Strays by Jason Strange

Author:Jason Strange
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 9781434232953, 9781434238832, Fiction, Jason Strange, Horror & Ghost Stories, Animals/Cats, Sports & Recreation/Cycling, Social Issues/Strangers
Publisher: Stone Arch Books
Published: 2012-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

The passenger side door of the car flew open. Carol, the woman from the pizza shop, poked her head out the driver’s side window and screamed to them, “Get in!”

Chapter 7

Safe House

The boys didn’t think twice. Quentin dove into the front seat and Reese jumped in after him. The car was already screaming back down the dark street before they could even close the door.

“They’re chasing us!” Quentin said, twisting in his seat to look out the back window.

A skinny black cat leapt onto the roof of the car.

The strange cat’s claws scraped across the metal with a deafening whine. It arched its back and hissed.

Another cat, this one tan and bloody, dove onto the windshield. The boys screamed. The woman barely flinched.

“I’m Carol Fellino,” the woman said. “I saw you boys outside the pizza place earlier. I knew I’d need to find you once the sun was down. I arrived just in time, too. Those mangy cats nearly had you in their cemetery.”

“Their cemetery?” Quentin repeated. “So they were herding us!”

Carol nodded. “Exactly,” she said.

“What’s going on here, anyway?” Reese asked. “What’s with all the cats? What kind of crazy town is this?”

She just shook her head. “Too many questions,” she said, “and too much to explain. I’ll tell you everything when we get back to my house. When we’re safe.”

Carol sped through the streets back toward her house, swerving around the cats as they ran at her car. The cats didn’t seem concerned for their safety. They kept diving at the car, sacrificing themselves to just scratch at the paint or swipe at the tires.

“Why are you being so careful?” Reese asked. “Just plow through them. They’re evil cats!”

Carol didn’t answer. She just kept driving. Before long, the car came to a jerky stop in her driveway. “Inside,” Carol snapped as she jumped from the car. “Now!”

The boys followed as quickly as they could. As soon as they were both inside, she slammed the door behind them.

Without glancing at the boys, Carol walked toward the back of the little house. “Your bikes are in the workshop already,” she said. “I’ll have that rim fixed for you in a few minutes.” She disappeared through a swinging door.

“Thanks,” Quentin called after her.

Reese glanced at Quentin. “Where’s she going?” he asked. Quentin shrugged.

The woman returned to the room with a pizza box in her hands. “But first things first, I brought you boys a pizza.”

Reese’s mouth fell open. His stomach grumbled loud enough for Quentin and Carol to hear.

“Thank you so much,” Quentin said. “But we really do need to get going. We should have been home hours ago. My parents are going to kill me.”

Reese looked at Quentin like he was nuts. “Dude, I’m starving,” Reese whispered. “Can’t we eat first?”

“Oh, come on,” the woman said. She put the box on the table and opened it up. Steam wafted across the room. The smell was overpowering and tempting. “You boys must have been cycling all day. You’ll never make it home on an empty stomach.

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