"Mickey Zucker Reichert - Shadow Storm" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reichert Mickey Zucker)

Stacy froze, terror sparking through her. Experience told her he would
not strike her two days before visitation. Her mother and stepfather had
made it abundantly clear that horrible things would happen to her and to
Sean Sterner if she ever told about or showed him the results of Draybin's
temper. Slowly, head sagging, she trailed her mother through the kitchen
and into the living room where her stepfather waited. Her mother sat in a
chair and pretended to read the newspaper.

The coiled posture and purpled features of Matthew Draybin told Stacy
all she needed to know. She fled for her room in terror.

Draybin chased her. "Run from me, you little bitch, and it'll go much
worse for you."

Stacy knew he spoke the truth, but fear would not allow her to return.
She raced into her bedroom, slamming the door closed behind her, and
huddled on her bed. She buried her face in her pillow, hoping he would
choose not to follow her, wishing he would just fade away.

Draybin stomped after, screaming and swearing. Stacy covered her
ears, blotting out the sound. A moment later, the door slapped open so
hard that it bounced nearly closed. He crossed the room in three strides,
and she heard the crackle of paper near her nose. "What's this?" he
demanded.

Trembling, Stacy freed one eye to look. He held one of her first-grade
papers from school. He pointed to where she had written her name: Stacy
S.

"Stacy S? Stacy S!" Draybin slammed his arm into her shoulder, and
she tumbled to the floor, crying, fighting not to scream. "You are not Stacy
S. You are Stacy Draybin now! Stacy Dray-bin!" He kicked her in the ribs
just as she took a shuddering inhale, hammering the breath from her
throat. She gasped for air, but her lungs would not function. Panic
descended on her, along with an air-starved dizziness that blurred the
world to gray. Unable to speak, she sent a mental summons, desperate to
halt the barrage of pain and cling to the tatters of her life:
Sean Sterner, big as can be; As Shadow Storm come to me. Quickly,
please. I need you.

He came in an instant, a sudden wall between the battering fists and
Stacy. He took the blows without a cry or whimper, using his own face and
body to protect her. Draybin took no notice of the superhero who
answered her call. His clenched hands crashed against flesh he seemed
unable to tell from hers, despite its iron hardness.

Shadow Storm tore an "S" from his chest, shaping it into an invisible
barrier that fielded the attack, though Draybin seemed to have no more
awareness of this than of the hero's sudden presence. Stacy caught her