saved my life.” I shrugged.“That doesn’t mean we hand him everything we own.”“He said he’s checking it.”The stranger looked at Liam. “She always this difficult?”I stared at him. “Excuse me?”A faint grin tugged at his mouth. Liam didn’t look amused.“Don’t.” I frowned.The grin disappeared. I