Nightmare Read Free

kept her head down, scurrying all the way to room 101, hoping no one would stop her or speak to her.
    It didn’t occur to Emily that she wouldn’t have a room of her own until she stepped inside the open door of room 101 and saw a heap of clothes on one of the matching twin beds.
    “This closet is definitely not big enough,” a muffled voice complained just before Haley Griffin poked her head around the edge of the door.
    “Hi,” she said to Emily. “I guess we’re going to be roommates. Your name’s Emily Wood. Am I right?”
    “Uh, r-right,” Emily stammered, taken by surprise.
    “Well, hang on until I get all my stuff into the closet,” Haley said. She disappeared for a moment, then leaned back to look pleadingly at Emily. “I hope you don’t need too much space. My mother got me all this stuff she claimed were the proper clothes for camp, but I brought some of the things I like to wear, too, like for when I meditate. You know.”
    Emily shook her head. “That’s all right. I brought mostly T-shirts, shorts, and jeans. I can keep them in the chest of drawers.”
    “Actually, I think I filled up most of the drawers,” Haley said. “You can have the bottom two. Okay?”
    “Okay,” Emily said quietly. She had never met anyone like Haley, but since she had to share a room with her for the next six weeks, she’d search for some quiet places around this camp where she could get away by herself.
    Haley grinned at her. “There’s just one more thing I have to do before we settle in.”
    “What’s that?” Emily asked.
    “Find out if there’s anything interesting about you, Em,” Haley answered.
    Emily winced. “My name’s
Emily
. Nobody’s ever called me Em. And there’s nothing interesting about me to tell.”
    “I’ll decide that,” Haley said. “Your father’s a doctor, and your mother’s a successful attorney.”
    “Wait a minute,” Emily said. “How did you find—”
    “Enrollment cards. In plain sight on Dr. Anderson’s desk. But if they weren’t, I’d find out anyway. I find out everything I need to know, and I’m going to find out all about you. And lucky you, you’ll get to hear all about me.”
    “There’s really nothing—,” Emily tried again, but Haley interrupted.
    “You probably want to be here just as much as I do, so lighten up. They may think they’re going to get us to conform and study, study, study, but I have news for them. We’re going to get together with some of the other kids and have fun.”
    Haley swung the door shut, then flopped cross-legged onto the nearest bed. A wooden box, almost the size of a shoe box, slid out from under what was left of the pile of clothes next to her. Something inside it rattled.
    “What’s that?” Emily asked.
    Haley’s smile was smug as she motioned to Emily to join her on the bed. “My runes,” she said, and hugged the box to her chest. “I wouldn’t go anywhere without my runes.”
    Emily perched gingerly on the edge of the bed, fighting the urge to run from the room. She didn’t want Haley for a roommate. She didn’t want
anyone
for a roommate. She didn’t want to be here in the first place. But, as her father had declared, she didn’t have a choice.
    “You didn’t ask,” Haley said.
    “Ask what?”
    “About my runes. Do you know what they are?”
    Emily sighed. “No, I don’t. Okay. What are runes?”
    “They’re my guide. My truth seeker. My power.” Haley, still clinging to the box, slowly closed her eyes.
    “You haven’t really told me anything,” Emily complained. “I still don’t know what they are.”
    Leaning forward, Haley held out the pendant she was wearing. “This is a rune charm,” she said. “It’s not made out of rock, like the real rune stones. It’s pewter, but it’s enchanted for empowerment. The symbol on it is Feoh, which stands for wealth and good fortune.”
    To Emily the black symbol drawn on the charm looked like nothing more than a lopsided tree, bare of