YA Spooktacular!

Are you guys ready for the awesomeness that is sure to be YA Spooktacualr!? Are you? Really? Good lets get started! Firstly here is a little background info.
YA Spooktacular is hosted by the ever amazing Nikki at Wicked Awesome Books and Danielle at Frenzy of Noise. Here is what they have to say about it:

Let’s get to the story! Which is written by….

Beth Revis

Beth currently lives in rural North Carolina with her husband and her dog, one of which is her
best friend, and the other is her second-best friend. She spends too much time reading and
writing, and nowhere near enough time cleaning the house. Beth’s debut novel Across the
Universe was a NYT bestseller and the sequel, A Million Suns, releases in January 2012.

You can find Beth on Twitter, on her blog, on goodreads and you can order her books here.
Blog/Goodreads/Twitter/Amazon

THE POND IN THE FOREST by Beth Revis

Laura glanced nervously at Brian. Should she hold his hand? No. That was childish. Maybe she should
step a little closer to him though. No, not that close. Oh, God, she was so awkward. Brian was going to
think she was an idiot.

“Um…” Brian said, glancing down at her.

“Yes?” Laura asked. She hoped that the look was alluring or maybe mysterious, but she was half focused
on not tripping over the branches that had fallen on the wooded path after the storm two nights ago.
“Can…” Brian started again, “Can I hold your hand?”

Laura grinned as Brian threaded his fingers through hers. Maybe this would work out after all.

***
“So,” Laura asked after a few moments, “Why did you decide to take me to the woods?”
Brian shot Laura a nervous look. “Don’t you like it?”
“Oh, I love it! The leaves are beautiful…” Laura’s voice trailed off as she glanced at the towering trees
around the path. In truth, the leaves had been beautiful…fifteen minutes ago. But as they ventured
further and further into the forest, the trees became more barren, with long, twisted, empty limbs that
seemed to reach out toward them. “It’s just,” Laura continued, “an unusual first date.”
“I wanted to show you something.” Brian voice caught, an excited gleam in his eyes.
“What?”
“No one comes back here,” Brian continued. “I mean, all these trees are technically still a part of the
park, but no one ever bothers to come this way.”

It was true, Laura realized. She’d known there were walking trails extending into the forest, she’d known
that the area was open to the public…but she’d never thought about actually venturing into the woods
before Brian invited her. It was odd. The park was so well used—sometimes, especially in the summer, it
was so crowded that there wasn’t room to
“Here we are!” Brian said, clenching his fingers around Laura’s, drawing her out of her reverie.

“A pond?” Laura asked.

“Filled with goldfish.”

Now that he mentioned it, Laura could see flashes of orange and white and yellow just under the dark
water. She crept closer. The ground here was mossy and spongy, almost like foam. There was a tangle
of reeds near the edge of the pond, with slivers of red and orange fish sliding around them. A single
dragonfly darted past Laura’s face, then hovered over the surface of the pond, skimming across the water and leaving echoes of circles dancing on top the water.

“It’s beautiful.” Laura spoke with more conviction than she’d used the whole time on the trip, her voice
loud and clear.

“I’m glad you think so,” Brian said in a hollow voice. And he shoved her, hard, sending her body flailing
through the reeds. Laura slipped in the muck at the bottom of the pond, struggling to get up as Brian
launched himself at her body, forcing her underwater.

She caught one glimpse of orange-red-yellow-white fish slithering out of view, and then she saw nothing
but black.

To continue the story, go to Candace’s Book Blog!