Free Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

adversary to reappear.
    I held my breath, hoping Cameron had been knocked unconscious so the fight would end.
    Please, please let it end.
    As I watched the window expectantly, I heard a groan from Jared. I looked over at him. He suddenly seemed dizzy. Squeezing his eyes shut, he clutched his stomach and fell to his knees. My heart jumped in alarm. He struggled unsuccessfully to stand, as I ran to him.
    I fell to my hands and knees beside him. “Jared, are you okay?” I asked worriedly.
    Of course he wasn’t okay. He’d just been thrown into a windshield. Yet he didn’t have a scratch on him. Cameron bled. A lot. Jared obviously did not. Though his skin remained flawless, his face contorted in agony. He grimaced and doubled over again.
    I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Please, Jared. Please let it stop. This is insane.”
    But he seemed lost, confused. “What’s happening to me?”
    Just then Cameron kicked through the splintered glass, carrying a ragged piece of wreckage he had pulled from inside the store. He stood over us, bloodied, panting hard with each breath.
    I looked up at him. “Cameron, stop.”
    “Get out of the way, Lorelei,” he said, a hard warning in his tone.
    “He’s hurt.”
    “Yeah, but it’s still breathing.” He took the makeshift weapon in both hands like a baseball bat.
    “What’s happening to me?” Jared put a palm to his head and gritted his teeth. He held his stomach and doubled over for a third time, as if seized by a wave of excruciating pain. “What’s happening?”
    “What’s happening?” Cameron asked with a bright smile. “You’re getting your ass kicked, that’s what’s happening. Now, get out of the way, Lorelei.”
    “What are you doing to me?” Jared asked, his voice a caustic whisper.
    “I just told you, tough guy. I’m kicking your ass. You have a super short attention span.” He leveled a warning glare on me. “I won’t say it again.”
    I realized I was crying. Tears blurred the determined face and ice blue eyes staring down at me.
    “Put that down, Cameron,” I said between pathetic sobs. “I mean it.”
    Frowning in frustration, Cameron grabbed my arm and jerked me back. I fought his hold with every ounce of energy I had, but he was simply too strong. I felt like a gnat fighting a diesel truck. He tossed me aside as easily as tossing paper into a breeze.
    Before I could get my footing, Cameron took the board into both hands and swung. It struck Jared on the side of his head, knocking him onto his hands for balance. Jared looked toward the heavens, as if questioning God Himself, then collapsed onto the sidewalk.
    When Cameron brought the board to the ready again, I ran at him. I charged with all my might and rammed a shoulder into his side. It surprised him and was enough to knock him off balance. He stumbled just as the world restarted. And it restarted with a vengeance. The force of time bouncing back knocked the breath out of me.
    I gasped for air and glanced around. The skateboarder landed perfectly as his friends applauded his feat. The storefront window shifted with the power surge, showering small shards of glass around mother and daughter. They screamed and jumped back. The everyday noises of town replaced the thick void of silence: cars whirring, birds chirping, people talking—the sounds one becomes immune to until they are no longer there. The Buick’s car alarm began blaring too as it bounced back into position.
    Behind me, a delivery truck screeched to a halt in the middle of the intersection, its tires smoking in protest. The driver jumped out and ran over to where I was lying before. He scanned the area, confused.
    “Wow, what happened to you, dude?”
    One of the skaters spotted Cameron. He glanced at Jared, then back again. “Hey, man,” he said, showing his palms, “we don’t want any trouble.”
    Without another word, the skaters took off while the mother grabbed her daughter and backed away, her eyes wide and wary. I