Moonlight Secrets

  Like a shark, I guess. Ha.

  But before I got back there I heard footsteps behind me, and someone called my name.

  I turned and saw Jamie Richards smiling at me. Jamie is one of the prettiest and one of the nicest girls at Shadyside High. She still walks with a slight limp from her accident last year.

  I guess she’s lucky to be alive.

  A year ago she and her boyfriend, Lewis Baransky, were hanging out at the wreckage of the Fear Mansion late at night. And they accidentally fell into the open foundation hole. When they fell, it started a landslide of dirt, all crushing in on them.

  I mean, that’s what they think happened. Neither one of them remembers that night at all. I guess it was too terrifying, and their memory was wiped clean.

  Luckily these two off-duty cops came by at just the right time. The cops saw Jamie and Lewis fall in the hole. Somehow, they pulled them out before they were buried alive.

  A miracle. They both had broken bones and things busted inside them. And psychological issues, I guess. They were both in the hospital a long time, and they didn’t get to graduate with the rest of their class. I think they’re really bummed to have to do twelfth grade all over again.

  They both had to recuperate at home for months. Jamie said it wasn’t a total waste of time. She took up sculpting with clay and found she was really good at it. Her father set up a studio with a kiln for her in the garage, and she spent most of her time there.

  I think Lewis spent the time playing video games, watching the Japanese anime movies that he loves, and begging his parents to let him out of the house. He’s a tall, wiry, active kinda guy, and I think he went nuts being trapped in the house for so long.

  So now they’re both doing okay. A few weeks ago, they started sneaking out of their houses after midnight again and meeting up with the rest of us at Nights.

  “How’s it going, Jamie?” I asked.

  “Not bad,” she said, tossing back her dark hair. “Filling out college applications. You believe I had to start all over again?”

  “Weren’t you accepted at Brown?”

  “Yeah. But they wouldn’t hold my place for a year. It was so obnoxious.” She turned to Ryland. “Diet Coke?”

  “Where’s Lewis?” I asked.

  She frowned. “I don’t think he’s coming tonight. He’s been kinda messed up.”

  “Messed up? You mean sick?”

  She shook her head. “No. Nightmares. Lewis has these weird nightmares. He gets totally creeped out by them, then he can’t sleep.” She sighed. “He still dreams about the accident. We both do. I . . . I just can’t put it behind me.”

  “Sorry,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say. I really liked Jamie. I guess I had a crush on her. But she and Lewis had been going together since junior high or something. No way I stood a chance there.

  She took her Diet Coke from Ryland, and I led the way to the back. “Who’s that girl with Shark?” I asked her. “Ever see her before?”

  Shark and the girl were laughing about something. The girl had her back to us. All we could see was her streaked, white-blonde hair down over the collar of her red sweater. Then she turned and we could see her face.

  She had straight bangs across her forehead, high cheekbones like a magazine model, and big, round green eyes. A babe!

  “Oh, yeah. I know her,” Jamie said. “Nikki Howitz. She’s friends with Ada, but she doesn’t go to Shadyside. She goes to Waynesbridge.”

  We stepped up to their booth. “Hey, whussup?” Shark said. He and I slapped a high five. He gave Jamie a two-fingered salute.

  “Move it,” I said, dropping into the booth and shoving Shark over. I kept sliding in until there was room for Jamie. Shark introduced Nikki.

  “What was so funny?” I asked.

  “Your face,” Shark replied.

  “Shut up,” Nikki said. “You guys are friends, right?”

  “Nate is my friend, but I’m not his friend,” Shark said. He giggled. Like that was so funny.

  “Don’t pay any attention to him,” Nikki said. “Ask him how many beers he’s drunk.”

  Shark’s eyes did look a little funny. Like they were floating around loose in his head. I squinted at him. “What’s your problem, man?”

  A sly smile spread over his face. “Do I need a problem?” he tilted his beer bottle at me in a salute, then took a long pull.

  “You’re friends with Ada, right?” Jamie said to Nikki.

  “Shut up. How’d you know that?” Nikki replied.

  “She talks about you sometimes,” Jamie said. “You’re a swimmer, right? All-state or something.”

