Prey Read Online Free PDF Page B

crow’s-feet stalked her beautiful eyes and mouth. “The bars are more depressing than the dark. Mrs. Tenselbaum, the last owner, was a shut-in. Spent the last decades of her life without ever stepping outside. Sad, isn’t it?”
    Chelsea assumed Eve was fishing for her to say something about her own condition, but it was a bad tack on a few counts. Shut-ins generally had agoraphobia. OCD could strike anytime, anywhere. It didn’t matter where she was. Still, there were days when she felt like locking herself in her room.
    â€œEmily Dickinson was sort of a shut-in,” she answered defensively.
    She heard the juice pour from behind the open refrigerator door. “Would you really want to be Emily Dickinson if it meant never going outside?”
    Chelsea shrugged. “Well, yeah.”
    Eve raised her head above the fridge door, smiled and shook it. “I guess you like her poetry more than I do. Mrs. Tenselbaum didn’t write anything except checks. All the window bars and locks she put in would be ridiculously expensive to replace.”
    She put the juice in front of Chelsea. Throat dry from the cold outdoor air, Chelsea drank greedily.
    â€œUpstairs is my bedroom and a lot of junk. I’drather you didn’t go up there. Not that you would. Everything you need is down here anyway. You can put your coat in the hall closet if you like.”
    Stay downstairs. Check. But then, where was the big, bad lizard? She twisted her head back toward the hallway, scanning, wondering if she’d missed a cage or a terrarium in the shadows of the living room.
    â€œSo where’s Koko’s cage?”
    Eve’s face broke into a grin. She raised her hand to her mouth in a gesture that looked like she was catching a laugh before it escaped. “Sorry, I should have explained. It’s not a cage, exactly. Koko’s habitat takes up most of the basement. The only part of the house that has my special touch. Had to have the whole thing redone, special heating, infrared lights and such. That’s really why I couldn’t afford to remove the bars from the windows.”
    Chelsea reared, noticing the remaining door in the kitchen that must lead to the basement. “Whatever he’s in, he can’t get out, right?”
    Eve laughed and this time didn’t bother to stifle it. “Of course. Koko’s smart, but there’s no way he’s getting out, unless he charms you with his cute eyes and pouty expressions. Ready to see him?”
    Chelsea nodded, even though she wasn’t. Eve rose.
    â€œFirst the gross part. Get through this and I promise the rest is a snap. Koko only eats every other day, and I leave tomorrow.” She stepped toward a second, larger refrigerator Chelsea hadn’t noticed before.
    Her eyes shot to the tabletop. How many dots were there? 6, 8, 10, 12…
    Eve bent over and took something out of the fridge. Not wanting to seem like a complete idiot, Chelsea forced her head up. Eve held a large plastic bag in her hands. There was something in it heavy enough to make the bag sag, wet enough to cause a reddish liquid to pool in the bottom seam. Interior moisture blurred the surface, but white and brown fur was visible.
    â€œRats,” Eve said. “I buy them prepackaged. It’s amazing what they do these days.”
    Wanting to look at anything except the horrid bag, Chelsea’s eyes scanned the kitchen, but there was no comfort to be found. The two refrigerators were crammed on either side of a large gas-burning stove. She’d hated gas stoves ever since that propane truck exploded on the interstate. The article said the whole back of the truck flew across the earth like a missile, crashing through three houses, setting them ablaze before coming to rest and starting a forest fire.Immediately, the OCD assured her that the same fate was in store for her.
    Nerves increasing, Chelsea turned back to Eve Mandisa and, try as she might to