Fiends: And, After Midnight by Richard Laymon

Author:Richard Laymon [Laymon, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror
ISBN: 9780755331802
Google: YuLKAAAACAAJ
Goodreads: 1842843
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2007-01-01T01:50:46+00:00

***

At last, Friday arrived. Allan awoke feeling nervous and excited. Tonight, he would go out searching for her.

What would he say if he found her? How would she react? She might hate him for running away. How could you do that, you bastard! I’m a human being, not a freak!

Or she might indeed, after all, turn out to be utterly mad.

‘Is something bothering you?’ Shelly asked him during lunch. ‘Me? No.’

‘Are you sure? You’ve been acting strange all week.’

‘I have?’

Shelly glanced at Maureen. ‘You’ve noticed it, haven’t you?’ Maureen, who rarely spoke, studied her sandwich and shook her head. ‘He seems fine to me.’

‘It might help to talk about it,’ Shelly told him. ‘You aren’t sick, are you?’

‘I feel fine.’

‘If it’s too personal…’

‘Leave him alone,’ Maureen said. ‘He doesn’t want to talk about it.’

‘You have noticed!’

Maureen shrugged. Her eyes met Allan’s. ‘You don’t have to say anything. It’s none of our business.’

‘Of course it’s our business. We’re his buddies. Right, Allan?’

He smiled. ‘My buds. Right. I do appreciate your concern, really. Thanks. But it’s nothing. I’m just a little bit nervous about this gal I’ll be seeing tonight.’

‘Ah-ha!’ Shelly’s eyes gleamed. ‘A gal! Go for it, Romeo!’

‘That’s wonderful,’ Maureen said.

‘Anybody we know?’ Shelly asked.

‘I don’t even know her. Not exactly. She’s just somebody I met last weekend. At the movies. She sat across the aisle from me. We didn’t even talk. But if she’s there tonight..

‘Whoa!’ Shelly held up her hand. ‘Hold on. One second. She was at that midnight creepshow thing you go to on Saturday nights? And you don’t know her? So where do you think you’ll find her tonight?’ Allan felt heat wash over his face. This is what comes of lying, he thought. He shook his head and forced himself to laugh. ‘Geez, I don’t know. Guess I won’t be seeing her tonight. You’re right.’

‘Boy, you must have it bad. You don’t even know what day it is.’ She nudged Maureen with her elbow. ‘Looks like we’ve got a case of love at first sight.’

‘I don’t even know her,’ Allan protested.

‘She must be quite a fox.’

‘Quit teasing him,’ Maureen said. ‘Let him eat his lunch.’

Shelly laughed. ‘So what’s she got that we ain’t got?’

No face, Allan thought.

But he only shrugged. Then Jake Hanson came to their table and the conversation turned to obnoxious students, as it often did. When the bell rang and Allan got up from the table, Shelly said, ‘Hey, good luck with the fox. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.’

Allan headed for his fifth-period class, wishing he’d kept his mouth shut.

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