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12:00 AM-

Long Midnight

IN THE RIP

Silence

Midnight fell, extinguishing thethe world blue and still and red

Here in the center of the rip everything began to gliether, time arrested, yet not The rain pattered down for a few more seconds, then petered out; the rip hadn&039;t expanded enough to include the heavy clouds above their heads Melissa wondered if when it reached theain

Weather in the secret hour Just when I thought I&039;d seen everything

"Where is she?" Jessica asked

Melissa closed her eyes, trying to ignore the flaer&039;s coppery, panicked taste She sent herin the opposite directions toward don and theslowly now, but she could already feel its speed increasing

No little sisters in it, though

"Sorry, Jess I can&039;t feel her"

"Why not?"

"Your sister&039;s not inside the rip Not yet, anyway She must still be frozen, so I can&039;t taste her ht there!" Jessica pointed down at the double-wide at the edge of the tracks The red-tinged boundary had already sed it

"Yep And I can taste her grand," Melissa said "But nobody else is home"

Jessica&039;s face twisted into an expression of fury, her mind all fiery peppers and burned toast

"That little creep snuck out!" she cried

Melissa raised an eyebrow, suddenly relieved she didn&039;t have an older sister of her own Madeleine&039;s interfering had included hters in Bixby had siblings - and this hy

"Calm down, Jess," Jonathan said "She can&039;t be too far away Once the rip reaches her, we&039;ll deal with it"

Jessica looked at Melissa "And you&039;re sure you&039;ll recognize her ether, won&039;t they?"

"What if they aren&039;t?"

Melissa sighed "I have an idea what your sister tastes like, okay? I&039;ve been to your house atinto new shapes as she realized what Melissa was ad "Damn you!" she said, and turned and stalked away

"I never touched the shrimp," Melissa said to Flyboy "Just the parents"

He offered a shrug, then went to calh, feeling weighed down by her long, rain-soaked dress She and Rex should have ad tiured that it would come up eventually and at a time like this, when everyone needed to stay calm

They had the fireworks already in place, rockets stuck into the gravel, flares and sparklers divided into separate boxes, all of it covered with a tarp from Jonathan&039;s trunk Melissa decided toShe flicked the tarp to knock the rainwater off, then pulled it from the fireworks

The arsenal looked formidable: candles and hurricane laht every fuse herself, Ros when they arrived, and highway flares that would last for hours, giving the residents of Jenks a fighting chance after the three of the now?

Melissa closed her eyes again and swept through the expanding space of the rip More humans were inside it now, startled by the sudden silence of their TVs and the strange shi

It was really happening; the blue tie, a fah the confused babble of norirl

Rex was calling

She smiled at first, but as she focused on the distant beacon of thought, Melissa tasted the e for her to respond, needing so

"Oh, crap," she said

"What?" Jessica called "Is she okay?"

Melissa shook her head "Still no Beth It&039;s Rex He needs us to get don"

Jonathan frowned "Sure, but not until we - "

"It feels like he needs us now Soet it," Jessica hissed

"Listen, just because your sister - "

"No way, Melissa," Flyboy said "We can&039;t leave Jenks undefended just because you&039;ve got a feeling They&039;re right in the path of the invasion here We have to light these things before we head into Bixby"

"So let&039;s light them," she said "He needs us!"

"Not until I find Beth" Jessica grasped Jonathan&039;s ar wouldn&039;t get her anywhere The taste of the flaer&039;s mind was set "Okay," she said "You and I can stay here until I taste your little sister Then I&039;ll go get her while you light up the fireworks"

Jessica crossed her aret her"

"Whatever But Flyboy, you have to head do You can get there in five o alone"

"But why?" Jonathan asked

"Because Rex needs us!" Melissa shook her head "I don&039;t know exactly why; he&039;s too far away for o and see what he needs"

Jonathan looked at Jessica, and Melissa tasted the sickly sweet coupleness passing between the you," he said

Jessica frowned, and Melissa tasted a twinge of her guilt that their plans were revolving around her as usual "But ht!" he cried