Snared by Stefan Petrucha Read Free Book Online Page A

way.
    When she reached the closed window, she didn’t know what to do. She looked up at him, laughed a nervous laugh, and shrugged.
    â€œHello,” he called through the glass.
    â€œHey,” she said.
    â€œWhat’s your name?” the boy asked.
    â€œLindsay.”
    â€œGreat name.”
    â€œThanks. What’s yours?”
    â€œMark,” he said.
    â€œHey, Mark.”
    â€œHey.”
    She felt really stupid talking through the closed window and wondered why he didn’t open it.
    As if reading her mind, he said, “Stupid window.”
    â€œIs it broken?” she asked.
    â€œNo,” Mark said. “It’s hard to explain. You can open it if you want.”
    Lindsay shrugged and reached out to grasp a thin strip of metal on the outer frame of the glass. As she pulled the window open, she noticed an odd metal bracket fixed in the corner of the window frame. Itwas made of iron and had a strange shape, swirls and lines in a circle with three points poking away from the center. They weren’t very pretty, but at least they were small, hardly bigger than a nickel. One point aimed up the wall, while the other was pointed across the sill. The third jutted toward the center of the window. She noticed another bracket affixed to the inside corner of the sill. In fact, all of the corners, inside and out, wore similar ornaments.
    Lindsay stepped away from the open window. She looked inside and saw a small bed pushed against the far wall. A simple blanket lay over the top of it. To her left, on the same wall as the window, was a black upright piano with a narrow bench. (He’s a musician!) The walls were bare, but there was a desk in front of the window and a pile of clothes against the closet door.
    Where is his PC?
    â€œThank you,” Mark said. “This is the first fresh air I’ve had in days.”
    â€œAre you grounded or something?”
    â€œYeah. Something like that.”
    â€œThat blows.”
    â€œDoes it?” he asked. His face scrunched up likehe was confused; then he smiled again and nodded his head. “Okay. I understand. Yeah. It definitely blows.”
    â€œWhat did you do?”
    â€œThings,” Mark said. “Little stuff mostly. A few plagues and a war or two. Nothing apocalyptic.”
    Lindsay laughed. “So your parents totally over-react, too?”
    â€œOh yeah.”
    â€œI saw a couple of guys outside this morning. Are they your dads?”
    â€œThey are…” Mark searched for the right word and decided on, “complicated. They’re my guardians, if that’s what you mean.”
    â€œI guess. They look pretty harsh.”
    â€œYou don’t know the half of it. Doug—he’s the tall one—and Jack are seriously cold.” He chuckled a dry, humorless laugh and dropped his head. “So, how long have you lived next door? I haven’t noticed you before.”
    â€œWell, maybe you haven’t been paying attention.”
    â€œI think you’d get my attention pretty quick.”
    Lindsay felt herself blush. She looked away from Mark, toward the beach where even morepeople had gathered in the few minutes since she last looked. When she returned her gaze to Mark, her heart was beating so fast she thought she might faint.
    â€œYou didn’t answer my question,” he said.
    â€œWe’re just visiting. It’s my uncle’s house. We got in yesterday.”
    â€œOh, okay. I’ve seen your uncle around, I think. Skinny guy? Always wearing a trucker cap?”
    â€œThat’s Uncle Lou.”
    â€œHow long are you staying?”
    â€œTen days.”
    â€œThat’s not very long,” Mark said. “I was kind of hoping you’d be here for the summer. Who knows, I might actually get out of here one of these days.”
    â€œI wish we were staying longer, too,” Lindsay said.
    Yesterday it would have been a lie, but right now she meant