DDsE, Book 2

By Sue Perry

Being sixteen is Tupac Eminem. Ella has no one to talk to except her new diary, which she has to hide from Ma and Pa Warden, the foster parents she’s stuck with since her family got flattened in a car accident. Now that she lives with the wardens, she has to switch to a new school, where people act like her tragedy is contagious. Her new suburb is just as boring as the last, and offers no hope of secret passageways or magic. But life is not all bad. There’s an interesting boy at the new school – although his family turns out to be impossibly dangerous. And there’s a feral cat, living in the suburb’s only open space, a pitiful excuse for woods. Sometimes the cat invades Ella’s mind. She tells her diary, ‘I’ve gone a special kind of crazy, a split personality. And my other personality is a cat, not a person.’

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sue Perry
• Release date: Feb 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370021031

Sue Perry

... Concert stage, dark except for a deep blue spotlight. Singer drops to one knee and his narration evolves from murmur to rant. "This is the story of a man who got what he wanted but he lost what he had. He got what he wanted but he lost what he had. He got –" ...It goes on forever. It's mesmerizing. Uncomfortable. Confessional.Pretty sure this memory is from the time I saw James Brown, decades ago, but the lost identity of the singer isn't the point.I've spent my life gazing across some fence or other, admiring greener grass over yonder. I've acted on so many impulses to jump the fence. No complaints, but it has sure taken me a long time to appreciate where I'm standing right now. And nowadays that blue spotlight chant fills my head whenever I contemplate a new jump.Sometimes I jump back.I was a low–budget television producer until I wrote a psychological thriller, "Was It A Rat I Saw", which Bantam–Doubleday–Dell published in hardcover in 1992. Soon after that I became the mother of twins, jumped into graduate school, and became a disaster scientist. I dabbled in academia, government research, and consulting.I stopped writing fiction for nearly two decades, until I noticed how much I missed it. I resumed writing novels with the literary fiction "Scar Jewelry" about a family with secrets that started in the era of Los Angeles punk and persist for decades. I'm in the midst of a speculative detective series FRAMES, with "Nica of Los Angeles", "Nica of the New Yorks", and "Boredom Fighter" so far. I've just completed a nine-novella series, the young adult paranormal horror romance, "DDsE".Funny. Back in the day, I had a single book idea at a time. Now I'm flooded with them, can't keep up with them, though I write just about every day.I live in southern California. I had to leave for five years to confirm this is where I belong. I live with multiple cats, comfortably close to my twins and granddaughter. Like my life paths, my friends and family are all over the damn place. I like to visit them, spend time at the ocean, explore cities, and go out to hear live music.

Book preview

DDsE

Book 2

Sue Perry

Copyright 2017 Sue Perry

Published by Sue Perry at Smashwords

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Book 2 Table of Contents

Ella's Diary, Entries 42.–84.

Acknowledgements

About Sue Perry and her Novels

Dedication

For Leo.

42.

DD – Train train bus train bus. I've lost track of where we've been. Hope that makes us hard to find. The changes weren't on purpose or at least not human purpose. We'd get off at every long stop and I'd open the backpack somewhere private near the station, in case Grayfast had some TMI business to conduct. Grayfast would run away, fast and sure, like he was familiar with whatever stinking alley or dumpy park we were in.

The first time he ran out of view, it was like my chest split open. I was so afraid I'd never see him again. But he showed up again and we got back for the all abo–o–a–ard. They actually say that, trains are transportation that take us into old corny movies.

Some other times, Grayfast was gone way long and we missed the all–aboard and cashed in the rest of those tickets and bought different ones when Grayfast finally showed up. PaulTrigg knew we could do that.

After the first time, I haven't been scared about losing Grayfast. He hasn't been inside my head officially since we ran away, but I just know some things about that cat and I know that he'll come back when he runs. Another thing I know is that Grayfast hates and fears PaulTrigg because he is one of the Other Ones.

I didn't need a magic connection with the cat to know that, though. It's obvious to PaulTrigg, too. I sit with the backpack on one side of me and PaulTrigg on the other – any closer and Grayfast growls from inside the backpack. PaulTrigg just nods when that happens.

My mom's version of looking on the bright side was, Things can hardly get worse, so the situation is bound to improve. Right now that makes me smile. Grayfast growling into my ankle, PaulTrigg nodding with his eyes closed. It is so Tupac amazing to be right next to PaulTrigg for such a long time, even though neither of us feels like talking. And Grayfast. He's part of me. Vice versa. – sE

43.

DD – I guess our traveling is over. Grayfast left and won't come back, won't come near though I spot him sometimes in the trees by the train station.

BIG WATER PROTECTS MY TWO–LEGS. STAY. HIDE. LIVE.

My head just had a bomb explosion and when I came to, I found this scrabbly writing. I guess it means my guess was right. This is our new home. I wish I understood more of what Grayfast wrote. I wish I could ask are we supposed to hide here or by being here are we hiding. I want to consult PaulTrigg, but I can't show him the scrabbly writing until Grayfast trusts him.

Big water is probably the ocean. We are so close to the ocean here!

I L:O:V:E the ocean.

Surprised to hear a cat say good things about so much water but everything about Grayfast is a surprise, so why not this too?

Dad and Mom brought us here for vacations. I never got to try the boardwalk rides because they weren't safe. Mom. All your safety obsessing and look where we ended up.

Sad sad news on the radio, our sub is this week's murder capital of America. Another home invasion victim. Dead this time is a high school algebra teacher. In other words, PaulTrigg's cousin murdered Ms. Benson. Police have no suspect in custody.

Did I even thank Ms. Benson for helping us?

Horrible that she is dead. I think that like a robot writing a news story. Same with Ma Warden. Thoughts facts no feelings. I'm programmed to keep going.

The news said I am missing and presumed dead. No mention of PaulTrigg. His family has to know he is gone with me and Grayfast. Two plus two. They must not have reported his absence.

I'd better go tell PaulTrigg we're living here now, according to Grayfast. PaulTrigg went for a walk in case Grayfast would come to me once I was alone.

Sometimes I wonder, what if Grayfast is right about PaulTrigg—but I just can't believe that PaulTrigg poses danger. – sE

44.

DD – I couldn't breathe or see in focus. I was so scared about everything that happened with PaulTrigg’s cousin that I was too