in Michigan in the early ’80s.”
A part of me wanted to believe Ethan, but my gut was telling me I should be ready for anything. Whoever didn’t want me at the homecoming dance might decide to screw trying to get rid of my dates and go straight for the source. They’d been willing to kill Ethan and Josh, so why not me?
Someone had really tried to kill Ethan and Josh. It was like the truth was finally soaking in through my thick skull. My hands were shaking and my chicken sandwich threatening to crawl back up my throat by the time I darted in the house and came back with a garbage bag and dustpan. Thankfully, my parents had the news turned up so loud in the den they didn’t hear me come in. I didn’t want them to see how freaked I was.
“Ethan,” I said, once I was back outside holding the bag as he scooped increasingly solid zombie remains into it with the pan. “Do you think maybe I could learn the flame spell anyway? Just in case?”
“The flame spell is third-stage Settler stuff.”
“But what if someone tries to kill you again?” Or me , I thought, but didn’t add out loud. Ethan was already way overprotective: no need to fuel that fire. “I want to be able to help. I should be—”
“Third-stage spells are for third-stagers, Megan. End of discussion. I’ll teach you another second-stage method for taking care of RCs later,” he said, turning back to his car. “Right now I need to get this cleaned up and get to SA headquarters. Are your parents going to be home soon or—”
“They’re home already. They’re watching the news. I swear Dad’s going deaf, he always has the television turned up so loud. I guess that’s why they didn’t hear me screaming.” I tried to laugh at the last part but couldn’t. There was nothing funny about what was going on—not the part of it I knew about or the parts that Ethan and the Elders were keeping from me.
“Listen, don’t worry. I’ll be back later to check on you. Everything’s going to be fine.” Then he bent down and kissed me, really softly on the forehead, like a big brother would kiss a little sister who was scared of the dark.
I smiled and tried to look like I felt comforted as he drove away, even though I was feeling anything but. Ethan was wrong. I wasn’t a kid who needed to be kept safe from whatever was going down in Carol. Whatever was happening, I was obviously a big part of it. I needed to know all the facts so I could help SA find the person responsible before this went any further. The homecoming dance was in danger, and people might end up getting hurt or worse. Suddenly, getting a date had become a secondary concern. What had seemed like the most important thing in the world was now a much smaller blip on my radar. If someone was willing to kill people to keep me away from the dance, there had to be some reason for it. A reason that was probably as flat-out evil as whoever was raising these Reanimated Corpses.
No matter how freaked I was, I had to keep my eyes and ears open and do my best to find the person behind the attacks before it was too late.
I was having a horrible dream, a mix of the night of my attack and the events of the past few days. This time the zombies who jumped on me were on fire, and when a corpse leaned over to bite me, the flames spread to my hair, my clothes. Soon I was engulfed, screaming in agony as my skin melted away from my bones. Yet somehow, I continued to live on. I was conscious as I burned, able to hear the laughter of the person who wanted me dead echoing in my—
“Megan Berry! For the last time, get your head off your desk.”
“Wha?” I snapped into an upright position, swiping at a bit of drool on my cheek. The laughter in the room got a little louder.
Crap. Why did I have to fall asleep in English of all places? Mrs. Pierce was already riding my butt about letting my GPA fall to a mere 3.6 instead of a 3.8. Apparently, she
A part of me wanted to believe Ethan, but my gut was telling me I should be ready for anything. Whoever didn’t want me at the homecoming dance might decide to screw trying to get rid of my dates and go straight for the source. They’d been willing to kill Ethan and Josh, so why not me?
Someone had really tried to kill Ethan and Josh. It was like the truth was finally soaking in through my thick skull. My hands were shaking and my chicken sandwich threatening to crawl back up my throat by the time I darted in the house and came back with a garbage bag and dustpan. Thankfully, my parents had the news turned up so loud in the den they didn’t hear me come in. I didn’t want them to see how freaked I was.
“Ethan,” I said, once I was back outside holding the bag as he scooped increasingly solid zombie remains into it with the pan. “Do you think maybe I could learn the flame spell anyway? Just in case?”
“The flame spell is third-stage Settler stuff.”
“But what if someone tries to kill you again?” Or me , I thought, but didn’t add out loud. Ethan was already way overprotective: no need to fuel that fire. “I want to be able to help. I should be—”
“Third-stage spells are for third-stagers, Megan. End of discussion. I’ll teach you another second-stage method for taking care of RCs later,” he said, turning back to his car. “Right now I need to get this cleaned up and get to SA headquarters. Are your parents going to be home soon or—”
“They’re home already. They’re watching the news. I swear Dad’s going deaf, he always has the television turned up so loud. I guess that’s why they didn’t hear me screaming.” I tried to laugh at the last part but couldn’t. There was nothing funny about what was going on—not the part of it I knew about or the parts that Ethan and the Elders were keeping from me.
“Listen, don’t worry. I’ll be back later to check on you. Everything’s going to be fine.” Then he bent down and kissed me, really softly on the forehead, like a big brother would kiss a little sister who was scared of the dark.
I smiled and tried to look like I felt comforted as he drove away, even though I was feeling anything but. Ethan was wrong. I wasn’t a kid who needed to be kept safe from whatever was going down in Carol. Whatever was happening, I was obviously a big part of it. I needed to know all the facts so I could help SA find the person responsible before this went any further. The homecoming dance was in danger, and people might end up getting hurt or worse. Suddenly, getting a date had become a secondary concern. What had seemed like the most important thing in the world was now a much smaller blip on my radar. If someone was willing to kill people to keep me away from the dance, there had to be some reason for it. A reason that was probably as flat-out evil as whoever was raising these Reanimated Corpses.
No matter how freaked I was, I had to keep my eyes and ears open and do my best to find the person behind the attacks before it was too late.
I was having a horrible dream, a mix of the night of my attack and the events of the past few days. This time the zombies who jumped on me were on fire, and when a corpse leaned over to bite me, the flames spread to my hair, my clothes. Soon I was engulfed, screaming in agony as my skin melted away from my bones. Yet somehow, I continued to live on. I was conscious as I burned, able to hear the laughter of the person who wanted me dead echoing in my—
“Megan Berry! For the last time, get your head off your desk.”
“Wha?” I snapped into an upright position, swiping at a bit of drool on my cheek. The laughter in the room got a little louder.
Crap. Why did I have to fall asleep in English of all places? Mrs. Pierce was already riding my butt about letting my GPA fall to a mere 3.6 instead of a 3.8. Apparently, she
Similar Books
