Beyond the Veil - J.C. Kelley (ready to read books TXT) 📗

(Daddy? Are you freaking kidding me?) “Where are we going?”The giant, now satisfied that she was unharmed, released a colossal sigh and answered, “Somewhere safe, sweetie.”“Isn’t Mommy coming?”“Of course.” I almost would have believed him if I hadn’t seen the glazed look in his eyes and the frown etched onto his face. “But she’s playing with those scary guys! When is she gonna be done?” She squirmed around to look back at the battle raging only meters away.“Soon, honey. Soon.” He glanced at the woman with longing, then turned and carried his daughter into the woods with an almost inhuman speed, just as an agony-filled shriek filled the air. Just before they reached trees, the little girl’s eyes flashed silver and she reached out for her mommy. And then I was back in my room, back arched and breathing deeply. For a few seconds I blinked blindly, forgetting where I was. Then I recognized the soft linen sheets underneath me and remembered I was in my house.I sat up, shivering. Why was it so cold? We lived in Florida, for gods’ sake. I went into the hallway, glancing at the digital thermometer on the wall as I passed—wait, whaaaat? Did that say 38? Fahrenheit? What the hell was wrong with this world? As I reached to turn the heater on, the number changed to 39. I paused, and it increased by two. Huh. I guess it was my lucky night. I went downstairs for two reasons: first, another blanket from the storage closet; and second, the annoying growl in my stomach. After I gulped down some lunch meat and peanut butter with a side of milk, I headed for the closet. It had gotten noticeably warmer since I’d come down. Thank goodness for that. A snickering sound came from my left, making me stop. I listened for a moment, but heard nothing else. Hm. I was probably still wacky from my dream. Anyway….I grabbed a couple blankets and a quilt and was closing the closet door when I saw a golden flicker out of the corner of me eye. I stared at where I’d seen it, but it was gone. At first I was ready to just pass it off as a trick of the light, but something made me hesitate. I’d heard the noise coming from this direction. I looked in all of the inside corners, checking for the usual stuff; bugs, ants, worms, stuff like that. When I was satisfied there was nothing in there, I closed the door and jogged upstairs. When I passed it, the thermometer read 53 degrees. I tapped it and it rose a few notches. Hmph. Must be broken.When I reached my room I was glad I’d brought the extra blankets; it was practically an igloo in there! I laid out the blankets over the first one on my bed and burrowed my way under them, not bothering to turn off the light. I couldn’t if I wanted to anyway; as soon as I got settled, I was out cold.___________________________________________________Three hours later, Uncle Jon slouched in his armchair, snoring softly. He’d tried his best to stay awake, but it was late and he’d had a long trip.Robyn eyed him in amusement. He wasn’t getting any younger, and this wasn’t exactly what you’d call an easy job. He’d tan her hide if he heard her say that, but it was true nonetheless. With an immense effort she went back to her work. Over the past few hours, all they’d come up with were four cartoonish drawings of the Children that probably would get them nowhere. Alex beeped for the fourth time. His drooping eyes flashed open and he took out his iPhone, scrolling through his emails till he found the right one. He cleared his throat. “Guys, that’s the last of ‘em,” he said.All around him, things that had originally looked like heaps of trash came to life, stretching and revealing themselves to be Kade, Jade, Michael, Nick, and Jon, and standing to go to his side. Robyn came to her feet and joined them. Alex attached all four files to each other and showed them what he’d found. “Basically nothing helpful. I ran a search for every kid in the U.S. who fit the descriptions, but you’d be surprised at how many there are.”“But how’s that possible?” Michael asked. “How many boys out there have lynx eyes?”“Well the search wasn’t that specific. Robyn, you have to take a look at these and see which kids look my like the ones in your vision,” Alex said apologetically.Robyn huffed. “Fine. And people say I have a gift,” she grumbled as she snatched the iPhone and walked to her room. “G’night, guys.”“Night,” they chorused, picking up their drinks and snack wrappers and following her lead. ___________________________________________________Robyn awoke to the sound of pots and pans clanking together. In an instant she was up and running for the kitchen, hollering, “NO!” She rounded the last corner and skidded to a halt at the in the doorway, glaring at an incredibly innocent-looking Uncle Jon. He froze, one arm holding a large pan filled with pinkish mush and the other extended toward the stovetop burners. “Good morning,” he said confidently.“Put the pan on the counter and back away from the stove. Slowly,” she said.Frowning, he did as she said. Her hand came forward and slapped him on the arm while she hurried to make sure nothing was cooking.“Oh, come on,” Uncle Jon pleaded. “I can cook, you know. You just have to give me a chance.”She narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s what you said last time. And the time before that. And the time before that.”“If I’ve told you that many times, why won’t you let me try?”“You burned the kitchen,” Kade interjected from the hallway.“Only a little.”“It cost thousands of dollars to fix!” Robyn pointed out. Now that the potential crisis had been averted, she got busy with making a non-explosive, non-poisonous, fire-safe breakfast.“Details, details,” Jon waved his hand absently. “Hey! Why are you throwing my food out?” he asked her.She glared at him over her shoulder before dumping the whole pan in the trash can. “Because it was moving.”“…So?” Jon said halfheartedly, clearly having lost this fight.Michael thundered into the kitchen, followed closely by Jade and the twins.“What happened?”“What’s wrong?”“Who’s attacked us?”“Is the fire put out?”“What fire?”“Jon’s cooking again, right?”“I don’t know, ask him.”“What’s going on?”“There’s a fire?”“HEY,” Kade yelled over the noise, silencing the sleepy crowd.“Jon was cooking but Robyn got here just in time,” he explained.“Ugh, am I really that bad?” Jon exclaimed.The crowd looked at him. “You set the place on fire—”“Had to put it out ourselves—”“Cost a lot—”“Tons of cash down the drain—”“And you did it four times—”“In a row—”“And we let you—”“We were so naive—”“Bah!” Jon said, throwing his hands in the air in defeat. “Mutiny! This is mutiny!” he grumbled, sitting down at the dining room table. “So Robyn, did you eliminate any kids from the list?” Kade asked, even though he already knew the answer. “Yeah, I think I narrowed it down a lot,” she replied nonchalantly.“How many kids are left?”“None,” she said after a pause.“What?” Alex said. She filled a pot with water and set it on a burner, tapping her fingers on the counter until the water boiled. “None of them matched what I saw,” she said, emptying a box of dry noodles into the pot.“But you only saw a little bit of them, right?” Alex asked. “Not the whole thing.”“It doesn’t matter; no one on the list was in my vision.”“Then who did you see?” Michael asked of no one in particular.Robyn shrugged and turned back to the pot of noodles.___________________________________________________“Ugh.” My groan was muffled by the mountain of blanket on top of me. I could barely breathe through the ruffles. I rolled over, flailed around a bit when I hit dead air, and flopped onto the floor. “Wha?” Where was I? How did I get here? A ball of light shot into my consciousness, and I reached out to it. My hand protruded from the blankets and basked in the fresh air. I started to wriggle my way out of the mess, but then I detected something …an odor. The most wonderful smell I’d ever sniffed. Without a thought I darted to the door, threw it open, and crawled down the stairs, losing the blankets in the process. I lifted my head, sniffed the air once more, and followed the scent to the kitchen. I inspected the counters until—there. A steaming pile of bacon sat on a massive serving plate. Thank gods for Mom and her cooking. I snatched the plate and sat on the floor hunched over my food, inhaling about half of it before I heard a noise. My eyes shot open, wide and alert. I could hear the faint sound of feet slapping the linoleum. I shoved the rest of the glorious food in my pockets and ran for the high heavens. I’d just dived onto my bed when I heard thundering footsteps resound behind the bedroom door. Dad slammed the door open in a fit of fury. His eyes blazed and his copper hair stuck up, unkempt. He faced me—just as I slid another slice of bacon in my mouth—and narrowed his eyes. “You,” he barked, pointing a stubby finger at me. “You ate it!” I munched noisily on another piece with big, innocent baby-blue eyes.His chest sagged and he looked crestfallen. “That was mine…I love bacon and you ate it all….”I considered eating the last one, but another look at his sad face made me lose my nerve. I handed the bacon slice to him.“Thanks, you’re so stupid sometimes,” he grinned maliciously and ran out. What the

