Castles by Benjamin X Wretlind Read Free Book Online Page B

me.
    Michael tapped me on the shoulder and snapped me out of my daze. "What are you going to name him?"
    "I don't know. Does a dog need a name?"
    "Well, I don't think you can call him 'Dog' and hope he'll come to you."
    "No, I guess not. How about Princess?"
    "It's a boy."
    I giggled. I guessed Princess would give the dog a complex, if such a thing were possible. "Okay, Dusty."
    Michael smiled. "Dusty, it is."
    I knelt down and rubbed my hand across Dusty's head. He looked at me, flopping that tongue out again and smiling in the way only dogs smile. I stayed there for a moment, relishing in the moment, in the realization that my twelfth birthday was as good as it gets.
    I stood up and looked at Michael. "We should take him for a walk."
    "Where to?"
    "The Bus."
    Michael didn't smile, and I wondered what thoughts raced through his head. We had something in common with the Bus, and no one else knew our secret. We rarely brought up the eel in conversation, but there are some things that are spoken loudly without words.
    Michael nodded, and I swore I heard him sigh. "To the Bus."

6
     
    It was close to evening when we finally reached the Bus. Dusty had led the way through the desert, stopping every once in a while to sniff a cactus or turn over a rock. He was a large dog and pulled on me more than I'd expected. I followed along, sometimes running, sometimes pulling back on the leash to slow him down.
    My arm hurt by the time we stopped. I tied the leash to the front bumper and looked at Michael. He seemed nervous, opening and closing his fists and staring at the Bus. The sun was near the horizon and the light was starting to fade. It would be a good hour before it was completely dark, but between the reddening sky, the rust of old metal and the dusty environment, admittedly, there was a sense of the creepy.
    "What's wrong?" I asked. I hoped he wasn't going to say he wanted to go home just yet. My arm needed a rest.
    "I haven't been here since I found the eel."
    "Are you afraid of something?"
    He swallowed. "Just more eels."
    I hadn't thought of that. What if there were more of those things inside, slithering around and feeding on dead people? I must have pushed those images out of my mind in my attempt to justify what I'd seen. I didn't consider the possibility of another body, another meal for the eels to feast on. I wanted to be with Michael on my special day, and entering a world we shared together seemed like a good place to relax with each other.
    I told Michael just as much. "I don't think we'll find another one."
    "How do you know?"
    I quickly opened the passenger door. Without thinking, I stepped on to the seat and looked inside the back. Bravery is such a sudden and reckless thing.
    "Because there's no dead body," I called out from inside. "And I don't see them."
    I turned back around and stepped out of the Bus. Michael was still opening and closing his fists. Apparently, my little act of courage hadn't persuaded him otherwise.
    "I want you inside me." I blinked as the words I'd just said fell out of my mouth and bounced around in the air beside me. Did I really?
    Michael turned from the Bus and finally looked at me. He wore an expression of fear, and I wondered if it was a fear of the eels or a fear of the unknown journey I'd just invited him to take. Hell, I was scared. I didn't really expect to say those words, and although I'd had thoughts of Michael inside me for a while, I honestly feared the reality more than I could say.
    He stood motionless, speechless and my words just echoed in the air between us. I tried to look inside of him, through his eyes and see that spark of interest I'd ignited. His breathing was heavy, his chest rising and falling.
    I swallowed my own fear, convinced I knew what I wanted. I turned to the Bus and sat on the passenger seat. "In the back of the Bus, Michael. No one will see us."
    It took a moment, but he finally took a step forward. I smiled slyly and slipped out of my shirt. If his eyes