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

how pathetically jealous that just sounded. Rumors about Freddy being with the cheerleader had spread around our school like wildfire after winter break last year. He could do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted, it meant nothing to me anymore.

Yeah right… Like my heart didn’t crack open every time I saw them with another girl.

He hummed, reaching out to pinch a lock of orange hair between his fingers, and my eyes flickered up to his. They were grass green and brimming with a mixture of year old anger and a hint of sinister amusement. “You’d probably like that, wouldn’t you? You like to watch? Are you even more freaky than we thought, baby girl? Just say the word…” He dropped my hair and ran those fingertips down the side of my neck, light as a feather. Fire burned in its wake and between my thighs as I clenched my legs together. “I can accommodate.” He smirked as he noticed the slight movement.

Slapping his hand away, I shoved away from him, wincing as my elbow jammed into the bus window. Freddy laughed like the sadistic bastard he is. I looked over and saw Norman grinning darkly, his face no longer lit by his screen. Those lips were stretched wide, and he looked crueler than usual. My stomach curdled.

Once upon a time, they’d have never spoken to me this way. Not in a million years. Flashes of skin on skin, lips hovering over mine, and deft fingers making me feel things for the first time ran through my mind. Memories of sharing firsts… I shook them away. They were taking my year and a half of silence personally. Or perhaps they were just finally showing their true colors.

“Stop messing with her,” called a voice from the back of the bus, only three rows back. I craned my neck, looking over my shoulder to where Jason and Michael sat, watching Freddy fuck with me with amusement in their eyes. Jason was chuckling as he added, “You know it’s rude to play with your food.” He licked his lips sensually as our eyes met.

I was getting so fucking tired of this shit. My parent’s just died for fuck’s sake, and all they could do was dedicate every waking moment to making me as miserable as possible. They were heartless bastards, and it made me genuinely wonder what it was that I ever saw in any of them. Maybe I was right for cutting ties when I did.

I turned back to the window, having no more energy to try and think of a retort. It would fall on deaf ears anyway. So I just shoved the other earbud in and leaned my head against the frosty window, while Freddy just stared me down with a grin. All I ever felt was anger towards them, but there was an ache of sadness in my chest as memories always surfaced of the past. I felt that stare like little spider legs crawling all over my skin, but I wouldn’t let him know how much it bothered me, how much it killed me inside.

After about two full minutes of this, he must have realized I no longer gave a fuck and went to the back of the bus, probably to talk more shit about me with the guys. I didn’t look at Norman again either. I was done pining over them. I was done with it all.

I thought some more about that psychic and his ominous words of warning. They continued to swirl around in my brain until I thought I might go crazy. He’d said something dark was coming for me, something not right. What could that possibly mean? Did he mean my bullies? The guys? Were they planning a prank? I didn’t think so.

His words felt too heavy for something as little as that. I’d been pranked plenty. I’d had my locker filled with lamb's blood, had my shampoo switched with crafting glue, and had the tires on my car slashed more times than I could count. Besides, we weren’t in high school anymore, they had a lot more going on in their lives now that didn’t involve wasting their time on me.

So no, that wasn’t it. His warning still curdled my stomach. I felt nauseous as I sat alone, watching the fields rush by in the moonlight. I knew Mads had likely forgotten about the whole encounter by now. She probably brushed it off as a crazy person’s scheme to con two young girls out of money. But he hadn’t taken my money. He hadn’t wanted anything from me but the promise that I’d keep my eyes open. I wished I could have gone back to ask him more, but Maddie had been ready to get the hell out of there fast. I didn’t blame her. The entire situation was sketchy.

A chorus of howling filled the silence and snapped me out of my dark thoughts. I stiffened, sitting up a little straighter in my seat. Were those…wolves? I didn’t think this county had wolves, but they had to be because it sure as hell didn’t sound like dogs. They were howling in sync like a song, a beautiful, haunting song that had the hairs on my arm standing on end. A few others on the bus heard it too, and several people were waking up, looking around a little disoriented. There was a nervous murmuring through the bus as it slowed to the fifteen mph speed limit.

We were nearly home now. I could see the Sunset Hollow Graveyard just up ahead behind the thick orchard that split Farmer Orson’s vast property, which went for miles. Even from here, as we sloped down a small incline, I could see the wrought iron gate standing tall, peeking out of the rolling fog. Farmer Orson’s corn field was on the other side of the street, and it was split into two halves on either side of the orchard up ahead.

The wolves were howling still, growing louder, and