Free The Dark Corner by Christopher Pike

words!”
    Sally sighed and leaned over to whisper in Adam’s ear. “We’re never going to get out of here.”

13
    A t first, as the demons closed in on her, Cindy just froze. Her terror was that great. She could see no way out of her situation. She was locked in a dark freezer with three hungry monsters. She knew she was already dinner. And they would probably eat her alive.
    But then she remembered the reason they tricked the demons into the freezer. Bryce had said the cold would knock them out. Perhaps if she could stop them for a few minutes, she might give the cold a chance to do its job. They were so intent on gettingher, she realized that they had not noticed that the door had been closed behind them. Cindy thrust her burning flare out in front of her.
    â€œStop!” she ordered. “Or I will burn you!”
    The demons giggled. Already their faces were changing, becoming less human. Adam’s demon had sprouted horns and Watch’s had fangs. Worst of all was Sally’s demon, which had snakes writhing on top of its head instead of hair. For some reason, though, the snakes did not look totally out of place on Sally’s head. It was Sally’s demon that first responded to her threat.
    â€œWe don’t care if you burn us,” she said. “We’re used to burning. Where we come from, we burn every night.”
    â€œYeah,” Watch’s demon said. He held out his arm, and Cindy saw that it had begun to grow scales. “Go ahead, burn my arm. Burn me a fresh tattoo. Have it say that I love human meat.”
    â€œRaw human meat,” Adam’s demon added as he reached out with clawed hands. “Kicking and screaming as it goes down our throats.”
    â€œWait!” Cindy shouted. She gestured to the sides of hanging beef. “What about all this hamburger here? You guys had hamburgers this afternoon. You liked those pretty well. Or why don’t you have someprime rib? I’ll even cut you a few slices, and maybe cook you up some potatoes and onions.”
    The demons looked disgusted. “We’ll eat hamburger during the day if we must,” Sally’s demon said. “But at night we like something a little more juicy.” She moved a step closer. “Like you, for example, you little troublemaker. I think I’ll eat your eyes first, and make you watch me.”
    Watch’s demon scowled at Sally’s demon. “If you eat her eyes first, how can she watch? She’ll be blind.”
    â€œThen I’ll eat her ears first!” Sally’s demon yelled.
    â€œI get the ears!” Adam’s demon shouted. “They’re my favorite bit, next to the tongue. I’ll eat that first and listen to her scream!”
    â€œIf you eat her tongue,” Watch’s demon pointed out, “she won’t be able to scream. She won’t be able to talk at all, even to tell us how much she is suffering. We should eat her tongue last.”
    â€œI’m going to rip out her liver!” Sally’s demon said. “And chew it down with a bottle of beer.” She took another step closer. “Give me your liver!”
    â€œWait!” Cindy cried. “You can’t eat my liver. It will make you sick. I had hepatitis as a little girl.”
    The three demons stopped in their tracks.“Where did you get hepatitis?” Adam’s demon asked quietly.
    â€œIn Mexico,” Cindy said honestly. “When I was five years old my father took us to Cancun on vacation. You’re not supposed to drink the local water, but I did anyway and I got real sick. When I returned to the States, my mother took me to a doctor who said I had hepatitis. I was sick for several weeks, and as yellow as a banana.”
    Adam’s demon frowned. “What kind of hepatitis did you catch? Was it type A? Type B? Type C?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Cindy said. “It was one of those.”
    â€œWhat