Outcast (29 page)
Authors: Adrienne Kress
Tags: #Young Adult, #Fantasy, #Romance, #Juvenile Fiction / Paranormal
Many things happened in the moment that followed. The Circle vanished in that same brightness that evidently only I could see. Then the fallen creature in front of me became human, just like that. Became Georgia Banks, as a matter of fact. She moaned slightly, opened her eyes and stared up at me in utter confusion. She looked in great pain, and Lacy was instantly down at her side to take care of her.
There were flashes then, several dozen, and where there had once been only a few fallen creatures lying dead on the ground, there were now around forty people, all returning to consciousness, all in pain and confused. The crowd went into rescue mode, and soon folks were running about trying to take care of them all. Family members were trying to find their lost loved ones.
I was still in a haze, so it took me a moment to realize that one of those people somewhere on the ground was Chris. His family was at home, of course, like last year. I knew they hadn’t come to the Taking, no matter what kind of fear they’d had of Pastor Warren. Poor Pastor Warren, I realized suddenly, but I didn’t feel very bad for him. Just some small pity at how pathetic he seemed now. To the entire town, I had no doubt.
I had to find Chris. He would be so scared, so alone. Besides, looking for him was a bit of distraction from what had just happened. A very, very small distraction. It was hard to get around with so many people moving about in the dark. Then I heard someone call, “Riley!” and I followed the voice until I saw Father Peter standing over an unconscious Chris.
We looked at each other.
“I’ll get a doctor,” he said.
I nodded. There was nothing to say, not at least in this moment. Instead, I bent down beside Chris and carefully cradled his head in my lap. To touch him again, to run my fingers through his hair, it was an overwhelming feeling. Coupled with the feeling of just having lost Gabe, it was almost too much to handle.
You can give me your emotions if you wish.
“No, thank you,” I replied as my guardian materialized at my side once more.
But you are in so much pain.
“I need to feel this. I want to feel this.”
Why?
“If I don’t feel this, it’s like it didn’t matter, like he didn’t matter.”
I do not understand.
“That’s okay. You don’t have to.”
Is there anything I should do?
“No.”
I shall watch, then.
“If you’d like to.”
I shall watch.
There was some very small comfort having my guardian’s glowing presence at my side, and I appreciated the company. I liked that it was learning, making offers now and not just waiting for me to ask the question. Maybe this strange relationship wasn’t going to be quite as terrible as I’d thought. It cared.
I stroked Chris’s hair and looked down at him. Was he ready to wake yet? Should I wake him? I wanted to, but was that just me being selfish? Again.
Before I could make the decision, his head moved slightly, and then a small sound escaped his lips.
“Chris?” I asked quietly.
There was movement behind his eyelids, and then they slowly opened. He stared up at me, and the feeling I felt, seeing those hazel green eyes stare into mine again after so very long was so strong that for a moment I almost changed my mind and asked my guardian for help.
“Riley?” His voice was hoarse, but it was his voice. Chris’s voice. I’d forgotten that voice.
“Hey, you.”
“Where am I? What’s going on?” he asked turning his head slightly to look around.
“Stay still,” I replied. “You’ve gone through a lot.”
“Have I?”
“Yes, you have.”
He looked confused and unhappy. “Riley, what’s happened?”
“You were taken. Two years ago. But it’s okay, because you’re back now. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“I was taken?”
“Yes.”
“Two years ago?”
“Yes.”
“Two whole years have passed?”
“Yes.”
He looked really upset, and I tried to calm him down by touching his forehead with my cool palm. “It’s okay. It’s really okay.”
“But I missed two whole years.”
And I know someone else who missed fifty. “It’ll be okay. I’ll fill you in on everything. Your family is going to be so excited you’re back.”
“Yeah? They missed me?”
“Of course.”
“Did you miss me?”
Did I miss you? Did I miss you, Chris? It goes deep. It stays with you. Even when you’re not thinking about it. Even when there’s someone else.
“Every single day.”
Chris calmed down when I said that. His body relaxed, and his head sank more heavily into my hands.
“You should rest. Close your eyes,” I said. “They’ll send a doctor or someone over soon.”
“Okay, but keep talking, alright? Your voice makes me feel calm.”
“I’ll try, but I don’t know what to say.” I didn’t really want to start on everything that had happened since he’d gone.
“Say whatever you want. Sing a song if you have to.”
I had to laugh. The only one who liked my songs. Well…the only other one. “You sure you want to go through that?”
“Aw, you’ve got an okay voice, Riley.”
“Alright. Close your eyes Chris.”
He did, and I continued to stroke his hair.
“You’re not saying anything, Riley!”
“Oh, sorry.” I didn’t feel like talking. It was so hard to pretend that everything was okay that I didn’t just want to burst into to tears and give up. I wanted to forget everything that had happened, and at the same time I was deeply scared that I might.
Sing ’em to remember.
I could. I never had. But I could.
“Riley?”
I leaned over and kissed his forehead. “This is a song I just learned recently. It’s totally…vintage….” A deep breath, a voice slightly off-key.
“My baby has a bright blue Cadillac
She drives it so fast I think it could fly
And someday soon we’re gonna go to the moon
Aim that bright blue Cadillac right into the sky.”
“Totally vintage,” murmured Chris.
“I’m not done yet. That’s just the chorus. Shh…”
Sing ’em to remember.
Sing ’em because you remember.
I remember, Gabe, I remember.
And I’m never going to forget.
Adrienne Kress is a Toronto-born actor and author, and is a theatre graduate of the University of Toronto and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in the UK.
She is the author of two children’s novels:
Alex and the Ironic Gentleman
and
Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate
(Scholastic) and is a theatre graduate of the Univeristy of Toronto and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in the UK. Published around the world,
Alex
was featured in the New York Post as a “Post Potter Pick,” as well as on the
CBS Early Show
. It won the Heart of Hawick Children’s Book Award in the UK and was nominated for the Red Cedar. The sequel,
Timothy
, was nominated for the Audie, Red Cedar and Manitoba Young Readers Choice Awards, and was recently optioned for film. She also contributed to two anthologies in 2011:
Corsets & Clockwork
(YA Steampunk Romance short story anthology, Running Press Kids), and
The Girl Who Was On Fire
(an essay anthology analyzing the Hunger Games series, published by Smart Pop Press).
Her debut YA,
The Friday Society
(Penguin), was released in the fall of 2012 to a starred review from
Quill and Quire
and was recently optioned for television.
Outcast
is her first paranormal YA romance.
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