The Life After Trilogy: Soul Taken / Soul Possessed / Soul Betrayed. Katlyn Duncan

Чтение книги онлайн.

       Chapter Fourteen

      I read the sentence over and over, Ally’s heart pounding. “Cooper,” I breathed.

      He appeared at my side. “What’s wrong?”

      I shoved the paper at him. He quickly scanned it, his hands tightening on the sheet.

      “What does this mean?” I asked.

      “There’s only one way to find out,” he said.

      Cooper helped me up from the couch, and I dropped the cast act. This girl already knew enough; I didn’t want to be held back by a stupid piece of plaster if the Shadowed attacked.

      “Are the wards broken?” I asked Cooper, hobbling into the foyer toward the kitchen. “Is someone watching us?”

      “Doubt it,” he said. “David is very skilled. If anything, they sent her in here to do something. But instead she warned us.”

      We stood at the bathroom door, the water running inside. “Can you check them? I’ll talk to her.”

      Cooper nodded and disappeared.

      I knocked on the door and it opened before I could move my hand to knock a second time. Jamie’s small hand grabbed Ally’s arm and pulled me inside the room. She pushed past me and closed the door, locking it behind her, her back flat against it.

      “Sorry it took me so long,” Jamie said. “I’d requested to be your partner for the paper so that I’d be able to get you alone and warn you.”

      I blinked a few times. “Warn me about what?”

      Jamie leaned closer to me, her voice low. “There is a spirit that follows you everywhere you go. It’s a boy around our age. Do you know who he is? Is he a relative? The last spirit I saw was my cousin after he had died from a drug overdose. He looked better and everything but I didn’t want to stick around long enough to ask—”

      I held up Ally’s hands. “Wait a minute.” This girl could see us?

      Jamie cocked her head and something reflected on her face in the vanity light. I touched the paint spatter on her cheek and the déjà vu mystery clicked into place.

      I looked her up and down and found paint splatters on her clothing. I remembered that bun. “It was you!”

      Jamie stepped back. “What was me? I’m trying to help you here!”

      Cooper appeared in the room. Jamie screamed, making him jump.

      “The door was locked,” he said as if that was an explanation. “She can see me?”

      Jamie staggered back toward the door. “You can see him?” Her eyes welled up. “I thought I was the only freak around here.”

      Did she sound relieved?

      “Extraordinary,” Cooper said in awe. “I’ve heard about this. But I’ve never met anyone who could breach the Realms.”

      “But how?” I asked.

      He shrugged. “There are some things that just can’t be explained in this world. Paranormal phenomena happen every day. I guess the broadest term would be ‘magic’.”

      Jamie’s chattering teeth stopped our conversation; we looked at her. Her eyes moved back and forth between us. “I—” chatter chatter “get like this—” chatter chatter “around people—things like you…” chatter chatter.

      I leaned toward her, her hands springing to cover her face.

      “Relax,” I said. “I’m not going to hurt you.” I turned the knob to the door and pulled it open, wedging it past the shaking girl. Cooper disappeared into the hall. “Come on.” I reached out Ally’s hand towards her. “Let’s get you warmed up.”

      The three of us sat on the floor in Ally’s room. Cooper and I distanced ourselves from Jamie so she wouldn’t freeze to death. Cooper had given her a bulky sweatshirt from Ally’s closet with the high school’s mascot on the front and sleeve.

      “I’ve been this way since I can remember,” she said after Cooper asked about her ‘gift’. “As a kid I couldn’t tell the difference between your kind and the living people. My dad brought me to a doctor when I was younger.” She shook her head. “That is not something I’d like to repeat. Soon enough I just didn’t speak until I was sure the person I spoke with was alive. And the cold thing…” she held up her arms, gripping the sweatshirt “… would tip me off once I figured out I got this way around them.”

      “What about the paint—”

      Jamie shot me a pleading look.

      Huh, maybe she didn’t want Cooper to know about that. I changed direction. “What do you see when you look at me?” I asked.

      “After your accident, I saw someone else, like, inside you. That’s sort of why I came here today. I had to make sure she wasn’t still inside of you and when I didn’t see her any more, I thought I’d warn you that something was happening. Or see if you possibly had some answers?”

      Ally’s body stiffened and I met Cooper’s eye. She didn’t know Ally wasn’t there. I looked down at Ally’s arm and squinted, not seeing the outline of my soul.

      “What’s happening?” I looked quickly at Cooper.

      His gaze flicked to Jamie’s and back to mine. “We should talk about this later,” he warned.

      “No!” I stood up and thrust out my arm in front of him feeling panic rising up inside of Ally. “I don’t see me any more.”

      He stepped closer, his face inches from Ally’s. He touched her arm.

      If he had to try to see me, I knew I was in trouble.

      Ally’s heartbeat roared in my ears and the room tilted. I stepped back, arms outstretched for balance.

      “Maggie?” he said, his voice distorted.

      I opened my mouth but, before I could speak, the room disappeared.

      I woke lying on my back СКАЧАТЬ