CLOCKWORK PHOENIX 2: More Tales of Beauty and Strangeness Read Online Free Page A

Leave us alone. This is none of your business.” Her voice betrayed absolute hatred for the intruding adult.
    “Well, we’ll see what your parents think about that! Come on! Get up! I’m taking you back home!” Cop Carla stood up, towering over the fallen children.
    The Girl shouted, “Like you know my parents! How could you?”
    Cop Carla’s mouth hung open in silence for a moment. The children never knew what she would have said next because, right then, her head burst into flame. The Boy had never heard such a terrible shriek in all his life. But even more frightening was the deep, guffawing laughter that was just as loud as Cop Carla’s screams. Who or what was laughing like that? It was a laugh, the Boy was sure, that would scare even the Kid, were his friend to hear it.

    “D-do something!” He shouted at the Girl, “Eat the fire! You c-c-can s-save her!”
    “It’s too late,” the Girl answered. “Like I would anyway. I hate her.”
    A voice erupted from the darkness: “Are you here, wayward daughter? We have your friend. That confused child who doesn’t know whether to be a boy or a girl. Would you like to see what we’ve done to your friend?”
    The Girl dug her fingers into the Boy’s arm, hurting him. She ran, dragging the stammering Boy behind her, leading them both deeper and deeper into the dark greyness of Greytown.
    The Girl spoke again. “I’m getting you out of here. It’s too dangerous for you. Too dangerous for me, too, to have you with me. The only way I’ll be able to save the Kid is alone.”
    “The Kid is my friend, too. I’m n-n-n-ot going to ab-aba-abandon you. Either of you. I’m not a c-coward.”
    The Girl leaned forward and pressed her lips against the Boy’s.
    “I never said you were. But . . . this is where I come from. I escaped when I was five years old. I’m invisible to them. But you, you’re a stranger. They can sense you, find you. I can hide you a little when we’re touching, but that won’t save you forever. I can find the Kid—or at least I can try—but if you stay I might lose both of you.”
    “What about m-m-me? What if I l-lose the two of you? We’re all three of us friends together.”
    “I’m sorry, Boy.” She kissed him again, and he shivered when her tongue touched his. Then he felt smoke pour out of her mouth and into his throat. He tried to break free, but her grip was much stronger than he expected. He lost consciousness.

    Part 2
    Home Is Where the Friends Are

    The Boy woke up coughing. Milo held his hand and said, “Welcome back, Boy.” Milo wore red overalls and a pink shirt. Then Venus, dressed as elegantly as ever, walked into the room, holding a tray with a tea set and a glass of water. “Three-berry blend?”
    The Boy’s throat was too raw, and he almost choked when he tried to speak, so he nodded instead.
    Venus poured the tea for all three of them. He said, “The Girl brought you here, carrying you in her scrawny arms. Who would have thought that little thing could be so strong?”
    Milo added, “She said to tell you that she was going back, and that you shouldn’t follow. But she didn’t say where. And then she ran off.”
    The Boy drank some water and found his voice again. “We have to go to Greytown. To save the Kid. Please.” The Boy jumped out of bed.
    Venus and Milo exchanged a glance. Venus said, “Greytown?” The two men clasped hands. Milo asked, “Is that where your friends are, Boy?”
    The Boy nodded.
    “Are they in danger?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then let’s go.”
    En route, the Boy filled them in on what had happened. Venus and Milo listened solemnly to the Boy’s story. But when the trio reached the edge of Greytown . . . the suburb was nowhere in sight. Where Greytown used to be, they found a big empty parking lot—the size of several city blocks—with sickly weeds growing out of the cracked asphalt.
    None of the nearby walls could tell the Boy what had happened or how to find his friends