Read Online Talisman of El by Alecia Stone - Free Book Online Page B

at. He was looking at the lump on top of the bed, covered with a brown, threadbare blanket. Charlie looked at Alex, who was holding the door open to shed more light into the room – and if needed, to make a quick getaway. Taking a deep breath, he held the branch out in front of him and stepped forward.
    Suddenly, the lump stirred, and Charlie stopped. Before he could back away, he felt a tight pressure around his ankles, and he fell backwards. When he hit the wooden floor, the branch fell out of his hand. The figure pounced on top of him and pinned him to the floor by his arms.
    Smothered in the itchy material, Charlie struggled against the weight of his assailant, to no avail. He couldn’t see anything but darkness.
    ‘Get off him,’ he heard Alex yell through the scuffling noises around him. The next moment, he heard a faint thud, followed by a loud whimper, and the pressure on his arms loosened.
    The room came back into view, and he saw Alex and Richmond standing over him. Alex was holding the branch as if it were a sword, a fierce look on her face.
    ‘What’s he doing?’ Richmond asked.
    Charlie got to his feet and looked at the figure on the floor that was shivering beneath the blanket. A deep, mournful groan erupted, and the trio looked at one another with terrified eyes.
    Then tortured screams filled the room, and the figure began to twitch uncontrollably.
    The trio bolted.
    They were a good fifty feet from the shack when Charlie stopped. ‘Wait,’ he said. Alex and Richmond stopped and turned to him. ‘We can’t just leave him. What if he’s hurt?’ ‘Oh my god, I hit him,’ Alex said. ‘What if he’s dead?’ ‘You hit him with a branch, you didn’t shoot him.’ She looked at the branch as if it were toxic and dropped it.
    ‘This wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t come here. I told you we should have left.’
    Charlie raised his eyebrows. ‘Ah, hello! Does “let’s follow him” ring a bell?’
    ‘You got off the bus first. We were safe with my plan. I said we shouldn’t go inside.’
    ‘It was your plan that led us here in the first place.’ ‘Yeah, now this guy’s probably dead because I hit him.’
    Alex’s lips trembled, and a sad look came into her eyes. She turned away.
    After a moment of silence, Charlie inched closer to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. ‘It wasn’t your fault. You were just helping me.’
    Alex turned to him, her brown eyes glistening. ‘You don’t think he’s dead, do you?’
    Charlie glanced back towards the shack. ‘Only one way to find out.’
    It took the three of them a lot longer to reach the shack than it had when they were following Richmond; naturally, for caution had taken the place of speed.
    Charlie couldn’t help but feel a slight case of déjà vu as they hid behind a tree, staring at the half-open door.
    ‘I don’t think he’s coming out,’ Charlie said. He looked at Alex and Richmond. ‘Ready?’
    Alex and Richmond exchanged nervous glances then looked back at Charlie and nodded.
    They headed towards the shack. Charlie paused in front of the door, his heart hammering so hard he wondered if the person inside could hear it. Leaning forward, he peeked through the gap between the door and the frame and saw two eyes staring at him.
    A man was sitting on the cardboard bed, the blanket wrapped around him, leaving only his head exposed. Charlie held his gaze, afraid of what would happen if he took his eyes off him.
    ‘You wouldn’t happen to have a lighter, would you?’ the man asked in a hoarse voice.
    It surprised Charlie how calm his tone was. He opened the door wider.
    ‘Whichever one of you I grabbed, I’m sorry.’ The man had an American accent. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you.’
    ‘You didn’t,’ Charlie said.
    ‘Well, I’m sorry if I scared you.’
    ‘You didn’t scare me.’
    The man gave him a weak smile. His eyes flickered to the bucket of wood in the corner. ‘About that lighter …?’ ‘I have one,’