The Nightworld - Jack Blaine [10]
It feels different than I guess I expected. As soon as my lips touch hers, any nervousness I have is gone, replaced by this feeling of total certainty. She’s soft, and warm, and . . . everything. It feels totally natural, totally right. She falls into me, her hands on my shoulders. The world around us seems to disappear. Well—for a second at least. Then I hear Charlie’s voice.
“Hey.” Lara and I break apart like we’re doing something wrong. Charlie’s standing in the doorway, biting his lip and running his hand through his hair. I would want to kill him if he didn’t look so worried. I try to keep my voice even. “What’s up, Charlie?”
“Sorry. But I think we’d better get out of here. They just announced that all the buses are gonna stop running early tonight. Last one is in about twenty minutes.”
“Isn’t there somebody who drove that we can hitch a ride home with later?”
Charlie shakes his head. “They said they want people home. Something about the storm coming.”
“Jeez. Is it really that bad?” It figures. Just when something was actually happening, the stupid weather has to go and ruin it. “I’ll be right in, okay?” I wait for Charlie to leave and then turn back to Lara.
“Well, looks like I have to take off.” I touch her arm, wishing I could kiss her again.
“We’re still on for pizza though, right?” She takes hold of my hand, studies it like there’s a map on it. She doesn’t look at me.
“That is one pizza I would hate to miss.”
She finally looks up, and she’s smiling. “I’ll call you tomorrow, to confirm what night.” And then she kisses me. It’s a kiss I don’t think I’ll ever forget. It’s the kiss I never once dreamed I would get from Lara Hanover.
Chapter 6
Dad’s sitting in the living room when I get home, obviously waiting for me. He looks worried.
“Oh, come on, it’s not even close to curfew.” I flash my wrist at him like I’m wearing a watch.
“Nick, thank God.” He stands and looks so relieved I feel guilty for giving him crap. But then I think about what might make him look that worried.
“I only had one beer, Dad—”
“It’s not that, Nick.” He walks over to me and grabs my arms. He just stares at me for a minute, and the look on his face is almost as bad as the look he had when he told me Mom was dead. “Listen. There are things happening. Things I didn’t want to have to tell you, but it looks like there’s no choice.”
I drop onto the sofa. “What’s going on?”
He looks at his hands for a long time. When he finally meets my eyes, his are wet. “We need to get out of here, Nick. I’m going to need your help, because I haven’t had much time to plan. But I have reason to believe that we’ll need to disappear in the next couple of weeks, maybe even sooner.”
I’m trying to track what he’s saying, but it makes no sense. “Disappear?”
He nods. “I know it’s a lot to take in—”
“Does this have something to do with your gun?”
He suddenly focuses all his attention on me. “You know about the . . . which gun?”
“There’s more than one?” I am shocked.
“Which gun did you find, Nick?”
“The one in the china cabinet.”
He nods. “Okay. So the other gun is in my nightstand drawer. They’re both loaded, Nick, so don’t play around. We’ll take them with us when we go, but I need to get some more supplies over the next few days. I’ve already got some . . .” He trails off, as though he’s trying to make a decision, and stands. “Follow me.”
I watch him head into the kitchen and follow him down to the basement.
I haven’t seen the place since they brought in all the equipment. Dad never lets me down there when he’s working, and even when he’s sleeping he keeps it locked. I never really cared; I saw his lab when he still worked in the lab downtown, and it was the most boring thing ever. Lots of measuring devices and blocky plastic machines that didn’t look like they did anything too exciting. Dad used to try