Poe by J. Lincoln Fenn Read Free Book Online

convulsing Maddy, thank you.
    “A minute ago you didn’t seem to think he was an asshole,” I say smugly.
    “A minute ago I couldn’t decide which one of you was the bigger asshole.”
    Ouch. “C’mon, that’s not even remotely fair—if this was an asshole contest, he’d win hands down.”
    “Thanks, Shakespeare,” says Nate with a cheerful wave.
    Lisa grips Maddy’s head firmly and gives me an equally firm look. “I’ll be the judge of that. And if you’re going to mess with me, then I’m going to mess with you. Got it?”
    I swallow hard. “Duly noted.”
    Just as suddenly as Maddy’s seizures began, they abruptly stop. The room falls into a deathly quiet. There’s a gentle creak as the wind brushes around the corners of the house. The glass that remains in the windowpanes shudders, then is still. For the first time I really think about how far out in the countryside we are—no living human within a ten-mile radius. And the sun is starting to set. Fuck .
    “You think she’s dead?” whispers Nate. “’Cause if she is, we can put her obit on the front page. Dad would love that.”
    I can feel Lisa invisibly seethe.
    “We can kill him later,” I whisper.
    “Promise?”
    “I’ll hold him down and you can beat him in the head with his night-vision camera.”
    We both look over at Nate and the annoying, owl-like lens that is recording us.
    “Deal,” says Lisa with a hint of a smile. “But I guess I should… check.”
    It hadn’t occurred to me that Nate might actually be right, but now I notice that Maddy is uncomfortably still, and it’s impossible to tell under the stiff pleather jacket whether she’s breathing.
    “ Okay ,” Lisa whispers. She takes a slight breath before she reaches a tentative hand out to Maddy’s neck to check for a pulse.
    But as soon as her finger makes contact, Maddy jolts upright with an astonishing speed, like a marionette pulled roughly on a string.She stares straight head, unblinking, unseeing. Her right shoulder twitches, as if she’s still processing the current from an electric shock, and her beehive slowly sags even farther to the left.
    “Maddy?” asks Lisa hesitantly. “Are you okay?”
    Nothing. Silence.
    Lisa catches my eye—this is not a good sign.
    “Maddy?” asks Lisa again, carefully.
    Maddy inhales suddenly, fiercely, like there’s not enough air in the room to fill her lungs. She is breathing.
    “Gotcha,” says Nate cheerfully. “Dad wasn’t kidding when he said she was good. Our web traffic’s gonna go through the roof.”
    This is all just part of the act? Lisa glares at Nate, looking highly pissed, but something like relief starts to wash over me, a giddy “We made it” kind of vibe.
    But apparently the show’s not over. Maddy opens her mouth—forming a small, almost perfectly round O—and begins to sing in a lilting, childlike voice:
On a mountain stands a lady ,
Who she is I do not know ,
    Appropriately creepy—I’m impressed. One of her arms darts out madly, clutches Lisa’s shirt, and she jerks Lisa to her with a strength that seems unusual for someone courting emphysema.
    “This is so cool I’m going to piss myself!” whispers Nate.
    Lisa tries in vain to pry Maddy’s fingers off her shirt, but Maddy’s deep in character—too deep in my opinion.
    “For fuck’s sake, Nate, we got enough footage, don’t you think?”
All I know is she wears golden slippers ,
And her skin’s as pale as snow ,
    “We can string it out,” says Nate. “Make it into a series.”
    “ Maddy !” I grab Maddy’s shoulders and give them a shake. “Let her go. Let Lisa go.” Instantly she does, and her hands hang in the air for a moment, suspended, as if she’s frozen. But then she closes her eyes and begins to giggle.
    Lisa straightens her shirt and falls back on her heels, visibly annoyed.
    Damn she looks cute when she’s annoyed.
    But then Maddy’s on her feet in less than a second, and I swear to God I never saw her move. A