The Darkness Within by Taylor Henderson Read Free Book Online

her mouth with a napkin before folding her hands on the table. “What happened?”
    I gnawed on my bottom lip, trying to gauge his expression as he stared down at his plate. He looked nervous, embarrassed even.
    David shook his head slowly before looking up and making eye contact with Mom. “Gwen can be very inconsiderate at times,” he answered with a heavy sigh. “We had an argument last night and she tried to run out. She used to do that all of the time back in Ohio, but here she doesn't know her way around. She can’t just take off at any hour of the night and expect me to be okay with it. It’s different here. I don't know her friends or feel comfortable having her gone at such hours." He shook his head, and ran a hand through his hair. For the first time since I met him, he actually looked genuinely concerned. I was shocked to see a real emotion on his face. "She has a habit of running off when she doesn't get her way, and I just snapped. She doesn't understand that I’m just trying to do what's best for her."
    My mom and I nodded simultaneously.
    “I’m sorry for asking,” Mom said, offering him a sympathetic look.
    David waved off her apology, and shook his head. “It’s fine. I wouldn’t expect anything less. It’s just hard, you know? I don’t know how you do it.”
    Mom tilted her head down and shrugged her shoulders. “Claire’s a great girl. She makes it easy for me.” She looked up and met David’s gaze again. “You and Gwen just have to find common ground. I’m sure she feels like her world is ending, being here all alone without her friends back in Ohio. Right now, you’re the enemy. She just has to see that you’re on her side. It may take her a while to realize that you’re the good guy, but when she does everything will start to get better.” Mom flickered her eyes to me and gave me a small smile. I returned it before taking a bite of my dinner. I chewed slowly as I watched her and David.
    Mom brought up something about how she was a bit rebellious when she was a teenager, but I had already stopped listening. Instead, I was deep in thought about what I saw last night. I was trying to see if it fit into the context of the reason David had just given, but I wasn’t sure whether it did or not. What I saw wasn't a teenager throwing a fit; it was someone desperately trying to get away. David and Gwen had to have had a pretty bad argument for her to want to leave that badly, but it didn't seem like her and her father got along well in the first place. I felt bad for her, and looking across the table at David, who was showing the first sign of real emotion since I met him, I felt bad for him too.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
Chapter Eight
     
    Hidden Truth
     
    My heart pounded as I reached out and knocked on the door. The screen door was held open by my side as I knocked on the door once more, this time louder than before. I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited, wondering if David was going to open the door or not. I had already knocked a few times, and not once had I heard any movement from within the house. I pushed my unruly curls out of my face as I looked over my shoulder to David’s rocky driveway where his car was parked. Other than his car, there was no other indication he was home. The house was still and silent. I huffed a sigh, feeling a pit in my stomach. I felt extremely bad about last night and now I didn’t even have the chance to apologize while my accusations were still fresh on everyone’s minds.
    Taking a few steps to the side and letting the screen door bang shut, I tried to peer into one of the thin windows on either side of it. A thin curtain covered the window, but I was still able to see a distorted view of the house. There were boxes still piled in the entranceway and the house looked unlived in. When I saw a shadow coming from the right, the kitchen area, I stood to full height and backed away from the window slightly.
    When David pulled the door