The Darkest Corners Read Online Free PDF Page A

Ranting’s noisy, and the last thing we want right now is someone getting noisy.’ She smiled in that way that made her nose wrinkle up. ‘Am I right, kiddo? Course I am; I’m always right.’
    I began to smile, then stopped. That word replayed in my head.
    â€˜Kiddo,’ I said, my face fixed in a half-smile. ‘You called me “kiddo”.’
    â€˜Yeah? So? I always call you “kiddo”, kiddo. It’s one of the things that makes me so adorable.’
    A sickening stirring began in my gut. I glanced at Billy, who was still clutching his nose. He watched us in silence through eyes filled with tears.
    â€˜ He calls me “kiddo”,’ I mumbled, and I saw the smile fade from her face. ‘My dad calls me “kiddo”.’
    She shrugged, but it looked forced and not at all natural. ‘Does he?’ she said. ‘What are the chances?’
    I stared into her eyes, and in that moment I realised that I didn’t really know her at all.
    Shadows moved behind her and the sound of in-rushing air filled the tower. The shadows became a man and the man became my dad. He wrapped his arms round Ameena and flashed me a wide grin.
    â€˜Whoops,’ he sniggered, and then they were gone. I looked blankly at the spot where Ameena had stood. I was still looking at it when Billy spoke.
    â€˜She’s gone.’
    â€˜He took her,’ I said.
    The floorboard creaked behind me.
    â€˜No,’ Billy said. ‘They went together.’
    â€˜No,’ I snapped, turning on him. ‘She wouldn’t. She’s… I…’ I curled my fingers into fists. ‘Wait here. I’ll be back.’
    â€˜Back? What do you mean you’ll be back? Where are you going?’
    But Billy’s voice was already becoming distant as I focused on one of the sparks and flitted myself through to the Darkest Corners.
    The inside of the tower looked exactly the same, only now the hatch was open. The howls of the screechers had faded along with Billy’s voice, but now I could hear a steady creaking coming up through the hole in the floor.
    I looked down in time to see Ameena jump the last few rungs and land lightly beside my dad. She raised her head and her eyes briefly met mine, then she was off and running with him through the door that led into the main part of the church.
    My stomach flipped. I thought back to the figure in the brown hood I’d seen so many times with my dad. Ameena’s height. Ameena’s build. But it couldn’t have been her. I refused to accept it.
    She had saved me. So many times, she had saved me. She couldn’t have been working with him this whole time. She couldn’t.
    I called her name, hoping she would come running back to tell me it was all some stupid mistake. To tell me I was wrong, and that she’d never betray me. But she didn’t come back. No one came back.
    The ladder was more rusted on the way down than it had been on the way up, but that was the Darkest Corners for you. It twisted things, corrupted them. Had it done the same to Ameena somehow? Made her as much a monster as the rest of them? No. No way.
    Please no.
    I jumped the last few rungs just as she had done and charged through into the main church. It now stood in ruins, most of the sky visible through the crumbled roof. The doors at the far end of the room were still standing. They swung closed as I raced towards them.
    A ragged shape lay there in the middle of the aisle. As I drew closer I recognised the tattered remains of Joe Crow. They squirmed as if alive, and I saw his body begin to reform, like footage of rotting fruit played in high-speed reverse.
    â€˜S-see you, boy,’ he slurred. A half-formed hand reached out for me. ‘Don’t you g-go nowhere.’
    I clambered over the pews beside him, not daring to get too close. The rest of the aisle passed in a blur as I raced through the inner doors and out through the exit