The Sunlight Slayings Read Online Free PDF Page A

lying down on the floor.
    Suddenly the dream blurred and Oliver was about to bite Dean, his face inches away from Dean’s neck. Oliver could hear the blood pumping— “ Oliver, no! ” Dean screamed, just like he had that night.
    Oliver struggled to look to the door, where Bane’s friend Randall was keeping guard. “ No! ” Oliver shouted. “ Just hold on! I don’t kill you, that’s not what happens! ”
    Oliver even heard the echoing, ancient voice of Illisius in his head: “ Oliver, don’t fight it, my boy. It’s time. …”
    But then Emalie shouted: “ Freeze it right there! ”
    Things blurred again, and Oliver found himself suspended in midair above the scene, except his body was also below, still on top of Dean.
    â€œ Where are you going? ” Emalie asked. She was gazing up at him, annoyed.
    â€œ To Nexia ,” Oliver said calmly. He saw that the ceiling had been replaced by a pure black sky with liquid constellations and huge planets.
    â€œ Have a nice trip! ” Dean called, waving, no longer upset.
    â€œ No ,” Emalie said sternly. She had her arms out in front of her, and almost looked like she was pressing against the air. “ It’s right here ,” she said, grimacing. “ There’s something … but I can’t … What are you? ” she shouted into space. As she did so, that dark shadow seemed to wrap around her again, like a cloud or something was clinging to her, but it was like she didn’t notice it.
    â€œ Oliver, check it out ,” Dean called. “ You killed me .” Oliver looked down to find Dean lying on the floor alone. His neck had two red holes. Blood seeped across the floor.
    â€œ No! ” Oliver shouted. “ I didn’t do that! ”
    Emalie looked up at him darkly. “ Yes you did. You do it every time. We all see it .”
    Oliver looked around to find every other person in the room staring at him coldly. “ No! ” he shouted.
    â€œNo!”
    Oliver’s eyes snapped open. He was in his coffin. There was no starry sky overhead, just the white satin fabric of his lid. He looked down to see that he’d tossed and turned himself out of his sleeping soil, but his shivers weren’t coming from the cold …
    It only took a moment to realize that sleep wasn’t returning anytime soon. He listened, and when he heard only silence, he reached to the side of his coffin and grasped a polished wooden handle. The bolts that kept his coffin lid locked slid open with a series of quiet clicks.
    All coffins still locked from the inside, since vampires usually slept deeply, and the daylight hours had traditionally been the best time for humans to stake them. This rarely if ever happened anymore, but coffins were still sold based not just on comfort (features like soil humidity regulation, satin interior thread count) but also safety (triple-bolt locks, fire-resistant finishes, garlic-proof odor seals). Oliver and his family had midlevel Morlock Tempurpedic coffins, from the SlumberStill series. The next line up, the HomeMausoleum, even had video surveillance and wireless servant-summoning technology. Oliver’s coffin was the last junior size, and it did still have a hidden unlock button, which Phlox sometimes used if Oliver overslept, something that is likely to happen if you often don’t fall asleep until it’s nearly time to get up.
    Oliver’s lid quietly yawned open. He sat up, brushing a last bit of warm sleeping soil off his legs, then hopped down to the stone floor. Phlox and Sebastian’s coffin was silent beside his, Bane’s as well beyond that. The crypt was barely lit by tiny crimson magmalight night-lights at the base of each wall.
    Oliver turned and knelt. His coffin was at waist height. Beneath it were two rows of dresser drawers. He opened the bottom one and rummaged through his school uniform shirts until his hands