Read Online In This Skin by Simon Clark - Free Book Online

life.
        Tonight's finger of fate is going to point at these two teenagers.
        They're walking toward the haunted-looking structure known as the Luxor…
        ”You're kidding me.””No, I'm not.”
        ”You gotta be.”
        ”Have you seen the prices those old posters are fetching on eBay?”
        ”But in there? At this time of night? You don't know who's lurking-”
        ”It's deserted, Kay!”
        ”Yeah, apart from the psycho with the butcher knife.”
        ”Here's the flashlight. Wait…”He caught her by the wrist. ”Don't switch it on here.”He grinned in the gloom. ”Wait until we're inside.
        Okay?”
        ”Or the cops will see us? Right.”Uneasily she looked up at the mock-Egyptian tomb-maybe-temple facade of the Luxor. ”Knowing my luck I'll be going home in a cop car-or a casket.”
        He wasn't listening. ”Come on, there'll be a way in somewhere.”
        Kay followed. Despite her initial aversion to Leon's plan, a growing excitement tickled her veins. She'd been a tomboy as a kid. She loved these wacky stunts, sneaking into orchards to steal apples or even petty shoplifting in her local supermarket. It had only been items like candy or products she didn't even want or need, oven cleaner or dental floss.
        The buzz was the thing. The buzz. A blast of adrenaline that filled her with electricity that made her feel alive. The other great love of her life when she was twelve was to run with a gang of boys to the railway track and leap onto the coal trucks as they rumbled toward one of the power plants. They'd ride them for a mile until the train hauled by an aggregate's yard. There, they'd jump from the train onto mounds of bright yellow builder's sand. All the time yelling, laughing, waving their arms, screaming ”SHIIIIIIT!” at the tops of their voices. Then came the added rush of being chased out of the yard by the security guard who only had three speeds-tortoise, slow and waddle.
        Jeepers-creepers! He had man-tits that jiggled like a hooker's when he moved.
        Now five years later and aged seventeen, the old magic returned. That old buzz.
        ”Hey, slow down, Kay!”
        ”What's the matter?”
        ”We're supposed to be doing this quietly. You know? Surreptitiously?”
        ”Come on, Leon. No one can see us here. This place hasn't been open in years.”
        ”Well, take it nice and easy girl, OK? If I get in any more shit my probation officer's going to quit saving my ass.”
        ”Leon, you won't get jail for this. It's only a few posters.”
        ”Right.”He grinned again, and brushed a curl of hair from her cheek. A friendly gesture of affection. ”But take it easy. There might be broken glass and stuff.”
        Kay found herself smiling one of those aren't-I-pretty kind of smiles that she hated to see on a girl when they were going all drippy luvy-duvy. ”Aw, come on, Leon. Let's find those posters.”
        They walked along the Luxor, keeping close to the wall. With the time creeping toward midnight, they moved in all but total darkness. Kay felt the crap of ten years' neglect shift and crackle beneath her feet.
        Broken bottles. Cans. Fast-food clams. Discarded tires. A child's stroller even sat outside the fire exit. For one queasy moment Kay thought a baby sat in the stroller but it was only a nude plastic doll minus a head.
        ”Charming place,”Leon whispered.
        ”Yeah, reminds me of home.”
        ”Wait, wait, girl. This looks like it.”He'd noticed a loose board over the door. The panel beneath had been kicked through. ”Looks like someone's already been inside.”
        ”They might have taken the posters.”
        ”Nah, they'd have been looking for lead piping or brass fittings.”He grinned. Kay noticed for the first time what a beautiful white his teeth were. ”They won't have been interested in