Dead End: Midnight Hollow by Penn Cassidy (best e reader for epub txt) 📕

“Meet us at the manor,” I told them with authority, watching their eyes flicker with anger and doubt, before Freddy looked down at his brother and glanced back up with a nod. He knew Norman needed to get to the aunties so we could figure out what was happening to him. He looked deadly sick, which wasn’t normal because he seemed fine an hour ago.

“Get out of here fast, you hear me?” Michael snapped, his jawline tight. His ocean eyes were filled with worry and dread. I gave him a curt nod.

The four of them went off, Michael and Freddy keeping an eye on Norman, who looked like he was about to throw up as they dragged him down the road between them.

I crept up softly to Jason’s side once the guys and Maddie turned the corner down the block, pretending like they weren’t gawking at the blinking sign. I made my footsteps known, but he didn’t notice me approach. It didn’t even look like he was breathing as he stared straight ahead. I’d never seen his eyes that dark, the usual gunmetal grey gone. His pupils were so blown out that you could only see a blackness full of paralyzing fear. Jason was a big, tough guy, and seeing him like this made my heart sink.

I snuck my hand out, placing it over his tight fist and uncurling his fingers to slide mine through. We were being watched. I’d seen them from the corner of my eyes and tried to convince myself that if I didn’t acknowledge them, they’d disappear just like the guy at the gas station. It wasn’t working.

Clowns were never my personal enemy. My fear involved being left alone or getting stuck in small places, but I supposed I could make an exception and add in clowns to my schedule for the night. The two story building looked like any regular Motel 6 you’d find off the highway, and I firmly remembered passing it on our way out of town to the carnival. But this wasn’t Sunset Hollow’s Motel 6. There was nothing normal about this place.

The bright sign on the corner of the road was lit with big, flashing bulbs of every color, drawing attention to the bold red lettering.

Killer Clown Motel. Come and stay forever.

The sign was a clue enough to stay the hell away, but the icing on the top of the clusterfuck cake had to be the three very real clowns standing in a row, right in the middle of the parking lot. All three were staring at Jason with wide, red lipped smiles that expanded past the curve of their mouths. White powder was smeared across each face, with dark blue circles outlining their haunting eyes, the makeup smudged down each cheek in ruined trails.

Baggy, striped jumpsuits hung off their frames, each foot wearing the typical big red clown shoes. One was wearing a small purple top hat, and he kept honking the horn in his hand, the sound broken and loud in the quiet parking lot. The clown with the brightly colored nose and penciled in black eyebrows was repeatedly blowing up balloon animals, only to pop them over and over again with a long needle.

The last clown was the one that made me the most nervous. I didn’t like the way he was staring at Jason, completely ignoring me. It was like he knew Jason was petrified, and he loved it. His already wide smile grew even bigger, stretching so far at the corners that blood started dripping from his mouth and down his chin. He stood still except for his receding hairline, the strands blowing around his head as a cool breeze brushed by, kicking up dust from the parking lot.

“You might want to start running,” a squeaky voice piped up. Jessica dug her little legs in deeper, latching on tight. “The clowns don’t usually bother people, especially the ones staying at their motel, but they love games. They can’t resist a game, especially that one in the middle.”

Her little spider leg pointed to the one who had yet to look away from Jason. He reached into his baggy pocket and pulled something out…a knife?

Oh shit…

“He can smell fear,” Jessica added. “Mortals have a show about a clown like that, don’t they? American Horrible? No, that’s not it… You know the one clown who’s all sad and lonely as he murders people? Anywho, you might wanna get going before they decide to stop playing,” she warned, and held on tight like she was belting in for a ride.

“Will they chase us?” I asked without taking my eyes off of them. “Jessica!” I whispered loudly when she didn’t respond.

She wasn’t paying attention as she mumbled, “Does anyone else see that little doll?”

What the hell is she talking about?

My eyes flicked to the side for one second, long enough to notice a small marionette doll in a little tan trench coat and a black fedora, leaning against the sign post near a vending machine on the ground level of the motel, staring vacantly into the distance.

“Jessica!” I snapped again, panic setting in deep. “Forget the doll, what do we do?! Will they really chase us? Are we going to die by a fucking clown of all things?”

“Probably,” she said in a distracted tone, and if she weren’t a spider, I thought she would have shrugged.

So much for a helpful tour guide. Geez, Jessica, thanks for the heads up!

“Jason, I need you to calm down and start running, do you hear me?” I tugged on the side of his shirt, my nails biting into the muscles on his abdomen. “I know you probably don’t want to move right now, but you need to run like your life depends on it.”

He was so frozen with fear, he didn't so much as blink. I had no other choice, I had to do something I’d been wanting to do for a full year now. I didn’t think, I just cocked my arm