  Nikki grinned at her. “You know everything about me.”

  “Ada and I were counselors at the same camp,” Jamie said. “Camp Running Cloud? We hung out a lot. Really got to know each other.”

  Shark slid his arm around Nikki’s shoulders. “Nikki and I are going camping,” he said. “Just the two of us.”

  She gave him a hard shove. “In your dreams.”

  Shark laughed. He turned to me with a wide grin on his face. “Know what I did to Candy Shutt tonight? You gotta hear this.”

  Jamie narrowed her eyes at Shark. “What you did to her?”

  Shark nodded. “She’s trying to get back with me, do you believe it?”

  “Huh?” I exclaimed. “But she dumped you.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Shark’s grin faded. “That’s old news.”

  Candy really messed Shark up last year. I mean, he was totally into her. And then she lied and said she had the flu, and he saw her that night making out like crazy with Andy Johnson in the backseat of Andy’s car.

  Shark was, like, blown away by that. I mean, totally hurt. Of course he never let on. And he never said anything to me.

  You’ve gotta read between the lines with Shark. You have to know him as well as I do, or else you’ll never be able to read him. Because he never lets on.

  But he did some wild things after that night. He’d get really tanked at Nights, and then he’d go out and pull up mailboxes and break some windows. And he stole a car and drove it around all night. Then he returned it before the owner woke up in the morning.

  He’s a good guy. But he can go a little nuts.

  I’m the calm one. Everyone says, “Nate is low-key, not temperamental.” Sometimes I try to tell Shark to take a breath. You know, count to ten. But how do you hold back a shark?

  “Okay, spill,” I said. “What did you do to Candy Shutt?”

  6

  “She came to Nights last night,” Shark said, spinning the beer bottle between his hands. “By the way, Nate, where were you?”

  “I did Calculus problems till two a.m.,” I said. “I can’t believe Martin assigned half the textbook!”

  “Well, anyway, I was waiting for Nikki, and Candy came striding in. You know the way she walks. Like she owns the place. Like she’s a star or something. And she cornered me in that booth over there.” He pointed.

  “Then she totally came on to me. She kept kissing me and, like, breathing on me, and saying we should take a walk together. And how she missed me so much it hurt.”

  Nikki’s green eyes went wide. “Shut up. I don’t believe it. Just before I came in?”

  Shark nodded. “Yeah. She was, like, all over me, man. She said we were so right together. So good together. You know. Like out of some wacked-out romance novel.”

  Shark shook his head and laughed. Then he raised the beer bottle to his mouth and emptied it.

  “So what did you do?” Jamie asked him.

  Shark let out a loud burp.

  “Can’t take him anywhere,” Nikki muttered. “You’re so gross.”

  Shark grabbed my arm. He grinned at me. “Know what I did, Nate? I told her I felt the same way about her.”

  “Shut up!” Nikki cried. She gave Shark a hard shove.

  Shark ignored her. “I said I couldn’t wait to hook up with her. I said I’d meet her tonight. Go to a movie. I told
her to meet me at nine at the Cineplex.”

  “Get out!” Nikki said. “Did you go?”

  “Of course not,” Shark said. “No way I’d go out with that slut.”

  “You stood her up?” Jamie asked. “She was waiting there at nine, and you just didn’t show up?”

  Shark nodded, still grinning. “Yeah.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell her to take a walk?” Jamie asked.

  “This was funnier,” Shark said.

  “But—,” Jamie started.

  “And think how good she felt all day,” Shark said. “Thinking she was going out with me. It made her day, right? I mean, till nine o’clock.”

  “That’s mean,” Jamie said.

  “For sure,” Shark agreed, his eyes flashing. “And then here’s what else I did. I changed the voicemail message on my cell. I changed it to say, ‘Have a nice day, Candy, you slut.’ ”

  Shark took my beer from my hand and finished it. “And sure enough, about nine twenty, my cell rang. I recognized Candy’s number. I didn’t pick up so she’d get my special message.” He tossed back his head and laughed.

