The Night Shifters by Emily Devenport Read Free Book Online

see
the parking lot out the open door.
    When the room had
filled to overflowing, Mr. Markos put down the ledger. “Okay, let’s
get started. You know your term papers are due today, no excuses
and no more delays, people. Pass them to the front of the
room.”
    “Term paper?” I
asked the woman next to me. She gave me a pitying look and pulled a
thick, bound manuscript out of her backpack. “Yeah. It counts for
ninety-five percent of your grade.”
    “What’s the other
five percent?”
    “The oral
presentations we’re supposed to do this week.”
    Stars danced before
my eyes.
    Mr. Markos
piled the manuscripts on his desk, higher and higher. “I’ve decided
we’re going to do the oral presentations in alphabetical order of
your names. Starting with A .”
    “All right!” said
my neighbor. “I’m glad my name’s Ziboglycerin!”
    “Now let’s see.” Mr
Markos bent over his ledger again. “Who’s at the top of the list?
Oh yes. Hazel AAA.” And he looked directly at me.
    The room
became dead quiet as everyone else looked at me too. But all I
could think was Hazel AAA? That’s a real name?
    “We’re waiting,”
said Mr. Markos.
    Well, this was it.
The truth. “I don’t have a report to give today,” I said,
calmly.
    “You don’t? Why
not?”
    “ Because – “
I got to my feet for dramatic effect. “Because I quit! ”
    After a moment of
stunned silence, the room broke out in thunderous applause.
    “Hurray!” said Ms.
Ziboglycerin. “I wish I had your courage!”
    “Yes, it’s true,” I
told them sagely. “I hate school, and I don’t have to go anymore.
I’m going home now, to do whatever I want. Goodbye forever!” And I
walked from the room to the sound of a standing ovation.
    Outside the air was
fresh and clean. A breeze lifted my hair as I strode down the front
walk to freedom. This memory-recovery stuff was great! The very
heavens seemed to open before me.
    But one thing kind
of confused me. It was dark out. The heavens were beautiful, full
of starshine and colorful nebulas and so on, but – I had never been
enrolled in night school. All my classes had been morning classes.
And besides, how was I going to get home?
    “ Very
clever, Serena .” I turned and
saw Nostradamus coming down the front walk, Camilla prowling
gracefully at his side.
    She gave me a
toothy smile. “Or shall we call you Hazel AAA?”
    I put on a brave
face. “You can leave off the AAA.”
    “We’ve got a lot of
questions, young woman,” said Nostradamus. “And you’re going to
give us the answers. One way or another.”
    I backed away from
them until my heels hung off the curb. I wondered whether I should
dash to the right or the left, and every moment I waited it became
harder to decide. Then I felt a rush of wind at my back, and their
satisfied smiles tightened into snarls.
    “Wait!” Nostradamus
reached for me as a long, black limo slid up to the curb behind me.
A door swung open and a hand reached out.
    “Hurry!” said an
urgent voice from inside the car. I grabbed the hand and was
literally yanked off my feet. I landed on soft upholstery and the
door slammed behind me just in time for Camilla and Nostradamus to
press their faces up against the window.
    “You fool!”
Nostradamus’s voice was muffled, and then the car pulled away from
the curb and left them behind.
    “You can sit up
now,” said my rescuer, pleasantly. I lifted my head to look at
him.
    The handsome
white-haired man smiled at me with his sharp teeth. His red eyes
glowed in the dim interior of the car.
    “Allow me to
introduce myself. I’m the Car King.”
     
    * * * * *
     

CHAPTER
THREE
The Wild Hunt

    I wanted to open
the car door and leap out, but I was spared that act of stupidity,
because the door didn’t have a handle. No button for the window,
either – those were probably up front, and to get to them I’d have
to climb the back seat and tackle the driver.
    The driver’s eyes
flashed red from the rearview mirror,