Monster Read Free Page A

demanded.
    “I’ m beginning to wonder ,” Angela muttered.
    Dried grass cracked nearby. Angela froze. Jim turned round anxiously. Yet they could see nothing. He raised a finger to his lips again, and Angela nodded s ligh tly. It could have been the wind.
    Except the wind didn't manually pump a shotgun. Th ey heard the distinctive snap.
    “Don't move,” Mary ordered.
    Angela was surprised Mary hadn't fired without announcing her presence. But when Mary did not immediately appear, Angela reali zed her friend had been too f ar away to get off a clean shot. She must have figured she wouldn't be able to creep any closer without their hearing her . Angela remembered the plain-clot hes man's comment about having to reload. Mary mig ht have been down to her last shell.
    A n ge l a glanced at Jim . She kept expecting him to b olt, but understood his dilemma – he didn't know which way to run. Mary had spoken little, and the trees did funny things with sound; it was impossible to tell exactly where she was approaching from. Still, Angela thought, there was no point in waiting for Mary – she had made her intentions cl ear at the party. Angela realized that Jim m ight have simply frozen with fear.
    “Go,” Angela hissed at him.
    “No,” Mary said from behind them.
    Angela turned in time to see Mary raise the shotgun to her shoulder. She was approximately thirty feet away had a few low-hangi ng branches in her path to them. She t ook a step closer.
    “Stay,” Mary said.
    “Wait,” Angela cried, jumping in front of Jim , who was taking the short, rapid breaths of a man on the verge of collapsing. Mary took another step towards them.
    “ Get out of the way, Angie ,” Mary said, her voice cold .
    “I’ m not going to let you kill him !” Angela yelled. S he spoke as loud as she could, hoping to alert the police to their whereabouts. Mary continued to approach.
    “ I have t o kill him,” Mary said.
    “Why?” Angela pleaded.
    “ Because he's no t human,” Mary said.
    “Talk sense,” Angela said . “Think what you're doing.”
    “ I know exactly what I'm doing, ” Mary said. She motion ed her friend to move to the side with the barrel of the gun. “G et out of my way, Angie. I mean it .”
    “ No ,” she said.
    Mary was angry. “ You don't understand. I have to do this. This is your last chance. I'll kill you if I have to – to get to him.”
    Angela glanced over her shoulder at Jim . He wasn’t holding on to her, but he was cowering behind her, using her as a human shield. She didn't blame him one bit . He had the meadow at his back, but it was too late to run n ow. Mary would cut him down before he got ten feet .
    Angela was surprised he wasn't begging Mary for me rcy.
    Angela turned back to Mary and stared her straight in the eye. Mary couldn't have been more than fifteen feet away. There were no more branches between them.
    “ You're my friend ,” Angela said. “ I don't believe yo u’d kill me.”
    Mary thought for a moment . I t seemed she was on the ve rge of listening to reason. Angela even began to relax sli gh tl y, but then Mary's grip on the weapon tightened.
    “I'm sorry, Angle,” she said with genuine sorrow in her voice . “ There are things in this world that are more import ant than friendship.”
    S he’s going to shoot. I'm going to die.
    Angela couldn't believe it was really happening.
    She closed her eyes.
    And said goodbye to the world Mary said she didn't understand.
    But the fatal blast never came.
    “ Hold it !” a male voice ordered . “Don't move an inch.”
    Angela opened her eyes. Mary was still in the same spot, her head motionless, but her eyes were darting left and right. Angela recognised the voice as belonging to the plain-clothes cop she had spoken to a t Jim 's house. But the woods could have been enchanted, because once more she couldn't tell which direction the voice was coming from. The man appeared to understand that and made no effort to come into