Lacrimosa (36 page)
Authors: Christine Fonseca
Aydan
The day starts as every other, except somehow I am less afraid. Hopeful, even. I walk into class and sit at my no-longer-empty table. Books and notebooks spill over the desk. A notebook is open to pages of careless doodles. Pictures of wings. Angels and demons.
I can’t help but look at the drawings. Can’t help but remember that life.
A girl slides into the seat and cleans up the mess. She’s tall and lean. Shoulder-length black hair arranges itself into sharp angles around her face. Her pale skin looks almost translucent. Dark glasses cover her eyes. She ignores me completely and continues to shove her things into the bag.
“Hey,” I say, curious.
She nods and goes back to her books. The teacher begins a familiar lecture. Central Germany. 1500’s.
Why do teachers always want to discuss these legends?
A chuckle escapes as I remember the countless times I’ve heard this lecture. And how different the legends are from the truth.
The girl removes her sunglasses and furrows her brow. “Something funny?”
Her voice sounds like music. My heart stops as I look into her now visible eyes. Blue. Deep blue. Her gaze penetrates my soul and for a moment I can’t breathe.
She smiles. “Well? What’s so funny?”
I force myself to breathe in and out. In and out.
You died. I felt you die.
She looks at me, expecting an answer.
I breathe in and out. In and out.
It can’t be you.
“Um,” I manage to choke out. “Nothing.”
She smiles again, awakening something deep inside. I lean in and catch her scent—vanilla, lavender and sunshine.
“So, what’s your name?” she whispers.
My mouth refuses to work.
“I said, what’s your name?”
Her eyes are so blue. So familiar.
“Aydan.”
“Nice. It suits you,” she says. “I’m Vanessa. Most people just call me—”
“Nesy,” I finish.
“Actually, I was going to say Nessa. But Nesy works. I like it.”
I smile, lost in the endless blue ocean of her eyes. Maybe I will be okay in this life now.
With her.
Acknowledgements:
Writing this book was a journey within a journey. Countless moments of hope; countless moments of despair. Fortunately, I had many amazing people keeping me focused and helping me pursue this elusive endeavor:
To Heather McCorkle and the team at Compass Press ~ WOW, just wow. Your constant belief in the words on the page kept me going in the most difficult of times. Thank you for trusting that I could see this through and deliver a story as powerful as the one you saw in the raw words.
The earliest readers of the story ~ Elana Johnson and Michelle McLean. You two witnessed the birth of this story. You helped me find it and shape it. Told me when it sucked, helped me find Nesy’s voice. I am forever grateful in ways I will never be able to fully express.
My early Betas ~ Laura Diamond, Amanda Bonilla, Julie Butcher, Danyelle Leafty. You watched me query, watched me fail, and helped me retool the story into something more…so much more.
My later Betas ~ Ali Cross, LK Gardner-Griffie, Heather McCorkle. You all convinced me that this was worth being published. You understood Nesy and Aydan, and helped me keep my promises to them.
My teen readers ~ Fabiana Fonseca, Delaney Jures, Rebecca Lewis. Your belief that this story would happen helped in ways I can’t begin to explain. You helped me find a voice, a title, so many little things. THANK YOU! And yes, I am giving you three a copy of the book. I promise!
To the online community of writers, bloggers, readers and friends ~ all of you helped me navigate through the hazards and scale the mountain. Thank you for the support, the fellowship and the friendship. Thank you for reading my prequel and encouraging me to write more. I am truly more because of all of you.
And finally, to the foundation of my life ~ my husband, my children, my sister-in-law and my brothers-in-law, my dad and my mom. Your sacrifices, your confidence, your support of both my coffee and music habits…without all of you, this book would still be collecting dust on my hard drive.
About The Author
In addition to writing acclaimed non-fiction books related to giftedness, Christine writes novels for teens. Her debut YA Gothic series,
The Requiem Series
, examines the role of redemption and sacrifice. The prequel novella,
DIES IRAE
, is followed by the
LACRIMOSA,
the first novel in the series.
Christine lives in Southern California with her husband and daughters. When she's not helping adolescents deal with the transition to adulthood, or spending time with her family, she can be found sipping a skinny vanilla latte at her favorite coffee house, writing
her next book. She can be found on her
website
, or on her
blog
.
