Read Shadow Hills for Free Online

faster.
    I swam toward her with all my might, straining against the force of the water, but she was sinking too quickly for me to keep up. Her skin had taken on a bluish tinge, and her hair looked like seaweed. I tried to yell, to wake her, but all that came out of my mouth was bubbles.

Chapter
Three
    “Persephone! Are you okay?”
    Ms. Moore was standing in front of me, wide-eyed. We were in the bathroom, but there was no water anywhere, not even a drip from the sink.
    “What … I …” I shook my head, trying to rid it of the cobwebs of my dream.
    “You must have been sleepwalking. I heard you scream, and I came running in. At first I thought you were awake because your eyes were open, but you were … unresponsive.” Ms. Moore looked concerned. “Does this happen to you a lot?”
    “No. I mean, I have nightmares sometimes, but I don’t think I’ve ever sleepwalked before.” I frowned, disoriented.
    “Maybe it’s the change in environment. These old buildings can be kind of spooky without many people around.”
    “Yeah, maybe.” I nodded sluggishly. “I should probably get back to bed.”
    “Are you sure?” Ms. Moore’s eyes searched mine. “Is there anyone you want me to call?”
    Yes, call my parents. Tell them I’m screaming in the middle
of the night. I’m sure they want to keep close tabs on my frenetic behavior
.
    “No, really. I’m fine.” Ms. Moore’s expression was still worried. “I just need to go back to sleep; I’m exhausted.”
    “Okay.” She stood in the hall watching me, arms folded over her chest, until I disappeared into my room.
    I crawled onto the thin mattress and slipped under the plain white sheets. No wonder I was sleeping worse than before; this tiny twin bed was way too hard to be comfortable, and the blankets were scratchy compared to the worn flannel sheets I had at home. My old home.
    I pulled the green notebook out of the drawer on the bedside table. There was no alarm clock on the table, but I knew before I even looked at my cell that it was a little past 3:33 a.m. Quickly, I scribbled down the contents of my dream. It was new, and I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. There had been a few dreams right after Athena drowned that were similar to this one. However, they had never been so vivid, and the gold key was odd.
    I really was exhausted. The nightmares always made me tired, but sleepwalking? The new experience had left me completely depleted of energy. My mind was fuzzy, and my bones were heavy as lead.
    Maybe Athena was sleepwalking, too
.
    It might explain why she had been feeling so drained. I tried to find anything in my memory that would point to that. Bruises from bumping into furniture? Food going missing from the kitchen in the middle of the night? But before I could think of anything else, I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

    The next morning I awoke to a soft gray light streaming in the window behind my bed. The filmy white curtains would have been totally ineffective in my bedroom in California, with the floor-to-ceiling windows and bright Los Angeles sunshine, but here in dusky Shadow Hills, they were more than adequate.
    As I washed up in the bathroom—which I found slightly unsettling after my dream—I checked on the strange mark I’d seen on my hip yesterday. Not only was the red half moon still there, but now there was a second one above it. While the first crescent-shaped line had been vertical and facing toward the right, this new one was horizontal and facing down. The dark pink marks were each about an inch long. I tried to ignore the creeping, itchy feeling that slipped across my skin. I had probably dug my nails into my hip during my nightmare.
No big deal
.
    When I got back to my room, I noticed the screen on my phone was lit up. I’d missed a call from Ariel. I picked up my cell and hit speed dial.
    We talked for a few minutes, but it was stilted and awkward. Once I was actually on the phone with her, all the things I had been