Free A Night at the Asylum by Jade McCahon Page A

sturdy
plastic. “Great, more caffeine,” I mumbled sarcastically, pushing
aside the soda and tearing open the donuts with the sudden
realization that I was famished.
    Nothing like an encounter with the paranormal
to get the stomach going.
    Though my heart was still convulsing
erratically, it was easy to tell myself the whole thing had been a
product of my overworked mind. Obviously I was a fatigued,
stressed-out mess. As giggling erupted in the front seat and the
banter of my two friends restored a somewhat fractured normalcy to
the car, I began to shake off my irrational fear. Digging further
into the sack, I pulled out the tiny square package and saw that it
was a cell phone battery.
    “Thought you might need that,” Jamie called
back to me without turning around. I said nothing. What was there
to say? She had bought a spare cell phone battery in a gas station . Could she have heard the little noise my phone
made when it was dying? Studied my phone to know exactly which
battery it took? It was so ridiculous, I couldn’t even ask. I
tossed the package back into the sack in resignation, too tired to
unravel any more mysteries tonight.
    A long moment passed, the dark streets
swishing by in silence. “That whole story you told me about Emmett
is crazy,” Cole piped up suddenly, his eyes meeting mine in the
rearview mirror. “That kid is strange, I’ve always thought so.”
    My pulse quickened almost imperceptibly at
the mention of Emmett’s name. “ You think he’s strange?” I teased, forcing a laugh. “That’s rich.”
    “What?” Cole chuckled. “I do think it’s
possible he went off the deep end. I mean, look at his insane
family. He’s way too quiet. He’s like one of those people that just
tools along and then all of the sudden… snap .”
    “Oh, come on,” Jamie protested, shoving him
playfully in the arm.
    “No, I’m serious. He’s that guy that just one
day goes up on a roof and starts picking people off with a sniper
rifle, and everyone is shocked about it.”
    “Shut up,” I giggled, but I was grateful that
my face was hidden in the black shadows crisscrossing the backseat.
Because deep down, in that sinking pit in the center of my stomach,
I was still afraid it was true…that Cole was right.
    “What?” Cole teased. “I didn’t really think
he was your type, Sara.”
    Jamie laughed. “Leave her alone,” she
said.
    My face flushed, and again I was thankful for
the dark. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I rolled my
eyes.
    “You know, I kind of did think you two were
secretly in love with each other in school.”
    “That is a boldface lie, and you know it,” I
accused, giving him a slap on the shoulder. I snatched a cookie out
of his hand just as he was about to take a bite from it.
    “So…let me get this straight,” Jamie said,
turning halfway in the seat. “Raymond’s older brother Jon and your
older sister Jenny were together,” she said to Cole, “and your
brother Tommy and Bonita Taylor?” she asked me.
    “That was after Bonita and everyone else,” I
interjected cattily, mid-chew.
    “Burn,” Cole commented.
    “And Tommy and Jon were best friends, and
Jenny and Bonita were best friends,” Jamie continued.
    “Yes.”
    “And now it’s…Bonita and…Raymond?”
    “What?!” Cole exclaimed. His eyes were wide
in the rearview mirror.
    I shrugged. “Seems that way.” I was
downplaying it. It was absolutely that way.
    “He didn’t tell me that,” Cole
complained.
    “He didn’t tell me either,” I pointed
out.
    “It has been a while since we’ve hung out. I
don’t think she’s his type, though.” He pondered. “Come to think of
it, I don’t really know what girl is. Well, besides you, I
mean.”
    I blinked, shaking my head at him. “What does
that even mean?” I asked, flicking him in the back of the head.
    Jamie frowned deeply. “This is why everyone
in a small town has the same STDs.”
    “What?!” Cole and I both stared at