Terrorscape by Nenia Campbell Read Free Book Online Page B

Oh . That.” Mary rolled her eyes. “That was so
lame.” Dispelling Val's fears that she was going to
force her to participate in all the residential events.
“Val was smart, she ducked out early. I didn't even
notice her leaving—Sneaky Val.”
“I didn't duck out,” she said. “I was tired.”
“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” Alex
drawled, rapping his knuckles on the fake wood of
the table so that the ruby in his ring caught the light.
“Speaking of quotations—” Jade smiled at Val.
“Did you ever figure out what ave atque vale meant?”
“Oh. No, I didn't. I guess I forgot.”
     
When his face fell, she wished immediately that
she could reclaim the words.
     
“Jade,” Mary said, very severely, “don't bore us
with your silly Latin lessons.”
    “Latin's not silly—it's what helped me rock the
SATs.” To Val he said, “If you were at all curious, it
means 'hail and farewell.'”
    “Caesar?” Now that she suspected she had hurt
his feelings, it seemed twice as important to be civil.
Besides, she was pretty sure she was right. All
quotations
seemed
to
come
from
Caesar.
Or
Shakespeare. Or the bible. “Right?”
“No. It's from a poem by a dude called Catullus.”
“Ugh,
you're,
like,
already
talking
school?”
Meredith groaned. “Classes haven't even started yet.”
“The only Latin I know is 'I came, I saw, I
conquered.'” Mary laughed. “ That's Caesar, right?”
“ Veni, vidi, vici ,” Jade corrected. “And yes.”
Alex laughed. Too loudly. People at the tables
around them were craning their necks to look. “Shit,
that was Caesar? Dude sounds like a total bro.”
“I can't believe you just called one of the greatest
minds in political history a bro.”
    “It's a compliment. Wise words. Slap that shit on
a sticker, 'cause I'll make that my personal motto—
though not necessarily in that order,” he added with a
pointed leer at Mary, who blushed.
    Val glared at her salad and said nothing. She
could tell she wouldn't like Alex. She hoped Mary
wasn't dating the jerk. She wasn't sure she would be
able to deal if his face was a fixture in their dorm.
Chapter Four
Lobelia
    Lisa had been hit just as hard as Val, in her
opinion. Worse, even. After all, she hadn't been the
one involved with that psycho. She had warned Val
about him, but the stupid girl just hadn't listened.
Like a fly to light, Val attracted danger. Lisa blamed Twilight , and the preconceived notions about men
(especially dangerous men) that it tended to form in
the impressionable adolescent mind.
But no, Val thought she could save him.
     
Turned out she had been the one who needed
saving the whole time. From him.
    And then— then that party had happened, and
Lisa no longer knew what to think about Val, the
world, or anything. Everything…well, everything just
felt wrong now. All the time.
    Blake understood. Blake was the only one who
really understood, the only good to come out of this
nightmare. But Blake had gone away to college and
she was stuck here in this podunk town, trying to get
her unit count up so she could transfer out of
Derringer Community College. Out of this town.
Just out.
    She wanted to go someplace where nobody had
ever heard of Valerian Kimble, or the press-christened
“Mecozzi Manor Slaughter.”
    Europe, maybe. She'd always wanted to visit The
City of Lights. There was no better to forget one's
woes than a small Parisian cafe, Lisa thought.
    She pulled on her size-XXL sleep shirt and
brushed her teeth. There were dark circles under her
eyes, visible now that she had washed off her makeup
for the night. She rubbed at them with a frown, then
remembered that frowning gave you wrinkles.
    “Fuck,” she muttered. “Fuck this, fuck him, and
fuck her. Fuck everyone in this backwards town.”
It made her feel the teeniest bit better.
Only a little, though. It didn't solve anything, it
didn't erase her fears, it didn't stop the nightmares.
    She had nightmares every night. Not that anyone
cared.