The Coffin Club Read Online Free PDF Page A

good jump I might have been able to grab it. I knew I should go back downstairs, but that went against my true nature.
    The first time I jumped, I didn‘t even reach the cord. The second time, my fingers touched it. Finally, on the third try, I caught the cord between my fingers. With all my might, I quickly pulled the rope and snapped it securely in the palm of my hand. The door slowly creaked down toward me and a staircase folded out like a fire escape in a New York City alleyway.
    Surprisingly the wooden steps seemed to be in relatively good condition. Perhaps the former tenants didn‘t see the need for a darkened attic hideaway.
    I quietly ascended the stairs, curious to examine what lay at the top. A glow from the second floor shone like a small spotlight, illuminating a portion of the attic. A musty smell filled the gymnasium-sized room. The attic, like the rooms below, appeared bare. Alexander‘s easel, art supplies, and mattress were nowhere to be found. A single ray of sunlight peeked through a circular window in the far end of the sloping attic walls. I tiptoed over and noticed an unpainted plain old oak armoire beneath the window. I tried to open its doors, only to discover they were locked. Perhaps the skeleton key was hiding in the attic somewhere with real skeletons. I glanced around, trying to adjust my vision in the darkness. It was then I saw something shrouded in the shadows—a black room divider. I crept over to the corner of the attic and peered behind the six-foot-tall wooden screen.
    I could barely make out a night table and a pewter candlestick with a half-melted white candle. Behind it stood an easel with a covered painting, art supplies scattered beneath. Then I noticed something familiar on the nightstand staring back at me. It was the picture Alexander had painted of me and kept on his nightstand at the Mansion. There next to the tiny table was a single black coffin.
    I was standing alongside my sleeping vampire boyfriend. I pressed my ear to the cold coffin lid. I could barely hear what I thought to be breathing. My heart raced with his every breath.
    I knew the sun was setting because the cast of light from the attic window was slowly shrinking. It only took a few minutes for it to dwindle to the size of the nightstand. Finally it was as thin as a pencil, then it was gone.
    A small amount of light still appeared from the open door in the attic floor. It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the new illumination.
    Just then I heard someone stirring inside the coffin.
    I stepped back, and the heel of my boot snagged against a tiny nail protruding from the bottom of the screen. For several moments, the room divider and I teetered back and forth. I was about to cause a major commotion. I regained my balance and managed to return the screen upright and steal myself behind it. I peered through a tiny crack between the ruler-sized boards, my heart racing even harder now.
    The top of the coffin lid began to creak open ever so slowly toward me, leaving me unable to see inside until it reached a ninety-degree angle. I didn‘t see fingers, a hand, or anything opening it, nor could I make out anything—or anyone—behind it. I peeked around the screen.
    It was then I saw a sleepy Alexander staring right at me.
    Startled, I screamed.
    He paused. His chocolate-colored eyes turned bloodred. ―Raven!‖
    I tried to catch my breath and regain my composure. ―I didn‘t mean to scare you—or myself,‖ I apologized.

    ―What are you doing here?‖ he asked, shocked.
    ―I came to see you—‖
    Alexander stepped out of the coffin barefoot, wearing a black T-shirt and black boxers.
    He paused by the nightstand. He didn‘t run to me and scoop me up in his arms. It wasn‘t the reaction I‘d expected.
    ―I thought you‘d be glad to see me,‖ I said. It took all my strength not to hug him.
    ―I am, it‘s just—‖ Alexander stood awkwardly. He fixed his hair with one hand and straightened out his clothes