Secrets Never Die by Vincent Ralph EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Vincent Ralph
- Language: English
- Genre: Literature & Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Trick or Treat
There’s too much blood.
It streams down my face and splats on my sneakers, and my heart is
pounding in my chest.
I didn’t want this. Every Halloween the plan is the same. We go to
Dom’s House of Horrors party and, while our classmates drink and dance,
we sneak into the woods for the ritual. But this year it’s ruined before we’ve
even left the house.
A pool of red spreads across the bathroom tiles, staining the baseboard,
and my best friend Haran says, “Sorry.”
But I’m barely listening. I’m too busy scrubbing my face until it stings.
“You look fine, Sam. Honest.”
“I said subtle,” I reply. “You made me look like Carrie!”
“Loose lid,” Haran says, pointing at the bottle of fake blood leaking
over the bath mat.
I stare at my reflection. My costume is soaked pink, like it’s been
washed in spaghetti sauce, my hair stuck in red clumps, my face rubbed
raw.
“You’re still going though?” Haran asks, and I nod and say, “Give me
your costume.”
“What? No.”
“This is your fault.”
“So go as Overkill,” he says. “Go as Disappointment.”
I’ve never hit him but I’m this close to changing that.
Haran grins and says, “Go as Panic … or Desperation.” He sees my
expression and says “Sorry” again, meaning it now.
I don’t really want his outfit. It’s store-bought whereas I like to make
my own.
“Wait,” I say. “I have an idea.” And two minutes later we’re next door,
explaining all the blood to Chloe Atwood.
When we were kids, Chloe and I played together while our moms drank
tea. We’d race up and down the hill on the corner and she’d beat me every
time; then we’d practice kickups in the street until sunset. Back then, it
didn’t matter that she was a year younger. Now, with different friends and
different lives, we mostly smile and wave from separate driveways.
At school, she’s one of those quiet, studious kids clustered around the
tables in the study center. She’s smart, which means, fingers crossed, she
can help.
“Aren’t you a bit old for trick-or-treating?” Chloe asks.
I know I’m blushing when I say, “Do you have anything … my size?”
She raises her eyebrows. “This is unexpected. I’m honored. Come in.”
In Chloe’s room, watching her spread stuff over the bed, I ask where
she’s going tonight and she says, “Nowhere.”
She’s dressed all in black, and I assumed it was the start of a costume.
Chloe sees my confusion and says, “I had rehearsals after school.”
Black leggings and tops are the school dance team’s unofficial uniform.
But it still seems weird, that she isn’t getting ready for tonight.
“How come you’re staying home?” I ask, and Chloe sighs and says,
“My mom hates Halloween, you know that. She makes us sit with the lights
off, so people think we’re out.”
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