Dead End: Midnight Hollow Penn Cassidy (good books to read in english TXT) 📖

Pip. She shoved everyone out of the way with a snap of her fingers. Her orange curls were wild, and her robes slapped against her legs in sopping wet layers, the colorful shimmer of the rainbow reflecting off her robes from the moonlight with each step she took. Just seeing her face had me breathing easier. Clicking her tongue down at me, she said, “Oh, dear, we need to get some tonic in you.”

Auntie Fe beside us was staring at Freddy with a pucker between her brows. “It’s the change, dear. Your wolf is coming out. You need to control the anger and let yourselves become one.”

Freddy’s yellow eyes flickered to Auntie Fe, filled with equal parts fear and anger and confusion. He tried to say something back, but cried out a second later in agony as we all watched in horror. I truly felt helpless at the moment, as rippling pain came over him. His jaw lengthened, and his skin fell off in gruesome chunks of flesh as sprouts of hair seemed to take over his whole body. The sound of bones cracking filled the silent, rainy night, and I shrunk closer to Jason’s chest. I could feel his hands shaking as he watched Freddy morph into something that wasn’t human.

The entire change happened in less than five seconds, but it felt like a millenia. Where Freddy once stood, there was now a massive creature with a curved, pronounced spine, long, muscled legs, and claw tipped hands that looked sharp enough to kill. It had a wolfish head with bright yellow eyes. He tipped his head back, sniffing the air with a snarl, and whipped around to growl at us. His skin was covered in a greyish black fur that looked coarse to the touch.

I knew what he was immediately. A werewolf, the very opposite of his vampire twin. I’d done this to him. My necromancy had turned him into a monster. Freddy howled, tipping his head towards the moons, and everyone staggered back a step. I had no idea how much of my Freddy was still inside there or if he was about to attack all of us.

He looked like he was ready to snap, so Jason carried me a few feet away until I was straining over his shoulder to see Freddy. Auntie Fe said, “Go, Freddy. Your wolf wants to find the danger, and you’ll only turn back if you seek it out. Let it guide you.”

“We’ll take care of her,” Norman said, meeting his brother’s eyes. Freddy stilled, but I could tell he was itching to run away and find the scarecrows that had attacked me. “Go,” Norman added.

Freddy howled again and took off in a dead run, dropping to all fours. He sprinted out into the dark, through the rain and wind, until he was disappearing around the corner. My heart lurched, wanting to go find him. It was my fault he was going through this, and it was my fault for going to the cemetery alone. I buried my face in Jason’s chest, trying to keep the tears at bay. Fingers stroked over my wet hair.

“Let’s get inside before we catch our deaths, so to speak,” Auntie Pip said with a clap of her hands, ushering us all back towards the house.

I looked up from Jason’s chest and saw Maddie walking beside us. She offered me a small smile, then looked at Jason and back to me again before winking exaggeratedly. In any other situation, I would have rolled my eyes. Trust Maddie to see the benefits of this dire situation.

We filed into the house, and warmth enveloped me. The aunties bustled off to the kitchen, Fe mumbling something about a tonic, while Jason practically sprinted with me up the stairs and down the hallway towards my bedroom. Norman and Michael tagged along with us, and I was beginning to feel a little nervous with all of their attention suddenly on me.

The last year had seriously jaded me. I constantly expected them to try and pull some kind of prank, or to say something scathing just to piss me off. But as Jason kicked open my door, Michael rushed to the bed and yanked back my black bed sheets. Norman went to my standing wardrobe, opened one of the drawers inside, and pulled out an oversized T-shirt. I wondered idly how the hell he still knew his way around my room after not having been here for over a year.

I didn’t want to be set down sopping wet on my duvet. “I need to shower, just let me… Just for a little bit,” I whispered to Jason, hoping he would understand I needed a few moments alone.

He was reluctant to set me down, but Michael went ahead and started the shower for me until steam filled the room. I watched him walk out of the bathroom, pushing back his silver hair with a small smile. His eyes averted and he cleared his throat awkwardly, probably feeling just as weird as me right now. Everything felt awkward. There were so many unspoken things between us. In the end, I finally convinced Jason to let me bathe myself.

I didn’t know if they left or not, but as soon as I stood under the spray, I let out the world’s longest sigh. I scrubbed at my hair and skin, but winced because I was pretty sure my finger was indeed broken. I must have bent it wrong while falling to the asphalt one too many times. The shock had completely worn off so I was beginning to feel each and every cut and bruise on my body, and I still shivered from the cold, even though the water ran piping hot.

There was a knock on my bathroom door, and I went tense, calling out, “Yeah?”

The door squeaked open. “How are you feeling?” Maddie asked. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Not gonna lie,” I said, wincing as I tried to shut the water off, “I’ve seen better