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Chapter Thirteen
Oneof the good things about becoming vampire is that your physical abilities are remarkably enhanced.
Things like speed and strength. Everything with the dog happens so quickly, the two astounded teenagers
who witness it literally don t believe their eyes. Ryan s mouth hangs open and Trish has a dazed,
confused look that would be comical if the circumstances weren t beginning to tick me off.
Yo, Ryan, I snap again. The dog is starting to recover, squirming and growling as he tries to shake off
my hands. I mean it. Call off your dog or he s going to get hurt.
The kid finally responds. His mouth opens and closes a couple of times before he gets the words out.
Cujo.Down.
Cujo?
I feel the dog relax and ease my hands away. In a flash, the same dogwho was hell bent on ripping my
throat out is lapping at my face like it s a burger pop.
With a shudder, I jump to my feet, scrubbing at my face with the back of my hand. There s nothing I
hate more than dog slobber.
Cujoscrambles up, too, and wriggles his way to Ryan s side, his whole body vibrating to the beat of a
wildly wagging tail.
Ryan reaches down and cradles the dog s head. Good boy.
By now, I ve recovered enough to be angry again. Trish has moved to Ryan s side and the two take
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turns patting the dog and telling it what a good boy it s been. Ryan is the same height as Trish with the
same coloring. But his clothes are clean and pressed and he s obviously bathed in the last few days.
Whatever their relationship, he s not been camping out here with her.
I suck in a breath. Okay, you two.Enough. What s going on? Trish, what are you doing here? How do
you know me?
Trish throws me one of those looks thatmakes me remember all over again why I left teaching. The
disdain only a teenager can exude. I heard my mother talking about you, she says. You re the
girlfriend of some bigwig at her hospital.
Her hospital?I start getting the sick feeling I ve missed something important with Carolyn. I wave a hand
at Trish to continue.
He s resigned now, I guess, but Mom said you had a place on the beach that you didn t live in
anymore. I looked up your address on line. When I came out, I saw that you were remodeling and the
place was empty. I decided to stay here. I haven t hurt anything. You can see for yourself.
Her tone morphs from bold defiance to quiet desperation. But her words make my gut twist with
anxiety. Carolyn hasn t told Trish what our relationship really is. And she worksatAvery s hospital? I give
myself a mental thump on the head. I never thought to ask Carolyn where she works. There are a lot of
hospitals inSan Diego . What are the odds she d work at Avery s? More important now, though, is why
would she be discussing me and with whom?
Ryan holds out the bag he s been clutching in his hand. Can we talk about this while Trish eats? he
asks. I can only bring food once a day and she hasn t eaten since yesterday.
Trish s drawn face softens when she looks at Ryan. I can hear her stomach rumble, so I nod. Sure. Go
ahead.
The two kids sit cross-legged on the floor of the garage and rip into the bag. He s brought bologna
sandwiches and chips and the biggest bottle of some dark soda I ve ever seen.Typical teen fare. Not a
piece of fruit or carton of milk in the mix.
I sit down beside them and watch them eat.Cujo sneaks his way to my side and lies down with his head
on my lap.
And I hate dogs. Go figure.
For a minute, Ryan and Trish are just two teenagers devouring their junk food with the gusto of youth. I
let her finish one sandwich and start on the second before I interrupt.
Trish?
She looks up at me and I see the shadow in her eyes.
What are you doing here?
She stops chewing, the sandwich suspended in a hand that begins to shake.
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Ryan eyes flash. She s not going back to that house, he says. If you make her, we ll just run away
again. This time we ll leave the state. We ll go toMexico . You ll never find us.
His tone is fervent and desperate, a kid trying to explain the demon threatening his best friend to an adult
he suspects doesn t believe in them.
But I m not most adults.
Did someone hurt you, Trish? I ask softly.
Ryan reaches out a gentle hand and touches her shoulder. Tell her, he says. Or I will.
Trish s hand descends slowly, the sandwich falling from her limp fingers while tears spill onto her cheeks.
Wedon tknow her, she mumbles to Ryan.
He nods toward me. Yeah, but look atCujo . He likes her, so she can t be all bad.
I put a hand onCujo s head, trying to emphasize the dog s obvious good judgment, but he looks up at
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