Experiment in Terror 06 Into the Hollow by Karina Halle Read Free Book Online Page A

again.
    Our footfalls were quick and silent and when we reached the ground floor, he gave me a steady look, making sure I wasn’t about to run into the kitchen where my mom was and plead insanity. I swallowed hard, as tempted as I was to totally cave in, and together we scampered over to the car and started piling the stuff in the trunk.
    “I’m going to go get the rest,” he told me, putting his hand on my arm. “Will you be OK here?”
    I nodded, though I knew I was on the verge of crying or panicking or something.
    He gave me one last deep look and when he was satisfied that I was going to be OK, he patted me lightly on the shoulder. “I’ll be back.”
    I whimpered something and leaned against the car, the trunk door open. It was hard to believe that in a few moments it would contain most of my life.
    It didn’t feel right to leave this way. I wanted nothing more than to go back inside and plead with my mother and try to get her to understand. I wasn’t doing any of this to hurt her, I was doing this so that she wouldn’t hurt me. But what did it matter in the end. In the end I would be seen as the villain and nothing else. They were so damn ignorant they’d never ever see the truth, even if it was crying in front of their face.
    But then there was my dad, who I knew had a smidge more respect for me than mom had. I knew he’d be absolutely livid and confused as to why his daughter would leave in such a harried, disrespectful manner.
    And Ada…she was on the inside but the way things were going, we’d be safe and gone before she returned from school. Sometimes it was hard to believe she was in high school and lately I’d been relying on her more and more. Maybe as sisters we had a backward relationship, but it was one that worked and one that I would miss dearly. I owed it to Ada to stick around. But if there was anyone who would understand, it would be her.
    Even though she’d be pissed.
    Dex was back in an instant, hauling the luggage behind him with one hand and carrying three heavy boxes with the other.
    I raised a brow. “So, have you traded in cigarettes for steroids, or what?”
    He threw the suitcase in the back, not caring at all if I had valuables in there and plunked the boxes down. “Oh you know, chicks dig men with muscles.”
    I narrowed my eyes at him. “Another Dex Foray mystery?”
    He wiped his hands and gave me a charming smile. “Will you ever run out?”
    “I guess not,” I replied absently. I looked at the house like I’d never see it again. It might as well be true. Maximus came to the doorway with his arm around my mother who was sobbing into her sleeve. I’d always imagined the day I’d leave home, but I’ve got to say it never looked like this.
    I cleared my throat and stood up tall as Dex slammed the back shut.
    “I’ll call you when I get to Seattle,” I told them. My mom wasn’t looking at me, so I unfortunately had to say it to Maximus.
    He nodded solemnly and gave my mother a squeeze, like he was playing the part in a play. It left a film of bad taste in my mouth but I could only ignore it and turn around. I took the slow steps toward the front door, conflicted by the need to get the hell out of there while I could and the need to stay behind and tell my mother that everything was going to be OK.
    If it wasn’t for the energy I felt from Dex on the other side of the car, the reality, the reason for leaving, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. But I pushed through and went by on that instinctive need to protect myself.
    I got in the car, shut the door, and we roared off down that fog-shrouded road I grew up on.
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
     
    The drive to Seattle was as pensive as the grey, low clouds that flew past the windows as we made our way up the I-5. In a few areas there were patches of snow that piqued my interest, but most of the time I just sat as close to the door as possible, as if it was my only escape route.
    I watched the scenery with