Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

where a fire raged. Monstrous black clouds of smoke rapidly spread through the night, pushed by the wind. Bits of ash fell from above and stuck to their hair. Gray snowflakes.
    “Can you hear it?” the stranger asked. He stood, arms at his side, eyes closed, face pointed up toward the sky.
    “Hear what?” She strained her ears but there was no unusual noise.
    “The nothingness. No fire trucks, ambulances, police cars. No people, cars, stereos, televisions, computers. All the things we use to replace the silence of loneliness. All the distractionswe buy that fill up the empty voids inside our souls. It’s all gone.”
    “Are you saying our souls are empty?”
    “No, I’m saying they’ve been filled.”
    “With what?”
    The stranger smiled at her. “Humanity has found a cure to a disease they never knew existed.”
    “You sound just like the crazy man on the bus.”
    The smile faltered. “Sorry. I was just thinking out loud.”
    She gave him a long look but couldn’t really see anything wrong with him. He didn’t look like he was crazy, not in the way the guy on the bus was. He was clean and dressed nicely. His black hair was freshly washed and shiny. There was a seriousness about him and he moved gracefully. He reminded her of some of the others she knew from drama class. He probably read a lot of literary fiction, maybe wrote stories while reciting Dylan Thomas poetry from heart.
    “I don’t know your name,” she finally said. It was lame, but she couldn’t think of anything else to ask.
    “Daniel.”
    She wasn’t surprised. He looked just like she’d expect a Daniel to look.
    “I’m Aries. You know, like the horoscope. But I’m actually a Gemini.” It was the standard speech she gave people when introducing herself. Normally she thought it was rather witty, but tonight it sounded stupid. It wasn’t the right time to try and make little jokes.
    “How ironic.”
    She couldn’t tell if he was mocking her or being clever himself. It was hard to read his expression. His face was unmoving; he didn’t seem to have any emotions at all.
    A thought occurred to her. There was no one else around. Alive at least. Who knew where Colin ran off to? Probablycowering somewhere, he’d be useless if she needed him anyway. Suddenly she was aware of just how unsafe the situation was. Though she wasn’t scared. For some reason her body remained strangely calm. Somehow Daniel made her feel safe even though she knew he could be a threat himself. Maybe it was because he’d already pulled her out from the mountain of bodies. He’d been there for her when she needed it. He seemed truly concerned for her.
    The thought made her realize there were others probably worrying about her. Her parents. She reached inside her jacket and clenched her fingers around her useless phone. Were they frantically trying to call her right now? Were they hurt? What if the house hadn’t survived the earthquake?
    “I should get home and check on my parents,” she said. “I need to contact Sara’s mom too.”
    “Do you live far from here?”
    “About five miles. But I can walk.”
    “You’ll never make it.”
    She involuntarily took a step backward.
    Daniel was fast. He reached out and grabbed her before she could defend herself. She didn’t even get a chance to scream.
    “Listen to me, Aries. Something bad is about to happen. Worse than this.” He waved his arm around at all the destruction. “It’ll make this look like a walk in the park. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. If you don’t take cover now, you won’t live to see morning. Hell, you probably won’t live to see midnight.”
    “How do you know—”
    “Didn’t I just tell you not to ask?” He shook his head slightly. “A lot of people are going to die, and it’s only the beginning.”
    Somewhere off in the distance there were screams. Danielstiffened and Aries turned around to try and see where the sound was coming from. The sun had almost completely