Darkbound (The Legacy of Moonset) Read Online Free
Author: Scott Tracey
Tags: Fiction, Family, Paranormal, YA), Young Adult, teen, witch, terrorist, coven
nephews who wanted nothing to do with him.
“Old man Carrow loved kids, but every time he tried to have some they died young. Influenza, croup, that sort of thing. So eventually, he was a rich old man who’d outlived everyone he knew. And he decided to take his fortune and do something useful with it. And what he ended up with was an amusement park for the children of the community. He called it the Enchanted Forest because he was obsessed with fairy tales.”
An amusement park? Around here? I think I would have noticed that. “So where is it?”
Maddy waved a negligent hand. “Back there somewhere,” she said, gesturing towards the woods on our left. “Most of it burned down a long time ago, but if you get past the fence, you can still see the main plaza. It’s all that’s left of the old park. A couple junked-up outhouses, a rusty old food truck, and a whole lot of garbage. Kids around here used to hike over there, but there’s not really all that much to see.”
After a few more minutes, we pulled into a parking lot for a run-down but thriving restaurant. The sides of the roof slanted in, like the wrong gust of wind would send the whole building tumbling down. One side of the building was taken up by a giant mural of a castle and a tower, but it had been in the sun so long that the entire thing was faded and washed out.
I looked back the way we had come, and tried to imagine it in the past. Maybe it wasn’t so weird. An old-fashioned amusement park and a local business trying to capitalize on the theme. “So the park shut down and the restaurant survived?”
“Basically,” Maddy nodded. “I’m telling you, you’re really underestimating the cheese fries.”
And it turned out she was right. The fries were thick with batter, crisp and golden, and scalding to the touch. And the cheese tasted like actual cheese made by angels, the kind of delicious that was terrible for you. I ate every bite, and as I did, the whole story started to spill out. Jenna, and the tension between us, and the new Coven class and everything.
“You need to find something for you ,” Kevin insisted. “I mean, I play sports and try to do the regular teenage thing because it’s the only way to keep myself sane. Both of my older siblings were magical prodigies. A football scholarship won’t impress my parents, but I do it because it’s something I love. You just need to find that.”
“Yes, Mal,” Maddy added, in a monotone, “live your dreams. Be the ball. Jock out with your—”
“Alright!” I said hurriedly. “I get it.” But I cracked a smile for the first time in hours.
“You just want him to join one of your six thousand teams,” Maddy said, using a French fry to point at Kevin. “I see through this whole pep talk. What’s next, anyway? Baseball?”
“It’s not just about the team,” Kevin said, but he ducked his head down and I saw through the lie. He looked down at the basket in front of him, empty except for a single French fry, which he then dipped in Maddy’s cheese. “If Mal doesn’t carve out a place for himself, it’s not like the others are going to do it for him. He’s got to stand his ground sometime.”
Maddy sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I just think you’re underestimating what his sister’s going to do if he gets in the way of what she wants.”
Kevin laughed. “How bad could it really get, though?”
As it turned out? Really bad.
F o u r
Everyone knew the Denton boys. Cy and Charlie went everywhere together. Before they got older, before all the bad blood, all they had was each other. Charlie adored his big brother.
Elizabeth Holden-Carmichael Carrow Mill, New York—
From a written account
about Moonset’s development
Kevin’s words rang in my ears when we got back to school. He and Maddy took off for their own Magic 101 class, while I headed in the opposite direction, towards the front of the school. If nothing else, the long walk would allow me time to
“Old man Carrow loved kids, but every time he tried to have some they died young. Influenza, croup, that sort of thing. So eventually, he was a rich old man who’d outlived everyone he knew. And he decided to take his fortune and do something useful with it. And what he ended up with was an amusement park for the children of the community. He called it the Enchanted Forest because he was obsessed with fairy tales.”
An amusement park? Around here? I think I would have noticed that. “So where is it?”
Maddy waved a negligent hand. “Back there somewhere,” she said, gesturing towards the woods on our left. “Most of it burned down a long time ago, but if you get past the fence, you can still see the main plaza. It’s all that’s left of the old park. A couple junked-up outhouses, a rusty old food truck, and a whole lot of garbage. Kids around here used to hike over there, but there’s not really all that much to see.”
After a few more minutes, we pulled into a parking lot for a run-down but thriving restaurant. The sides of the roof slanted in, like the wrong gust of wind would send the whole building tumbling down. One side of the building was taken up by a giant mural of a castle and a tower, but it had been in the sun so long that the entire thing was faded and washed out.
I looked back the way we had come, and tried to imagine it in the past. Maybe it wasn’t so weird. An old-fashioned amusement park and a local business trying to capitalize on the theme. “So the park shut down and the restaurant survived?”
“Basically,” Maddy nodded. “I’m telling you, you’re really underestimating the cheese fries.”
And it turned out she was right. The fries were thick with batter, crisp and golden, and scalding to the touch. And the cheese tasted like actual cheese made by angels, the kind of delicious that was terrible for you. I ate every bite, and as I did, the whole story started to spill out. Jenna, and the tension between us, and the new Coven class and everything.
“You need to find something for you ,” Kevin insisted. “I mean, I play sports and try to do the regular teenage thing because it’s the only way to keep myself sane. Both of my older siblings were magical prodigies. A football scholarship won’t impress my parents, but I do it because it’s something I love. You just need to find that.”
“Yes, Mal,” Maddy added, in a monotone, “live your dreams. Be the ball. Jock out with your—”
“Alright!” I said hurriedly. “I get it.” But I cracked a smile for the first time in hours.
“You just want him to join one of your six thousand teams,” Maddy said, using a French fry to point at Kevin. “I see through this whole pep talk. What’s next, anyway? Baseball?”
“It’s not just about the team,” Kevin said, but he ducked his head down and I saw through the lie. He looked down at the basket in front of him, empty except for a single French fry, which he then dipped in Maddy’s cheese. “If Mal doesn’t carve out a place for himself, it’s not like the others are going to do it for him. He’s got to stand his ground sometime.”
Maddy sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I just think you’re underestimating what his sister’s going to do if he gets in the way of what she wants.”
Kevin laughed. “How bad could it really get, though?”
As it turned out? Really bad.
F o u r
Everyone knew the Denton boys. Cy and Charlie went everywhere together. Before they got older, before all the bad blood, all they had was each other. Charlie adored his big brother.
Elizabeth Holden-Carmichael Carrow Mill, New York—
From a written account
about Moonset’s development
Kevin’s words rang in my ears when we got back to school. He and Maddy took off for their own Magic 101 class, while I headed in the opposite direction, towards the front of the school. If nothing else, the long walk would allow me time to
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