The Hollow Skull by Christopher Pike

Author:Christopher Pike [Pike, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 0671550594
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Cass awoke with a start. Mary was shaking her. Cass sat up before she was sure what planet she was on. What a weird dream, she had felt as if she were hurtling through outer space as some kind of cosmic vampire. The sensation hadn’t been pleasant. Mary looked worried so Cass reached up and stroked the side of her face. The light was dim through the open window, and she realized that she must have slept for several hours.

“What is it, honey?” Cass asked.

Mary was teary. “I don’t feel good.”

“What’s the matter? Does your stomach hurt?”

Mary shook her head. “I don’t know. I just feel funny.”

Cass threw her feet to the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. “Did you go to see Daddy?”

Mary hesitated. “No.”

“Mary?” Cass patted the bed for Mary to sit beside her.

“I only talked to him for a minute. I just wanted to see if he was OK.”

Cass was strict. “Why didn’t you call him? You shouldn’t have walked all the way over there alone.” She paused. “How is he?”

Mary continued to look anxious. “I don’t know.”

“Was he drinking?”

“I don’t know.”

“What did he say to you?”

“Not much. He was nice.” Mary paused and trembled. “He started crying. I started crying, too.”

Cass hugged her. “I’m sorry. Have you had anything to eat?”

Mary shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

Cass held her shoulders. “But you haven’t eaten since this morning. What time is it? You have to eat something.”

Mary pulled back. “Fred isn’t here.”

“Where is he?”

“He went out.”

“You saw him? Where did he go?”

“He didn’t tell me. He just went out.”

Cass thought she heard a sound. She stood up and looked out the window. Fred was pulling up. He had gotten his car washed, but it was still scratched. She followed him with her eyes as he walked toward the door. She was glad to see him, relieved almost, and didn’t know why. Violent images from her dream continued to plague her. What were the seeds? What was the transformation? God, she had dreamed of a violet sun ten million times brighter than the Earth’s sun, surrounded by a rapidly rotating series of metal rings, each many millions of miles long. The impenetrable power grid—it spun in a haze of fiery nebula and pulsating gases. It was supposed to be the base system. She was always safe there. Whatever that meant.

“At least have some yogurt,” Cass told Mary, “Fred and I will be going out soon.”

“Where are we going?” Fred asked as he came in through the door. His pants were dusty, and she wanted to ask where he had been, but decided it wasn’t important. Outside, the shadows lengthened—it would be dark soon.

“We’re going to the Shaft,” she said.

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