Cinder (6 page)

Mr. Morgan gives me a startled look. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I tuck a fallen strand of my hair behind my ear, giving myself a moment to get myself together before I speak again. “So, you think this
ambulate umbra
could protect me from the Reapers killing me? Or is it going to protect me from something else because I thought they couldn’t kill me.”
Only drive me crazy. Or if the book I was reading is right, steal my soul.

Not all Reapers want to drive you crazy,
Cameron says.
I want your mind completely intact. In fact, I find you very fascinating… now stealing your soul on the other hand. Please tell me more about this because I’d love to try.

Like you already don’t know how.

Actually I don’t,
he says.
It’s supposed to not be possible, so I’m really curious as to what book you’ve been reading.

The one that was stole from me,
I say.
From my shadow stalker.

“They can’t kill you,” Mr. Morgan says, interrupting Cameron’s and mine’s conversation. “But they can make you want to kill yourself.”

Shock soars through me and strikes me in the chest, knocking the breath out of me. “You mean, they can possess me and force me to… to die.”

He wavers with hesitancy, folding his arms. “Not necessarily force you, but get you to that place, enter your thoughts and mess with your mind enough that you want it to all end.”

That’s not what I’m doing,
Cameron insists.
I want you around, Ember.

Sure you do.

Ember, think about what’s going on here,
he says.
This guy pretty much just comes out of nowhere and willingly tells you all this stuff. Why would he all of a sudden do that?

I don’t know… because he’s Asher’s uncle.
I get what he’s saying, though at the same time, it’s hard to be on the same page as Cameron.

Yeah, on his father’s side.

What the hell’s that supposed to mean?

“Ember, are you sure you’re okay?” Mr. Morgan is staring at me like he’s starting to grow concerned with my state of mind. “You seem a little distracted.”

I tear myself away from my internal conversation with Cameron. “Sorry, I’m just feeling a little sick. That’s all.”

“Maybe you should go home and lie down.” He glances out the window at the school yard and his face pales.

I track his gaze and find that everyone has stopped moving except for one person. As soon as I see the guy everyone’s looking at, my head starts to pound, my lips start to tingle and my back starts to burn. He moves with confidence through the sea of motionless people, taller than most with broad shoulders, a scraggy jawline and blonde hair that reaches his shoulders. He’s wearing a black suit and a red tie. Everyone seems to be drawn to him as he makes his way slowly across the yard with heads turning, eyes following his movements. And the dead girl that walked in the room is walking just behind him, watching him, then she glances up at me. Our eyes lock and there’s a silent plea inside them:
help me.

“Who is that guy?” I ask as I scratch at the spot burning on my back, but as I say it, recognition clicks. “Wait, is that our new mayor?”
Why is he here? Better yet, why is he here when the entire school is possessed? Is it a coincidence? And is the dead girl trying to say he’s the one she’s talking about? That the mayor has their souls trapped?

Hmmm… I bet you’re right,
Cameron says
. And I’m guessing he has something to do with all those murders
.

As the Mr. removes his gaze from the window, I detect a hint of fear in his eyes. “I think so… but I really think you should head home while all this is going on.”

“But what is going on?” I ask, aware that he’s extremely uneasy all of a sudden, more than before. “I mean, everyone in the town… they seem so—”

“Under the influence of the Anamotti,” he finishes for me. “They’ve somehow managed to take over minds in large quantities.

Just like Raven. Oh, my God, it’s spreading like a virus. “You know about the Anamotti?”

“I know
of
the Anamotti,” he corrects, sitting down on one of the nearby tables, his shoulders slumping inward. “But they’re sort of like a secret society and no one
really
knows anything about them.”

Dammit.
“Well, why all of a sudden are they taking over everyone? I mean, they’ve pretty much got the entire school walking around like robots.”

His expression plummets. “I have no idea right now, but I’m going to try to find out.” He gets to his feet, returns to his desk again, and starts sifting through a collection of old books.

Sure he doesn’t know anything.
Cameron laughs inside my head.
Why don’t you ask him how he knows all this when he’s not a Reaper or an Angel?

I want to tell Cameron to shut up, however he’s right. I do need to find out why, all of a sudden, he’s handing over all this information. “Mr. Morgan—”

“Please, call me Elliot,” he tells me, wiggling a book out from the bottom stack.

“Okay, Elliot… How do you know about all of this?” I head towards his desk. “The Reapers. The Angels. The necklace?”

His face goes sheet white as he walks to me with the book in his hand. “Because…” He swallows hard. “Because I was once an Angel of Death.”

I stare at him, speechless. “You were once an Angel of Death?” I finally manage to find my voice. “What…? How…? Huh?”

