Read Online Crooked Hills by Cullen Bunn - Free Book Online Page A

enough for you?”
    “The jury’s still out.” She wrinkled her freckled nose. “But come on. You guys are from the city. You must be bored to death here.”
    “I kind of like it,” Alex said.
    “I’ll admit,” I said, “I thought I’d go stir crazy out here in the country, but I haven’t been bored yet.”
    “You’ve only been here for, what, a couple of days.”
    “But look at all that’s happened in the short while we’ve been here. I’ve seen a rock where an old witch was killed.”
    “Ahem!” Lisa said.
    “Okay... where a witch was rumored to be killed. I was almost clobbered by a speed-crazy thug, but was rescued by a cagey warrior princess.”
    Lisa blushed.
    “And,” I continued, “my brother fell into a bottomless underwater pit.”
    “It’s not bottomless,” Marty said. “It’s not even all that deep.”
    “Seemed pretty deep to me,” Alex mused.
    “This is just a little creek, really. There are some pretty deep ones around here. Some guys with scuba gear came around a few years back, and they dove down in the river hundreds of feet. They said they saw catfish at the bottom almost as big as a man.”
    Without even realizing it, I pulled my feet away from the water.
    “Yeah.” Lisa had a dreamy look in her eyes. “Those guys were neat.”
    “Don’t mind her.” Marty sneered. “She had a crush on one of the divers.”
    “I did not!” Lisa said.
    Marty snickered.
    We relaxed on the shore, letting the sun bake us as we talked. The rest of the afternoon passed at a quiet, peaceful pace. All in all, it was a great day, despite the encounter with Greg Crewes. If I could go back in time and freeze us all in that moment, I would, because what came after was awful.
    Just awful.

CHAPTER NINE
    “CHARLIE? YOU SLEEPING?”
    “Trying to,” I muttered.
    Actually, I was pretending to sleep, and obviously botching the job if I couldn’t even fool my little brother.
    “I’m not very tired,” Alex said.
    Great, I thought. I rolled my eyes, certain he couldn’t see me in the darkness of our room. Until he fell asleep, I couldn’t sneak out undetected. Marty and I planned on catching a glimpse of the spectral dog tonight, and we didn’t need Alex tagging along. Unfortunately, my brother was more talkative than sleepy.
    “I had a pretty good time today,” he said, “didn’t you?”
    “Yeah, sure.”
    “This place might not be so bad after all.”
    “We’ll see.”
    “I was a little scared today,” Alex said. “The Bleeding Rock... and Greg Crewes... and almost drowning... those things all scared me pretty bad... but I’m glad you were there with me. I knew you wouldn’t let anything bad happen.”
    His words stung. I felt awful for being so irritated with him. Here I was, wishing he’d just shut up and pass out, and he goes and says something nice.
    Silence rushed in like creek water filling my shoes. I checked the clock on the nightstand. 10:45. Marty and I had agreed to meet at the back door at eleven. I didn’t want to be too late because I halfway suspected Marty might traipse off after the dog without me.
    “Try and get some sleep,” I said at last.
    “Okay.” Alex pulled the covers up around him. “Good night.”
    I waited for another twenty minutes or so, until I heard Alex breathing slow and steady. Asleep at last! I pushed the covers off of me—quietly—and stepped out of bed. I had made a point to wear normal clothes to bed instead of pajamas, so I didn’t need to worry about changing clothes. Barefoot, I tiptoed across the room to the door.
    “Where are you going?” Alex asked groggily.
    I winced. He was still awake, and now I’d been caught.
    “Just going to the bathroom and getting a drink of water,” I said.
    He didn’t answer. I figured he had drifted back to dreamland. I released a breath and opened the door slowly so it wouldn’t creak.
    Marty’s door was open, and his room was dark and quiet. At first. I thought he was in bed sleeping, too,