All The Pretty Ghosts (The Never Series Book 1) by Jamie Campbell (my miracle luna book free read .TXT) 📕

“Quit it. I’ve seen them do this on TV.” Jet elbowed the guy for his lack of faith in him before turning back to me. “Everly, how many fingers?”

“Three.” I tested my head, holding it up a little higher. The intense throbbing in my skull was gone, replaced by a dim ache. I would take that over the pain any day.

Jet nodded happily, like I had just given him the winning lotto numbers. “Good. You’ll be okay. You passed out or something.”

I risked looking around but only the living were with us. All the spirits must have given up on me and gone to haunt someone else. Good. It wasn’t like they could have helped me anyway.

“When are we going to have our fun with her, Jet?” The question came from one of the guys behind him. The boy only looked about fifteen. My skin crawled at the thought of him being anywhere near me while having fun.

The other guys joined in. “Yeah, she’s been here for ages. Let’s just get rid of her.”

“We can’t let her go so easily.”

“Do you want to clean up her blood?”

“She’ll tell someone.”

“Who can she tell? There ain’t no cops anymore.”

“She’s pretty. I want some time alone with her.”

Jet had been breathing heavily through the comments as he let them go by. Finally, he was tired of listening to them. “Shut up, all of you. I’ll decide what we do with her. Got it?” They instantly silenced and nodded their heads.

So Jet really was the one in charge. Completely in charge if that little exchange was enough to go by.

“Please, let me go,” I asked levelly, trying to gulp in some fresh air. All the oxygen in the place was musty and foul. The boys were probably used to it, me not so much.

Jet’s gaze drilled into me. He was intense if nothing else and it unsettled me. I didn’t know what was worse, his look or the comments from the other guys. “Sit tight, princess. You’re not going anywhere.”

Satisfied I wasn’t quite dead yet, he strode away confidently with the others in tow. I needed a plan to get the hell out of here. Sitting and waiting for them to kill me, or do whatever else they thought up, was torturous. Nobody was coming to my rescue so it was up to me to escape.

Only me.

If I could get out of the filthy rags strapping my wrists and ankles to the chair, I would be able to run. I didn’t have the advantage of knowing the layout of the building or any shortcuts, but I was small and quick. Plus, I would be running for my life, that always made someone go a little faster.

My eyes scanned the room, trying to work out the best exit. They had centered me in the middle of the place, making sure I was as far away from any of them as possible. There was no way I could reach one of the exits without being seen by at least one of them.

It only took one.

I ran out of energy as the nausea threatened to overwhelm me again. My stomach was grumbling with a cry for food. How long had it been since I ate anything? Eating with Oliver out in the school courtyard seemed like so long ago now.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been out cold but it had to be some time that had passed. Perhaps even a whole night if I was out for long enough. My body felt like it had been a long time.

Whispers from the boys’ conversation started to filter my way. They weren’t trying to be quiet anymore. Probably because they planned to kill me before too long. Dead girls told no stories, betrayed no secrets.

“The food’s not going to last much longer,” one of the boys, about twelve, said angrily. “We need to take what we can get. They can’t hurt us.”

“We can’t just go in recklessly,” Jet replied. He didn’t seem as worked up as the others. “The whole point of getting supplies is to stay alive a while longer, not get ourselves killed.”

“So you want to let them walk all over us? We can do this. We have weapons, they don’t. We can take whatever we like.”

“Just because we have weapons, doesn’t mean we have to kill everyone to take the food. There are other ways to get stuff, Brandon.”

“I’m with him.” It was the thug that dragged me in from outside that spoke next. “Why shouldn’t we use what we have to take the supplies? Those girls aren’t sharing it with us.”

Jet was getting exasperated. “Because there is no point. We go in, take them by surprise, and get what we need. They won’t fight us, they’ll be too scared to do anything.”

“Yeah, like that’s worked in the past.”

“We’re doing it my way and that’s the end of it. Does anyone have any further objections?” He stared them all down one by one. If I wasn’t already certain he was the leader amongst them, that display was enough to quash any doubts. They practically shrunk under his fierce gaze.

I kind of knew the feeling.

They were deadly silent as they stood in front of him. I could hear the rush of my heartbeat in my ears as I held my breath waiting for someone to speak again.

Jet nodded. Once. “Good. Now, get ready. Taz, you’re staying back to watch the girl.”

“Why me? Why not someone else?” I assumed that had to be Taz. He was a stocky guy, probably about sixteen judging from his height.

“Quit your whining, cry baby.” Jet walked off before Taz could argue any more. He grabbed something and headed toward me.

I cringed, bracing myself for whatever horrible thing Jet planned on doing