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Tick sat back against the wall, his head swies represented a very seriousextremely important He was sure the phrase in the first letter that said many lives were at stake wasn’t a joke and it scared hiet to the bottoure out the first clue He looked over at his calendar and started running through the words of theto mentally pinpoint the special day it referred to, but hisin too ht Let’s seeone week from todaysix weeks beforesixhis head, Tick grabbed the first letter from MG, folded it up with the second, then stuffed them both into the back pocket of his jeans and ran downstairs It was ti over to the library!" he yelled as he quickly put on his coat and gloves He was out the door before she could respond

By the tihborhood, the snow had let up, the air around hi clouds

Deer Park was a small town and since the city center was only a couple of miles fro a bookwor, the library often ended up as Tick’s destination of choice Especially when he wanted to use the Internet His family had it at home, but it wasn’t as fast as at the library, and Kayla always seea hiave in

He crossed over the town square where, during the sue fountain usually sprayed Now the square lay as a flat expanse of whiteness, countless footsteps in the snow crisscrossing it as people bustled around the town

The library was one of the oldest buildings around, a gray bundle of granite built decades ago To get there, Tick always took a shortcut between the fire station and the drugstore, a thin alley the width of his shoulders The stone walls that towered over hi the alley made him think of old medieval castles

He had almost reached the end of the alley when a quick breeze whipped past his left ear, followed by an eerie, haunting host before heading back to its grave Tick spun around, stu, rippling cloud of gray s out then shrinking back again every two or three seconds Like it wasbreathing

And then the smoke turned into a face

The wispy s into unray eyebrows A crooked nose with black, gaping holes for nostrils Thin lips pulled back into a wicked grin, exposing an abyss of a mouth with no teeth Wild, unkempt hair and beard

Tick willed himself to move, but he could only stare in a in front of hiroan filled with grief and pain It came frorowing louder and creepier Tick felt goose bu across his skin in waves

"Whatwho are you?" he asked, ae to speak

Instead of answering, the s wider

Then it lunged toward Tick, who turned and ran for his life