Dream Smashers by Angela Carlie Read Free Book Online Page A

she’s fine.” We walk through
the wet grass to Evan’s car, an arm’s length between us. I’m
tempted to step closer to him, but my legs aren’t brave enough.
    “Now what?” I ask.
    “Do you want me to take you home?”
    “Oh, that’s okay. I live right there.” I
point to the second house down on the right.
    “You live close to everything, huh?”
    “Yeah, me and Rainy walk everywhere. Or we
ride our bikes. We aren’t fortunate enough to have an awesome car
like you.”
    Evan blushes. “It’s not mine, actually. It’s
the family car. I just borrowed it.”
    “I was wondering how you could afford a car
with all that volunteer work.”
    “Yeah.” He kicks a rock across the
street.
    “That’s cool. So, eh, it was really nice to
meet you and all.” I take a step closer to him.
    “Oh, yeah, yeah, it really was. You’re a
great person, Autumn. Thanks for spending the evening with me.” He
enters my space, gives me a brief, sincere hug, then steps back,
tripping on the curb. His face beams red—handsome and sweet. “I’ll
pick you up on Monday?”
    “Okay. Umm….” I shove my hands into the front
pockets of my denim jacket and decide to leap off a cliff. “Do you
want to hang out this weekend or anything?” Please say yes, please
say yes.
    His smile grows further, if that’s possible.
“That would be great! I’ll have to check with my parents first.” He
bites his bottom lip. “Actually, I forgot, my family has a reunion
thing tomorrow.” He pauses. “If I can get out of it, which is kind
of doubtful, can I call you?”
    “Of course. Yeah.” I dig the heel of my shoe
into the grass. “If you’re busy Saturday, there’s always
Sunday.”
    He hesitates. “You wanna go to church with
us? Uh, I mean, with my parents? That would be—”
    “No, uh, no. I mean, I think I forgot my
Grams asked me to do something with her. So, I guess Sunday isn’t
such a great day after all.”
    “That’s okay. Maybe another time. I’ll call
you tomorrow morning if I can get out of the family outing.”
    He drives off down the road, splashing
through several puddles along the way.
    Now, to go kill Rainy.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    From the outside, the pit seems empty. Broken
windows bleed the darkness from within. Not a normal darkness, but
one that warns you to stay away and screams danger. The street lamp
illuminates the tears falling from the sky. I don’t know what
happened to this shack of a house before we came to know it, but
I’m sure evil deeds were once done here.
    I would have just ridden my bike past the pit
without looking twice. But since I know about the secret crawl
space under the house, I prop my bike against the back of the
house. The only place left to look for her is here. I’ve been to
the park and the skate rink and the movie theatre. She has to be
here.
    I slide the glass door open. Although the air
inside is dry, it is much colder than outside. I shiver. “Rainy,
are you here?” My breath turns to fog.
    I step into the house and walk to the hidden
door in the floor usually covered with a heavy carpet. The carpet
sits rolled-up in the corner, exposing the wooden door. I only hope
that it’s Rainy down there and not some tweaker.
    I stomp on the door. “Rainy?”
    No answer.
    Muffled voices sound from under my feet.
Dread drains my body. I turn to tip-toe out of the house. A
familiar laugh shakes the floor and my confidence fills back up.
“Rainy?”
    “In here,” Rainy says, her voice small.
    The door squeaks and a stream of light and
smoke billow from the open hole in the floor. Rainy peeks her head
from the floor. “Oh, hey, dude. Whaaaaz uuuup?” She coughs and
laughs. Not a true laugh, but a giggle that never ends.
    “Are you kidding me? Please tell me you’re
not stoned,” I say.
    “Hahahaha…no way, baby. I ain’t stoned.”
    A man’s voice says, “Yes she is.” And then
laughs. Ace’s head pops up behind Rainy.
    “What the hell? Are you seriously with