Glimpse by Steve Whibley Read Free Book Online

That might explain all the hallucinations.”
    â€œWhoa,” Lisa said. “ All the hallucinations? As in more than one?”
    I winced. “I guess there might have been a couple.”
    â€œWell, I still think its stress.” Lisa sounded less convinced, but I appreciated her effort.
    â€œI don’t,” Colin said. “I still think he’s possessed.” I could hear the smile on his face.
    The corners of my mouth twitched, and the tension in my shoulders slackened. Colin had that effect. “But if you’re not,” he continued, “it has to be the drugs. What are you doing these days?”
    â€œOh, I do whatever I can get my hands on,” I said, laughing. “Cocaine, meth. Sometimes I just raid the medicine cabinet and take handfuls of whatever I find.”
    I was about to dive in and tell them all about mugging and the man in the alley when there was a stifled gasp from behind me. I turned to see my mom standing in the doorway, her hand over her mouth.
    â€œMom, no.” I held up the phone to prove my innocence. “It’s Colin and Lisa. I’m just… it was a joke.”
    Mom’s expression shifted uncertainly between horror and fury. Settling on horror, she bellowed, “ Jonathan! Come up here. Now! ”
    I hung up the phone as my dad arrived at the doorway. He wore a flowered apron and clutched a wooden spoon that dripped spaghetti sauce on the carpet.
    â€œWhat?” he said, looking around the room anxiously. “What happened?”
    â€œYour s… son’s turned to drugs!” Mom’s words sounded like they were being choked out of her.
    â€œI’m not doing drugs.” I rolled my eyes. “We were joking around. That’s all.”
    My father wasn’t a small man and could have been a linebacker in another life. So the apron he wore looked more like a bib. He tapped the sauce-laden spoon on one hand, pursed his lips, and then ran his hand through his hair, oblivious to the fact that in doing so he left a streak of red across his head. “Drugs, Dean?”
    This was getting ridiculous. I struggled to clamp down my anger. “We were just joking around. I told them about the whole hallucination thing and they were just trying to make me feel better.”
    â€œI think it was just a misunderstanding, hon.” My dad stepped next to me and draped his arm over my shoulder and looked at my mom. “Kids joke about serious issues. It’s normal.” He turned to me. “If your friends offer you drugs—”
    â€œThey’re not going to offer me drugs, Dad. You both know Colin and Lisa. You know they’d never do that.” I turned to my mom and sighed. “But if they do, I’ll say no.”
    She wasn’t looking at me anymore. Instead her brows were furrowed. She was focused on my dad’s head. “What’s in your hair?”
    â€œMy what?” He lifted his hand toward his head and paused when he saw his sauce-smeared palm. As if on cue, the smoke detector from the kitchen started beeping. “ My sauce! ” He charged past my mom and back down the stairs.
    My mom ignored the ruckus coming from the kitchen and moved forward to hug me. She held me at arm’s length. “You know better, right?”
    I nodded.
    She wiped her face with her sleeve. “I’d better go make sure your father doesn’t burn the place down.”
    I plopped myself on my bed and thought about Mrs. Farnsworthy again. If this keeps up, I might need drugs after all .

Chapter 8
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    At 1:38 AM, it happened again. This time I was half asleep, or maybe I was completely asleep. I can’t be sure. What I am sure about is that Mr. Utlet was suddenly kneeling beside my bed. The emerald glow of my alarm clock illuminated his face. I shot up, flattened myself against the wall at the edge of my bed, and watched as my neighbor emptied the air in his lungs with a shriek that