Dark Days (The Childe Series, #2) (14 page)

 “Do you feel that?” Matt asked as the group walked around downtown while on their lunch break from helping at Squaresville.

“Feel what?” Amanda replied.

“Freedom. Glorious freedom,” he exclaimed. “No more curfew means we can resume our nightly strolls to the CinePlex for midnight showings!”

“Is that all you think about, Matt? Movies?” Amanda asked, rolling her eyes.

“No, of course not. There’s girls too,” he kidded, and then flinched as Amanda punched him in the arm.

“Will you two behave? We’re in public you know,” Julie chastised jokingly.

“Yes, Mother!” The two of them responded in unison, and then Amanda punched him again for copying her.

“My mom is still locking the doors and windows every night, even though the curfew is over. Her trust in people is still iffy at best,” Elle chimed in. “And strangely, I felt safer with the curfew in place.”

Cat was quiet. She was still unsure of how to act around her friends. Even though she made up with them and things in “friend world” were back to normal, they really weren’t for her. She felt terrible for having to hide her true identity away from people she had known all her life. Just the thought of them finding out she was a freak and not wanting to be around her anymore was tearing her apart.

“Hey Cat, what do you think about the curfew being over?” Matt asked, breaking into Cat’s thoughts.

“Uh, good I guess. But what about the break-in at Squaresville. Don’t you guys feel it was kind of weird that only some girls’ clothes were taken and no money was stolen?”

“Yeah, my mom was so happy they didn’t take more. And the one night she actually leaves money in the register, we get robbed. I agree it’s weird that more wasn’t taken though.”

Cat began to reply but her attention was turned to a store front window they were passing. A large cardboard cutout of famed vampire, Bartholomew Drake, sat in the window. Cat had to lift her jaw off the floor as she stood staring in awe at the display before her. Her friends joined in. “Guys, look! A new store is opening soon! And they’re having a book launch party for Robert Craven’s new novel in the Dark Shadow series,” Cat exclaimed grinning ear to ear. A sign hung on the building, it read:

Coming Soon:

The Three Penny Brit

Bookstore & Café

“A bookstore café?! About freakin’ time we get one of these in Astoria. Seriously, we’re so far behind the times here. We don’t even have one of those Star coffee places!” Amanda stated.

“I see a potential new hang out in our future,” Cat said. “We’re so coming for the grand opening!”

Amanda’s cell phone beeped, signaling a text message. She pulled out her cell and saw the message was from her mom, it read:

Where R U? U still coming back 2 help out n the store? Luv ya!

“It’s my mom. I guess we better get back. She’s still a little freaked out by the break-in,” Amanda said as she slid her phone into her pocket. The group pulled themselves away from the store window and hurried down Exchange Street toward Squaresville.

The night of the Founder’s Day parade and fireworks spectacular had arrived. Downtown Astoria was blocked off for the parade route, and crowds of people stood along the sidewalks awaiting the arrival of the floats.

“I’ve got to hand it to Debbie Fuller, this celebration has been the best it’s ever been. That lady excels in the art of excess,” Rachel murmured to Sam as they stood by watching the parade.

Debbie and Kirsten approached in the Founder’s float dressed to the nines with crowns atop their heads. The mother-daughter team was the epitome of over doing it, complete with elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, royal waves. As the leader of the Trifecta, the three most popular girls at Astoria High, Kirsten reigned supreme as the queen bee of the school. The willowy brunette used to be the star athlete, until Cat’s arrival on the swim team, which created a one-sided-Kirsten-only rivalry between them.

Kirsten glared at Cat and Amanda as she noticed them mocking her and her mom’s royal waves.

“Taylor sure dodged a bullet by ignoring that one,” Cat quipped.

“Yeah, I mean would you look at those two? Seriously? They’re completely ridonkulous,” Amanda said.

“Well, are you really that surprised? I mean, they’re self-proclaimed town royalty,” Cat muttered, rolling her eyes.

“Man, she’s hot!” Matt exclaimed, wolf whistling at Kirsten as the Founder’s float stopped in front of their group. Kirsten sneered at him and then immediately turned her attention to the rest of the crowd, a fake smile plastered on her face.

Amanda smacked Matt across the back of the head. “Down boy, heel!” she joked as Matt glared at her while rubbing the offended area.

“We’ve got funnel cake!” Elle announced excitedly as she joined the group while juggling four plates in her hands. “We got the works of course, ice cream, strawberry topping, and powdered sugar!”

“You guys are lifesavers! Thanks for braving the crowd,” Cat said while grabbing a plate, and then began munching down the delicious-smelling dessert.

The streetlamps around the town square dimmed until the only visible lights were of the illuminations adorning the floats. “Okay, Astoria, and now the grand finale!” The announcer’s voice came through the speaker system. The rooftops of the surrounding buildings lit up as fireworks shot from them into the sky. The crowd stared in awe at the spectacle. The fireworks burst into a colorful display, painting the clouds overhead. The floats began moving again at a crawl. As the Founder’s float continued past Cat and her group, Cat saw a rogue firework sputtering toward the large tree the float was passing. The firework exploded into the tree, making it burst into flames. The crowd gasped as Kirsten and Debbie screamed, scrambling to get out of the way of a burning branch that slammed into the float.

“Kirsten, look out!” Cat yelled, pointing at another firework making a beeline for the royal pair. Hearing Cat’s yell, Kirsten dropped to the floor and pulled her mom with her. The firework whizzed by and barely brushed Kirsten’s crown. It crashed into the back of the float and set it aflame. Confetti and papier-machè from the float showered down on the street after the impact. Kirsten and her mom leapt from the burning float as the crowd scattered in a panic.

Cat and her group ducked as a firework buzzed over their heads and shattered the store window behind them, sending shards of glass crashing down on the sidewalk. Several more stray fireworks hit random floats, setting each one ablaze and leaving them burnt to a crisp.

The sound of ambulance and fire truck sirens filled the cool night air, drowning out the screams and moans of the injured and scared. Cat and her friends stood by shocked, watching the chaos continue.

“Did you like the show, Cat?” A hauntingly familiar female voice whispered into Cat’s ear. Whipping around to put a face with the voice, she found no one. Full of concern, she scanned the crowd, looking for anything out of the ordinary. In the distance on a small hill, standing in front of a group of trees, Cat noticed three deathly pale girls. Their skin radiated in the moonlight. One of them she recognized immediately. “Linda?” she whispered and moved forward trying to make her way toward her. Cat fought against the crowd that was being pushed back by the firemen and lost sight of Linda and the two strangers she was with. As she made it to the front of the crowd, Cat looked up at the group of trees again, but the girls were gone.

“Cat, what’s wrong? You just took off!” Julie asked catching up to her.

“Nothing, thought I saw something,” Cat responded, still gazing at the trees.

Laughing wickedly, relishing in the chaos they just caused, the three vampire girls dashed through the tree tops. As they approached a barren clearing, the girls slowed and floated to the ground. Becca waved her hand from left to right and the trapdoor in the concrete foundation flew open. She giggled, “I never do get tired of that.”

“Did you see the look on their faces? That couldn’t have gone more perfect!” Amy announced, laughing evilly. “And Becca, great job with the fireworks. Who knew your talents would come in that handy?”

“I only wish I could’ve hit that stupid tramp Kirsten! Ugh! That girl’s so annoying,” Becca replied, and then slammed her fist into her palm.