Button Hill Read Online Free PDF

admitted to himself that he was out of options and turned reluctantly toward the well. He peered over the edge, looking for any sign of his sister. Please be there—please, please be there. The stone-ringed hole was a dark, open mouth. A cold breeze wafted across the stones, enough to tickle his nose. He could see his breath when he exhaled. He kicked a pebble into the hole and listened for the splash.
    Silence.
    Dekker coaxed Ranger down the stairs, but the dog would not come near the well. Dekker got down on his hands and knees and yelled as loudly as he could. “Riley!” His voice echoed in the stone shaft: Riley , Riley, Riley . He leaned over farther, trying to see the bottom. From deep in the well came a noise like someone gasping, and the mouth of the well sucked in all the air from the cellar. Dekker’s hand slipped, and he fell heavily against the edge. He began to slide into the hole. “Ranger, help me!” The sucking sound grew louder, and Dekker watched, horrified, as his skin began to pull down into the darkness as if it were caught in the mouth of a vacuum. He could hear Ranger whining. He tried to brace his hands and feet, but it was no use. His struggle only lasted moments, and then he plummeted headfirst into the dark. The air hissed as he fell. He closed his eyes and screamed.

    Dekker awoke on the floor of the dimly lit cellar. Every bone in his body felt twisted out of place. The upside-down skull in the clock stared back at him from the corner. Dekker glared at it. “What are you looking at?” A sharp tick came from the clock, and the skull rotated slightly, its jaw snapping shut. Something was wrong with the cellar. The shelves slanted toward the floor, and all the jars on the shelves were tipped over or broken. Instead of potatoes, the air smelled of dust.
    â€œYou’re finally awake,” said a voice behind him. Dekker got to his feet and saw a boy perched on the stone edge of the well, beside a battered shoebox. His voice buzzed like electricity trapped inside a wire. Dekker was speechless. The boy looked so much like him, they could have been twins. His hair was a tangle like Dekker’s, but so blond it was almost white. His nose jutted out like the blade of a hatchet, just like Dekker’s. His eyes were ink-black and lifeless, though, whereas Dekker’s were a deep blue. He flipped a knife in the air and caught it expertly by the handle.
    â€œWhere’s my sister?” said Dekker.
    The other boy laughed. “Don’t worry about her. She’s around somewhere.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    The boy flipped and caught the knife again. “Your aunt didn’t tell you much, did she? This house is in the borderland between Nightside and Dayside. It’s a place between the living and the dead, sort of like the space under the floorboards, only bigger. You came from the Dayside house; you’re in the Nightside house now.” The boy held the knife like a microphone and spoke into it. “How have you been? How’s Riley enjoying her stay?” He held the point of the knife toward Dekker for a response.
    Even though part of his brain was urging him to run screaming from the room, Dekker tried to sound calm. “Do you know where she is? I need to find her—bad.”
    The other boy snorted. “You don’t say.”
    â€œWhat are you doing in our house?”
    The other boy shook his head. “You opened a way to the Dayside house when you wound the clock. Dayside’s been closed since the Nightclock stopped, but the Nightside house is mine. And now so are you. But let’s skip the boring questions.” He took a step toward Dekker. “I know that you locked Riley in the cellar and that she crossed into Nightside too.” He extended his pale hand. “You can call me Cobb.” The boy smiled widely, and Dekker noticed his teeth were sharpened to points. Cobb scowled when Dekker didn’t