Lost Read Online Free Page B

cheerfully. As they walked, the dark turned to murky gray. He slipped his hand into his pocket and pushed the caps back onto his teeth. He glanced at her as he did. In the growing light, he could see her more clearly, see the gloss of her hair and the tiny bits of dried plants and dirt that clung to her clothing.
    By the time they reached the road, the shadowy curse of the canyon felt a lifetime away.
    It was early dawn. The sun had yet to rise, but Cameron could feel its threat looming.
    He had to leave, and soon. He forced his fingers to loosen their hold on her arm and took a step back.
    She turned instantly. “They aren't here. No one is here.”
    He kept his voice calm and reassuring, pulled one more time on his vampire talents. “They've left. Someone picked them up, and someone will find you too. You'll be fine. Just follow the road, back the way you came.”
    She glanced to the left, toward Crystal City. “It's a long way to town.”
    “Not too long. You'll be fine.” He gave her a nudge.
    Her eyes glazing over, she stared at him for a second. Then slowly, as if her feet had doubled in weight, she took a stumbling step forward.
    The sky around them was lighter now. Cameron moved back until he was off the road, back within the realm of the canyon’s curse.
    Rachel glanced over her shoulder, but he knew, standing where he was, she couldn't see him. He was shielded by the curse, engulfed in another world, one in which she didn't belong. Clinging to that thought, he turned and forced his body into a jog. Rachel was back in her world. Time for him to give up impossible, childlike daydreams and return to his.

 
     
     
    Chapter Four
    Rachel stumbled forward. The first signs of sun colored the horizon a dusky rose. Sometime in the night, rain had fallen. The road, black and shiny, curled around the hill. The world was quiet and peaceful.
    She wanted to walk, and to keep walking. Everything would be okay if she kept walking.
    Her foot sent something clattering off into the weeds. She stared after the sound. A shiny, silver disc winked at her from just beyond the road.
    A hubcap. She frowned.
    An ache began right between her eyes. She pressed her thumb to the spot. She couldn't remember where she was going... or even where she had been.
    Her gaze drifted back to the hubcap.
    Flashy and expensive-looking, like the ones on Nancy's car.
    The atmosphere seemed to shift, like a blind had been lifted. The road wasn't quiet and peaceful. It was deserted and alone.
    The temperature dropped too. Rachel shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and hunched her shoulders against the sudden cold.
    What the hell was she doing? Where did she think she was going? No phone. Deserted road. It could be days before someone came across her.
    Except... if Nancy and the others had been rescued, they'd realize she was missing. They'd send someone back for her.
    Hope flickered. She took another step, but something made her stop— an awareness. She glanced over her shoulder.
    Cameron stood just off the road, watching her. He'd come back.
    Relief, thick and hot, washed over her. She lifted her hand to wave him forward, but he was gone... disappeared.
    The ache returned between her eyes.
    She was imagining things, wanting things, and creating them in her mind.
    She looked back at the highway.
    The winding road led to town and safety, led to a world where everything would be okay.
    Cameron disappeared. The memory of the vehicle and her friends' broken bodies disappeared. All that existed was the road and the knowledge that she should be walking down it.
    She passed the hubcap. It shone like a beacon as she shuffled by. Her foot landed on a skid mark that bisected the road.
    Something stirred in the brush.
    Slowly, she looked up and stared into the face of a monster.
    She opened her mouth and screamed.
    o0o
    Cameron didn't hear Rachel's scream. He felt it, like a stake piercing his heart. Panic wrapped around his body and jerked him