Free Echoes (Whisper Trilogy Book 2) by Michael Bray Page A

starting to think he might have half a chance with her if, of course, he could get her on her own and away from the rest of the group, Alex in particular. Unlike Cody, Alex was supremely confident with the opposite sex. He had the maddening ability to draw them to him, even though he wasn’t attractive by any standards. Despite the crooked teeth and acne which covered his cheeks like the landscape of some newly discovered planet, his supreme and total confidence made up for his shortfalls. He took great pleasure in telling the others how he had already done it with three girls, all of them older than him. To hear him talk about it was enough to cause doubts, his sexual exploits as he described them sounding more on the impossible side of human flexibility. Alex had recently turned his attention towards Emma of late, no doubt because he knew Cody liked her too, and wanted to mark out his territory. Either way, Cody didn’t like it. He took another quick look at Emma, a flick of the eyes, and caught her watching him again. His groin stirred a little, at least until he realized they were now in the shadow of the hotel, which was enough to dampen any thoughts of drunken fumbling for the time being at least.
    “Is this it?” Alex said, poking his head through one of the window cavities.
    “What did you expect? It’s not finished yet.”
    Alex stared at Scott, and in the half-gloom, he resembled a pale-faced ghoul.
    “You finally found your voice. I thought you were too scared to come here.”
    “I respect the place, there’s a difference. You should all do the same.”
    Cody wanted to interject, but didn’t know how to or even what to say. He sensed Emma standing next to him, and the sweet smell of her perfume brought depraved thoughts of slitting her throat and drinking her hot, bitter blood to mind. He gasped, the vivid nature of the imagery startling him and causing everyone to look in his direction.
    “Cody, are you alright?” Emma said, touching his arm lightly.
    He didn’t answer, and for what felt like an eternity, couldn’t move. The thought of hurting her, of doing those things which had been so vivid in his mind’s eye, were completely alien to him but were growing stronger. More real. Anger, small and concentrated in the pit of his stomach, began to swell, growing and bubbling as he thought of new ways to hurt his friends. He was aware of Emma in his personal space, fingers resting lightly on his forearm, her brow contorted into a concerned frown. His mind raced, the rage bubbled. He looked at her fingers, long and thin, the nails painted in a deep purple. Her touch was gentle, and he knew why. It was because of the way she touched boys like him. Light and without pressure, teasing and suggesting things she might do if only you were willing to ask. He understood now. The way she really was.
    Slut.
    The rage grew, surging through his veins. He saw her in his mind, with Alex, riding him in a pit of fire, plunging her arms into his stomach and tearing out his entrails as he grunted in the agony of climax followed by the silence of death.
    He pulled away from her touch, and took a cautious step back, almost falling over a half bag of cement which had been abandoned by the work crews. He was staring at Emma, horrified by the things he was thinking and unsure where the rage which was building inside him was coming from. Even Alex had dropped the cocky act, and was frowning at Cody. Like the others, he didn’t know what to do.
    “Hey, man, are you okay? You don’t look so good,” Scott said as Cody continued to back off.
    He wanted to tell them he was fine, and he was going home no matter what the rest of them did. However, much like the alien thoughts invading his head, the words which came from him and spoken in his own voice weren’t his.
    “There’s someone in the hotel.”
    Everyone gazed into the shadow-draped foyer, trying to see through the heavy gloom which was unwilling to give up its secrets.