Shivers 7 Read Online Free Page B

and take him down, too. They roll off the trail, into the water, and they end up in a tangle of cattails. Mr. Rose comes out on top. He’s screaming now, but Bill can’t make out a word the man’s saying.
    Bill tries to run faster, tries to hurry. He’s so intent on helping his friend that he almost steps on a busted beer bottle. He jumps it and doesn’t even break stride but he’s still about twenty feet away from Jason and Mr. Rose and he’s dancing over rocks, but he can’t miss all of them, and the ones he steps on punch his heels like nasty little fists and—
    Just that fast, Bill stops cold.
    It’s the look on Mr. Rose’s face that stops him. The man’s smiling, his thin lips framing gritted teeth. He’s got Jason pinned in the cattails, and he’s holding the boy’s head underwater, and Jason’s exhalations are bubbling to the surface.
    “You boys shouldn’t have given me an argument,” Mr. Rose says, looking at Bill. “You should have given me that dog while you still had the chance.”
    Jason’s arms thrash in the muddy water, but Mr. Rose holds him firm.
    Bill’s heart pounds in his chest.
    He snatches up a rock.
    It’s about the size of a golf ball.
    He lets fly.

    * * *

    Bill has never heard a sound like it. It’s awful. Like a cleaver hitting a rack of beef ribs, only worse.
    Bill doesn’t see where the rock goes after it hits Mr. Rose in the forehead. He expects the man to fall over, the way bad guys do on television. But Mr. Rose just stares at him from behind his sunglasses, and pretty soon Bill wonders if the rock missed the man entirely.
    No , he tells himself. I know the rock hit him. I heard the sound.
    The same way Mr. Rose hears his daughter calling in the night? asks a voice in Bill’s head.
    No! I heard it hit him! I know I did!
    And just that quick Bill knows he’s right, because just that quick he sees blood gushing from Mr. Rose’s forehead. Red streaks spill down the lenses of the man’s sunglasses. Blood washes down his nose and drips off his chin. But Mr. Rose doesn’t cry out, and he doesn’t wipe away the blood.
    He releases Jason, and Bill’s friend crawls out of the muddy water coughing and gasping for air.
    Mr. Rose stands up and wades out of the cattails. He climbs onto the path. And now he’s coming towards Bill. And he’s still smiling. And he pushes his sunglasses high on his nose, as if nothing has happened at all.
    Bill backs off. He sees Jason gagging by the side of the lake. His friend is in no condition to help him stop Mr. Rose. So Bill dips down fast and picks up another rock. The lenses of Mr. Rose’s sunglasses are painted with blood. Bill doesn’t even know if the man can see him anymore. All he knows is that Cheryl Ann’s father is coming for him.
    Mr. Rose’s Hush Puppies crunch over the same broken beer bottle that cut Jason’s foot. He opens his mouth. He’s still smiling. His teeth are red with dripping blood.
    “Red Rover,” Mr. Rose says. “Red Rover. Won’t you... come...”
    Mr. Rose doesn’t finish the sentence.
    He finally falls.
    He falls hard.

    * * *

    The boys move away from Mr. Rose as fast as they can. When they’re about fifty feet down the trail, Jason has to take a break. He hobbles over to a big rock by the lake’s edge, splashes water on his foot and washes the cut, which is already caked with dirt from the path. Once he gets it clean the cut doesn’t look as bad as it feels, but it’s bleeding pretty steadily.
    Bill climbs up on the rock and tries to spot the place where Mr. Rose collapsed, but he can’t see the injured man—or the section of path where he fell—over the cattails.
    “Don’t worry,” Jason says. “You knocked him cold. He’s not gonna move for a while.”
    Bill nods, but he’s just not sure. All he knows is that he wants to get away from the lake as quickly as possible. First, he needs to get Jason to a doctor. His friend probably needs stitches in his foot. Then he needs to call the