Midnight Games Read Free

you fell?”
    I nod. “Yeah. I guess I cut myself on some brambles.”
    She shakes her head. “Must be really tough brambles,” she mutters. “You’re a total mess.”
    Ada pulls me up and leads me by the hand to the bathroom at the back of the bar. It’s a filthy mess. The sink is rusted brown, and there are clumps of wet toilet paper all over the floor.
    â€œDoesn’t Ryland ever clean this place?” Ada asks.
    I shrug. “He’s got a tough job. You know. Sitting up front and reading magazines all night.”
    Ada wets some paper towels and starts to mop the dried blood off my face. It really hurts, but I don’t flinch or anything. Gotta be tough, right?
    She frowns at me as she dabs at my cheek. “You sure you fell?”
    I hesitate. I almost tell her the truth. That I don’t remember how it happened.
    But that’s just too weird. When I think about how my mind is blank, I get that scared, hollow feeling in my stomach again.
    â€œYeah. Fell,” I said. “Stupid, huh?”
    â€œYeah,” she agrees. “Stupid.”
    We kiss for a while. I put my arms around her and hold her tight. I want to hold on to her for a long time. Something scary happened to me in the woods, and I don’t know what it was.
    I only know I’m really afraid.
    After a long while, Ada pulls away from me. We’re both breathing hard. I can still taste her lips on my lips.
    â€œLet’s get out of here,” she says, pressing her forehead against mine. “It reeks.”
    When we return to the table, Shark and Lewis have joined us. Lewis is holding hands with Jamie. They’ve been going out for years. Shark is spinning a large gold coin around on the table.
    â€œIs that real gold?” Jamie asks. “Where’d you get it?”
    Shark holds the coin up for her to see. “It’s very old. Know where I got it? That night we were all in the Fear Mansion last year. In that hidden room we found. Before they tore the house down. That night we swiped all that stuff?”
    Jamie took the coin and examined it, turning it over. “I’ll bet it’s real gold.”
    Shark grinned at her. “Maybe I’m filthy rich and don’t know it. I took a whole pile of these coins from that room.”
    Jamie spins it on the table. Shark grabs it up. He finishes his beer and walks over to Ryland to get another one.
    Lewis is wearing his down parka, even though it’s about eighty degrees in the bar. He turns to me. “You look tense, Nate.”
    I don’t answer. I don’t know what to say to that.
    â€œWe’re all tense,” Ada says. “Everyone at school is tense. Haven’t you noticed?”
    I tilt the beer bottle to my mouth. “Because of Candy?”
    Ada nods. “A lot of people think it wasn’t an accident. They think Candy was murdered.”
    Whoa. I nearly drop the bottle. Shark and I were there. We know what happened. We saw Candy go flying headfirst down the stairs, screaming to her death.
    Shark glances at me. He tucks the gold coin into his jeans pocket. “People think there is a killer out there?”
    Ada narrows her eyes at him. “They say it wasn’t a human killer. They say it was the curse of Fear Street.”
    I shake my head. “That’s so over,” I say. “Fear Street is a shopping center now. How can anyone still believe that stuff?”
    Shark taps the table. “We’re sitting right where the Fear Mansion stood.” He shouts to Ryland behind the bar. “Hey, Ry—think this bar is haunted?”
    â€œYeah. By you guys.” Ryland doesn’t lift his head from his magazine.
    â€œHey, you love us,” Shark replies. “If we didn’t come here every night, what would you do?”
    Ryland grins. “Enjoy the peace and quiet?”
    The front door swings open. We all turn. A girl steps into the neon red light at the