Read Online Return to Paradise by Pittacus Lore - Free Book Online
Authors: Pittacus Lore
Tags: Science-Fiction, Action & Adventure, Juvenile Fiction, Survival Stories, Short Stories, Love & Romance
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at this speed.
“I don’t know,” I mutter. I’m pushing ninety and rising, but the car’s not letting up. I can barely make out someone behind the wheel—just a big black blob vaguely in the shape of a human. I wonder for a second if it’s a Mog or an FBI agent or some new type of alien we didn’t even know existed, because that’s a very real possibility at this point.
“What do they want?” I ask.
“Obviously to murder us,” Sarah shouts. She grips her seat.
We’re approaching the curve in the road when the car suddenly zips into the oncoming traffic lane and revs up beside me until we’re speeding along parallel to one another. The tinting on the car windows make it impossible to see anything but the reflection of the outside world—like the car is some sort of automated machine out for blood without an actual driver inside.
Sarah gasps. “Crap! Is it going to—”
I see what she’s guessing at a split second before it happens. I slam on my brakes. Sarah screams. The black car whips into my lane, missing the hood of my truck by what looks like inches. I can feel my antilock brakes pumping beneath my foot as the bed of my truck starts to slide to the right.
“HOLD ON!” I shout, bracing myself with one hand on the wheel and one gripping Sarah’s arm—as if I’mgoing to be able to hold us in place if we start to roll. I can feel the truck start to fall over.
But we don’t roll. The truck tips, then shudders, and finally comes to a stop after spinning a quarter turn. Smoke from my tires drifts through the air around us, filling my nose with the stench of burned rubber. Every muscle in my body is contracted, and I can already tell that I’m going to have some kind of bruise where my body’s been thrown against the seat belt.
There’s no sign of the black car. It’s disappeared around the curve.
“Are you okay?” I ask Sarah, who looks at me and nods. Her hair’s been thrown over her face, and her eyes are wide. She wriggles a little, and I realize I’ve got a viselike grip on her. I let her go. My fingers feel stiff.
I put the truck into park and start to shake a little, adrenaline rushing through me.
Ahead of us, the black car appears, stopped at the head of the curve in the road.
“Mark,” Sarah says. “Get us out of here.”
And then there’s smoke coming from the car’s wheels as it peels out. It careens straight for the passenger side of my truck.
I flip the truck into reverse to try and get us off the road, but I’m too slow. There’s no way we’re getting out of the way in time.
And then, at the last second, the car swerves to theright and misses us completely, then continues to barrel down the deserted road as I stomp on the gas and back up as fast as possible. I end up slamming into a thin, tall tree. It falls over with a crack. Splintering.
We watch as the car disappears from sight again, this time miles and miles away. I’m breathing like I’ve just played the most intense scrimmage of my life. Sarah’s hands are shaking.
“What the fuck was that?” I ask.
“I think that means we were poking around where we weren’t supposed to.”
“That car just tried to kill us.”
“No,” Sarah says, shaking her head. “It was just trying to scare us. To warn us about what would happen if we keep digging. If we get more involved.”
I glance at the clock. The period after lunch is starting in Helena. Shakily, I put the truck in gear and head towards our new school. There’s nothing else for us in Paradise right now.
CHAPTER TWELVE
MY DAD’S ALREADY HOME BY THE TIME I GET back from school that night, which is strange, because he’s recently been getting home about an hour after I do. I back my truck around the side of the house—there’s a good-size dent in my bumper and some scraped paint on my tailgate that I’d like to hide from him as long as possible. Stupid tree.
I can hear fighting when I walk inside. I rush to the dining room, where
“I don’t know,” I mutter. I’m pushing ninety and rising, but the car’s not letting up. I can barely make out someone behind the wheel—just a big black blob vaguely in the shape of a human. I wonder for a second if it’s a Mog or an FBI agent or some new type of alien we didn’t even know existed, because that’s a very real possibility at this point.
“What do they want?” I ask.
“Obviously to murder us,” Sarah shouts. She grips her seat.
We’re approaching the curve in the road when the car suddenly zips into the oncoming traffic lane and revs up beside me until we’re speeding along parallel to one another. The tinting on the car windows make it impossible to see anything but the reflection of the outside world—like the car is some sort of automated machine out for blood without an actual driver inside.
Sarah gasps. “Crap! Is it going to—”
I see what she’s guessing at a split second before it happens. I slam on my brakes. Sarah screams. The black car whips into my lane, missing the hood of my truck by what looks like inches. I can feel my antilock brakes pumping beneath my foot as the bed of my truck starts to slide to the right.
“HOLD ON!” I shout, bracing myself with one hand on the wheel and one gripping Sarah’s arm—as if I’mgoing to be able to hold us in place if we start to roll. I can feel the truck start to fall over.
But we don’t roll. The truck tips, then shudders, and finally comes to a stop after spinning a quarter turn. Smoke from my tires drifts through the air around us, filling my nose with the stench of burned rubber. Every muscle in my body is contracted, and I can already tell that I’m going to have some kind of bruise where my body’s been thrown against the seat belt.
There’s no sign of the black car. It’s disappeared around the curve.
“Are you okay?” I ask Sarah, who looks at me and nods. Her hair’s been thrown over her face, and her eyes are wide. She wriggles a little, and I realize I’ve got a viselike grip on her. I let her go. My fingers feel stiff.
I put the truck into park and start to shake a little, adrenaline rushing through me.
Ahead of us, the black car appears, stopped at the head of the curve in the road.
“Mark,” Sarah says. “Get us out of here.”
And then there’s smoke coming from the car’s wheels as it peels out. It careens straight for the passenger side of my truck.
I flip the truck into reverse to try and get us off the road, but I’m too slow. There’s no way we’re getting out of the way in time.
And then, at the last second, the car swerves to theright and misses us completely, then continues to barrel down the deserted road as I stomp on the gas and back up as fast as possible. I end up slamming into a thin, tall tree. It falls over with a crack. Splintering.
We watch as the car disappears from sight again, this time miles and miles away. I’m breathing like I’ve just played the most intense scrimmage of my life. Sarah’s hands are shaking.
“What the fuck was that?” I ask.
“I think that means we were poking around where we weren’t supposed to.”
“That car just tried to kill us.”
“No,” Sarah says, shaking her head. “It was just trying to scare us. To warn us about what would happen if we keep digging. If we get more involved.”
I glance at the clock. The period after lunch is starting in Helena. Shakily, I put the truck in gear and head towards our new school. There’s nothing else for us in Paradise right now.
CHAPTER TWELVE
MY DAD’S ALREADY HOME BY THE TIME I GET back from school that night, which is strange, because he’s recently been getting home about an hour after I do. I back my truck around the side of the house—there’s a good-size dent in my bumper and some scraped paint on my tailgate that I’d like to hide from him as long as possible. Stupid tree.
I can hear fighting when I walk inside. I rush to the dining room, where
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