The Grimm Chronicles, Vol.1 by Ken Brosky, Isabella Fontaine Page A

to see you here,” Edward said. One of his track mates tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, gave a high-five, then turned and gave me a smooch on the cheek before following them to the other side of the picnic tables.
    I turned back to Tricia. “How is the weekend?”
    “Good. Good!” She laughed again. “Gawd, I’m having so much fun. I can’t believe I got invited to this party.”
    “It’s great,” I said. “Where’s Seth?”
    “He’s at home. I didn’t bring him.”
    “What? Why the hell not? He loves the beach.”
    “Because,” Tricia moaned, “I wanted to come alone. We’re not joined at the hip or anything.”
    “Are you fighting?”
    “No. I don’t think so.” She pursed her lips. “I don’t remember. God, you have no idea how much fun this is, Alice! We’re at the cool party!”
    “I can’t believe you didn’t bring Seth,” I said, waving my bottle of alcohol in frustration. Sticky strawberry-flavored juice splashed across my wrist.
    Suddenly Tricia’s face soured. “Look, Alice. You don’t get it, OK? I didn’t have some random Prince Charming fly in out of nowhere and sweep me off my feet. You got lucky, all right?”
    I took a nervous step back. “Trish …”
    “No, listen.” She held a finger up to my face. “Let me have my fun tonight. OK? Seth is nice and he’s fun to be around but he’s no Edward. I know you don’t understand because Edward’s your first serious boyfriend, but what happened to you doesn’t ever happen . He’s perfect. And some of the guys here tonight … they’re pretty damn close. I want to be a part of this.”
    “But Edward …”
    Tricia laughed. “And the best part? He went right after you the moment he saw you. Like he just had to have you.”
    I stood there, speechless. The pen felt like it was about to burn a hole through the pocket of my shorts.
    “I’m going to dance in the sand,” Tricia said, taking a long drink of her bottle. She turned and stumbled toward the group of boys and girls bouncing at the shore where waves gently rolled across their bare toes.
    I turned away and, without thinking, took a sip of the drink. It tasted sweet and sour at the same time, and I nearly gagged when I swallowed it. But then I took another drink. It tasted strange and felt strange inside my stomach. I took another drink, walking alone on the empty beach. It stretched far into the distance, broken up two hundred yards ahead by an old sewage drainage pipe. I was heading toward it without heading toward it, my head just a little dizzy.
    “What are you doing?” I asked myself, holding up the bottle and staring hard at the last few ounces of alcohol. I glanced over my shoulder, feeling disoriented as I did so. My vision spun a bit and I didn’t like it. Behind me, students had begun gathering into a larger dancing group. Two young men were splashing into the waves, screaming at the top of their lungs.
    I turned back to the tunnel. I had to get rid of this bottle, even if it meant littering. I didn’t want it. I didn’t want to feel like this, all dizzy and nauseous. All I could think about was that girl in the parking lot, the way her fluids were sucked out . It was like some weird vampire show only worse because the vampire didn’t stop at just the blood. What else was out there?
    What if Edward came after me?
    I spun around, sure that he would be right behind me. But there was no one. Only darkness.
    Which was even scarier.
    “Stop it,” I told myself. “Gawd, you’re a hero now. You can’t be afraid of the dark .”
    I walked closer to the tunnel. It had a concrete base and the rusted iron bars criss-crossing the exit point had long ago been pulled back or cut entirely. The clouds above parted and in the moonlight I could see that someone had spray-pained the words SOUTH SHORE in big dark letters on the side of the massive tunnel. This entire place … it felt oddly familiar. I’d been here before. Long ago, on a school trip.
    Sand