Read Feral for Free Online Page A

Park.”
    â€œShit,” Jared breathed, and sat on the arm of the couch.   “I know what they call it now.”   Then to Shannon, “You didn’t say anything about Feral Park.”
    â€œI know,” Shannon said, remembering the insanity within those iron barred walls.   “Feral Park is another story.”
    â€œNo shit!   In case you weren’t aware, that place has a bad history.   I wouldn’t go there after dark on a dare.   I could tell you some interesting stories about that place.   It’s a bad place, sis,” he said.   “I thought you knew about it.”
    â€œI didn’t know, and they’re not fairy stories.”   She talked to Jared, but watched the girl.   The gold locket spun and glittered in the weak lamplight as she looked from brother to sister.   It took all her will power not to reach over and yank it from the girl’s neck.   “Something happened there.”   Then to the girl, “Why would you want to go back there anyway? You saw what happened to me.”
    â€œBecause he can’t see me there,” she said, frustrated.
    â€œWho is he ?” Shannon shouted.   “If you tell us who he is, we can help you!”
    Slowly, she shook her head.   “No you can’t.   He’ll kill you.”
    â€œI used to be a cop,” Jared said.   “I can handle him.”
    The girl looked at him, a sad smile played across her face, but she said nothing.
    â€œIf we take you back, will you tell us who he is?” Shannon asked.
    The girl considered this for a moment, then nodded.   “Yes.”
    â€œShit!   I can’t believe we’re playing games with her,” Jared said.   “This is crazy.”
    You don’t have a clue what crazy is , Shannon thought.
    â€œCome on, Jared,” she said.   “I’ll tell you about last night on the way, and you can tell me what I don’t know about this Feral Park.”
    Â 
    T raffic was light through town, but it was getting close to noon and would soon pick up.   It was a little heavier at the northeastern end of Riverside, the industrial area.   Mostly it was commercial traffic and people coming into town from the highway.   The heat was a constant, but the air conditioner in Jared’s Chevelle made the trip tolerable.
    Shannon reported the previous night’s horror with a degree of self-consciousness.   She realized how crazy it sounded, but she was true to what happened.   She didn’t leave anything out.
    Jared listened silently, caught somewhere between belief and disbelief.   His sister was not an overly imaginative person, prone to flights of fancy, but the story she told was incredible.   Insane.
    The girl sat quietly in the back seat.
    Shannon ended with how she had carried the girl home earlier that morning, praying every step of the way that no one would see them.
    Jared found a parking spot at the end of the industrial area and killed the motor.   The park’s main entrance and parking lot were accessible only from the highway, but that had been blocked off years ago to keep tourists and passing travelers out of the abandoned park and its decrepit playground.
    The dike, and the crumbling asphalt path that led to Feral Park, was a short walk away.
    Jared told his sister the stories he’d heard about Feral Park.   The missing kids who had been last seen there, the phantom noises, and the girl whose death had tainted the place.
    Â 
    S hannon and Jared walked with the girl between them, not holding onto her, but ready to grab an arm or shoulder should she try to take off.   She didn’t seem inclined to do so.   They were going where she wanted so she seemed satisfied for now.   They had no idea how they were going to get her out of there again when she told them what they wanted to know.   They had both come to the same silent