Read Online The Children and the Blood by Skye Malone, Megan Joel Peterson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Skye Malone, Megan Joel Peterson
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Ashley spun. Yanking Lily behind her, she tore across the tilled soil, choking back a sob as the soft earth sucked at her feet, slowing her down.
She reached the edge of the garden and took off across the field with no idea of where to go. Lily clung to her, and she could hear the girl crying. Thelma’s house was an eternity away, and she couldn’t see the woman’s porch light. The farmhands’ house was dark. No one had emerged this whole time.
Tears burned her eyes.
She kept running.
Headlights surged over the rise at the edge of the property. With a shriek, Ashley tried to turn, her feet sliding from beneath her on the grass. Lily slammed into her and frantically, Ashley grabbed the girl and shoved her to the side.
Lily rolled away.
Ashley didn’t have time to move.
The car roared straight at her.
*****
As the hours passed, Cole began to wonder if Keller’s definition of ‘close’ had been in relation to another galaxy, or even just the moon.
He scrubbed a hand across his burning eyes, trying to stay focused on the road. An indeterminate number of miles before, they’d passed a large blue sign welcoming them to Montana, so he knew what state they were in, at least. But they’d left the highway a while ago, and had since been following circuitous mountain roads through tiny towns with little more than a street light to separate them from complete oblivion. Occasionally, the pinprick glows of distant farms would appear. Even more rarely, a sign pointed into the black abyss of an adjoining road, denoting other specks of life lost somewhere in the darkness. But town names or mile markers were infrequent at best and he couldn’t make himself believe that anything he saw would guide the police to the other vehicles’ destination very well.
Assuming he could call them.
And he didn’t run out of gas before he got there.
Grimacing, he glanced at his cell phone for the twentieth time in as many minutes. Once they’d left the interstate, the bars of signal had dwindled, and for the past few miles, he’d only seen a tiny message politely notifying him of the utter lack of connection.
It was maddening. All his plans went out the window if he couldn’t do something as simple as call the police.
Taillights flared ahead of him again. For the first hour or so, he’d expected them to notice the luxury sedan pacing them along the miles of interstate – and to make something horrible happen to him as a result. But as time passed, several other cars pulled in behind the leaders, forming a loosely connected caravan, and he realized they’d assumed he was one of them all along.
It wasn’t exactly comforting, though it did mean he probably wouldn’t die before they reached their destination.
Drawing a steadying breath, he shoved the fatalistic thoughts away. Up ahead, Keller’s car veered onto a nearly invisible fork hidden among the trees. The other vehicles disappeared after him, and soon Cole could see glimmers of their headlights twisting down the mountainside.
And as with every other blind, unmarked turn in the past few hours, he gripped the wheel and followed them without the slightest clue where they were going.
The narrow track wound through the forest, rolling with the dips and turns of the steep descent. Trees shadowed the road, obliterating any trace of starlight. Gravel growled beneath his tires, making the sedan feel barely stable on the mountainside.
And then they came around a curve, and the valley opened up below them.
Unconsciously, he eased off the accelerator, barely noticing as the car slowed.
He was too late.
They’d already started.
Fire engulfed the barn on the far side of the valley, lighting the night sky. For the moment, the houses remained untouched, but he knew that would change. Reece and his friends were pulling up to block the drive, and in the flickering light of the flames, he could see dark figures hidden behind hillocks in the ground.
His hand fumbled for the
She reached the edge of the garden and took off across the field with no idea of where to go. Lily clung to her, and she could hear the girl crying. Thelma’s house was an eternity away, and she couldn’t see the woman’s porch light. The farmhands’ house was dark. No one had emerged this whole time.
Tears burned her eyes.
She kept running.
Headlights surged over the rise at the edge of the property. With a shriek, Ashley tried to turn, her feet sliding from beneath her on the grass. Lily slammed into her and frantically, Ashley grabbed the girl and shoved her to the side.
Lily rolled away.
Ashley didn’t have time to move.
The car roared straight at her.
*****
As the hours passed, Cole began to wonder if Keller’s definition of ‘close’ had been in relation to another galaxy, or even just the moon.
He scrubbed a hand across his burning eyes, trying to stay focused on the road. An indeterminate number of miles before, they’d passed a large blue sign welcoming them to Montana, so he knew what state they were in, at least. But they’d left the highway a while ago, and had since been following circuitous mountain roads through tiny towns with little more than a street light to separate them from complete oblivion. Occasionally, the pinprick glows of distant farms would appear. Even more rarely, a sign pointed into the black abyss of an adjoining road, denoting other specks of life lost somewhere in the darkness. But town names or mile markers were infrequent at best and he couldn’t make himself believe that anything he saw would guide the police to the other vehicles’ destination very well.
Assuming he could call them.
And he didn’t run out of gas before he got there.
Grimacing, he glanced at his cell phone for the twentieth time in as many minutes. Once they’d left the interstate, the bars of signal had dwindled, and for the past few miles, he’d only seen a tiny message politely notifying him of the utter lack of connection.
It was maddening. All his plans went out the window if he couldn’t do something as simple as call the police.
Taillights flared ahead of him again. For the first hour or so, he’d expected them to notice the luxury sedan pacing them along the miles of interstate – and to make something horrible happen to him as a result. But as time passed, several other cars pulled in behind the leaders, forming a loosely connected caravan, and he realized they’d assumed he was one of them all along.
It wasn’t exactly comforting, though it did mean he probably wouldn’t die before they reached their destination.
Drawing a steadying breath, he shoved the fatalistic thoughts away. Up ahead, Keller’s car veered onto a nearly invisible fork hidden among the trees. The other vehicles disappeared after him, and soon Cole could see glimmers of their headlights twisting down the mountainside.
And as with every other blind, unmarked turn in the past few hours, he gripped the wheel and followed them without the slightest clue where they were going.
The narrow track wound through the forest, rolling with the dips and turns of the steep descent. Trees shadowed the road, obliterating any trace of starlight. Gravel growled beneath his tires, making the sedan feel barely stable on the mountainside.
And then they came around a curve, and the valley opened up below them.
Unconsciously, he eased off the accelerator, barely noticing as the car slowed.
He was too late.
They’d already started.
Fire engulfed the barn on the far side of the valley, lighting the night sky. For the moment, the houses remained untouched, but he knew that would change. Reece and his friends were pulling up to block the drive, and in the flickering light of the flames, he could see dark figures hidden behind hillocks in the ground.
His hand fumbled for the
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