Dead Rules by Randy Russell Read Free Book Online Page B

“We need this right now. You just want it.” The others mumbled a few words, agreeing with the pack leader. The only one she heard clearly added, “She wants it.” They laughed.
    If they knew Michael, they would have given her the book already. As Jana considered her options, the Sliders suddenly turned quiet. They dropped their arms and sat upright. They were staring obediently at something, or someone, behind Jana.
    She turned to see two Virgins, side by side, as translucent and simultaneously white as ever. They sang two perfect notes each, in low alto voices. One note up, then one note down. It was a warning.
    The boy in glasses stood abruptly, pushing his chair back. He picked up the book and leaned across the table, offering it to Jana.
    â€œHere,” he said. “Please.”
    Jana accepted the book from him. The Sliders looked elsewhere, not at one another and not at Jana. When she turned around to walk back to her table with the student guidebook in her arms, the Virgins were gone.
    The book was large and heavy, bound in covers that looked like dried sheepskin. It seemed ancient, its pages written by hand in faded brown ink. The florid lettering looked like that of one of those religious books that monks copied and hid from authorities hundreds of years ago. The writing was large and clear, but each letter was crafted with a pattern of flourishes that made it very difficult to read. Some of the writing looked upside down.
    Jana thought she’d been given the wrong book. She looked at page after page and couldn’t make sense of it. The words weren’t English. The writing was full of funny-looking Js and far too many letters were topped with tailed dots and little caret-shaped thingies.
    Her concentration was broken when Jana felt a warm breeze at her back. A Slider was close to her. She didn’t look up. He sat down in the empty chair on her side of the table and pulled close to her.
    â€œOkay, what?” she finally said. She gave him an icicle glare.
    It was the tall Slider with half a face. Jana could see him clearly now. The scalded red side was missing an eye. That side of his mouth had no lips. She could see his teeth and gums. Even when his mouth was supposedly closed, the bad side wasn’t. His eyelid was red and shriveled and looked like it had been sealed shut with glue. He kept his crooked arm in his lap, under the table. He nodded down to his hands.
    He held a small narrow knife. It looked as sharp as a razor. His sleeves were rolled up.
    â€œThis is from Mars,” he said.
    The Slider leaned in close to her. The warmth from his face touched hers.
    He pressed the knife blade against his upturned lower arm and she watched in horror as blood appeared. He pushed the blade deeply into his flesh, then drew it away quickly and slipped the knife inside his clothes. She watched him tense in pain. The Slider placed his hand over the deep cut to stem the blood as much as possible. The red liquid poured from the cut, bubbling up between his fingers. It looked sticky and thick and hot.
    Standing up, he leaned over Jana, still clutching his bleeding wound. He held his cut arm turned up. From the corner of his mouth, he said softly, “See you in homeroom tomorrow, Webster. Make sure you say hi.”
    The Slider walked away, limping on his bad leg, bent slightly at the waist. He listed to one side and back with every awkward step. Jana took her first gasp of air since seeing the knife. As her pulse raced to her temples, she felt her heartbeat at both sides of her neck. Jana lowered her head and stared at her hands. They were shaking worse than her mom’s.

Chapter Seven
    ARVA WENT ON. And on.
    â€œI can’t believe they let Sliders use the library,” she said on the bus after school. “And they shouldn’t have given you that old guidebook. There’s a newer one.”
    Her croaky, breathless voice was weaker at the end of the day, but it