  I just stared at him and didn’t say a word. I didn’t know what to say. I knew Shark was kinda wild and liked to act like a macho guy. But I never knew he had such a mean streak.

  I guess Candy had hurt him more than we realized.

  Shark was still laughing when Jamie suddenly waved her hands for him to be quiet. Jamie’s eyes were on the front door.

  We all turned and saw the figure sweeping toward us.

  Candy Shutt.

  My heart started to pound. “Look out, dude,” I told Shark. “Here she comes. And no joke—she looks like she could murder someone.”

  7

  Candy didn’t stop to kiss the brass plaque on the wall. She came roaring down the bar like a charging elephant.

  She was big and red-faced. Her jaw was clenched, and she had her hands balled into fists. She wore a pale blue top and a short black skirt, very tight, over dark blue tights. Her curly black hair bounced on her head as she trod up to us.

  “I’m out of here,” Jamie said, jumping to her feet. “I hate violence.”

  “Me too,” I said. I wanted to join Jamie, but I couldn’t scramble out of the booth fast enough.

  Jamie took one step and Candy bulled right into her.

  “Oh!” both girls cried out.

  Candy bounced back, breathing hard. Her tiny, black eyes went wide. “Look out,” she growled.

  Jamie lowered her eyes to Candy’s shirt. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing.

  The question took Candy by surprise. She followed Jamie’s gaze. “My pendant?”

  Jamie nodded. She wrapped her fingers around it. “Are these real jewels?”

  “I don’t know,” Candy said. She glanced at Shark, and her face turned red again. “I think so.”

  “It looks like it’s really old,” Jamie said.

  She lowered her head to examine the silver pendant closely. I couldn’t tell if she was really interested in it, or if she was just trying to distract Candy and keep her from murdering Shark.

  “Weird,” Jamie murmured, eyeing the blue jewels. “I just had this strange flash. Like I’d seen this pendant before.”

  “Yeah. Weird,” Candy said. She scowled at Shark.

  “Where’d you get it?” Jamie asked.

  Candy let out an impatient sigh. “At a store, okay?” She still had her hands knotted into tight fists. She really wanted to get to Shark.

  But Jamie wouldn’t let her get by. “What store?” she asked. “Around here?”

  “That little jewelry store. The Fear Street Gold Mine. Okay? Right across the street from this bar. I saw it in the window.”

  “Oh. Wow . . .” Jamie ran her fingers over the pendant’s silver clasp. “Very pretty. Thanks for letting me see it. Bye, guys. I’ve got to go home now.”

  Jamie edged past Candy and made her way, limping, to the front door.

  I saw Candy take a deep breath, as if gathering back her anger. Then she spun on Shark.

  “You—you lying piece of . . .” With an angry cry, she threw herself over the table, swinging her fists at him.

  I pinned myself against the back of the booth to get out of the way. Shark laughed and dodged her punches.

  Screaming at the top of her lungs, Candy let out a string of curses. Nikki went pale and tried to duck away. With a deafening shriek of fury, Candy picked up Shark’s beer bottle and turned it over his head.

  Empty.

  Shark laughed.

  Candy tossed the bottle at him. He ducked, and the bottle bounced off the back of the padded booth and clattered onto the tabletop.

  “Give it up, Candy,” I said. “Take a breath.”

  I don’t think she heard me. She was still screaming and cursing.

  I scrambled out of the booth. This was kinda scary. She was totally out of control. I saw the worried look on Nikki’s face. Shark was the only one smiling.

  And then, with a shrill cry, Candy threw herself over the table again. She grabbed Shark by the shoulders and jerked him forward.

  Their faces met. Candy pushed her mouth against his.

  Shark uttered a startled gasp.

  Grunting angrily, Candy pressed her mouth hard against Shark’s lips. She gripped him tightly. I saw him struggle to free himself.

  But she held him there, groaning, grinding her mouth against his.

  “Candy, let go—,” I said. I started toward her.

  With a cry, she ended the horrifying kiss and backed away. Her dark eyes were glowing. Her mouth twisted in an awful grin.

  I saw Shark’s eyes go wide. And then he opened his mouth in a scream.

