Dawn Autumn Read Online Free Page A

with his machine in peace.
    Coal’s backslap had caused his shades to slip. As he moved away, Fred shot a last, wickedly amused look Coal’s way. He shoved the glasses back into place, but not before a glimpse of silver eyes flashed in the streetlight.
    He was going to have excellent dreams.

    Chapter Three

    Jay didn’t know what she had been thinking. Having Fred over was a bad idea, especially when she was worried about how she was going to feed herself, let alone a guest. Her savings were slowly but steadily dwindling. She needed a better job, quick, and hanging out with her wacky neighbor wasn’t going to pay the bills. With that in mind, she sat in her apartment after work, sipping cocoa as she scanned a paper someone had left in the coffee shop. The slightly crinkled pages were spread out on her counter, folded neatly to the help wanted section. Just for amusement, she’d circled a few entries in red.
    “Hm. Looks like either dental hygienist or exotic dancer. Not exactly my cup of tea,” she muttered to herself. She’d already applied at the few waitress and clerk jobs advertised, with no calls yet. Ah, well. There was always the paper route. If she delivered in the mornings and worked at the café in the afternoons, she should be all right ... if she was very, very frugal. Fortunately, she excelled at frugal.
    Tossing down the paper, she held her mug in both hands and let her eyes unfocus, thinking of nothing in particular. She was tired, with a warm meal in her belly, and had no greater concern at the moment than preparing for bed.
    Sudden movement made her stare at the fridge. The door had cracked. Was the seal going bad? Did anything work right in this dive? She set down her cup, prepared to investigate. Before she could, a giant green slug with an upright carriage slid out of her fridge. She froze. It was the size of a man, glistening green, and definitely not something she’d carted home from the grocery. Stupefied, she stared as it turned its eyestalks toward her, nodded politely, and slithered on to the door. A gelatinous tentacle slithered out of its body and wrapped around the door knob. As he was making his exit, three more slugs came out of the fridge, each smaller than the other, like a mother and stair step children. They hurried after him/it, ignoring her. The last one out slammed the door.
    The sound galvanized Jay. Leaping to her feet, she hurried to the door, barely noticing as clear slime soaked into her socks. Throwing open the door, she stared as the last of the slugs disappeared into Mr. and Mrs. Fadious’ apartment. Certain they were about to eat her helpless neighbors in a painful and disgusting manner, Jay dashed toward their door—only to end up sliding in the trail of gook. The next thing she knew, her head slammed back against the floor, and the lights went out.
    * * * *
    Voices woke her. Scrunching her eyes shut, she cautiously opened them, blinking against the bright glare. Her neighbor’s worried faces appeared above her. Mrs. Fadious’ ever present curlers and hair net rose above her pointed brows and heavy bone structure. Mr. Fadious’ square face and old fashioned fedora hat blocked a large part of the ceiling, but she could see bits of Fred and Cole’s faces peering down at her.
    “She lives!” Mrs. Fadious said in her low pitched voice.
    Groaning, Jay slowly sat up, grateful for the hands supporting her back. She lifted her hand to her throbbing head and noticed the slime coating her palm. She looked quickly up at Mrs. Fadious.
    Before she could speak, Mrs. Fadious grimaced. “I’m so sorry! A jug of cleaner broke as I was carrying it in. I hurried in to get a mop, but when I got back you were here on the floor.”
    Jay stared at her. Keeping her mouth shut, she painfully got to her feet, limped to her door, and opened it wide to stare at the carpet. It was perfectly clean. She knelt down and touched it. It was dry. Blinking, she slowly moved to her fridge, took a