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As an extra-special thank bạn to Morganville's Most Wanted, here's a special xem trước from GHOST TOWN ... one not available anywhere else!
Once again: THANK YOU. bạn are the greatest readers in the world!
It was late, and they were all tired, and her head hurt. She fell asleep on the couch, and Shane finally woke her and told her to go to bed. She wanted to stay with him, but she knew she shouldn’t, not when she was trying to think, and her head hurt so badly.
She didn’t remember getting upstairs to her room, but she must have, because when she woke up, sun was streaming through the curtains and laying a warm blanket across her bed. She felt better, until she poked at the bump on her head; that still hurt. But it was healing, she could tell.
She still hadn’t thought of what she was going to do, except that she needed to get to Myrnin, convince him to help, hoặc else she needed to take down the computer’s power.
Maybe the power station, she thought, but she’d been there, once, and unless she was planning to get a full Navy niêm phong, con dấu team and maybe Hannah’s old Marine buddies, there was no way she could take out the power there.
It had to be done in the lab. Which left the problem of the crazy vampire who didn’t remember her.
There was nothing coming to her, nothing at all.
Amelie might help, hoặc she might not. There was no telling what –
“Oliver,” she đã đưa ý kiến out loud. She needed to talk to Oliver. Granted, he’d been in a pretty horrible mood before, but maybe this was important enough for him to get over himself. Maybe.
It was still early enough that Michael was probably home, but Claire thought today was Eve’s early ngày at Common Grounds; she only put in about sixteen hours a week there, but she tried to do it early mornings, because she really didn’t like spending evenings there anymore. So she’d probably already been up and gone, if she was intending to work at all. Shane would be in bed. He never got up before ten unless he had to.
Sure enough, when Claire went into the bathroom, there was fog on the mirror, and still-warm drops in the shower, and Eve had left her makeup scattered all over the counter. Claire put it back in the bag and got out her own, which wasn’t much beyond an eye pencil and some mascara. She showered and dressed fast, and had her mind on what she was going to say to Oliver when she opened the bathroom door, and ran straight into Michael.
He looked at her in shock – so much shock, in fact, that she checked to make sure she’d remembered to put her pants on. She had. “What?” she demanded. “Do I have something on my face?”
“What are bạn doing in my bathroom?” Michael asked, and took a giant step back. “How did bạn get here?”
Oh, crap. She’d been afraid Michael was susceptible to whatever was going on, and now, here it was, again.
Just like Amelie. Just like Myrnin. Just like Monica, for that matter.
He didn’t wait for her answer. He ran to the end of the hall, to her room, and threw open the door. “Dad – “ He fell silent, staring at the room. “Dad?” He backed up slowly. “What the hell is going on?”
Claire sighed. It seemed like her whole life was being spent telling people the bad news. “I know you’re not going to believe this, but I live here, Michael. I’ve been here for a while now.”
He turned back on her, fists clenched. “What did bạn do with my parents?”
“Whoa, I promise, nothing! Look, bạn can ask Eve if bạn don’t believe me, hoặc Shane – “
“Did Monica put bạn up to this?” Michael asked, and pushed her. “Just get out. Get out of our house!”
“Wait!” It was no use, he wasn’t going to believe her, any thêm than Hannah had, hoặc Amelie, hoặc Myrnin. “Wait, don’t – “
Michael pushed her again. With vampire strength.
Claire flew backwards, fell, rolled, and almost slid down the stairs before she grabbed hold of a banister railing to pull herself to a stop. Michael stood there, looking utterly astonished; he stared at her, down at his hands, and back again.
“You’re a vampire, Michael,” Claire said, and scrambled up. Her head was hurting again. No surprise there. “If bạn don’t remember anything else, remember that.”
“Get out!” he yelled. He looked really upset, and very, very angry. Bad combo, for a vampire.
Claire went down the steps, grabbed her backpack from where it was leaning against the wall, and dashed out the door. Once she was outside in the sun, she stopped and pulled out her cell phone, and dialed Shane’s number. It rang, and rang, and rang, and finally he picked up and mumbled something that didn’t really sound like a word.