?

Not a moment later I smelled that sweet scent, and heard the crackle of frying meat. I rolled my eyes at the door and passed out again.I dreamed of bacon.

3

A pillow slammed against my face with the force of a freight train. “Get up. Get up

. Get up you lazy hobo!” Tyler said, whacking me again.“Ung.”“No. Get your ass up now!”“Ung!”“No! It’s 7:30! Get up!”“Eh!” I waved him away, only to have another pillow connect with my face in an explosion of fluffy pain. Still. I was sleepy and stubborn.Tyler hopped onto the bed, jumping, and slapped me until I opened one eye. “Go. Away,” I ordered, my eyes black with frustration.He was undeterred. “Never,” he replied, pinning me down so I couldn’t fight back. “Unlike you, I’m full of energy and have no problem with doing this all night if I have to.”“Bud I doned wadda geddup,” I whined.He turned my head so I faced him and peeled my eyes open, staring intently at me. “I. Do. Not. Care.” He grabbed my arms, pulled me into what passed for a sitting position. He leaped down, grabbed a Three Days Grace T-shirt from my dresser and threw it at me. “C’mon, the fireworks are gonna start soon.” He left the room so I could change. Every year on New Year’s Eve, Tyler and I walked to the beach to see the fireworks. Our parents always had to work so this was the only real tradition we had. We used to bring Sarah along, but over the years she drifted away from us and started going to parties with her popular high school friends. She was at