Hell Is Coming (The Watcher's Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

she did it. As much as I hated some of the foster homes I stayed in over the years, I could never quite bring myself to do what Kasey did, just bail and go live rough on the streets. Kasey’s situation had been worse than any I’d ever been in though.
    “Hey, girl,” Kasey said as she bounced into the car. “Nice ride. Can’t believe Josh actually let you take it. Awesome.” She smiled at me with slightly yellowed teeth. Kasey looked younger than eighteen. Her raven black hair was close cropped except for a long piece of fringe that hung limply down one side of her forehead. Nose and eyebrow piercings added to the effect, making her look every inch the orphan street kid.
    “Hey, Kase,” I said. I drove out into the rush hour traffic, glad Kasey was accompanying me on my dubious expedition into the past.
    She was checking out the car and nodding. “This is awesome. I could live in this car.”
    “I don’t think my brother would appreciate that.”
    “What are you trying to say, Princess? Huh?”
    She was all fake attitude as she smirked at me. She liked to call me ‘Princess’ sometimes, after Princess Leia from Star Wars. As a fan of the movie, I let her get away with it. “Nothing—just that Josh loves this car more than life itself.”
    “That’s sad, man, loving a car like that. It’s just a car.”
    “You said it was awesome a minute ago.”
    “It is, but it’s still just a car.” She turned her attention to the CD player. “What’s Josh got in here?” When she switched the CD player on, loud metal music came blasting out of the speakers—Pantera. “Alright!” Kasey banged the dash in time with “By Demon’s Be Driven”.
    I was more of an old school rock fan myself, but I didn’t mind the metal. It kind of took my mind off where we were going. I wasn’t sure how to feel about revisiting the old house. There was dread in my stomach at the prospect, which is partly why I asked Kasey to come along. “We got the apartment,” I told her excitedly. “We’re moving this weekend.”
    “Holy shit that’s awesome, Princess. No more foster homes, huh? Free at last.”
    “Yep, just me and Josh.”
    She seemed slightly miffed by the news, like I was moving forward, leaving her behind. I knew that’s what she was thinking. It’s what I would have thought if I were her. “I get to stay right?”
    “Anytime.”
    Just not all the time.
    As much as I loved her, I still needed space. Josh wouldn’t put up with her all the time either.
    “What about Josh? I’m not exactly his favorite person. He thinks I’m a skanky street kid that needs a good wash.”
    I had to refrain from smiling when she said that. “Josh doesn’t think that all.” We both knew I was lying, but she went along with it anyway. “Let me worry about him.” I slowed to let a middle aged woman cross the road. Half way across she looked in our direction. Her pretty face flickered and her features morphed into something disgustingly toad-like. Her eyes went beetle black. I casually looked out the side window until she passed before driving off again.
    “Holy shit, I almost forgot,” Kasey exclaimed suddenly.
    “What?” I asked, still mildly freaked by the woman/demon I just saw.
    “I was chillin’ in my room last night, smokin’ some heavy weed, man—awesome shit by the way—remind me to get you some.” I nodded. Normally I got my weed from Josh, him being a dealer and all. Kasey sometimes managed to get good stuff though. “Anyway, I’m lying there, stoned to the bone, when I hear these screams.”
    “Screams?”
    “Yeah, like seriously fucking loud screams, man.”
    “Okay. You’re sure it wasn’t the weed?”
    “What? No! I know what I heard—screams, coming from the basement.”
    “The basement? That’s not creepy or anything.”
    “I shit myself. I just sat up and was like—what the fuck! I was seriously freaked, I tell you. You know what that place is like at night.”
    I nodded, knowing all too