Read Online Experiment in Terror 06.5 And With Madness Comes the Light by Karina Halle - Free Book Online Page B

Harry on her.
    “Hey,” I told her, twisting in my seat to
get a better look at her. Maybe I should have been afraid of Ada
instead of Perry. Though she was just fifteen, Ada looked years
older at that moment, dark circles under her eyes, which were wide
and flashing like blue hazard lights. She looked jacked up, angry
and scared all rolled into one emo bundle. “Thanks for—”
    Smack.
    It wasn’t as hard as Rebecca’s slap and from
the surprised look on Ada’s face, I could tell it was the first
time she hit someone and meant it, but damn. The Palominos had some
serious anger management issues. Or Dex Foray issues. Potatoes,
po tat oes.
    I stretched out my jaw and shot her a wary
look. “Well, I suppose I deserved that.”
    “I thought about it and decided you’re still
an asshole,” she snarled. Then smiled politely. “But thank you for
coming.”
    Oh man, what did I get myself into? Nope,
didn’t matter. I’d walk over hot coals and a million teenage slaps
if it meant getting to Perry.
    “You’re probably going to get it worse from
my dad,” she went on. Okay, make that a million teenage slaps and a
punch from an angry Italian.
    “Let’s try and prevent that from happening.
Anyway, can you sneak me into her room?”
    She shook her head. “Maximus is in there,
thinking he’s taking care of her. He’s such a tool.”
    I ground my teeth together, not appreciating
the mental image of Perry strapped to a bed with Max taking “care”
of her.
    “Well, the flannel-coated pussy stealer
won’t be taking care of her for much longer,” I said, unbuckling my
seatbelt. She looked at me blankly. Perhaps she didn’t appreciate
her sister being referred to as “pussy.” I cleared my throat. “I
meant flannel-coated…ginger douche.”
    She dipped her chin and said dryly, “Dude,
the term is douchecanoe.”
    She flung her door open and we ran down the
street in the pouring rain. The Palominos’ large house loomed at
the end of their driveway, the lights from the windows looking more
like reptilian eyes than anything else. Warm and cozy? Nuh-uh. I
could already tell that something was terribly wrong and I felt it
in every part of my body. Evil? Yeah, I could believe evil lived in
that house.
    A movement at Perry’s window caught my
eye—the silhouette of
he-who-shall-not-be-named-except-in-insults-I-found-fitting. My
fists clenched and I breathed out slowly through my nose. So many
things were rushing through me—conflicting, dangerous feelings, it
was no wonder Ada looked so torn and cracked out. My head and heart
were already being done in and I hadn’t even been in the house
yet.
    We paused on the steps, Ada holding her
finger to her mouth, as if I needed to be quiet. Maybe I was
breathing through my nose rather loudly.
    “Just stay behind me,” she whispered. “I
think my parents are in their room.”
    I nodded and she pushed the door open. I was
immediately met with this…darkness. A malevolence, like a cancer in
the air, that rushed through me, making me feel sick all over.
    Ada gave me a look like she understood
exactly what I was going through and I followed her in, walking as
quietly as possible. I shrugged off my wet jacket, a droplet of
water running down my neck.
    It was strangely still inside, like some
unseen life force inside had paused the second I walked in. It’s
hard to explain, but since I was grasping for the impossible
anyway, it was almost like there was a fuck-you-up energy in the
house that was waiting in a hidden corner somewhere, ready to
pounce.
    “You feel it too?” she asked quietly, as we
walked up the stairs, my eyes searching the dark hallway that led
to even darker rooms.
    I nodded. “Is it always like this?”
    She shook her head. “I can feel it, all the
time. But it’s never been so calm like this. It’s freaking me the
fuck out.”
    “Like it knows I’m here.”
    We exchanged a worried glance and continued
up the stairs, the blood pounding more loudly in