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. Hey, I was thirteen.I know it was stupid, but when you re always the new kid, you justwant to fit in.I guess you know what that s like.You ve probably been in as many schoolsas we have. Ten& no, eleven. It s a tie.Cool. He took a bite of his apple. Now that I m approaching the very matureage of sixteen, though, I ve gotten over that.Dad and I were negotiating for me to get thepump back again when he disappeared. Simon? Tori s voice echoed through the building. So much for peace and quiet, he muttered, then called, We re back here.Twenty-oneD EREK RETURNED BEARING SHOPPING bags and cash.I d given him my bankcard and PIN, and he d found an ATM without a camera.My card still worked.He dwithdrawn my limit of four hundred dollars.We couldn t do this again every time I usedit, the bank would know I was still in Buffalo, and Derek was afraid the Edison Groupmight be able to find that out.He handed me the cash and receipt, discreetly folded.Tori snatched the receipt andopened it.Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) My God, is this your bank account or college fund?I took it back. My dad direct-deposits my allowance.After fifteen years, it adds up. And he just lets you access it? Why wouldn t he? Um, because you could spend it.No, wait.Let me guess.You re too responsible forthat. She s smart, Simon said. Is that what you call it? I was thinking more& She yawned.My cheeks heated. Enough, Derek growled. Yeah, don t forget who gave you money for this. Simon nudged Tori s shopping bag.Tori s jaw twitched. It was twenty bucks for food and a blanket, and I m keeping tabs.I ll pay her back.I m responsible, too.Just not she waved at my receipt disgustinglyresponsible.I took my bag from Derek. So what did I get? I reached inside. A backpack.Twosweaters.Thank The sweaters unrolled, and Tori choked on her mouthful of soda, laughing.I turned, slowly and calmly, to her. Your choices?She lifted her hands. Uh-uh.I offered to pick something out, but Derek insisted. Sheturned to him. No wonder you were gone so long.Must have had a hard time findingones that ugly.He d bought me two identical gray hooded sweatshirts, made from the tacky polyesterfound only in the cheapest discount stores, the kind that shimmers like plastic and picks atyour skin. What? Derek said. They re fine.Thanks.Tori reached out and caught the tag, then laughed. I thought so.They re boys.Sizetwelve boys. So? The women s cost more.I figured it wouldn t make a difference with Chloe.Tori looked at me.Then she looked at my chest and started to laugh. What? Derek said. Nothing, Tori sputtered. You re just being honest, right? Tori? Simon said. Shut up.Chloe, we ll grab something else for you tomorrow. No, Derek s right.These will fit.Thanks. Cheeks burning, I mumbled something abouttrying them on and fled the room.When dusk began to fall, we settled in for the night.It was only eight o clock and Toricomplained bitterly.Derek told her she was free to stay awake, as long as she didn t usethe lantern batteries and could still wake up at dawn.We weren t living in a world of lightswitches anymore.We had to use the sun when we could and sleep when we couldn t.That was fine by me.I wasn t in the mood for a slumber party.Simon had tried cheeringme up, but that only brought me down all the more.I didn t want to need to be cheered.Iwanted to roll with the punches, bounce back smiling.I couldn t stop thinking about Aunt Lauren.I thought of Rae, too, and my dad, but mostof all I thought of Aunt Lauren.I could tell myself Dad and Rae were safe for now.TheCreate PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com)Edison Group wouldn t bother my father as long as he knew nothing about them.And Raewas well on her way to rehabilitation, according to that file.But with Aunt Lauren, Icould find no such rationalization for the Edison Group to keep her alive.Every time Iopened my eyes, I expected to see her ghost standing in front of me.Even when I managed to force myself not to worry, the only alternative was moremundane concerns and a general feeling of disappointment.I d found the guys.I d brought Simon his insulin.I d single-handedly uncovered thesecrets of the Edison Group.My reward? Having Tori take potshots at me every chanceshe got, trying to make me look bad in front of Simon.If there was any point in my life when I should have been anything but dull and boring, itwas now.I could talk to the dead.I could raise the dead.In the last week, I d plotted andschemed enough to win a spot on Survivor.Yet all I could picture was Tori yawning.It was nice having Simon defend me, but it wasn t any more than he might do for a littlesister.I kept thinking of that the way he d come to my defense, the way he d squeezemy hand, the way he d lean in and whisper to me and I wanted to read more into it.ButI couldn t.And so what? With everything that was going on, was I really feeling sorry for myselfbecause a cute guy wasn t interested in me that way ? That made me worse than boring.It made me the silly twit Derek seemed to think I was.Speaking of Derek& and I d really rather not& had I forgotten what he could be like? No,I d just forgotten what it felt like to be on the receiving end.Between him and Tori, atleast I d come out of this with a thicker skin.Or lose every ounce of self-confidence I had.A night for tossing and turning, lost in nightmares of Aunt Lauren and my dad and Rae.Ikept waking up, gasping and sweating, everyone around me sound asleep.I d gulp cold airand calm down enough to join them only to have the nightmares return.Finally my sleeping brain found a distraction in the same place my waking brain had:thoughts of the dead body in the other room.No objective, sympathetic examination of hissituation this time, though.I dreamed of dragging that poor spirit back to his shell,screaming and cursing me.Then the dream changed and I was back in the crawl space.The musty, awful stench ofdeath surrounded me.I felt Derek behind me, the heat of his body radiating, as hewhispered, Chloe, come on.Come where? I was trapped in the crawl space, with those horrors crawling toward me,cold skeletal fingers touching me, the stink of them making my stomach churn.Derek shook me, and I tried to push him away, tell him he wasn t helping Chloe!I jerked awake, the dream evaporating.Above me, green eyes glinted in the darkness. Derek? What ?He clamped his hand over my mouth.His lips moved to my ear. Are you awake now? Ineed you to do something for me.The urgency in his voice knocked any sleepiness from my head.I squinted at him in thedarkness.Were his eyes feverish? Or was that just their usual weird glow, like a cat s inthe dark?Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com)I pulled his hand away. Are you Changing again? What? No.I m fine.Just listen, okay? Remember the body in the other room? He spokeslowly, carefully.I nodded. You re going to think about that body for me, okay? About the spirit that was in it.Youneed to release the Release? I I didn t summon Shhh.Just concentrate on releasing it without waking the others
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