Read Polaris for Free Online Page A

something,” Parker said.
    After leaving the medical center, they made their way across the street to the shop where they’d last seen the old man. The owner was out front shoveling snow and singing to himself.
    “ Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream ,” he sang. “ Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream …”
    “Excuse me, sir,” Parker began. “Do you happen to know where the old man you were talking to earlier went?’
    The shop owner stopped shoveling and gave them a puzzled look.
    “What old man?’ he said.
    “The one who was talking to you about ten minutes ago,” Parker said.
    The shop owner shook his head.
    “I’ve been out here for about forty-five minutes shoveling, and I’ve only spoken to a couple of people. Both were young girls. One was looking for poster board, the other a certain metallic spray paint,” he said.
    “Are you sure? We saw him talking to you,” Aaron said.
    “No. You must be mistaken. It wasn’t me,” he said and continued shoveling.
    “What’s going on?” Parker whispered.
    “I dunno, but let’s get back to your house and get your camera.”
     
     

     
     
    They made their way back down the old country road near the old Washington Bridge and noticed that the tree was now off to the side of the road. Parker stopped the truck. “Good. At least the tree is gone.”
    Aaron’s heart beat against his ribcage, and he felt as if he were being watched. “Don’t you see that there is something weird going on?”
    “No.”
    Aaron pointed to the street in front of them. “There are no tire tracks leading up to the tree.”
    “So? Maybe they came earlier and new snow covered them.”
    Aaron shook his head. “No, it’s something else. The tree was recently moved, look at the big sweep of missing snow where it was dragged over.” Aaron pointed to the side of the road. “But there are no new tracks leading to it or around it.”
    Parker straightened in his seat and looked out the driver side and through the passenger window. “Yeah, I think you’ve got a point there, Sherlock.”
    “I know it’s Nakal, “Aaron said. “Let’s get out of here.”
    “Why is he having these creatures attack you,” Parker asked. “What did you do?”
    Aaron forcibly blew out his breath. “Dude, I don’t know. All I did was let him come in from the cold. I only tried to help him.”
    “Well, I knew something was wrong with him when I first saw him,” Parker replied, “and he knew that I knew he was up to something no good.”
    Parker put the truck in drive and slowly moved forward. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands, and his eyes intently observed everything on the road ahead.
    They slowly picked up speed as they made their way toward the Old Washington Bridge. They watched for any sudden movements of the tree branches or the unforgettable, ominous thumping that announced the forthcoming presence of the eraser creature. A loud pop sounded, followed by a wobbling sound as the truck veered off to the side of the road.
    “Sounds like one of the tires blew,” Parker said as he put the truck into park and climbed out.
    Aaron sighed, quickly scanning the area before leaving the safety of the truck.
    Parker knelt down to examine the rear flat. He pulled out a dagger that was stuck in the side of the tire and handed it to Aaron. “Someone sabotaged us,” he said.
    “We both know who that someone was.” Aaron examined the object and stuck it in his back pocket. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
    After deciding the woods would not be the safest place for them, they ran down the main road, until they heard a thumping sound in the distance that caused them to stop in their tracks.
    “Sounds like it’s coming from over there,” Parker said, pointing to the left side of the street.
    “Come on.” Aaron took off running to the right, directly into the woods, with Parker right behind him.
    “Wait,” Parker yelled.
    Aaron stopped running,