Dark Visions by L. J. Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

worlds away- and she was glad.
    Tomorrow's Sunday, she thought. Joyce promised to show us the lab, and after that, maybe I'll do some drawing. And then maybe we can look around town. And on Monday we'll go to school and I'll have a built-in set of friends.
    What a wonderful idea. She knew that Anna and Lewis, at least, would want to eat lunch together. She hoped Rob would, too. As for Gabriel-well, the farther off he was, the better. She didn't feel sorry for him at all. ...
    Her thoughts drifted off. The vague discomfort she'd felt about Mr. Zetes had entirely disappeared. She slipped easily into sleep.
    And then, suddenly, she was wide-awake. A figure was standing over her bed.
    Kaitlyn couldn't breathe. Her heart seemed to fill her mouth and throat, pounding. The moonlight was gone and she couldn't make out any details of the figure-it was just a black silhouette.
    For a wild instant-without knowing why-she thought, Rob? Gabriel?
    Then a dim light came through the window again. She saw the halo of mahogany hair and the full lips of Marisol.
    "What's wrong?" she whispered, sitting up. "What are you doing here?"
    Marisol's eyes were like black pits. "Watch out-or get out," she hissed.
    "What?"
    "Watch out... or get out. You kids think you're so smart-so psychic-don't you? So superior to everyone else."
    Kaitlyn couldn't speak.
    "But you don't know anything. This place is different than you think. I've seen things . . ." She shook her head and laughed roughly. "Never mind. You'd just better watch out-" She broke off suddenly and looked behind her. Kaitlyn could see only the black rectangle of the doorway-but she thought she heard a faint rattling sound down the hall.
    "Marisol, what-"
    "Shut up. I've got to go."
    "But-"
    Marisol was already leaving. An instant later, the door to Kaitlyn's room silently closed.

CHAPTER 5

    B y the next morning, Kait had forgotten about the strange visit.
    She woke up to a distant clanging, feeling as if it were very late. A glance at her bedside clock showed that it was seven-thirty, which, of course, meant it was ten-thirty in Ohio.

    The clanging was still going on. Anna sat up in bed.
    "Good morning," she said, smiling.
    "Good morning," Kaitlyn said, feeling how wonderful it was to have a roommate to wake up with.
    "What's that noise?"
    Anna cocked her head. "I have no idea."
    "I'm going to find out." Kaitlyn got up and opened the bathroom door. She could hear the clanging more clearly now, and along with it, a weird shouting voice-and a sound like mooing.
    Impulsively she knocked on the door that led from the bathroom into Rob and Lewis's room. When she heard Rob's voice calling, "Yeah, come in," she opened the door and peered around it.
    Rob was sitting up in bed, his rebellious blond hair tousled into a lion's mane. His chest was bare, Kaitlyn noticed with an unreasonable feeling of shock. In the other bed there was a lump of blankets which presumably contained Lewis.
    Kaitlyn suddenly realized she was wearing a T-shirt nightgown that only came down to her knees. It had seemed quite natural to walk around in it-until she was confronted by the indisputable reality of boys.
    She looked desperately around for the source of the clanging and mooing as a distraction. Then she saw it.
    It was a cow. A cow made of white porcelain, with a clock in its stomach. The measured, hoarse voice coming from it was shouting in a marked Japanese accent, "Wake . . . up! Don't sleep your life away!
    Wake . . . up!"
    Kaitlyn looked at the talking alarm clock, and then she looked at Rob. Rob smiled his slow, infectious smile-and suddenly everything was all right.
    "It has to be Lewis's," Kait gasped, and began to giggle.
    "It's great, isn't it?" said a muffled voice from under the blankets. "I got it at Sharper Image."
    "So this is what I can expect from my housemates," Kait said. "Mooing in the morning." She and Rob were both laughing together now, and she decided it was time to shut the door.
    After she