Infernal Revelation : Collected Episodes 1-4 (9781311980007) Read Online Free PDF Page B

already poured the cups by the time the
girls were passing his table. "Ladies."
    Ashley grabbed two cups, handing one to
Lauren and one to Lily before taking the third for herself.
"Gentleman."
    Barny smiled, reflecting on what a useless
cow the girl was.
    Lily looked at her cup dubiously. "What's in
this?"
    "A little of this, a little of that," Barny
said.
    "Booze," Lauren said. "You drink it."
    Lily sniffed her cup.
    "You all right?" Barny asked, ever the good
listener.
    "I'm good," Lily said.
    "Derek's being an asshole," Ashley said.
    "Ashley!"
    "He totally is," Lauren said. "Hey, Barn,
when are you going to take me out again?"
    Barny flashed her a quick smile. He'd
already fucked her once, and found the experience wanting. There
was no need for seconds.
    "It's fine," Lily said.
    "Oh, I needed to talk to Derek," Barny said.
"Is he here?"
    "He's in Boston," Lily said.
    "Oh, right, he'd decided on Boston
College."
    "Well, he's still considering his
options."
    "Oh." Barny adopted a concerned and slightly
embarrassed tone. "I guess I must have misunderstood him, then. Of
course."
    Lily pushed the hair out of her face. "Wait,
why. What did he say?"
    "Just a sec," Barny said, gazing off past
her. "Hold up, I gotta go handle something."
    Lily made a fumbled grab for his sleeve.
"Wait, what did Derek say?"
    Barny strode off purposefully, calling to a
friend that had left the party an hour earlier. "Hey, Kyle, hold
up!"
    Away from the firelight and confident that
the girls had lost sight of him in the dark, Barny circled around
the Spot's abandoned concession stand to watch Lily and her
friends. He couldn't get close enough to hear what they were
saying, but he made a mental note to check up on them later and see
how Lily was taking things.
     
    ***
     
    "Yeah, you seemed
pretty upset about something." Barny idly passed the football from
hand to hand. "Derek, I think.You guys have a fight?"
    Lily brushed the question aside. "We were
drinking?"
    "Yeah. I was surprised. I didn't think you
drank."
    "I don't. I didn't."
    Barny tilted his head. "Well, you had a cup.
Maybe you were just holding it for someone."
    Lily turned away, towards the school, arms
crossed. This really wasn't helping her mood.
    "Or maybe one of the other girls was the
designated driver?" Barny rubbed his chin. "No, you all had cups. I
know that Ash and Lauren drink, but aren't you usually their
D.D.?"
    "I don't remember."
    "Right, yeah," Barny said. "You know, I
remember something from psych class, something about how when the
mind is confronted with something horrible, something so terrible
that it can't face it, it will block out or alter those memories
just so it can live with itself."
    Lily felt a thickness in her throat as
Barny's words came at her rapid-fire and nearly monotone.
    "Do you think you might be experiencing
something like that, Lily?"
    She looked back at him, and her vision
seemed to suddenly sharpen beyond any focus she'd ever achieved.
She could see the individual stitching in his shirt, count the
hairs in his stubble, hear the steady rhythm of his heart. Before
she could even wonder at this sudden acuity, she saw for the first
time the slight smile at the corner of his lips, heard the faint
mocking edge to his concern. Worst of all was the ugly coldness in
his eyes, the hunger there, the way he was drinking in every moment
of her discomfort.
    "Do you think?" Barny repeated.
    The cold sickness in her gut turned into a
bright hot ball as the pounding in her ears drowned out the sound
of his voice. She struck out towards him with her fist, knocking
him back and away off of his feet, cutting off his vile words
mid-syllable. A feral half-scream escaped her lips as she turned
from him and fled, running from her guilt, from her rage, and from
the fear that he could be right.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Gideon watched Lily's
flight from Barny with some concern, but it still took him a few
minutes to get to her. Not because he didn't know where she was
headed --