Crimson Falls (The Depravity Chronicles) Read Free Page A

backyard.
    Trevor turned
around to face his mother. “Can’t I stay with you?”
    “No, honey. Go
with Sam. You’ll be fine.”
    “It’s not me I’m
worried about.”
    Anna laughed.
“Trevor, nothing is going to happen to me. I promise.” Trevor noticed a little
tremor in her voice.
    “Don’t make
promises you may not be able to keep, Mom,” he said as he hugged her as tightly
as he could. He turned away from her and walked toward Sam and the cruisers. He
didn’t want to lose the only parent he had left.
    As Trevor
climbed into the Ford Explorer, he looked at Sam with a hint of distrust.
    “What’s wrong?”
Sam asked politely.
    “Do you make a
habit of questioning your superiors?”
    Sam grinned.
“Well if I do then I’m in good company.”
    “What’s that
supposed to mean?”
    “From what I
understand, you give your mother shit all the time.” Trevor tried not to wince
at Sam’s words. He knew they were true. He turned and looked out the window.
    “Look, man, I’m
not trying to give you a hard time,” Sam said as he began driving down the long
driveway. “But it’s been a rough day and your mom has a lot on her plate.”
    “Yeah, I get
that,” Trevor shot back. “So why would you question her?”
    “Whether you
believe it or not kid, I like your mom. I’ve worked with a lot of sheriffs, and
she’s the real deal. I’m trying to protect her job. If I didn’t trust her, I
wouldn’t work for her.”
    Trevor said
nothing. After a moment he nodded, smiled a half smile, and returned to the
window.
    “So do you know
how the Bricktons made all their money?” Sam asked, trying to fill the nervous
silence with small talk.
    “Something about
logging, I guess. They pretty much owned the town for like a century,” Trevor
answered. As he studied the trees he tried to forget the past half hour. In the
distance he thought he could see something running alongside them. Fear
enveloped him.
    “Something
wrong?” Sam asked.
    “How fast are we
going?” Trevor inquired without removing his gaze from the shadow.
    “Only about 20.
Why?”
    “Okay, don’t
freak out or stop driving. But I need you to look out my window and see if you
can see something running beside us.” Trevor could almost feel Sam’s body
tense. He was too afraid to look at Sam, and too afraid to take his eyes off
the shadow.
    “Mary, mother of
God,” Sam gasped.
    “Do you see it?
Do you see it?” Trevor shrieked.
    “Yeah, yeah, I
see it.” Both men stared out the window. The shadow moved in perfect unison
with the Explorer.
    “What the hell
is that?” Trevor asked nervously. “It doesn’t seem to have a shape. Like, can a
guy run that fast?”
    “Holy hell,” was
all Sam could say. Suddenly the shadow stopped. Trevor craned his neck to try
and follow the shape, but without warning he was wretched forward. His seatbelt
caught and shoved against his chest, and he heard loud popping sounds in the
car. Something slammed against his face, stinging and burning him like fire.
    “God…” Sam started
to shout, but was suddenly cut off. A loud Pop! echoed through the SUV.
Trevor turned his head to his left as slowly as he could to check on Sam. Panic
was pushing its way through his body.
    “Sam?” Trevor
whimpered. “Are you okay?” Sam didn’t respond. Blood was pouring from his
forehead and running over his closed eyes. Trevor reached over and tried to
shake him softly. “Sam!”
    No response.
    Trevor leaned
his head back against the headrest and sighed. Without thinking, he turned
toward the window. He screamed so loudly his voice broke, but he was too afraid
to notice the pain. The figure that had been running beside them was now only a
few yards away from them. Although most of its body was hiding behind a bush,
Trevor felt sure it was watching them.
    “Oh, Jesus,” he
breathed. The terror he felt was so consuming it was difficult to contain. “Oh,
Jesus,” was all he kept repeating. The figure began to