The Second Evil Read Online Free PDF Page A

“I’ll be right back.”
    She hurried out of the room, her mind spinning, Debra’s words echoing in her ears.
    Poor Debra, Corky thought. She seems as troubled as I am. She looks so pale, so tense, so … frail.
    What can I say to her? she asked herself after turning off the teakettle. What does she
expect
me to say?
    I don’t believe the evil spirit is still alive. I saw it buried.
    I saw it. We all saw it.
    But what if it’s true? What if it isn’t buried?
    What then?
    Is Debra trying to scare me? Corky suddenly wondered. Is she saying all this just to keep me from going back on the squad?
    No. Debra believed what she was saying. It wasobvious from the expression on her face, from the dull horror in her eyes.
    Corky pulled two mugs down from the cabinet and glanced out the kitchen window.
    Was that a figure she saw in the backyard? Was someone out there?
    She looked again and saw nothing. It must be my imagination, Corky reasoned. She poured the chocolate powder into each mug, all the while peering nervously out the window into the dark yard.
    â€œHey, Corky?” Debra called from the living room.
    â€œBe right there!” Corky shouted back to her. “I’m just going to pour the hot water.”
    She lifted the kettle off the stove and carried it to the mugs on the counter.
    As she reached the counter, her arm suddenly flew straight up.
    Without wanting to, she raised the steaming kettle over her left hand.
    â€œHey!” she cried out.
    She tried to lower her right arm, struggling to push the kettle back down.
    To lower it.
    To move it away from her left hand.
    But her arm wouldn’t obey her.
    She had no control over it.
    And her left hand wouldn’t move away from the countertop.
    â€œWhat’s happening? What’s
happening
to me?”
    Holding the kettle high, her right hand tilted the kettle down.
    Down.
    Down.
    Steam rose from the spout. Then the scalding water began to shower down on her left hand.
    â€œHelp! Ow!”
    She couldn’t lower her arm, couldn’t move her hand out from under the boiling waterfall.
    â€œHelp me—please!” she cried.
    The scalding water gushed over the back of her hand, splashing up her arm.
    â€œI can’t stop! Can’t stop!”
    The scalding water splashed onto her skin.
    Burning.
    Burning.
    Burning beyond pain.
    Beyond all sensation.

Chapter 5
Out of the Grave

    â€œS he’s up in her room,” Sean told Chip.
    Chip tossed his Shadyside High letter jacket onto the banister and pulled down the sleeves of his bulky sweater. “Is it okay to go up?” he asked.
    Sean blew a large pink bubble before replying. “Yeah. Kimmy’s up there too.”
    Chip frowned. He glanced up to the top of the stairs. He didn’t really want to see Kimmy. It had been two months since he’d broken up with her and gone out with Bobbi Corcoran. But Kimmy still treated him coldly and made him feel uncomfortable every time they bumped into each other. When they passed in the halls at school, she always turned away, cutting him dead.
    â€œIs Corky feeling okay?” Chip asked Sean, delaying the confrontation.
    Sean nodded, unsticking bubble gum from his cheeks. “Yeah, she’s okay. Only she can’t wrestle.”
    â€œThat’s too bad,” Chip replied, chuckling. He was trying to decide whether to go upstairs or not. “Maybe I’ll come back later,” he told Sean.
    â€œChip, is that you?” Corky’s voice called from upstairs.
    Trapped, he thought.
    â€œHi!” he shouted and stepped past Sean to climb the stairs.
    He stopped in the doorway to Corky’s bedroom. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her bandaged hand resting in her lap. Kimmy was standing by the dresser, zipping up her down coat.
    â€œHow you doing?” Chip asked Corky, flashing her a broad smile.
    â€œA lot better,” Corky said, smiling back.
    Chip crossed the room