“Watch your back,” she said. “Michael doesn’t remember – “
She didn’t have any time to say more, because Michael had followed her out onto the porch, and as she started to turn, she saw that he was coming after her. In the sunlight.
“No!” Claire yelled, and dropped her phone and the backpack. Michael’s skin started to sizzle and smoke instantly on contact with the sun, and he just stood there, staring down at himself, as if this was some dream, and he was waiting to wake up. “Michael, get back! Get in the shade!”
“I’m not – I’m not a – “ He staggered and fell to his knees. “I’m not a vampire.”
“Michael!”
She didn’t have a choice. She’d have to risk him turning on her, like Myrnin; she couldn’t leave him out here to fry. He didn’t seem to understand that he had to di chuyển – hoặc maybe he wasn’t able to. She couldn’t tell.
“Shane! Shane, get your đít, mông, ass down here!” she screamed, loud enough that she hoped he could hear it over the cell and through the windows. She couldn’t wait for him, though.
She dumped her backpack and raced back to grab Michael under the arms. His áo sơ mi was on fire, and she batted it out before trying to drag him, but as soon as she did, the áo sơ mi burst into flames again, singeing her own clothes.
The shade was still three feet away.
Do it, just do it! Claire took a better hold and gritted her teeth and pulled with all her might. He was heavy, really heavy, and it hurt trying to hold on. She moved him another foot. It seemed to take forever.
“Move!” Shane snapped from behind her, and jumped down the steps with a heavy quilt in his hands. He threw it over Michael and started slapping out the flames. “What the hell happened?”
“He – he forgot he – “ Claire couldn’t get her breath. “I couldn’t get him to go inside.”
“Jesus, Michael ... Claire, go call an ambulance. Hurry.”
She stumbled up into the house and made the call as Shane dragged their friend back up the steps and onto the porch. She hoped she made sense. She honestly didn’t know. All she could think about was getting back out there and helping Shane.
It was only as she hung up the phone that she realized her own hands were burned, too. She tried not to look too closely. They didn’t hurt yet, exactly. That was probably shock. She went back out to the porch, and saw that Shane had peeled back the quilt.
Michael was alive, but he didn’t look good. His áo sơ mi was covered with burned holes, and the skin underneath looked horrible. So did his face, his hands, his arms – every part of him that hadn’t been fully protected. He was still awake, and his eyes had gone vampire-red. “I’m not,” he was saying. “I’m not one of them. Shane, tell me I’m not!”
Shane’s expression made Claire’s tim, trái tim ache, and his voice came out rough, but oddly gentle. “You’re not one of them, bro,” he said. “You’re one of us. You’ll always be one of us.”
“Get my dad. I need my dad.”
Shane pushed his hair back with one hand, clearly not sure what to say, and then shook his head. “I can’t. He’s not here, Mike. Just stay still, okay? You’re going to be okay. They’ll fix bạn up.”
“Get Sam,” Michael pleaded. “He’ll tell bạn I’m not – I’m not – “
It was awful. Claire wanted to cry, but she knew if she started she wouldn’t be able to stop. Why Michael?
God, it was her fault. Hers and Myrnin’s. This was happening to so many people, and she couldn’t take it, she really couldn’t. Michael didn’t deserve this. Nobody deserved this.
“Claire, your hands – “ Shane was looking at her now, and he seemed pale. “You burned your hands.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. It seemed the thing to say. It didn’t look so bad now, in the sun. Mostly they were red and angry looking, like a terrible sunburn. Well, she’d had those before. “Is he in pain?”
“I’m right here,” Michael said. “Yeah, it hurts. Not so much now, though. bạn – bạn did something to me. Poured gas on me. Something.”
“No!” Claire was appalled he even thought it. “No, Michael, I didn’t – “
“Get her away from me,” Michael đã đưa ý kiến to Shane. “She’s crazy. She was in the house. She’s one of Monica’s friends.”
“Mike –“ Shane hesitated, then plunged on. “She lives here, man. She’s got the room at the end. Your parents’ room.”
Michael didn’t say anything to that, just shook his head and closed his eyes. Shane looked at Claire, and lifted his hands in a silent apology. She nodded.
It was a relief hearing the xe cứu thương come screaming
toward them.
