Haven: Revenge of the Viper by D.C. Akers Page A

stood for a second, fidgeting with a left over piece of paper he had found in his pocket. This was the moment that he had been dreading. Partly because of the apology, but mostly because of the reaction his mother might have when confronted about the secret box.
    Still hesitant, Sam finally sat on the coffee table facing his mother. She looked so peaceful, he thought, even though he knew she was exhausted. She had worked the double shift again, which was always grueling for her. She had gone grocery shopping and even stopped to pick up dinner.
    She was a great mother. It was a shame he didn’t tell her that more often. He would have to fix that going forward, he thought. Sam cleared his throat, pulled out a piece of paper that had been in his pocket and began to roll it between his finger tips.
    “Mom?” he said, almost hoping she wouldn’t answer.
    Alisa lifted one of her eye lids slightly startled.
    “Hey, Sam …” she said sleepily. Sam’s gaze fell from his mother to the floor the moment she looked at him.
    “Um, I wanted to talk to you about something.” She opened her other eye and turned her head toward Sam.
    “Okay … is everything all right?” Her tone was cautious now, not knowing whether to be worried or not yet.
    He began to straighten out the paper with his fingers. He cleared his throat, trying not to sound so nervous.
    “Well, yeah I’m okay, but what I wanted to say was about the other night, I’m—”
    “Dinner is served, so come and get it!” Sarah said abruptly.
    Sam almost jumped out of his skin. He looked up at Sarah with a grimace. Sarah frowned, mouthing the words “What did I do?”
    He shook his head and looked back down at his mother, but she was not looking at Sam anymore. She was staring at the small piece of paper in his hand.
    “Sam, where did you get that?” she asked. Her tone was serious now.
    “What?” Sam asked.
    Alisa sat up quickly and grabbed Sam’s forearm.
    “Sam, where did you get this?” Her voice was loud and he could tell she was frightened.
    Sam looked down at the paper, not realizing what he had in his hand. It was the candy wrapper he found in Mrs. Cambridge’s front lawn. The candy wrapper that belonged to the stranger.
    “I found it outside,” he said, feeling her grip tighten on his arm.
    “When, Sam? When did you find it?”
    “The other day, outside. Why? What’s wrong?
    Travis and Sarah both turned at the commotion to see Alisa leap from the couch.
    “Mom, what’s wrong?” Sarah asked, her smile fading.
    “They’ve found us, they know we’re here! We’re in danger!” Alisa said, clearly frightened.
    “Mom, who are you talking about? Are you talking about the man in the coat?” Sam asked, trying to keep up.
    Alisa’s face turned white. She got up from the couch and headed quickly toward the kitchen.
    “Kids, get in the car now!”
    Travis looked at Sam; they stared at one another for a moment, knowing that once again they had stumbled onto something bad.
    “Mom, why are we leaving? What’s going on?” Sarah asked insistently.
    Alisa desperately searched the kitchen counter for her car keys. “Where are the keys?” she yelled. She turned to look back at Sam who stood frozen by the couch. His face had gone pale and his eyes were fixed on something above him.
    Alisa followed his gaze with her own eyes until she saw what Sam was looking at. Moving from the ceiling down the living room walls were hundreds of black and green spiders, scurrying in a massive swarm toward her son.
    “Run, Sam, run!” Alisa yelled.

Chapter 8

    S am ran around the couch and into the kitchen to join the others. His eyes were still trained on the multiplying spiders across the room. He stood in a tight circle with his mother, Travis, and Sarah, watching as the rest of the living room was covered by the swarm of spiders. Thin, black, hairy legs carried the spiders down the walls of the house, onto the floor, and over the couch, until the entire living