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

it was coming from downstairs. I heard footsteps down the hall and saw Freddy coming out of his own guest room. Our eyes met from across the short distance, and I saw the exact moment the smell registered. He pinned me with a look.

I scoffed. “Don’t blame that one on me. I’m pretty sure Pip’s cooking down there.” The horrified look on his handsome face made me grin. “You’re looking better,” I said, sweeping my eyes over him from head to toe.

His blond hair was freshly washed, hanging down to his shoulders and had my fingers twitching to slide through it. He wore a simple black shirt and dark pants that made me drool at how tight they were in all the right places. There were no dark circles beneath his eyes, and they shone like he’d just woken up from the best sleep known to man.

“I feel like a new man,” he said, coming closer. “Shedding all my skin and sprouting hair will do that to a guy.”

I sobered immediately. “Seriously, Fred, are you okay? That couldn’t have been easy, you know, wolfing out and all.”

He smiled softly—softer than I was used to lately. It was disarming. “All good, beautiful.”

My brows shot to my hairline. “Laying it on a little thick this morning, are we, big guy?”

Freddy laughed, swooping a heavy arm around my shoulders as he guided me towards the staircase. “A little birdy told me we’ve got the green light to stop tormenting you now.”

I stopped dead in my tracks and smiled up at him. “And does this little birdy happen to have fangs?” Folding my arms over my chest, I shook my head at his mouthy twin. What else had they talked about behind my back?

“I can neither confirm nor deny,” he said, making a zipping motion over his grinning mouth.

It was literally impossible to be serious with Freddy. And besides, I wasn’t really angry at all. I knew the guys talked, and Jason had given me all that crap about not keeping secrets anymore. I agreed wholeheartedly, but it was still jarring to hear them just come right out with it.

I was about to respond when suddenly, we heard a hollow knocking sound. We both froze, whipping around and searching the hallway. I heard it again and looked at Freddy, who just shrugged. “Maybe they have rats,” he suggested halfheartedly.

I shook my head. “I’ve been hearing that damn knocking since we got here…”

“It’s probably nothing,” he said. “Or maybe it’s one of the aunties’ witchy experiments… Why don’t we just ask?”

I supposed he was right. The knocking was bothering me. It seemed to happen sporadically and with no discernible pattern. I’d have to ask the aunties about that and set my mind at ease. We turned for the staircase, but Norman popped up, heading our way quickly with panic in his green eyes.

My heart stuttered at the sight of him. We hadn’t really had a chance to talk too much after what happened in the greenhouse. It felt like it had been years since that night. Norman pulled up short, just shy of the last step, and ran his hand through his glossy black hair. “You’re gonna want to turn around and escape out the window,” he said.

“What’s going on?” I moved out from under Freddy’s heavy arm, suddenly concerned.

Norman shivered visibly—or maybe it was a shudder. “Pip has a whole spread laid out for breakfast,” he said ominously.

My stomach immediately clenched, feeling like it was about to implode already. My mouth dried up, as if it could already taste the vile concoctions just waiting down there for us. Pip’s food really was legendary for a reason. I swore someone at some point must have cursed my poor auntie, because I wouldn’t trust that woman to pour me a bowl of cereal.

“What do we do?” Freddy asked in a panic. We all knew we couldn’t eat that food, and there was no way we’d be able to pretend to push it around our plates.

Norman shook his head. “No clue. She already trapped Maddie and Jason. Michael took the window route earlier to get to his early class… I suggest we all do the same.”

I thought for a moment, trying to strategize, and then it hit me. “Okay, here’s the plan,” I said quietly. Both Freddy and Norman ducked in closer, and it made me giggle because I suddenly felt like the captain of the varsity basketball team. “I’m going to distract them while the two of you creep down the hall and slip out the door. I’ll create some kind of chaos and slip out as fast as I can, but you better be waiting for me when I get outside, got it?”

They nodded, and Norman asked, “You sure you can do this?”

No, I’m not, Norman, but thanks for the vote of confidence.

“Just do it,” I said, shooing them towards the stairs. This was ridiculous. We were being childish, but these truly were high stakes. When I said Pip’s food could kill off the dinosaurs all over again, I meant it.

We crept down the stairs on silent feet, and I was never more thankful that they were carpeted than I was right now. We split off once we reached the bottom landing, and I gestured with my hand slicing through the air that the guys needed to make a break for it. I was taking one for the team, and if Auntie Pip shoved a poisoned scone down my throat along the way…well, let’s just say they’d owe me big time.

I heard the front door open, so at that exact moment, before the aunties could hear, I made my way into the kitchen, walking much faster than I normally would, pretending to be in a frantic hurry. I saw Maddie first, staring down at the plate in front of her. Her face was slightly green, and her brown eyes were full of hopelessness. Jason didn’t look any better as he sloshed around a bowl of