Dark Advent by Brian Hodge Read Free Book Online

her it worked a lot better. “Are you Jeff Dannon’s sister?”
    “He’s my big brother.”
    “I thought there was a family resemblance. We went to school together.” He ran a quick file-check through his mind. Jeff Dannon…joined the Peace Corps to see the world…okay, no immediate threat over jailbait sisters.
    “NowI know who you are,” she said, looking as if some great truth had just been revealed. “There’s a picture of you hanging up in the drama department at school. You had the lead in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. ”
    Jason smiled, nodded. “That was me. R. P. McMurphy. Second only to Jack Nicholson.”
    “Except your hair’s longer now,” she said, reaching out to flip a lock that lay against his collar. “You look like a British rock star.”
    They ordered more drinks. He stuck with the Collins, she with frozen strawberry daiquiris. She ate the strawberry from her drink, playing an interesting cat-and-mouse game with it with her tongue, and the front of his pants grew uncomfortably tight.
    “So what are you doing now?” she asked. “Are you working?”
    “Only for the summer. I’ll be a senior up at U of I in another couple months. In marketing research.”
    “Oh, someone with a future.” She sighed. “Well, I’m just hanging around this boring-ass town until I can leave. Can’t wait. There’s nothing to do but party with my friends.”
    “We had the same complaint when I was in school.”
    “I bet it’s a lot more exciting up there.”
    “Just a wider selection of bars and parties.”
    Lilly pushed at his arm. “Oh, you bullshitter.” She paused to sip from her glass. “You know what I’d like to do? Take a year or two and do just what I want. Maybe spend it skiing. You like skiing?”
    “I’ve been a couple of times. But I don’t like spending hard-earned money to fall on my ass when I can stay home and do it for free.” He rattled the ice in his glass. “A whole year, huh? Are you rich or something?”
    “Oh, my dad will pay for it. Daddy gets me what I want. Sometimes I have to cry a little, but he’ll break down. Like last winter when I got my license…in a week I had a new car.” Her expression was calm, straightforward, as if that new car had been the most natural thing in the world to find in the driveway.
    “Must be nice.” Inside, a little voice was telling Jason, Whatever you do, don’t let this little nymph find out you’ve got money.
    “Doesn’t yourdad get you what you want?” Lilly clearly appeared mystified.
    Jason smiled crookedly. “I guess in a way he does.” He let it go at that. He didn’t feel like explaining. Not to her.
    They continued to talk, and when her friends came forward to inform her that they were leaving, Lilly opted to remain with Jason. Before too long, she complained that the smoke was hurting her eyes. The place was starting to fill up. He looked at the Budweiser clock across the room. Ten o’clock. You could set your watch by this bar.
    “Where do you want to go?” he asked once they were in his car, a red Mustang that looked like a million others.
    “I don’t care. Anyplace.”
    He geared the car and headed for the old standby from his own teenage years, the country roads east of town. Over the years he and his friends must have littered them with a ton of empty beer cans. The night air was warm and thick, but the wind felt soothing as it whipped through the car, washing the smoky odor from their clothes and hair. Lilly hadn’t said much, and he looked over at her after a few minutes of silence. She was slumped down into the seat, arms crossed, head thrown back against the headrest, eyes closed.
    “Do you like it up there, at school?” she finally asked. “What do you do?”
    “I don’t know. I just go to class. I try not to take anything too seriously. Try to keep afloat. That’s about it, really.”
    He heard her laugh softly, saw her head shake in the moonlight. “Totally hopeless,” she said.
    He