Paranoia (The Night Walkers) Read Online Free PDF Page B

alcohol than human, I’d say. Tried to pick a fight with just about everyone in here, all with the guard watching. By the time your friend over there finally laid into you, everyone thought you deserved it.”
    “Sounds like I did.” Between the bizarre suffocating dream and Darkness taking control, something had gone really wrong last night. The problem was … I had no idea what.
    The old man looked at me sideways and raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s something I wasn’t expecting—humility. Do yourself a favor, kid, and stop drinking. It brings out the monster in you.”
    “Tell me about it.” I swallowed hard and ignored the barking laughter coming from Darkness’s end of the room. There was no point arguing with or even responding to him when no one could see him but me. That kind of thing would get me locked away in a completely different room. “Where are we?”
    “Newton City Jail.” The man’s eyes studied me with pity now, and for a moment I was glad Darkness at least had given me the alcohol excuse. “You don’t remember much about last night, then.”
    “Nothing.” My brain felt sluggish, refusing to find the information I needed. I didn’t expect to remember what had happened when Darkness was in control, but I couldn’t even remember a nearby city named Newton. I gently probed my fingers against my throbbing face. “Umm … remind me where Newton is again?”
    The stranger frowned and looked even more concerned. “About an hour south of Cedarville.”
    My mouth said “Ah, that’s right” while my mind freaked out. Darkness had managed to get me drunk, thrown in jail, and beaten up after driving more than four hours from home and crossing state lines? How long was he in control? I’d gone to sleep by about eleven last night. I glanced through the bars and stared at the very plain silver clock hanging on the wall.
    It was eleven thirty.
    I turned and stared at the other me. He grinned and the pupil of his good eye shone almost black as he gave me a quick salute. Darkness had taken full control for more than half a day. And I had no idea how he’d done it.
    I put my head in my hands and closed my eyes.
    “Parker Chipp.”
    When I looked up, I saw an officer standing outside the cell looking at me.
    “Ah, so that is your name.” He folded his arms across his chest. “You refused to answer to it last night. Happy to see you’re coming to your senses.”
    “Yeah, sorry,” I muttered, knowing this was probably just the beginning of the apologies I’d have to make. Starting with Mom. I winced just thinking about how upset she probably was.
    The officer stared at me until I started to squirm. Finally he said, “You don’t even seem like the same kid they brought in here last night.”
    I choked and then tried to swallow. “I’m sorry … Sir.”
    “Your cousin is here to pick you up.” He unlocked the door and slid it open, waiting for me to walk through it.
    “My c-cousin?” At first I assumed it must be Finn, but he was still in Florida. Nothing made sense. I walked out of the cell and the guard closed it immediately. Darkness didn’t make it out in time, so he just walked straight through the bars and the people like they weren’t even there. As if this whole scenario wasn’t bizarre enough without seeing that.
    “Yeah, we got a call from your dad.” The officer barely suppressed a laugh as I froze cold in place, my mind refusing to register anything but the words your dad . He continued, mistaking my reaction for fear. “I imagine you’ll have a lot of explaining to do when you get home. As it should be, if you ask me. Parents are too soft these days.”
    “Parker.”
    Darkness and I turned slowly in place to face the new voice. My head was already spinning. When I finally got turned around, my eyes came to rest on an all-too-familiar emblem: a skull and two eye patches gleaming white on the arm of a black leather jacket. Blind Skull.
    Jack.
    Darkness disappeared