Free Everlasting by L.K. Kuhl Page A

and bolted, insisting my uncertain legs carry me faster…faster, feeling like I was in one of those dreams where you try to run but never get anywhere.
    Symphony ran beside me, then pushed up ahead, in the lead. The thing chasing us didn’t bother her. She cleared the way to help me along.
    I didn’t see his face, the heavy cloak had it shrouded, but I didn’t want to take the time to notice. Lightning flashed all around me, and the thunder roared, but the strident screeching reached beyond the thunder—inhuman sounding. I whipped my head around again. He wasn’t far behind—his long, claw-like arms grabbing, reaching for me. Whatever was behind the cloak wasn’t human.
    Symphony and I kept ahead of this monster-creature, stumbling to Mandy’s front door. I grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, racing inside. Symphony shot in behind me, and I slammed the door and locked it, gulping down my breaths to stay quiet. The sky let loose, and the rain hammered out a tin can.
    I fumbled to the kitchen and flipped on the light. The thunder exploded. Each time a flash of light struck, I vaulted, the deafening crack splitting my eardrums. Still unable to comprehend what had just happened, I peered out the kitchen window, my eyes wild, searching for the cloaked being.
    It was hard to see through the downpour, but I think whatever it was had gone, so I crumbled into a kitchen chair, my heart beating wildly, blood thrashing in my ears. Either I needed to see a head doctor or this place was getting weirder by the day. I didn’t know how much more I could sustain.

Chapter 8
    “ I s that Tate’s dog ?” Mandy’s eyes sparked wide when her and Matt came walking in a couple hours later. The storm had let up, but water still dripped from the gutters.
    “Yep, sure is.” I rubbed Symphony’s ears. “Found her out by the cemetery. She was coming out of the gate when I ran by. Can you believe it? I’ve no idea how she got out of the pound or what she was doing out there.”
    My hands still quivered from the monster chase earlier, and I shoved them in my jacket pockets.
    Mandy came close and gave Symphony a pat on the head. “Hum…how’d you get out there?” Symphony’s tongue lavished her face. “Yuck, you got me there.” She ran her hand down her cheek. “Wish she could tell us. I suppose she can stay here until you find Tate.”
    “I hoped you didn’t care.”
    Matt tossed me an absorbing smile. “Looks like you’re back to searching for Tate, again.”
    “Guess so.” I wriggled and sat down, the chair giving a creak. “So, how’d shopping go?”
    Mandy opened a can of soda, rolling her eyes. “I hate shopping with him. It’s like shopping with a baby. He whined, wanting everything he saw, except for wedding stuff.” She poured the bubbly liquid into a glass—ice crackling, fizzing carbonation waking my ears.
    Matt gave her a shove. “Told ya I hated shopping.”
    I yawned, rubbed my arms. “Whelp, I’m frazzled. Think I’m gonna head up to bed. Do you have an old blanket or something I could use for Symphony’s bed?”
    “Yep, have one right here.” Mandy reached into the linen closet and pulled out a blue floral one.
    “Thanks…guess I’ll search for Tate tomorrow, again, so she won’t have to live with us too long.”
    Mandy waved it off with her hand. “No worries. She’s cool.”
    I trudged up to my room, Symphony by my side, and placed the blanket on the floor to the left of my bed, fluffing it to make it comfortable. “Come here, Symph.”
    She came over, her head drooped low—looking melancholy.
    She smelled my hand and gave it a couple licks. “It’s okay. You can stay here with me, we’re friends. I wish you could talk. Then you could tell me what happened to Tate.”
    She whined when she heard his name and her tail wagged. After giving two large yawns, she got on the blanket and turned around a couple of times before lying down, nuzzling her nose into the softness.
    Before I got