The Grove by Karri Thompson

Author:Karri Thompson [Thompson, Karri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reign Publishing

Chapter 14

The trio of Landaffens had become more than mischievous stalkers. They were bold and intrusive, their boyish faces indifferent, cold, and evil. I didn’t want to find out what they had planned for me. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. I could feel it.

I had to tell Brell what happened. I had to find out who those scouts were, why they were terrorizing me, and how Phyllis fit in to all of this. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do much of anything until the feast ended or until I confronted Phyllis.

My heartbeat quickened and my knees and hands trembled to the point of spilling my mug of chamomile tea. I sat at the kitchen table hoping it would calm my nerves as I peeked through the crack in the curtains and listened for any foreign sounds.

It was just past ten o’clock in the morning. Mom wouldn’t be home until about five-thirty. I’d made sure both doors and every window in the house were locked, but nothing made me feel safe. The grocery-store boy didn’t seem to be able to run fast enough to follow me, but for all I knew, he’d secretly trailed me once before and already knew where I lived.

Molly whinnied. I set down my cup. It wasn’t her “I’m hungry” kind a whinny, and she’d already been fed. It came in short bursts like an alarm or warning. I rushed to the other side of the house and peered out the window.

The sun was just below its highest point, casting short shadows on the ground. The wind rumbled and whipped, and a deep humming sound rode the breeze. A pair of trees next to the house swayed, their topmost branches nodding, and the hum, now a controlled noise, grew louder, reverberating through the house in a coordinated rhythm of whines and buzzes.

The windowpanes shook in their frames. The front door thumped in its casing. I dashed to the living room window and moved the curtain aside to view the porch. In a chaotic swirl of noise and color, my mother’s wind chimes pitched and stirred, their movements becoming more erratic, their clang growing louder as strands of beads and strips of metal twirled and tossed independently from one another.

The frenzied clanking increased, and a simple melody broke from the madness, a distinctive eerie rhythm of flat notes and sharp tones sending chills up my spine and through my chest.

There was only one explanation. A Landaffen worked the wind, weaving the wind chime’s dance into a taunting Landaffen song!

The house hitched, vibrations shooting from wall to wall. A soft thud on the roof cut through the gale’s violent rasp, and like a distant drum, something beat against the side of the house. A myriad of taps followed from one exterior wall to the next.

There was more than one!

I couldn’t call my mom, Uncle Dean, or the police. Once they arrived, the Landaffens would either flee or simply not be seen, and I’d be stuck, having wasted everyone’s time. I’d

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