office while she waited to bake the rolls for the morning. Thank goodness she was all right. But what was up with the blood?
Slurrrggrrrfff! I heard the weird noise again, so I slipped out the back door and slid up against the building wall, listening. And then I heard a worse noise than the creepy sounds—the click of the kitchen door shutting. The door that had been propped open and was now locked tight when I jiggled the handle.
Slurrrggrrrfff! The sound came from near the Dumpster. It was like a wild animal eating something. Yikes.
I eased down the alleyway, still hugging the wall so whatever it was wouldn’t see me going by. I would just sneak away and it wouldn’t even notice. Swallowing to clear my screaming muscles, I focused on staying calm, staying alert, staying invisible.
Slurrggrrrrrrr! The noise changed, going from a slurpy sound to a warning.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. My throat felt all cloggy. Would I be able to scream for help or not? My heartbeat must have been about a thousand beats per minute because I suddenly felt like I was going to faint or something.
Luckily, my subconscious is a total hardass. Wait , it said, remember what your dad told you about the woods—animals are usually more scared of you than you are of them. Suck it up and be brave . I jumped out from the wall and said, “Hold it right there! Drop the pot roast!”
Okay, so in retrospect it wasn’t the coolest thing to say. But the sound stopped. And a figure rose up behind the Dumpster. Everything was so dark at that end of the alley, I couldn’t see for sure what it was.
I took a step closer. “Shoo! Uh…whatever you are!” I called out.
Now I could see it was a person—a guy. The dude had his hands on the Dumpster’s lid now, like he was bracing himself. Totally creeped out, I started backing away.
“Stop,” he called out. Just then the clouds parted, sending down a pool of moonlight over top of us. And I found myself face-to-face with the meat thief.
Austin.
In the moonlight, blood shimmered dark around his lips. His chin, also stained, looked scruffier than it had earlier, like he needed a shave.
“Shelby.” He smiled, showing teeth whiter than I’d ever seen, way beyond the Zoom! teeth whitening Dad had let me get. And sharp, too, with pointy ends reflecting the pale light.
But they weren’t the only things gleaming. His skin, his neck, his shoulders, his bare chest. Wait.
Bare chest? He was topless in an alley, snarfing down raw meat?
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ABC Amber ePub Converter Trial vers ion, http://www.processtext.com/abcepub.html
“What, um, are you doing?” I asked, forcing myself to say something, anything. The hair on the back of my neck was still at attention, with some kind of follicle-deep sense of danger. I wrapped my arms around my waist, feeling an odd coldness.
He stepped out from around the Dumpster, and I instinctively moved back while trying not to stare at Austin’s toned chest muscles and abs. “Don’t be frightened,” he said, his voice taking on a soothing tone. “It’s only me.”
Probably thinking I was gawking at the blood on his face, he swiped at his chin with his bare arm.
Then he pulled on a black T-shirt he’d grabbed from behind the Dumpster. Casually, he said, “You’ve no reason to be frightened.”
“Um…this is a little creepy.”
He took another step forward, maybe expecting me to back up again, but I tried to be brave. My hands shook anyway, and my head filled with Charles’s story about the girl who was attacked. Holy crap.
“So, I’m just going to mosey back to the square dance,” I said, while in my head I flipped through the self-defense techniques my gym teacher had taught me that spring. My basic plan was to give him a swift kick in the groin and then run like hell.
Austin held up a hand, which, I noticed with a shiver, was dark with blood. “Please don’t tell anyone,” he said. “Graham will send me somewhere else, and the
Slurrrggrrrfff! I heard the weird noise again, so I slipped out the back door and slid up against the building wall, listening. And then I heard a worse noise than the creepy sounds—the click of the kitchen door shutting. The door that had been propped open and was now locked tight when I jiggled the handle.
Slurrrggrrrfff! The sound came from near the Dumpster. It was like a wild animal eating something. Yikes.
I eased down the alleyway, still hugging the wall so whatever it was wouldn’t see me going by. I would just sneak away and it wouldn’t even notice. Swallowing to clear my screaming muscles, I focused on staying calm, staying alert, staying invisible.
Slurrggrrrrrrr! The noise changed, going from a slurpy sound to a warning.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. My throat felt all cloggy. Would I be able to scream for help or not? My heartbeat must have been about a thousand beats per minute because I suddenly felt like I was going to faint or something.
Luckily, my subconscious is a total hardass. Wait , it said, remember what your dad told you about the woods—animals are usually more scared of you than you are of them. Suck it up and be brave . I jumped out from the wall and said, “Hold it right there! Drop the pot roast!”
Okay, so in retrospect it wasn’t the coolest thing to say. But the sound stopped. And a figure rose up behind the Dumpster. Everything was so dark at that end of the alley, I couldn’t see for sure what it was.
I took a step closer. “Shoo! Uh…whatever you are!” I called out.
Now I could see it was a person—a guy. The dude had his hands on the Dumpster’s lid now, like he was bracing himself. Totally creeped out, I started backing away.
“Stop,” he called out. Just then the clouds parted, sending down a pool of moonlight over top of us. And I found myself face-to-face with the meat thief.
Austin.
In the moonlight, blood shimmered dark around his lips. His chin, also stained, looked scruffier than it had earlier, like he needed a shave.
“Shelby.” He smiled, showing teeth whiter than I’d ever seen, way beyond the Zoom! teeth whitening Dad had let me get. And sharp, too, with pointy ends reflecting the pale light.
But they weren’t the only things gleaming. His skin, his neck, his shoulders, his bare chest. Wait.
Bare chest? He was topless in an alley, snarfing down raw meat?
Page 44
ABC Amber ePub Converter Trial vers ion, http://www.processtext.com/abcepub.html
“What, um, are you doing?” I asked, forcing myself to say something, anything. The hair on the back of my neck was still at attention, with some kind of follicle-deep sense of danger. I wrapped my arms around my waist, feeling an odd coldness.
He stepped out from around the Dumpster, and I instinctively moved back while trying not to stare at Austin’s toned chest muscles and abs. “Don’t be frightened,” he said, his voice taking on a soothing tone. “It’s only me.”
Probably thinking I was gawking at the blood on his face, he swiped at his chin with his bare arm.
Then he pulled on a black T-shirt he’d grabbed from behind the Dumpster. Casually, he said, “You’ve no reason to be frightened.”
“Um…this is a little creepy.”
He took another step forward, maybe expecting me to back up again, but I tried to be brave. My hands shook anyway, and my head filled with Charles’s story about the girl who was attacked. Holy crap.
“So, I’m just going to mosey back to the square dance,” I said, while in my head I flipped through the self-defense techniques my gym teacher had taught me that spring. My basic plan was to give him a swift kick in the groin and then run like hell.
Austin held up a hand, which, I noticed with a shiver, was dark with blood. “Please don’t tell anyone,” he said. “Graham will send me somewhere else, and the
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