Cicada by Tanya Pell

Author:Tanya Pell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781959565352
Publisher: Shortwave Media

“Uh. . .”

Okay, so it wasn’t profound, but Ash’s brain was obviously scrambled from the heat and annoyance and therefore she was unable to articulate properly what she had clearly meant to say. Something along the lines of, I’m beginning to think we’re fucked.

There was something menacing about the abandoned camera, its unblinking eye pointed in their direction and the unnatural movement just before. It had been too fast. The guy had been standing there, calling his friend, and then a blur of motion. That’s all she’d caught out of the corner of her eye.

Charlie followed her stare. “Where’d those two clowns go?”

Ash had no answer, just a sickening feeling of dread as she continued to hold a staring contest with the recorder.

“Attention, ladies and gentlemen,” came a booming voice over some sort of sound system. Charlie and Ash both winced at the deafening volume. “If you would please make your way to the center of town toward the gazebo. For you CICADA movie fans, we are going to have a few surprises. Sorry for the short notice, but we wouldn’t want you to miss this! Afterwards, there will be a general announcement about the road conditions. We know some of y’all are with us accidentally, but we do hope we’ve made your stay special. Having you here is such a blessing.”

People who had been milling from one place to the next began to head toward the park. The officer Ash had spoken to was waving people down the road. Behind him on the opposite side of the street, the parking attendant and the guy with the cameras were hurrying down toward the residential road. They kept looking up, like they were watching for something, Annaliese’s dangling earrings catching the sun’s fading rays.

She spotted Cal and she called out to him. He turned at her voice and reversed directions, coming to stand with her and Charlie. “Their fire department is a joke. My ‘concerns,’” he said making air quotes with his fingers, “were noted and would be passed down.” He shook his head and noticed Charlie. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she said blandly.

Ash was no longer watching the lines of movie lovers and detoured tourists, but the shop windows along Main Street. Lights inside went dark and CLOSED signs started appearing on doors. A reasonable person might think all the owners were shutting down early to head to the festival’s finale.

And yet. . .

Charlie groaned and pushed off the wall like she meant to follow the herd, but Ash put out a hand. “No.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t want to go.” That felt safe and not crazy.

“Works for me. I’m over this crap anyway. Come on.” Charlie grabbed her hand and tugged her along the wall.

“Where are we going?” Ash asked, Cal following behind.

“Let’s just hang out here.” They slipped behind the building, the woods on their left, but a clear view of the park and the masses among the tents.

And Richie storming towards them.

“Where have you been all day?”

She ignored him, leaning to see over his shoulder.

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