Choke: 2 (Pillage Trilogy (Pillogy)) Read Online Free PDF

hadn’t just imagined the whole thing.
    I was about to try to fall asleep when I got my third visitor of the day. The double doors swung open and a tall guy with a dark goatee and blue hoodie stepped into the hospital hall. He was thin, and his jeans were cuffed. He was displaying the type of smile you might see in a used-car salesmen’s museum, and he was carrying a small stuffed animal.
    I recognized him instantly and groaned.
    His name was Van and he was a reporter for some newspaper far away. Ever since the pillage, he had been popping up in my life trying to get me to tell him more. He treated me like a little kid and spoke to me as if him saying the right thing might open me up and make me spill the beans. I hadn’t seen him for some while.
    “Beck,” he said cheerfully. “How are you?”
    “Fine,” I answered, bothered.
    “The correct answer is you’re doing great,” he said, grinning.
    I hate it when people tell me how I am doing. “Why are you here?” I asked.
    “Nice to see you too,” he smiled. “I brought you something.” He handed me the small stuffed koala. “I thought it might keep you company.”
    “Thanks,” I said, embarrassed. “I can’t wait to introduce him to all my other stuffed animals at home.”
    “His name is Binkers,” Van informed me.
    “Of course.”
    “Mr. Binkers,” he added.
    “I thought you had left Kingsplot,” I said.
    “I had, but then a friend of mine told me you had been causing more trouble, and I thought I’d come check it out.”
    “You came all the way back just for that?”
    “Well, I had to see how my little buddy was doing.”
    I looked around wondering whom he was talking about. The last thing I was was Van’s little buddy. He had written an article on my family that was far from flattering, and he was constantly trying to trick me into giving him more damaging information.
    “Tell me, champ,” he continued. “What happened?”
    “I’m sure you’ve read the papers.”
    “I have, but there always seems to be more to you than the papers print,” Van said.
    “Well, if you think it had anything to do with dragons you’re way off,” I told him. “It was just me being careless.”
    “Dragons?” Van said in mock surprise. “I never said a thing about dragons, but now that you mention it . . .”
    “That’s so yesterday,” I waved. “I’m sure most people have forgotten by now.”
    “Funny,” Van said. “I still remember.”
    “Maybe you’re special.”
    Van smiled. “The nurse said you cut yourself up.”
    I looked at the scratches on my arms. “Yeah, I fell.”
    “She said you told her a plant attacked you.”
    “Didn’t she sign some sort of confidentiality thing to become a nurse? Why is she telling you anything about me?”
    Van ignored my comment. “If my memory is correct, I think there were plants involved with the dragons.”
    “I can’t remember,” I said, not wanting to tell him a thing about the plant. “My memories are not as correct as yours.”
    “Oh, I think they are,” he said slickly.
    His face looked so dumb when he was trying to be smooth. He would sort of purse his lips together, making his chin look pointier and his goatee longer. His cheeks would push up toward his eyes, which rolled to the left just enough to make him look crazy.
    “Listen, buddy,” he whispered. “I’m not your enemy. I’m your friend. I just want to do your family justice. If we work together, we can make something positive out of this. Where’d you get the scratches?”
    “I fell.”
    Van closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose. His eyelids sprang open and he stared directly at me. “You get some rest. We’ll talk later.”
    “I’d rather not,” I said nicely.
    “Rest is important,” he insisted.
    I was going to tell him I had nothing against rest and that what I meant was that I wasn’t going to talk to him later, but I didn’t want him hanging around any longer. He stood up and patted me on the