“It’s a long story that doesn’t really matter.” He glances nervously at the door as a loud bang echoes in the hallway then he tucks the book under his arm. “Besides, I’d rather not talk about here.”

“But, I—”

He holds up his hand, cutting me off, still focused on the door. “Look, it’s not safe for you to be here… there are too many people possessed by the Anamotti and I have a feeling it’s going to get worse.” When he looks at me again, he lowers his voice, “But if you want to meet somewhere more private, I can tell you more of what I know.”

The bang in the hallway grows louder and he flinches, jumping. I realize how nervous he is and how nervous I probably should be, considering we’re standing in the center of a building that’s swarming with Anamotti.

“When and where?” I ask quickly.

He hastily backs up towards his desk and retrieves a pencil before returning to me and taking the drawing from my hand. “Here’s my number,” he says, scrawling it down while he holds onto the book. “Call me after school ends.” He hands me the piece of paper. I fold it up and put it in my back pocket. “And Ember, please go straight home. I have a feeling things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.”

I eye the book he has tucked under his arm. I can’t tell what the title is, but it looks old. “Okay, I will.”

“Good,” he says and then he’s ushering me towards the door.

I trip over my own boots and grab ahold of the doorknob to stop myself from falling as he rushes me out. I’m about to ask him what’s going on when I feel the zipper of my bag being pulled on and then something heavy lands inside it. When I glance back at Elliot, he’s already turning away from me, the book no longer in his hands.

“It was nice talking to you, Ember,” he says very formally as he goes back to his desk and starts sifting through his papers.

I’m baffled by his abrupt, offish attitude, but I don’t say anything and open the door, stepping out into the hallway, the book feeling like lead in my bag. I wonder why he was so weird about giving it to me. Or what it even is. I’m wondering a lot of things about what just happened as I enter the quad. Then, all of those thoughts float from my mind.

I feel like Carrie at the prom as everyone turns to look at me. I half expect blood to splatter down from the ceiling and onto me. No blood ever shows up, but again, my head starts to pound, my lips get tingly, and my back feels like it’s on fire. I’m not sure what to do, so I start to turn back and head in the other direction when someone nudges me in the back. I throw a glance over my shoulder then stumble forward at the sight of a girl from my English class standing behind me with a hollow expression on her face and eyes glowing like nightlights. There is a line of people standing behind her, blocking the entrance to the hallway. I look back to see that people have started to line the walls of the circular quad, all of them just staring at me, and I catch the mayor of the town disappearing down the hall that the line of possessed people is leading to.

It’s like he’s leading them straight to him, but why? So he can kill them?

Don’t worry about that right now.

But what if he’s going to kill everyone here?

Even if he is—if he isn’t just a normal human and has that kind of power—you couldn’t stop him alone. So do yourself a favor and walk straight ahead,
Cameron whispers in my thoughts.
They won’t touch you, I promise.

Why should I listen to you?
I ask.
Trust you with anything?

Because you have no other option at the moment.

I know he’s right and I hate it. The only thing I can really do is try to walk out of here.

Taking a small step, I move forward, waiting for them to attack, however all they do is stand there and watch me. So I take another step and another, continuing to cross the length of the school as the fire on my back gets hotter and hotter. Their eyes pretty much burn holes in me, but none of them make a move to touch me.

Finally, I reach the opposite end where there’s another hallway that will take me right outside to where my car is parked. However there are two very bulky guys—football players, I think—blocking my path. I hesitate.

Just nudge through them,
Cameron says.
They won’t do anything to you.

Shaking my head and summoning a deep inhale, I do what he says and start to move between them, holding my breath as I squeeze by. My shoulders brush against them and it feels like my entire being blazes up in flames.
Blackness. Pain. Good-bye. Please don’t leave me. I can’t. Everything hurts. Capes and feathers showering from the sky. All over the town. Blood filling the streets that are filled with bodies. So many bodies. So many deaths. Thousands. I can feel them pouring through me like a river of needles and the mayor is standing in the midst of it all with blood on his hands.

Jerking myself from the painful images of death, I race by and duck down the hall, running down the hall.

“Jesus, what the hell was that?” I whisper, pressing my hand to my chest, catching my breath as I burst out the door and onto the yard. As the cool air hits me, the heat starts to subside, calming down the further away from the school I get. I take long strides, hurrying for my car while looking at my feet as gazes bore into me.

“Cameron, why did I see that…? All those deaths? Was it because that guy was possessed by the Anamotti?”

It takes Cameron a moment to answer. I’m not even sure why I’m asking him, other than I have no one to ask.
No, it wasn’t because he was Anamotti.
He pauses as I unlock my car and climb into.
It looks like you had your first death omen.