As an extra-special thank bạn to Morganville's Most Wanted, here's a special xem trước from GHOST TOWN ... one not available anywhere else!
Once again: THANK YOU. bạn are the greatest readers in the world!
It was late, and they were all tired, and her head hurt. She fell asleep on the couch, and Shane finally woke her and told her to go to bed. She wanted to stay with him, but she knew she shouldn’t, not when she was trying to think, and her head hurt so badly.
She didn’t remember getting upstairs to her room, but she must have, because when she woke up, sun was streaming through the curtains and laying a warm blanket across her bed. She felt better, until she poked at the bump on her head; that still hurt. But it was healing, she could tell.
She still hadn’t thought of what she was going to do, except that she needed to get to Myrnin, convince him to help, hoặc else she needed to take down the computer’s power.
Maybe the power station, she thought, but she’d been there, once, and unless she was planning to get a full Navy niêm phong, con dấu team and maybe Hannah’s old Marine buddies, there was no way she could take out the power there.
It had to be done in the lab. Which left the problem of the crazy vampire who didn’t remember her.
There was nothing coming to her, nothing at all.
Amelie might help, hoặc she might not. There was no telling what –
“Oliver,” she đã đưa ý kiến out loud. She needed to talk to Oliver. Granted, he’d been in a pretty horrible mood before, but maybe this was important enough for him to get over himself. Maybe.
It was still early enough that Michael was probably home, but Claire thought today was Eve’s early ngày at Common Grounds; she only put in about sixteen hours a week there, but she tried to do it early mornings, because she really didn’t like spending evenings there anymore. So she’d probably already been up and gone, if she was intending to work at all. Shane would be in bed. He never got up before ten unless he had to.
Sure enough, when Claire went into the bathroom, there was fog on the mirror, and still-warm drops in the shower, and Eve had left her makeup scattered all over the counter. Claire put it back in the bag and got out her own, which wasn’t much beyond an eye pencil and some mascara. She showered and dressed fast, and had her mind on what she was going to say to Oliver when she opened the bathroom door, and ran straight into Michael.
He looked at her in shock – so much shock, in fact, that she checked to make sure she’d remembered to put her pants on. She had. “What?” she demanded. “Do I have something on my face?”
“What are bạn doing in my bathroom?” Michael asked, and took a giant step back. “How did bạn get here?”
Oh, crap. She’d been afraid Michael was susceptible to whatever was going on, and now, here it was, again.
Just like Amelie. Just like Myrnin. Just like Monica, for that matter.
He didn’t wait for her answer. He ran to the end of the hall, to her room, and threw open the door. “Dad – “ He fell silent, staring at the room. “Dad?” He backed up slowly. “What the hell is going on?”
Claire sighed. It seemed like her whole life was being spent telling people the bad news. “I know you’re not going to believe this, but I live here, Michael. I’ve been here for a while now.”
He turned back on her, fists clenched. “What did bạn do with my parents?”
“Whoa, I promise, nothing! Look, bạn can ask Eve if bạn don’t believe me, hoặc Shane – “
“Did Monica put bạn up to this?” Michael asked, and pushed her. “Just get out. Get out of our house!”
“Wait!” It was no use, he wasn’t going to believe her, any thêm than Hannah had, hoặc Amelie, hoặc Myrnin. “Wait, don’t – “
Michael pushed her again. With vampire strength.
Claire flew backwards, fell, rolled, and almost slid down the stairs before she grabbed hold of a banister railing to pull herself to a stop. Michael stood there, looking utterly astonished; he stared at her, down at his hands, and back again.
“You’re a vampire, Michael,” Claire said, and scrambled up. Her head was hurting again. No surprise there. “If bạn don’t remember anything else, remember that.”
“Get out!” he yelled. He looked really upset, and very, very angry. Bad combo, for a vampire.
Claire went down the steps, grabbed her backpack from where it was leaning against the wall, and dashed out the door. Once she was outside in the sun, she stopped and pulled out her cell phone, and dialed Shane’s number. It rang, and rang, and rang, and finally he picked up and mumbled something that didn’t really sound like a word.
