Page 22 of The Executioners Three
Another, distinctly abdominal part of her said:Hey, wait just one second, please.So she did, and with squinting eyes, she searched the trees. Maples. Oaks. Ash and pine.
She wasn’t a superstitious person as a rule. Definitely a scientific Dana Scully versus an insta-believer like Fox Mulder. But even Freddie had to admit that crows and a screaming Laina had been freaky.Superfreaky.
The question was, though, what logical explanation could have caused the crows to take off? Maybe a sudden barometric pressure change—thatcould cause migraines too, Freddie thought. Or… didn’t birds sense magnetic changes in the earth? Maybe that had gotten them going.
Freddie gnawed her bottom lip, scanning the trees. There was something fuzzy and pale about two hundred paces away. Human in shape, but so blended into the forest, she couldn’t get her gaze to actually land on it. Her eyes kept pinging away. She thought again of magnets.
Then the smell hit her, like a rotting carcass. Like screams on a foggy night—
A hand landed on her arm.
Freddie flinched so hard, she released her jug.Glump!
“You okay?” Divya whispered.
“Yeah,” Freddie lied while her heart inexplicably thunderedNo!“I just thought… I saw something, but it’s probably just trees.”And I’ve probably been watching too muchX-Files.
“What does your gut say?”
“Nothing,” Freddie lied again. After hefting up her syrup, she kicked into a not-so-quiet jog along with Divya.
Freddie did throw a final look back, though, toward whatever it was she thought she might’ve seen. But there was nothing to look at now. Just darkness and leaves and a whispering wind unseen.
5
Despite what people often assumed, Allard Fortin Preparatory School wasn’t named for the local founder, José Allard Fortin. Instead, it was named for his descendant: Roberta.
After her older sister was disowned (rumor was she fell inlurrrvewith a Very Unsuitable Boy) and then both her parents passed away, Roberta decided to just ditch the whole Allard Fortin legacy. And also ditch Berm while she was at it.
She and her older sister actually became the first of the Allard Fortin bloodline to ever move out of town. Then, rather than let the family’s estate go to waste with no Allard Fortins to fill it, Roberta—as the heir—turned it into a scholarship school.
It was a great idea in theory. Like, kudos to Roberta for trying. But it was not so great in practice. Turns out schools are expensive to run, and the Allard Fortin fortunes were about as depleted as their bloodline. So, one year after the school’s opening, the mission changed.
Bye-bye, charitable outreach of 1973. Hello, wealthy alum of 1974.
And wowzas, was it a fancy school now. Like, if Freddie’s loyalty to Berm High weren’t so profound, she’d be jealous of all the fountains and gardens and the two gourmet cafeterias. Also, there was a fancy libraryanda Maximum Drama mausoleum right in the middle of campus, where Allard Fortin 1.0 was buried.
The estate might no longer be bound to the dead bloodline of Allard Fortins, but the school did at least keep his crypt spotless.
As Kyle had promised, the gate to the school grounds was indeed unlocked—and even propped open by two enormous bags of birdseed. A welcoming glow flickered from lamps that hadactualwicks andactualflames. A ridiculous expense…
That also looked pretty cool, honestly.
“Come on,” Laina hissed. Since the Strange Incident with the Crows, she had remained a drill sergeant hell-bent on proving she was fine.
Which was maybe why Laina was the first to scoot through the gate, while everyone else crept more cautiously behind. Freddie and Divya brought up the rear, their corn syrup jugs glooping with each step. And for the first time since abandoning the cars, Freddie’s sixth sense reared back enough for her BFF awareness to wiggle in.
“Hey,” she whispered, “where did you get that sweatshirt?”
Divya smiled slyly, and the frown that had folded across her brow since the crows smoothed away. “Laina lent it to me.”
Freddie’s grin stretched almost to her ears. “Eeeee. You two have moved very quickly, haven’t you?”
The smile faded. “I… don’t know.” Now it was back to the frown. “I’m not sure she… you know. Likes girls. She did date that guy from Elmore High last year.”
“Maybe she likes girlsandboys.”
“I hope so,” Divya said, and the look on her face—the earnest hope… It made Freddie’s heart tighten.
