Free Into the Darkness by V.C. Andrews Page A

day? If he had to hang around the house, why couldn’t he do any of those things? All of this mystery had become irritating. I told myself that I should never have spoken to him and certainly shouldn’t have accepted his invitation to go for a walk. He really was too strange.
    I regretted mentioning him to Ellie and Charlotte. Forget him, I told myself, and I was very happy when my parents came out and we got into the car to go to the diner.
    “You sure you saw one of our neighbors?” Dad asked. “I mean, someone really moved in there? It’s so dark. It looks just as deserted as ever.”
    “Maybe they went out to dinner, Gregory,” Mom said.
    “And didn’t leave a light on for when they returned?”
    “Amber told you Mr. Matthews was an economist. He’s saving on their electric bill.”
    She looked to me, but I had nothing to add, no explanation.
    Dad shrugged and started the engine. “I haven’t heard anyone mention anything about them—except you, of course, Amber,” he said as he backed out of the driveway.
    “They just moved in,” Mom said.
    “And Risa Donald hasn’t said a word to anyone? That’s a first,” he replied.
    He drove off, and I didn’t even look back.
    But when we rounded the corner of our cul-de-sac and headed for Main Street and the way out of the village, I was almost sure I caught a glimpse of Brayden looking out from behind the large maple tree on Mrs. Carden’s front lawn.
    “What is it?” Mom asked when I spun around so abruptly.
    If he had been there, he was gone.
    “Nothing,” I said. “I thought I saw something.”
    “What?”
    “Nothing,” I repeated.
    “Was it that interesting new boy?” Dad asked. “I suppose we could have asked him to join us for dinner as a way of welcoming him to the neighborhood. That way, we could beat Risa to the gossip headlines.”
    “No, it wasn’t him,” I said. I was angry at myself for reacting so dramatically to a possible sighting of him, as if he were a movie star or a singing star.
    Mom picked up on the tone in my voice and turned back to Dad. “She told you she wanted to get to know him better first, Gregory.”
    “Okay, okay,” he said. “I’ll never mention him again until one of you does.”
    Under those conditions, I wondered if he ever would.

3

Safe
    We all enjoyed our dinner at the old diner. There were many local people there. I thought my father could easily run for mayor. Everyone loved him, wanted to speak with him and say hello to Mom. After all, my family was now one of the oldest families in Echo Lake. I bathed in the glow of my parents’ popularity even though I was not very talkative.
    I knew my parents sensed that something was bothering me. Sometimes I thought my mother was so tuned in to my moods and feelings that she felt and experienced them as if they were her own. Of course, if anyone should know you inside and out, it should be your mother. At one time, at least for nine months, you were literally a part of her, and what flowed through her veins flowed through yours, and vice versa. There were all sorts of theories about how a mother should behave while she was pregnant and how that behavior would affect and form her child, not only physically but also mentally and emotionally.
    Mom once enrolled in a meditation class specifically designed for pregnant women. It was supposedto create an inner harmony between a mother and her child even before the child was born. Dad was a little skeptical until he saw Mom in action after I was born. He saw how quickly she could anticipate my discomfort and unhappiness and how easily she knew how to get me comfortable, satisfied, and happy. I wouldn’t say she didn’t still have that connection with me, but I did feel that as I grew older, we gradually grew a little further apart. However, it felt natural. I realized that I should be more of my own person, a totally independent being who by definition had to be somewhat unpredictable.
    Dad just thought that