“Watch your back,” she said. “Michael doesn’t remember – “
She didn’t have any time to say more, because Michael had followed her out onto the porch, and as she started to turn, she saw that he was coming after her. In the sunlight.
“No!” Claire yelled, and dropped her phone and the backpack. Michael’s skin started to sizzle and smoke instantly on contact with the sun, and he just stood there, staring down at himself, as if this was some dream, and he was waiting to wake up. “Michael, get back! Get in the shade!”
“I’m not – I’m not a – “ He staggered and fell to his knees. “I’m not a vampire.”
“Michael!”
She didn’t have a choice. She’d have to risk him turning on her, like Myrnin; she couldn’t leave him out here to fry. He didn’t seem to understand that he had to di chuyển – hoặc maybe he wasn’t able to. She couldn’t tell.
“Shane! Shane, get your đít, mông, ass down here!” she screamed, loud enough that she hoped he could hear it over the cell and through the windows. She couldn’t wait for him, though.
She dumped her backpack and raced back to grab Michael under the arms. His áo sơ mi was on fire, and she batted it out before trying to drag him, but as soon as she did, the áo sơ mi burst into flames again, singeing her own clothes.
The shade was still three feet away.
Do it, just do it! Claire took a better hold and gritted her teeth and pulled with all her might. He was heavy, really heavy, and it hurt trying to hold on. She moved him another foot. It seemed to take forever.
“Move!” Shane snapped from behind her, and jumped down the steps with a heavy quilt in his hands. He threw it over Michael and started slapping out the flames. “What the hell happened?”
“He – he forgot he – “ Claire couldn’t get her breath. “I couldn’t get him to go inside.”
“Jesus, Michael ... Claire, go call an ambulance. Hurry.”
She stumbled up into the house and made the call as Shane dragged their friend back up the steps and onto the porch. She hoped she made sense. She honestly didn’t know. All she could think about was getting back out there and helping Shane.
It was only as she hung up the phone that she realized her own hands were burned, too. She tried not to look too closely. They didn’t hurt yet, exactly. That was probably shock. She went back out to the porch, and saw that Shane had peeled back the quilt.
Michael was alive, but he didn’t look good. His áo sơ mi was covered with burned holes, and the skin underneath looked horrible. So did his face, his hands, his arms – every part of him that hadn’t been fully protected. He was still awake, and his eyes had gone vampire-red. “I’m not,” he was saying. “I’m not one of them. Shane, tell me I’m not!”
Shane’s expression made Claire’s tim, trái tim ache, and his voice came out rough, but oddly gentle. “You’re not one of them, bro,” he said. “You’re one of us. You’ll always be one of us.”
“Get my dad. I need my dad.”
Shane pushed his hair back with one hand, clearly not sure what to say, and then shook his head. “I can’t. He’s not here, Mike. Just stay still, okay? You’re going to be okay. They’ll fix bạn up.”
“Get Sam,” Michael pleaded. “He’ll tell bạn I’m not – I’m not – “
It was awful. Claire wanted to cry, but she knew if she started she wouldn’t be able to stop. Why Michael?
God, it was her fault. Hers and Myrnin’s. This was happening to so many people, and she couldn’t take it, she really couldn’t. Michael didn’t deserve this. Nobody deserved this.
“Claire, your hands – “ Shane was looking at her now, and he seemed pale. “You burned your hands.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. It seemed the thing to say. It didn’t look so bad now, in the sun. Mostly they were red and angry looking, like a terrible sunburn. Well, she’d had those before. “Is he in pain?”
“I’m right here,” Michael said. “Yeah, it hurts. Not so much now, though. bạn – bạn did something to me. Poured gas on me. Something.”
“No!” Claire was appalled he even thought it. “No, Michael, I didn’t – “
“Get her away from me,” Michael đã đưa ý kiến to Shane. “She’s crazy. She was in the house. She’s one of Monica’s friends.”
“Mike –“ Shane hesitated, then plunged on. “She lives here, man. She’s got the room at the end. Your parents’ room.”
Michael didn’t say anything to that, just shook his head and closed his eyes. Shane looked at Claire, and lifted his hands in a silent apology. She nodded.
It was a relief hearing the xe cứu thương come screaming
toward them.
