Shudder (Stitch Trilogy, Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

to see your injury hasn’t affected you too badly.”
    “ We’ll see about that,” he
groaned, sitting up and dropping the cold compress.
    Alessa grimaced. “Your face looks
horrible.”
    “ Thanks,” Isaac
muttered.
    She laughed gently. “I’m
sorry, I mean your injury looks horrible – it’s bright red and shiny,
probably from all the ice.”
    “ It does feel kind of
numb.”
    Reaching toward the fire, Alessa came
back with a can full of food. “Here. You need to eat
something.”
    “ Onions and
acorns?”
    “ Onions and
acorns.”
    Isaac swallowed a few big mouthfuls
gratefully; it did help to have something hot in his stomach. He
could feel the meal revitalizing him from the inside out, the heat
slowly radiating from his core. The throbbing in his head lessened
as he took in his surroundings. They were sitting in a shallow
outcropping of rock, a small weather-worn cave that was just large
enough for the two of them and a small fire. Isaac
yawned.
    “ I’m so tired .”
    “ That might be because I woke you up every
hour last night to make sure you were alive.”
    “ You did?”
    Alessa yawned too. “Yup. You don’t
remember?”
    “ Not really. I remember
getting up right after getting hit but everything between now and
then is a blank.”
    Alessa gently laid her fingers on his
face, searching his eyes. “I’m pretty sure you got a
concussion.”
    Gingerly rubbing his head, Isaac
concurred. “Sounds about right.”
    “ So I guess that means you
didn’t get a good look at whatever was following us?”
    Isaac sighed and shook his
head.
    “ I was hoping you might
have seen them when you were on the ground maybe…?” she
prompted.
    “ Everything I saw was a
blur, babe. Sorry.”
    “ Damn. I was a little
ahead of you and the trees were in the way. And then when I came
over to grab you, all I heard was a bunch of snarling in the
underbrush – I couldn’t see anything, unfortunately.”
    “ How did we manage to get
away? Last I remember they were gaining on us…”
    Alessa shook her head. “I’m not sure –
they just stopped coming after us. It seemed like maybe they got in
a fight or something?”
    “ Weird. What do you think
it was? Wolves?”
    “ Wolves? Do wolves pile
the bones of their kills in one spot?”
    “ I dunno. Is that what you
saw when you took off?”
    Alessa shuddered. “Yeah – we were
standing in the middle of a graveyard. I didn’t realize it until I
tripped over some kind of clean-picked carcass, and something in me
just snapped.”
    “ Well, I’m glad it did –
we probably wouldn’t be here otherwise.” Isaac thought for a
moment. “Do you think this was the same pack that was stalking you
the other night? Did you… feel anything this time?”
    Alessa shrugged. “I
felt something ,
but it wasn’t quite the same. It was more primal than last time. I
felt… I’m not sure how to describe it.” She paused, her face
scrunched in thought. “Like bloodthirstiness. A sense of predator
and prey. Fury. But that all might just have been my
fight-or-flight response, right? I don’t know, maybe I’m making
this whole thing up. It was probably just the adrenaline both
times.”
    Isaac didn’t doubt that Alessa had
experienced some kind of heightened emotions the past few days, but
the logical side of him still thought that there must be a rational
explanation. Between the blizzard and the previous night’s
excitement – and their constant dull hunger and exhaustion – he
wouldn’t doubt that Alessa was feeling a little out of sorts. He
just wished he could have gotten a better look at whatever had been
pursuing them so that he’d know for sure what they were up
against.
    Packing up their belongings, Isaac and
Alessa prepared to set out for another long day of trudging. He
felt a little wobbly on his feet, but it was nothing that would
impede their progress significantly. Slinging his pack over his
shoulder, Isaac stumbled a bit and caught his balance on the