Project 17 by Laurie Faria Stolarz Read Free Book Online Page A

Tony says, once Derik's inside. "Get the drama on film right from the get-go."
    "Or the smut," I say, knowing full well about Derik's male-slut reputation (and envying it), wondering if Derik's trying at this very moment to capitalize on Liza's nerves. I mean, who would be that sketchy?
    Um, I mean except for me.
    59
    A few minutes later, Liza comes out. Her arms are folded and there's a worried expression across her face, her lips pursed together like she's on her way to have root canal or something. I'm half tempted to pull off my hat so she can see my lobotomy cap, thinking that it'll make her laugh. "Are you all right?" I ask instead.
    Liza nods, but her eyes are focused on the hill--on how steep it is, maybe, or how the trees and brush look so thick.
    "She's been doing some online research about the place," Derik tells us. He pulls a hooded sweatshirt from his bag and drapes it around her shoulders, totally stealing my game.
    "The Internet can be a dangerous place," I say. "I once got so obsessed with female wrestlers, I couldn't stop surfing for pics--girls in headlocks, giving each other noogies, doing body slams, pulling each other's hair." I close my eyes and smile for effect, as though lost in the Land of Reminisce. "After a while I couldn't sleep at night, couldn't get my mind to shut off."
    "More like you couldn't get Mr. Righty to shut off," Mimi says, gesturing up and down with her hand.
    "Funny that you would automatically think of Mr. Wanky at a time like this." I wink. "Anything you need to tell me ... or show me?"
    "Thanks for that image," Derik says.
    But at least it makes Liza smile. And Mimi smiles too. I can see the corner of her mouth turn upward, even under that ski mask.
    60
    ***
    The wooded hill that leads up to the hospital is just behind us. Derik gives us each a walkie-talkie and a head-mounted flashlight.
    "This could be kinky," I say, pulling the flashlight cap-thing over my head, so that the beam angles out from my forehead.
    We work our way up and sideways along the hill, fighting through branch-and-brush hell the entire way. The forest is thicker than I'd expect for March. Everything's still dead from winter, but that also means my various body parts are icing up. It's so effing cold up here, I just want to curl into a tiny ball.
    We keep moving forward at a decent clip, Mimi in the lead with Derik close behind her, his camera propped atop his shoulder, ever eager for fruity footage. I'm in the back, following behind Liza, ready to swoop in and give her a shoulder-- or the body part of her choice--in case she needs it.
    Nobody really says anything--not when we pass the first sign promising jail time and fines for all who trespass, and not when we pass the twentieth sign that promises the same thing. It seems we're already on hospital property. Apparently, according to Mimi--oh, wise one of haunted asylums--Danvers State spans five hundred acres of land. I press the speak button on my walkie-talkie and let out a couple Jason-from -Friday-the-13th grunts, a couple che-che-che-heh-heh-heh's to lighten the mood, but nobody seems to appreciate it.
    61
    "Are you trying to get us caught?" Derik's voice plays through my speaker.
    "I'm trying to make this interesting," I argue, wondering if everybody's sense of humor got extracted with the last lobotomy. At the same moment, a sharp branch scratches across my chin. "Crap!"
    "Are you all right?" Liza asks, peeking back at me.
    "Better now," I say, happy for her concern. Even happier that she's walking right in front of me, where I can score a good view of her lucky (for me) Seven jeans.
    A good twenty minutes--and eighty scratches later-- and we finally make it up to the top. Derik, still filming, orders us to click off our headlights to avoid being seen, and then we sprint across what appears to be a meadow of sorts.
    Until we finally get there. And see it. It's like a huge rush, and I have no idea why. I have no idea why I even care. I mean, the place