  Bright red blood poured down his chin. His lips—they were open. Cut open and gushing blood.

  Candy tossed back her head and laughed. And I saw Shark’s blood on her teeth and lips, running down her chin.

  “BIT me. . . .” Shark groaned. His lips were totally ripped open and swelling up. The blood rolled down his chin onto the front of his T-shirt. “She bit me. . . .”

  8

  Jamie had watched the whole thing from the front door. Now she came hurrying back to us. I looked for Ryland, but I didn’t see him.

  “Shark . . . he’s totally cut up,” Jamie said. “I have my car. We’d better get him to the hospital.”

  “No hospital!” Shark screamed. He covered his lips with both hands.

  Candy laughed again. Her face was bright red, and her dark eyes flashed with excitement. “Bye, everyone,” she shouted, using the back of her hand to wipe the blood from her lips.

  She turned to leave, but Nikki leaped up from the table and grabbed her by the shoulders. “How could you do that?” Nikki screamed. “How could you do that to him?”

  “Let go of me,” Candy said, lowering her voice. She suddenly seemed calm. She narrowed her eyes, locking them on Nikki. “Let go of me, slut. I’ll tear you to pieces. I mean it. I’ll tear you apart.”

  She said it so coldly, so intently, Nikki’s mouth dropped open and she backed away.

  Candy spun around, shoved Jamie out of her way, and stomped heavily to the front door.

  Jamie turned to Shark. She grabbed his arm. “You need stitches. We have to get you to the hospital.”

  Shark didn’t answer. He stared straight ahead, one hand still pressed over his mouth. I could see the anger in his eyes. I’d seen Shark angry before, but not like this. I almost expected to see steam spouting from his head.

  Nikki’s face was pale. Her chin quivered. “Shark?” she called to him softly. “Shark? Are you okay? Can you hear us? Jamie thinks—”

  Shark tore out of the booth. “Grab those beer bottles,” he said. He was breathing noisily. His eyes were wild.

  “Shark?” I said. “What are you doing?”

  I don’t know why I obeyed him. I guess it was just a habit. I grabbed the two bottles and followed him, running out of the bar. I glanced back and saw
Nikki and Jamie hurrying after us.

  We burst out of the bar in time to see Candy’s car pull away. She drove a little red BMW, an early graduation gift from her parents.

  The tires squealed as Candy gunned the engine, and the car took off, barreling down Fear Street.

  “Shark, don’t!” Nikki shrieked.

  But Shark grabbed a bottle from my hands. He took a running start, pulled back his arm, and heaved it at the back of the little BMW.

  I let out a cry as the bottle missed its target and shattered noisily on the pavement.

  Then, without thinking, I took my turn.

  Why did I fling the second bottle at Candy’s car? I’m always the sensible one, always the one trying to cool Shark down.

  Maybe I’d had too much beer. Or maybe it was the sight of Shark’s bleeding, torn mouth. I felt so angry!

  I took a running start and threw the bottle with all my strength. And a second later, I heard the crash—the sound of shattering glass.

  Shark and the others cheered. Someone slapped me on the back. “Way to go, Nate!”

  The car squealed to a stop.

  It took me a moment to realize Candy’s car was backing up. I heard the roar of the engine first. The squeal of tires. Then the car came shooting toward us, swerving wildly this way and that.

  “Look out—!” I screamed. I leaped onto the sidewalk and pressed my back against the front of the bar.

  Shark jumped the other way. He lowered his body and dove as the back end of the car bulleted toward him. “You crazy idiot!” he screamed at Candy.

  The car squealed to a stop, tires scraping the pavement.

  “I’ll pay you back,” she shouted. Her hoarse scream rang out through the shattered rear window. “You’ll pay! I mean it!”

  Was she shouting at Shark—or at me? Did she see that I was the one who smashed her car window?

  No one moved. We stood and watched as Candy angrily shifted gears and the tires squealed again as the little car started to pull away.

  “You’ll pay!” Candy screamed again over the roar of the engine. “You’ll ALL pay!”

  The words sent a chill down my back.

  I froze as Candy’s warning repeated and repeated in my mind.