Bad Moonlight Read Online Free PDF Page A

another fantasy?”
    â€œSort of.” Danielle couldn’t make herself tell the real story.
    â€œViolent?”
    â€œYes!” Danielle cried. “Worse than ever. Caroline, I have to see Dr. Moore tomorrow. He’s the only one who can help me!”
    â€œThen you’ll see him,” Caroline assured her. “We’ll talk to Billy about getting you a ride. Don’t worry, Billy will be cool about it.”
    â€œBut our rehearsals,” Danielle protested.
    â€œWe don’t go on until eight at night,” Caroline reminded her. “There’ll be plenty of time for you to drive to Shadyside and back.”
    Danielle hoped Caroline was right about Billy letting her go. She had to see Dr. Moore.
    â€œYou’re shaking,” Caroline commented. “Listen, I was about to take a shower, but you take one first. It’ll warm you up.”
    In the tiny shower stall Danielle turned the water up as hot as she could bear it. The almost-scalding spray warmed her skin, but the memory of her kiss in the park still chilled her.
    Would something else happen before Dr. Moore could help her?
    Something worse?
    Out of the shower she wrapped up in her long yellow robe. In the mirror her dark eyes were enormous, her face pale. Her hands were still shaking as she pulled a comb through her hair.
    After Caroline disappeared into the steamy bathroom,Danielle began to pace the bedroom. She couldn’t calm down. She couldn’t stop her heart from pounding.
    Then she spotted her guitar case.
    Maybe music will help, she thought.
    She pulled the guitar out and sat on the end of her bed. Out the window she could see the moon. A circle of ice in the sky.
    Her fingers strummed the strings. The guitar wasn’t hooked up to an amplifier, so the sound was muted. But it didn’t matter. She could hear the notes clearly in her head, and that was all she needed.
    She kept strumming. No tune at first. Just a few soft chords.
    But as she gazed at the moon, she heard a melody in her mind. A melody—and lyrics. With no hesitation, no searching for the right note, she played and sang her new composition.
    â€œBad moonlight, falling over me,
    Bad moonlight, shining down on me,
    Bad moonlight
    Makes me feel so strange and new.
    â€œBad moonlight, falling over me,
    Bad moonlight, shining down on me,
    Bad moonlight—
    I want to die for you!”
    How totally weird, Danielle thought as she finished. I’ve never written anything so easily. It was like magic.
    â€œDanielle, that song—it’s awesome!” Caroline exclaimed from the bathroom doorway. “When did you write it?”
    â€œJust now,” Danielle told her. “It sort of came to me. All at once. I didn’t even have to work on it. Do you really like it?”
    â€œLike it? I love it! It’s absolutely the best song you’ve ever written!” Caroline grinned. “Bad moonlight—sounds really wicked!”
    Wicked, Danielle thought. Exactly. In a flash she realized that it was the moon that had been making her feel so strange. So cold.
    But why? What was so bad about the moonlight?
    â€œI’m going to call the others in here so they can hear it.” Caroline pulled the damp towel from her head and grabbed the telephone.
    A few minutes later the rest of the group crowded into the room. Dee wore her robe, but the rest of them were dressed. Joey’s clothes were rumpled, as if he’d fallen asleep in them.
    â€œThis better be good,” Joey said with a yawn. “I was having a great dream when you called. In the dream these two girls—”
    â€œJoey, no one cares,” Billy cut him off.
    â€œWait till you hear it,” Caroline declared. “Go ahead, Danielle. Play it.”
    Danielle strummed an opening chord, then launched into the song. When she finished, no one moved or said anything.
    Then Billy started clapping his hands and everyonejoined in. Joey whistled