Satan's Mirror by Roxanne Smolen Read Free Book Online

Nearly all had jeans hanging off their hips and bunched about their ankles.
    But a group ahead wore studded, black jeans and shirts. Their hair had the glossy look of black dye. Two boys were involved in a good-natured argument while the others looked on.
    One raised his voice. “End of story. Jason won.”
    “It’s impossible,” the other told him. “Both Jason and Freddy are dead. They can’t be killed. The whole premise of the movie is unbelievable.”
    “It doesn’t matter if Freddy is dead or alive.” Emily stopped beside him. “His head was chopped off. He can haunt dreams forever, but he is unable to hurt anyone.”
    The first boy laughed. “Therefore, Jason won.”
    “A fair point,” said the other.
    “So, are you boys fans of old movies?” she asked him.
    “Old B movies. You?”
    “It’s a hobby.” She shrugged.
    “Hey, don’t I know you?” asked a boy with knotted red acne.
    “I’m Emily, and this is Dan.”
    “You’re on that television show.” He snapped his fingers. “ Do You Believe It? ”
    “Are you working on a story? Are we going to be on TV?”
    “Yes to both.” Emily shot a meaningful look to Dan. She was onto something—she could feel it. “We’re following up on the disappearance of two tourists.”
    “I heard about them. It was on the news,” said a boy.
    Another said, “Just because they disappeared doesn’t mean they’ve been disappeared, if you know what I mean.”
    “People vanish around here all the time,” said the acne-scarred boy. “I don’t see the fuss about these two.”
    “There have been others?” she asked.
    “The past five or six years, yeah. Drifters, mostly.”
    “We don’t get many drifters in Saint Augustine anymore.” A boy laughed. “Bad rep.”
    Emily nodded. “Rumor has it that these tourists were into something they shouldn’t have been. Something about a haunted house and a mirror.”
    “Satan’s Mirror,” said the first boy. “Yeah, I know about that. It’s supposed to be pretty cool.”
    “Is that right?” Emily’s heart leapt. She glanced at Dan to be sure he was recording. “What’s cool about it?”
    He lowered his voice to a growl. “You see the devil.”
    “And the devil sees you,” the acne kid said.
    A ripple of laughter followed those words.
    Emily nodded, taking out a pad to take notes. “This mirror is in an abandoned house?”
    The boys clamored forward, anxious to have their views heard.
    One said, “That’s the house on Weeden Street, isn’t it?”
    “It’s locked tight,” said another. “You have to take the tour.”
    “Which tour?” she asked.
    “Private.” He snickered. “You won’t find it on a visitor’s map.”
    More laughter.
    “How do I find it?”
    Silence befell the group, and they passed an odd look among them.
    Emily sensed she was losing them. “So this missing couple might have taken the tour, got scared, and ran away.”
    “Or maybe they were taken,” the boy with acne said. “Sometimes the devil leaps out of the mirror—”
    “That doesn’t really happen,” said the first boy.
    “You don’t know.”
    “Wait,” said Emily. “You’re saying the devil actually materializes?”
    “Yes,” said Acne.
    “That’s dumb,” said the first boy. “Rank that against the rest of the ghost stories around here.”
    His friend sided with him. “They just tell you that to sell more tickets to the tour. A lot of people like to be scared.”
    “Then, it’s fake?” she asked.
    “No, it isn’t,” said Acne.
    “Have you been on it?” the first boy asked him.
    “Of course not. I can’t afford that.”
    “Have any of you been on the private tour?” Emily asked.
    A rumble of mutterings rounded the group. If any of them had been, they weren’t about to admit it in this atmosphere.
    One of the boys looked at his watch. “I’ve got to go.”
    The group split apart as if they were pool balls.
    “Wait!” Emily cried to their receding backs. “I need your