The Rabbit and the Raven: Book Two in the Solas Beir Trilogy by Melissa Eskue Ousley Read Free Book Online Page A

somewhere between where she stood on the beach and the safety of the inn. She had no doubt it was not a human voice. Her grasp on the driftwood branch tightened. She turned, slowly.
    No sudden moves , she thought to herself. You can’t let it see your fear.
    Sitting on its haunches was a creature the size of a German shepherd. It looked much like a lean, black cat except for its disturbingly humanoid face and long, twitching tail. One side of its face looked scarred, as if it had been burned. It was smiling as though it knew a secret. The coy smirk broadened into a Cheshire cat grin, although not quite as mad. Not just yet, anyway.
    “Feeling pretty brave tonight, I see,” it said. Its breath smelled like rotten meat and sulfur. “Too bad that big ol’ stick won’t help you. You can hit me all you like, but I think I’ll stay around for a while.” The creature cocked its head to the side, showing Marisol the large cavity in its skull where her weapon had found its mark. The hole was disappearing, filling in with a mass of black fur.
    Marisol’s mouth dropped open and the creature’s grin grew a little wider. The cat thing chuckled to itself, as if it enjoyed the look of disbelief and horror on her face. She shut her mouth, trying not to show weakness.
    The cat got to its feet and walked a slow circle around her.
    Marisol followed the creature with her eyes and held tightly to the driftwood branch. Her weapon might be useless in the long term, but it could still buy her a little time— that she could see very clearly.
    “My, my, my,” the thing purred, looking her up and down. “Little Marisol…all grown up now, aren’t you?”
    Marisol didn’t answer. She didn’t know how this thing knew her name, but she had a feeling that responding wouldn’t help, and the creature couldn’t care less if she did answer. It had a story it wanted to tell, and she was going to hear it whether she wanted to or not.
    “Oh yes, Marisol. I know you. I know you very well. Are you still afraid of the dark?” The creature waited for a response.
    Marisol held her tongue.
    “Not much of a chatterbox, are you? I’ll bet you can scream real well though—oh yes, I’ll bet those lungs are niiice and healthy. You used to scream so well when you were scared, back when I lived under your bed.”
    Marisol’s eyes widened in shock and recognition.
    The thing smiled— that was the reaction it had wanted.
    Marisol quickly composed herself and tried to make her face look expressionless.
    “Oh, such fun we had! Your pretty madre loved her stories, didn’t she? My personal favorite was El Cucuy—she’d always tell you that story when you’d beg, ‘Please, please, please just one more glass of water,’ before beddie-bye. You were so annoying. She’d tell that one just to shut you up. Then you’d lay awake for hours, so scared that I was going to pop up like a jack-in-the-box. And sometimes I did !” The Cheshire cat grin was full-on crazy now, those red eyes swirling with madness.
    Images from a half-forgotten nightmare flashed in Marisol’s mind. No, no, no, she thought, shaking her head. It wasn’t real, it wasn’t real…
    As if reading her mind, the thing continued. “Oh, but it was real. And where’s madre now, my dulce ? Did you finally manage to annoy her so much she left for good?”
    “Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!” Marisol shouted, clocking the thing in the head with her weapon, knocking it off its feet. She started running toward the inn.
    The creature was back on its feet in seconds, pursuing her. “Yes, oh, yes ,” the thing growled hungrily. “ Run, run, run, fast as you can…”
     
     
     
    The Browns’ minivan was almost to the old mansion when Jon noticed something was amiss. A terrified girl was racing toward the Newcastle Beach Inn. Something was chasing her. It was difficult to see what it was exactly—the dark form seemed to meld with the shadows so that it was almost invisible. Jon didn’t need