The People We Keep Novels & Stories

The last person we thought would do it was the one who did. They just killed the people we could not afford to lose.

Still ready to protect someone who’d been mean to people she loved. Because that’s what Keepers did.

Straight to buying trendy clothes—for them. I spent seven years stacking up savings to buy us a new place—he blew it all on a motorcycle to chauffeur them around. He always said Pauline lost her husband young and was our neighbor, so we had to help her. That "help" turned into a lifelong charity project. Thinking about it made my chest tighten. I picked Luca up and headed inside to make dinner. It was ready by the time Tony strolled in, holding a piece of premium steak. Luca lit up and reached for it. Tony yanked it back like it was gold.

She shook her head, no. "Next time then." She hesitated at the hope resting in the upturn of his lips. Afraid of making a promise she couldn't keep, she excused herself to help Kass lock up. Ten minutes later, they all stood out the front of Salt as Kass locked the door behind them. "Steak. Steak. Steak. Steak," they chanted as Marcus, Nick and Andie lead the charge towards The Grill. Kass and Derek stayed back to bid Ashlyn goodnight.

As she made her way into the town, she found a General Access Portal painted on the narrow wall of a strip mall and uploaded the pics to the Homeless Tracker website. *** "Why in the world did you guys move to this God forsaken town?" she asked Vera, whispering in her backyard. "Shush, I don't want any of them to wake up!" Vera pointed through the open window to the sleeping figures on her bedroom floor. Cousins a dime a dozen had decided to descend that very day on Vera's home for a sleepover. Meaning, Vera won't get her coveted, clandestine sleepover with her dear Chanbeli tonight, unlike the last two nights.

"Because when I grow up, I want to be someone who makes a difference. "I want the people in this town who don’t have enough to eat to have warm meals. I want those without homes to have a roof over their heads. I want the children who don’t have schools to finally sit in a classroom and learn. "I want our country to keep getting better. I want our lives to keep getting better." Noah always carried something bigger than himself in his heart. I couldn’t be the one to hold him back. He fell silent, and so did I.

New. Exactly what we needed. What we've always needed. A reason to keep going. Keep fighting. Keep living. For her. For all of them. For each other. However long it takes. Whatever it costs. We'll survive. Because that's what we do.

But our life — the messy, radiant thing we had built — would still be private and fierce, and that felt like the best kind of victory. We do not yet have the final stroke, the neat bow. There are hearings to come, and some men will try to buy their way out of consequence. But for now, with Claire’s file in evidence and the town humming like a chorus of small, persistent instruments, we let ourselves be human. We let our bodies remember why we fight: not for headlines, not for ledgers, but for the jam on the counter and the small bodies that will someday sprint through the rooms we keep open. Marcus pressed his forehead to mine and murmured, “We keep the door open.”

We'd keep winning. One impossible day at a time. To be continued ---

"You've lost. Your plan failed." "Failed? No. Merely delayed." Elspeth descended the stairs. "We still have you trapped. Still have time before midnight." "The residents are free. They'll fight you." "Will they?" Niamh gestured. The freed residents appeared in the doorways. But their eyes were glazed again. Recompelled. "How?" I breathed. "We're the Keepers," Brigid said. "Forging bonds is our gift. Breaking a few compulsions won't stop us from making new ones."