Eve of Destruction by Patrick Carman Read Free Book Online Page B

inside—too dark—so I stood in the doorway, hoping my eyes would adjust with the help of the paltry green glow from the card reader.
    â€œWell done, Will Besting.”
    â€œWhoa!” I yelled, my shoulder flying sideways and connecting with the doorjamb. The pain was sharp and hot, but the shock was nothing compared to having heard Mrs. Goring’s voice from inside the room. I started backing away, stumbling over my own feet.
    â€œCome inside,” Mrs. Goring said. It sounded like she was in the room, walking toward me.
    â€œTurn on the lights and maybe I will.”
    â€œI can’t turn on the lights, Will. They turn on when you close the door.”
    â€œWhere are you?”
    â€œDoes it matter? Just come in. You’re very close now. Don’t you want to save your friends? You owe them that much, after lying to them.”
    â€œI didn’t lie to them! I just . . . I didn’t tell them every little detail.”
    â€œAnd you spied on them, too. Didn’t you, Will? You spied on your friends.”
    â€œI don’t care!”
    And I didn’t, not about most of them. What did it matter anyway? But Marisa, that was different.
    â€œI didn’t want her to be afraid,” I said, taking one step into the darkness. “I didn’t see the point.”
    I’d dug into her files and listened to her deepest, darkest secrets. And as if that weren’t bad enough, I’d deliberately chosen not to tell her what I knew about the cure. How do you not tell your girlfriend that stuff?
    â€œI don’t think that’s the way they see it. I mean really, Will, come on. You lied, withheld, cheated. You’d have to murder them for it to get any worse.”
    â€œYou’re a bad person, Mrs. Goring.”
    â€œI’ve been called worse.”
    I heard someone yelling my name from far away. Was it Marisa? I couldn’t tell for sure, but I was done dealing with Mrs. Goring alone.
    â€œDown here!” I yelled. “Down the green hall. I found the room!”
    â€œYou didn’t find anything, Will Besting.”
    â€œShut up, Goring!” I yelled. “Just leave me alone.”
    I heard someone coming toward me in the dark, maybe several people, yelling about who I was talking to.
    â€œI will not leave you alone, Will. I can’t. You’re the way in. It’s you and me now, to the end.”
    â€œWhat are you even talking about?” I pleaded.
    â€œGet in this room right now.”
    â€œI won’t!”
    â€œYou will. Or your friends will die.”
    â€œWhat? Wait—what are you saying?”
    â€œGet in this room, Will Besting. Get in and shut the door. Their lives depend on it.”
    â€œMrs. Goring, please. Don’t do anything stupid.”
    â€œThis is your last chance. If you want to get your friends outside again, including Marisa, you better get inside and close the door right now . I won’t ask you again.”
    My head was spinning with information, most of which I didn’t understand and for sure didn’t want access to. Why me? Why is it always me?
    It was Marisa, I could hear her now as she came closer.
    â€œMarisa, can you hear me?” I said, standing in the doorway.
    â€œYeah, I can hear you. I think we’re almost there. Wait for me—don’t move.”
    There was a sweetness in her voice, like she was afraid for me, like she’d missed me. But more than that, like she herself was trying desperately to reach me because she didn’t want to be down here without me.
    â€œTime’s up, Will.”
    Mrs. Goring’s voice had changed to a gruff whisper only I could hear. All I could think of were the words she’d said and the wild look in her eye when she got really angry.
    Get in this room, Will Besting. Get in and shut the door. Their lives depend on it.
    I stepped all the way inside and took the door by the edge, feeling its steel