The Seven Caves and other Spine-tingling Short Stories
Page 5
Excerpt]
Shadows will do anything to become human.
You see their influence everyday. You say things you don’t mean or do things that aren’t like you. You look different and become inexplicable, at times. Friends you’ve known forever suddenly never call.
Planet Popular was just a part of the Shadow World, where our alter egos merely exist. There’s a war brewing between the world of humans and the world of shadows. When shadows invade Roxie’s high school, she’ll not only fight for her life but the lives of her family and friends and discover she is the Shadow Slayer, the one human who can save Earth from the shadow onslaught. Oh yeah, there’s an evil English teacher, an enchanted play, a sword of Sandonian steel, a homecoming of horrors, and seven magic words.
I catch a chill when I pass by a thick, black curtain. A breeze blows into it and wraps the fabric over a man’s form. I stop in my tracks. Licking my lips, I hold my breath as I reach out for the black velvet and push the curtain back only to expose...nothing. My heart falls to my knees. I turn to the stage door and feel the same tingles I did before—someone staring at me. I walk a little quicker and push my way through the stage door and into a firm, hard chest.
“Whoa!” a guy says. The door almost smacks the entire football team on their way into the theater.
“That’s her,” one of them says.
“Her who?” another one says.
“Drew’s girl.”
I’m Drew’s girl. Wow.
“Out of the way, beautiful. We’ve got a buddy to harass.”
Damn. Now I’m going to miss everything because of Hayden and his temper tantrum.
“Hayden!” I yell, hoping he’s close by. But, no. He’s the freaking invisible man.
They know my name. Guys I don’t even know, know my name. Guys I don’t even know on the football team know my name. I walk down the hallway, my legs a little wobbly because I can’t believe my luck. When I reach the entrance to the girls’ indoor swimming pool locker room, I lean against the hallway wall and want to gag because of the chlorine smell. Oh, well. Good riddance. He’s gone.
“Hayden!” I yell one more time.
Hayden steps out of the stairwell across the hall.
“You ever ask yourself why a guy like Drew would like you all of a sudden?” Hayden says. For the first time, his hair doesn’t look sun-kissed, nor does he look like the boy who liked my dress in the book line before school. He looks, different.
“No. No, I don’t.” I turn away from him and walk back to the PAC. “Mr. J wants you for some lighting cue thing. You’ve got to come back and, you know, do your job?”
“Not one time. You never wondered why?” Hayden says, gaining on me.
“Honestly, the only thing I’m wondering lately is how come you’re such a jerk.” I open the backstage door and hurry through the darkness when someone grabs me by the elbow and tugs. He pulls me into one of the black curtains. I let out a yelp and squirm, trying to break free of the hold he has on me.
“Roxie! It’s me,” Drew says.
“I’m so out of here.” My body goes limp in his arms.
“I’ve got a surprise.”
I give Drew a huge hug. Wrapped up in the black velvet curtain we’re millimeters away from everyone in the theater, but it feels like a world away. Our own world. A world that makes the real one tolerable.
“I love surprises.”
“Good. Turn around.”
So I do. Just as he pulls me a little closer in to him, he lets go of my waist and something falls over my face gently tightening around my eyes. I see red and yellows in the darkness.
“Trust me,” Drew says.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I never know what to say about myself. I guess it’s because I’m always learning about who I am. I like dogs and swimming and hiking and wine and popcorn and sunsets and travel. I love to read in bed and I don’t do it often enough. I hate laundry and grocery shopping but I love to cook. There really isn’t anything better than a tomato picked from our garden. I am a creature of salt. I love buying exotic ones. I love meeting new people but inwardly I’m super shy sometimes. I can’t really control it, it’s just sort of there and pops out at the weirdest times.
I’m the author of Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale inspired by my life-long love of a little-known town, Avenal, CA, and my equal love of enchanted teenage road trips. I love this book because it’s about Ginny awakening to her own intuition. 13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) is about a girl who gets a birthday gift that’s literally out of this world. I love this book because it takes a look at one girl’s quest for popularity. Transfer Student, is an intergalactic beauty and the geek sci-fi romance and the first book in the Starjump Series. Transfer Student is near and dear to me because what is a greater mystery to a girl than what a boy thinks? And, vice-versa. Ashley & Rhoe uncover this mystery first-hand. Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2), will release in September 2012. I’m really excited about this book because Roxie is one year older and finds fitting in at high school is nothing compared to saving the world from the shadow onslaught.
To read more about my books visit: www.Laurasmagicday.worpress.com
Twitter: @Laurawriting
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