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

They both looked up as I came in, and I tried to fight a smile behind my palm. Maddie groaned, and Jason shook his head with pleading eyes. For a split second, his eyes flickered to yellow, and I watched Damon’s forked tongue slip out and dip into the mush before Jason reeled back with a look of devastation and revulsion on his face. Betrayal at its finest.

“Oh good, October!” Pip announced, bustling over with oven mitts on her hands. “Just in time to try out this new recipe.”

Dread pooled in my gut as I skirted her path and snagged an apple from the bowl in the center island. Fe was standing in the corner of the kitchen, leaning against the wooden countertop with a mug of tea raised to her lips that smelled like tequila from here. Was she having a margarita this early? Her orange hair was wild around her head, and her purple and yellow robes were covered in flour. She raised a brow and shrugged her shoulder in a what can you do gesture.

I gave Pip an apologetic wince. “Sorry, Auntie, I gotta be at school super early this morning. I have a meeting with a teacher in twenty… Uh, save some for me?” I zoomed through the kitchen, grabbing my satchel and cloak off the coat rack and grinned at the two unfortunate souls, who sneered back at me. Just before I twirled out into the entryway, I wiggled my fingers under my chin with a wink at Jason.

As I left the room, I heard Pip ask Jason if he’d like a top up on his porridge, and a second later, the sound of silverware clattering to a bowl filled the silence. I waited until I was outside with the door shut behind me to belly laugh. The stricken look on Maddie and Jason’s faces would forever keep me warm at night.

Freddy and Norman were waiting for me at the end of the stone path near the street. They both had their arms crossed over their chests, smirks on their faces. Freddy shook his head, saying, “It’s rude to laugh at other people’s expense, you know.”

With pep in my step, I joined them on the sidewalk. “And you’re the expert on that, aren’t you, wolf man?”

Freddy rolled his eyes. “All right, so what do we do now? None of us have classes for at least four hours…”

“Well I’m starving,” I said, feeling a rumble in my stomach. “I could go for some bubble tea and a scone that won't make my lower intestines explode.”

“Looks like we’re going to Toil and Trouble then,” Norman said, holding out an elbow for me to loop my arm through.

I smiled and did just that, and a second later, Freddy took my other arm and we made our way in the direction of town. It was strange, being out and about when for all we knew, it was the middle of the night. According to my watch, it was still early morning, but the moons overhead were still playing tricks on my brain.

It only took us twenty minutes to get to Main Street. There were people everywhere, bustling around with arms full of decorations and preparing for the festival. I’d almost forgotten about the solstice.

The mortal world was well past Halloween, as it was the night we ended up here, but the streets of Midnight Hollow were lined in flickering jack-o’-lanterns, wreaths of twigs, and autumn leaves. It seemed like this place was stuck in a perpetual autumn, and I loved it. I was beginning to grow used to seeing odd creatures here and there. I did almost piss my pants seeing the guy from the gas station in the overalls, but what left my jaw dropping was he waved at me, mumbling something I couldn’t understand as he passed out flyers for his auto body shop. Not at all how it seemed at first glance...you should never judge a book by its cover. Shaking my head in wonder, I almost tripped over a couple of goblin boys as they chased each other around in circles, giggling.

Witches swished around in their long velvet cloaks, and street vendors were selling their goodies, smelling like sweet treats and savory meats. It was like a street fair…only every single day. I imagined this was what stepping back in time felt like, where everything was homemade with love. My arm was still looped with the guys’, and they led me down the street until we saw Toil and Trouble just up ahead. There was a massive cauldron out front, just like always, but this time, the witches weren’t out there stirring something questionable. There was a huge wooden ladle that seemed to be stirring itself.

A bell tinkled overhead as we stepped into the tea shop for the first time. I breathed in deeply as I was hit with the smell of loose herbs, spices, and sugar. I’d always loved the scent of dried floral teas. Jasmine blossom was my favorite, with just a teaspoon of wildflower honey, and a close second was any kind of chai with a dash of cream.

The walls were covered floor to ceiling in jars on shelves that looked to be stuffed with loose leaves and herbs. Drying plants hung from the ceiling all over the shop, and I spotted a girl behind the front counter picking a sprig of mint off of one of them and plopping it into a cauldron.

“Tell me why we didn’t come here first,” I breathed, smiling as I looked around at all the teas. “This place is amazing… I could live here.”

I looked up at Freddy and saw him smiling down at me. “Then I probably shouldn’t point out that big case of pastries, or else you might never come home,” he teased.

I perked up immediately at the thought of baked goods that weren’t made in the aunties’ kitchen, and followed his gaze to a glass case filled