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Magic on Burnt House Lane
Anyto happen to us”
The area around Burnt House Lane was deserted at this tiht The cracks in the pavement that Mae hardly noticed by day had turned into shadowy scars along the ceed paths that led into the dark of yet another dead-end alley They peered down into the alley and made the silent mutual decision to walk on extremely fast Mae was in the lead
“Come on, this is an adventure”
Rachel muttered behind her, “I’m pretty sure that’s what I just said”
Mae had to concede that this ht not have been one of her better ideas She’d just wanted so different now that she was finally able to leave the house, so, and a party in an empty warehouse near Burnt House Lane had seemed the perfect plan
A streetlaht sed the crackle and night spat them up, but by then Rachel and Erica had both walked into Mae’s back and were huddling together
Rachel was shivering “I think this may be the worst situation I have ever been in”
“Don’t be an idiot,” said Mae “I’ve been in much worse situations than this”
She shivered and thought of the knife sliding in her sweaty grasp, the terrible resistance as she had sunk it into skin She remembered the blood on her hands
Rachel and Erica didn’t know anything about what had happened last ht she’d run off to London with her poor uided brother on some crazy impulse
Her rounded for teeks, picked up outside school in Annabel’s car like one of the younger kids who ran froe for another
Mae closed her eyes,streetlaht lanterns flooding the forest with gold, dancing with an edge of danger so she wasn’t sure if she eating from exhilaration or fear, and black eyes on hers
She’d seen ic And now she’d lost it
She wasn’t thinking about that, though She was finally out for the night and she was going to have a good ti to think about anyone else
There was a clatter and rabbed her ar like a small scared animal
“It’s fine,” Mae said loudly, more to herself than her friends She’d walked around Burnt House Lane after dark hundreds of ti to start being scared now just because she knew exactly what could be watching
Mae walked on, keeping her stridefollowed them that she could hear
“There’s nothing to worry about,” she told Erica “Nothing”
They reached the next alley and saw the warehouse where the party was being held, its s strearinned
“See,” she said “What did I tell you?”
“Sorry I got freaked out,” said Erica, who had not said a word all this ti, “Sounds great!” while Rachel on the other said, “We’re all dooh, really After all, Jah a crime den”
She laughed, and Rachel on Mae’s other side did too, both of the away in the light
The warehouse suddenly looked a lot less inviting
“Ja around the Lane?” Mae asked “Since when?”
Jarounded Annabel had assu, and Mae had let her It wasn’t as if they could tell anyone the truth
Mae had taken the blaht for weeks He’d said he was going to the library to study; after all, it was his GCSE year, and the tests were co up soon
She didn’t knohy she’d believed him He’d lied to her before
Erica looked uncertain about how Mae would take this, but she said, “Tiht for weeks”
Erica’s boyfriend Tiuys, eren’t Laners but liked to hang around Burnt House Lane anyway The Lane wasaround, but far too ood time
Wandering Burnt House Lane after darkJamie did not take chances like that She always told him he needed to take more risks, have a little fun, and Jamie always sot all the danger he needed in his life eating school lunches
Mae thought about the very real danger Jaht about seeing a black ers tell her that her baby brother was going to die
She could hear theto her and pro as a heartbeat She wanted to have fun with her friends again, to find Seb and see where that was going She wanted to return to her normal life
And she would, as soon as she knew her brother was safe
1
Magic on Burnt House Lane
Anyto happen to us”
The area around Burnt House Lane was deserted at this tiht The cracks in the pavement that Mae hardly noticed by day had turned into shadowy scars along the ceed paths that led into the dark of yet another dead-end alley They peered down into the alley and made the silent mutual decision to walk on extremely fast Mae was in the lead
“Come on, this is an adventure”
Rachel muttered behind her, “I’m pretty sure that’s what I just said”
Mae had to concede that this ht not have been one of her better ideas She’d just wanted so different now that she was finally able to leave the house, so, and a party in an empty warehouse near Burnt House Lane had seemed the perfect plan
A streetlaht sed the crackle and night spat them up, but by then Rachel and Erica had both walked into Mae’s back and were huddling together
Rachel was shivering “I think this may be the worst situation I have ever been in”
“Don’t be an idiot,” said Mae “I’ve been in much worse situations than this”
She shivered and thought of the knife sliding in her sweaty grasp, the terrible resistance as she had sunk it into skin She remembered the blood on her hands
Rachel and Erica didn’t know anything about what had happened last ht she’d run off to London with her poor uided brother on some crazy impulse
Her rounded for teeks, picked up outside school in Annabel’s car like one of the younger kids who ran froe for another
Mae closed her eyes,streetlaht lanterns flooding the forest with gold, dancing with an edge of danger so she wasn’t sure if she eating from exhilaration or fear, and black eyes on hers
She’d seen ic And now she’d lost it
She wasn’t thinking about that, though She was finally out for the night and she was going to have a good ti to think about anyone else
There was a clatter and rabbed her ar like a small scared animal
“It’s fine,” Mae said loudly, more to herself than her friends She’d walked around Burnt House Lane after dark hundreds of ti to start being scared now just because she knew exactly what could be watching
Mae walked on, keeping her stridefollowed them that she could hear