Dead Air by Michelle Schusterman (best books under 200 pages txt) 📕

she just turned and headed in the opposite direction, muttering under her breath. Rolling my eyes, I tossed my empty soda bottle in the trash and headed toward the crew.

I couldn’t help picturing the Elapse E-250 still stuffed in my suitcase. With so many interesting sights around—the boats, the vendors, little kids playing jump rope—the urge to take photographs was strong. Unfortunately, that urge always came with my mom’s voice giving instructions.

Look, that girl over there near the railing; such a textured background with the boats behind her . . . The light is dim this time of day, so use a slower shutter speed . . .

Keeping my eyes firmly fixed on the crew, I walked fast and avoided looking for any more frame-worthy moments. Dad and Lidia were side by side going over Dad’s notes, while Jess adjusted the large video camera on her shoulder. Sam was watching a group of teenagers take photos near the water. Roland simply looked bored. I noticed Oscar hovering around Mi Jin and stifled a groan—I’d been hoping he stayed back at the hotel.

“Almost ready, guys,” Jess said. “Mi Jin, Jack’s going to need the windscreen.”

“Got it!” Mi Jin rummaged through the massive camera bag hanging off her shoulder. A second later, she let out a bloodcurdling scream and flung something long and wriggly straight at me.

I jumped back as a snake went sailing past my head. It hit the boardwalk with a smack and . . . laid there. I took a hesitant step forward, then nudged it with my toe.

“Fake,” I said, giving Oscar a pointed look. “Totally fake.”

“Oscar, come on,” Lidia groaned, but the others started laughing. No one laughed harder than Mi Jin, though. Which was kind of disappointing. It would’ve been fun to watch her chew him out.

But she seemed to find the whole thing hilarious. “Nice one,” she told Oscar, still snickering as she handed Dad a cover for his mic. “That’s two to one, then?”

“Yours didn’t count,” Oscar said with a grin. “I’m not afraid of spiders.”

“You jumped a little.” Mi Jin zipped the camera bag closed. “But yeah, your reaction was nowhere near as epic as mine.”

“You scared off some of this crowd.” Roland sounded mildly appreciative as he glanced around the boardwalk. “That was a pretty legit scream.”

Mi Jin beamed. “Horror movie–worthy, right?”

“I’ll say.”

I smiled at Dad and he winked. Grandma would love Mi Jin.

“All right, we need to get this wrapped up in the next hour,” Jess announced, shifting under the weight of the camera. “Jack, we’ll shoot the first thirty seconds in place, then get the three of you walking toward the theater. Let’s get a couple of takes of the intro first, all right?”

Dad nodded, handing Lidia his notes. “Sounds good.”

I took several steps back as everyone else got into their places, and something squished under my foot. Stooping down, I picked up the rubber snake just as Oscar reached my side.

“Not afraid of snakes either, huh?” he asked.

“Not fake ones.”

“Real ones, though?”

“Not really,” I said, watching as Dad launched into a description of life in Rotterdam in the eighteen hundreds. “Trish has a pet snake. His name’s Fang, but he’s harmless.” I glanced at Oscar. “I mean, if you’d hidden a live cobra in there or something, I might have screamed.”

To my surprise, he cracked a smile. “Might have?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. And I might have jumped over that railing and swum to England.”

Oscar actually laughed a little. Before either of us could say anything else, Jess let out a frustrated cry.

“Cut. Sorry, Jack . . . what is wrong with this thing?”

Mi Jin joined Jess and Lidia in inspecting the camera. “What is this? An error code?” Jess asked Mi Jin, who frowned.

“I’ve never seen that come up before . . .” After a second, Mi Jin whirled around to face Oscar, her eyes wide. “Is this another prank? Did you do this?” she asked. Confusion flickered across Oscar’s face.

“Do what?”

Jess was shaking her head. “No way, he couldn’t have.”

She turned slightly so we could see the viewfinder. The screen was black, but a row of letters scrolled rapidly at the bottom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX . . . XXXXXXXXXXXXX . . . XXXXXXXXXXXXX . . .

Dad frowned, leaning closer. “Maybe try turning it off?”

Jess obliged, pressing the button. But the scrolling continued.

“Thirteen Xs,” Mi Jin said excitedly. “Ah, what am I doing—we need to get a picture of this! Anyone have a camera? Wait, there’s a handheld in here somewhere . . .”

My fingers twitched at my side as Mi Jin dug the small camera out of her bag, my thoughts once again drifting to the Elapse. I watched Mi Jin begin filming the scrolling letters on the viewfinder. Sam drifted over to stand next to Jess.

“Thirteen Xs,” he mused. “A message from the beyond.”

Roland looked highly amused. “Must be.”

“Wait . . . I feel something.” Sam’s expression was so intense I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “There is a presence with us.”

Mi Jin stepped back, grinning, as Roland joined Sam in the shot. “Is it Red Leer?” he asked Sam in a low, serious voice. “Tell him we’re not scheduled to be drugged and kidnapped until tomorrow night.”

Oscar and I started to snicker as Sam squinted and looked around like he was trying to locate a ghost pirate standing among the rest of us. His gaze rested on me, and my laughter faded. “I’m not sure it’s Red Leer,” he mused, apparently oblivious to Roland’s sarcasm. “I’m not sensing a lot of anger.”

“Ah. Should I antagonize him, then?” Roland cleared his throat loudly, but Jess cut him off.

“Look, it’s stopped.” She turned slightly so we could see the viewfinder, which was back to normal. Jess swung around, aiming the camera at Dad. “Ready to give the intro another shot?”

Dad gave her the thumbs-up. Sam glanced at me again before turning away, and I felt slightly unsettled.

As they started filming, Mi Jin hung back and zipped the camera up in her bag. She glanced over at Oscar and me. “How’d you do it, though, seriously?” she asked in a low, eager voice.

Oscar’s brow furrowed. “Do