Dead End: Midnight Hollow by Penn Cassidy (free novel 24 TXT) 📗

“Call me crazy, but after what I saw earlier…” My voice caught as vacant eyes flashed through my memory. “Everyone was dead… I didn’t even know where you were until I think I saw your hand sticking out…but everyone else…” I trailed off, scared to talk about it because it sounded crazy, even to my own ears.

If I could, I’d bleach my entire brain. I needed those images gone. Taking a deep breath, I said, “I think I can handle the strange and unusual as long as you're here too. And the guys…” The last part was a whisper as I stared straight ahead at Freddy's sunkissed hair, then quickly glanced away when his eyes strayed to mine. His lips curled up on the sides, and my belly flipped at that stretch of perfect lips. There was no way he heard me, they were too far ahead.

“It’s all right, Tobs,” she said with a small, sympathetic smile. “You can still love them and be afraid at the same time. After what happened last year… I know it seems impossible, but if you could just see what’s right in front of you…” She bit her lower lip and froze when I suddenly stopped walking.

I crossed my arms and turned away, staring into the dark trees. “You have no idea what I went through. None of you do. You think you know because of what you heard on the news, but you don’t. I’m so not talking about this right now.” My body was vibrating with tension, suppressed anger swelling up in my chest.

“No, I don’t know, because you never talk about it,” she snapped, stepping into my space. Suddenly, it was like the forest and the accident was forgotten. “I’m your friend, Toby, your best friend. We’ve been family for over a decade and you never talk!” Her chin wobbled, but she refused to back down. I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation right now, with everything else that was happening. But so be it. If it was time to hash it out, it might as well be now, to top it all off with a nice cherry.

“You really want to know, Maddie?” I said bitterly with an emotionless laugh. “Want me to talk about it? Do you want to hear the gory details? Maybe I should’ve prepared a slide show!” Small tears trickled down her cheeks, matching my own, but I wiped them away angrily. I didn’t cry about this anymore. Not in front of anyone, at least.

The guys had gone suspiciously silent. Jason and Michael moved closer, while Norman and Freddy were heading back in our direction, taking small, cautious steps. All I could do was stare at Maddie, but in reality, I was somewhere else…some other time and place.

“Tobs—” she whispered brokenly, but a small sob ripped from my lips.

“I’m fucking angry!” I squeezed my fists closed, my nails biting into my skin. “I’m so fucking angry, and nobody gives a shit!” I looked at Maddie through watery eyes, pleading with her to understand. “They left me here, and I didn’t get a choice to stay or go! They left…and I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” My throat closed, each intake of breath growing more difficult. “And for all of this shit to happen tonight of all nights…” I choked, a tear sliding down my cheek in earnest.

Realization seemed to dawn on Maddie, and her hands flew to her mouth. “Oh god, October! I didn’t even realize it was tonight! The accident…”

I was suddenly pulled into her arms, and a wave of comfort and familiarity surrounded me. “I’m always here, sis. You’re never alone. I promise you’ll never be alone. I was stupid and didn’t pay attention to what day it was…didn't realize how the bus crash would have brought it back,” she whispered softly.

I couldn’t pick up my head from her shoulder. My face was buried in her hair as I let the last of my tears fall. We stood there for a minute or two before I felt myself calm down. I felt her hands slide through my hair for a split second before that touch was gone. To say I was embarrassed was an understatement. I felt like a coward, and I didn’t want to lift my head just yet. I didn’t want to see the judgement or hear the jabs from the guys about my rare show of weakness.

Everything was silent. All I could hear was the sound of everyone breathing and my own heartbeat pulsing in my ear. But a second later, I felt the ground vibrate under my boots. It was like a semi-truck was passing over a road, but we were miles away from a freeway and the bus had no driver, so it wasn’t going anywhere.

“Anyone else feeling that?” Freddy asked quietly, coming closer now. His chest was puffed up and his head was on a swivel as I peaked at him behind the curtain of my hair.

I finally lifted my head and stepped away from Maddie, wiping my face and hoping my makeup wasn’t smeared all over my cheeks.

“Um, the trees are moving,” Norman announced in a deep voice, grabbing my hand in an instant. I froze at the coolness of his touch and the fact that he was even touching me at all. He angled his body in the other direction, as if he was going to make a run for it with me in tow.

“Mine,” he whispered, but his voice sounded like Freddy’s had earlier—too quiet.

What the hell was going on? I watched his mouth, waiting for him to speak again so I would know I wasn’t losing my mind, but he was staring intently at the tree line. Maybe I’d imagined it.

A branch snapped. Then there was a deep rumble, the noise of what I could only describe as a thousand feet heading our way.

“Maybe it’s the rest of the class?”