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

be a cheerleader. She’d always dreamed of going pro and then one day becoming an instructor. Were all our dreams and aspirations suddenly out of our reach here?

“Looks like Hogwarts,” muttered Freddy, a small hint of his geekiness shining through. He was trying to hide his excitement by being tough, but I could see past the disguise.

He was standing to my right with his arms folded over his broad chest, glaring up at the school. He’d been trying not so subtly to get me to look at him all morning, but I’d actively avoided it. After what happened in the bookshop last week, I was feeling more off kilter than ever. What had it meant? Had he been messing with me? Was it another trick? Fuck, I could still feel his fingers on my skin. My body quivered just thinking about his talented digits and how far we’d taken things in The Wicked Quill.

I knew he was thinking about it, too. Anytime our eyes met, his would heat like a match being struck. But he was still being an ass, just like always. Norman might have noticed something was off between us, because I’d seen him glancing back and forth a few times today. I decided to pretend our bookshop moment had never happened and focus on right now.

Freddy was right. It did look like the fictional wizarding school. It was brownish grey in color, made of stone archways, spiked turrets, stained glass windows, and stone bridges. The twin moons overhead only added to the fantasy of it all, and for the millionth time, I wondered if this was all a dream. A week-long dream…

Instead of the pristine white sidewalks and gardens of Sunset U, we were now standing on a cobblestone pathway lit by tall wrought-iron lanterns flickering with real flames at the entrance of Midnight U. There were trees scattered around the grounds, but they were so black, they looked charred. Their spindly branches curled upwards and were barren of any leaves, flowers, or fruits. Interspersed between the trees, there were statues, crumbling slightly with overgrown roots and disturbed soil. They looked ancient and grotesque.

Some were depictions of monsters, the likes of which I’d only seen in movies. There were massive minotaurs, towering werewolves, and hunched goblins. I saw witches holding broomsticks, even a few gargoyles here and there. I even spotted a few more of those near the top of the school’s roof line, as if perched up there as guardians of the strange student body. I wondered if those gargoyles were simply that, stone relics meant to warn away danger, or if perhaps they were magical like everything else in this world seemed to be.

“What do you think, Coraline?” asked Jason from my other side. “Your people like this shit, don’t they?” His smirk was cruel, but I was beginning to feel numb to it.

“My people?” I raised a brow, looking him up and down. “You might want to change your tune, big shot. You’re gonna get eaten alive if you keep running your mouth in there. Probably literally.” I looked around, eyeing the student body warily.

“Ohh burn, sucka!” Jessica hissed at Jason. I saw him glare at her, so I turned away, shielding my spider with my hair.

People milled around us, looking for all the world like straight up trick-or-treaters. I saw cloaks, horns, hooves, claws, capes, and witch hats. There were inhuman beings of all kinds mixed with regular looking people, all laughing and chatting like it was completely normal. Just like our trip into town. I still couldn’t get over it. I saw students basking in the moonlight, some of them leaning up against those spindly dead trees with old books in their hands, just minding their own business.

The guys might make fun of my newly adopted goth aesthetic, but I had a feeling they were going to be the odd ones out in this place. Perhaps it would finally teach them something. At Sunset High, they’d been top dogs all four years, but here, they had no idea what they were in for.

I grabbed Maddie’s hand and squeezed, taking in a deep breath. “We stay together, okay? Our phones don’t work here, so we have to be careful. Remember, we’re just biding our time and blending in until we can figure out a way to get back home, so don’t bring attention to yourselves.”

“Says the chick with the tarantula on her shoulder,” Norman sneered.

“Says the guy with the fangs and a pet bat,” I snapped back, meeting his eyes head on. “Keep it up, Vlad. You’re in my world now.”

He stepped forward, towering over me. “You think you’re tough now, zombie girl? You think because you’ve suddenly found a town even more fucked up than you that the last year doesn't matter?”

“I’m not saying that,” I said, realizing he was now very close to my face.

“You’re lying,” he hissed. I felt his breath on my lips. Maddie was squeezing my hand, but I knew she’d let me fight my own battles. “We might need you and your family’s help getting back home, but that does not make us friends. You gave all that up a year ago when you decided we meant nothing to you. So I suggest you keep your freaky mouth shut until we get out of here.”

“I’m…so…Can’t she see how much…” His inner words filtered into my head, and I shook it back and forth, not wanting to hear.

“Uh, guys…now might not be the best time to hash this out,” Maddie said. I could feel her watching our little standoff warily. “You’ve had an entire year to pick each other apart, and we can’t afford to do this now.”

“Maddie’s right,” said Freddy, surprisingly, walking over to his brother and pulling him backwards by the shoulder. “We can settle this later, man.”

Norman backed off, and once he was out of my headspace, I felt like I could breathe a little bit easier. He still glared at me, but it was