Dark Screams, Volume 1 Read Online Free Page B

chain would allow, her back brushing a cold wall as the man advanced. He bent in front of her. A balaclava covered his face, only brown eyes and pale lips visible.
    “Not everybody knows, Kara,” he said. “But I do.”
    She opened her mouth to scream. And that’s when the beating began.
    April 30, 2006
    Two days before Kara’s fifteenth birthday, and life was perfect. Her mother was happy, having found a new job and a new boyfriend, the latter working at the former. When Mom was happy, life was good, but it was more than that. For the first time in Kara’s life, her teachers weren’t chiding her with “we know you can do better,” because she was getting straight B’s and even a few A’s. She’d made the volleyball team, and while it wasn’t as good as the cheerleading squad, Ingrid had promised to keep training her until she made that, too.
    To be honest, Kara wasn’t that keen on cheerleading. But it would make Mom and Ingrid happy, so she’d do it. Mom said Eddie might also like it if she was a cheerleader, though when Kara suggested that, he said he’d rather date a volleyball player any day.
    Eddie Molloy. Fifteen. Football player. Second string, but she’d told him she’d rather date a second-stringer any day, and he’d laughed. Laughed and kissed her.
    Eddie Molloy. Her first boyfriend. They’d been going together for five months. Five wonderful months. He was nice and cute and funny and everything she’d dreamed of in a boyfriend, and now, two days before her birthday, they were sitting in the abandoned treehouse behind her apartment complex, kissing. That’s all they’d done so far, kissing, and he never pushed her to do more, even though Ingrid insisted he would, warning he was going slow only until Kara lowered her guard.
    “They’re all like that,” Ingrid would say with a knowing roll of her eyes. “Boys.”
    “Not Eddie.”
    A bigger eye roll. “How would you know? He’s your first boyfriend.”
    Maybe the boys Ingrid dated were like that, but Eddie was different. He was wonderful, and after everything that had happened in her life, Kara felt she deserved a little bit of wonderful. Now she sat in the treehouse, kissing him and thinking how lucky she was.
    “Kara?” It was Ingrid, her distant voice odd—squeaky and breathless at the same time. “Kara!”
    Eddie sighed.
    “I know,” Kara said. “Sorry. Let me get rid of her.”
    “Nah, it’s okay. She’s your friend. I just wish…” He made a face and shook his head. “Never mind. Come on. If she wants to hang with you for a while, I’ll cut a few lawns and we’ll meet up tonight. Watch the sunset from up here.” He grinned at her. “Or that’s what we’ll tell your mom.”
    They climbed down. Kara made it almost to the ground before she caught sight of Ingrid and missed the last rung. Eddie grabbed her before she fell.
    “Inge?” Kara said, staring as her friend staggered toward them. Ingrid’s T-shirt was ripped, her lip split, dried blood on her chin, her blond hair half out of its ponytail. The worst, though, were her eyes, round and empty. Then Ingrid stopped walking and teetered there, staring at Eddie.
    “You…” Ingrid said, her voice barely above a whisper.
    “What happened?” He started toward Ingrid, but as her chin rose, eyes blazing, he stopped short. “Inge?”
    “Don’t call me that,” she spat. “And don’t you
dare
ask me what happened, as if you don’t know.” She turned to Kara. “He came to my house.”
    Eddie blinked. “Sure. I was there this morning after football practice. You invited me—”
    “—to talk about Kara’s birthday. Not to—to—”
    “Wh-what?” Eddie stared at Ingrid. “Are you saying I…” He trailed off, as if he couldn’t find words to finish.
    “You know what you did, you bastard.”
    Eddie wheeled on Kara, his eyes as wide as Ingrid’s had been. “I have no idea what she’s talking about. She asked me to come over, and we talked about your