Read Online A Whispered Darkness by Vanessa Barger - Free Book Online Page B

important thing, and the thought which made me happiest, was that I’d controlled myself. With very little thought or effort, I had kept things together. Before I got to school, I couldn’t admit how scared I’d been I wouldn’t be able to do it. But I had, and my confidence soared.
    I dropped my book bag on the floor, used the bathroom, and washed my hands. I checked my hair, my cell phone, and after a few more minutes had passed, I had no other reason to avoid the crowded cafeteria. So I hauled the book bag on my back again and headed toward the smell of food and the loud, raucous noise of the lunchroom.
    When I walked in, the long tables were mostly full. Only a few small round tables, set off to the side, remained open. A group of pastel-clad, overly perky girls I assumed would be cheerleaders and the popular crowd filled one. Another, set even farther apart and almost shoved in a corner, was empty except for Haven.
    After everything this morning, I knew sitting there would be a poor social choice. But I moved across the lunchroom and stopped in front of the chair across from him.
    “Can I still sit with you?”
    “Sure,” he waved me to the chair next to him, but no smile crossed his lips. “I have to warn you though, sitting with me is sort of like joining a leper colony.”
    I slid another chair out and put my book bag on it, pulling my lunch bag from a side pocket. “Well, if I’m going to do something, I’m not going to do it by halves. You don’t seem like the ax-murderer type to me.” I resisted a frown when he stiffened. “Or are you?”
    “No.” He relaxed, sitting back in his chair. “No, not an ax murderer.”
    I unwrapped my sandwich and tilted my head. “Poison, then? No, wait, you seem like a ‘lead-pipe-in-the-library’ kind of guy.”
    To my surprise he laughed, and amusement broke across his face. “That’s it. You’ve learned my deep, dark secret.”
    “I knew it. I pride myself on my uncanny mental powers.”
    He saluted me with his soda, and we fell into an easy conversation about the school and our classes.
    A few minutes later, Grant fell into the chair next to Haven. He stuck out one hand. “Hi. I’m Grant.”
    “I remember.” Haven shook the hand my brother offered. “Haven.”
    “Are you okay?” I asked. Grant looked like he’d been run over by a bus.
    He slouched farther into his seat. “My last class nearly killed me.”
    “Who was it?” Haven balled up his trash, chucking it into the large trashcan sitting ten feet away.
    “Mrs. Malone, for Biology.”
    Haven nodded. “Sorry to tell you, but it doesn’t get better.”
    Grant groaned and slapped a hand across his face. “I knew you would say that.”
    “How are the other classes?” I finished the last piece of brownie and gathered my trash together.
    His response began to fade into the background as I looked up, my eyes straying to a pale, gaunt figure walking past the cafeteria windows across from us. They were floor to ceiling, and showed the man clearly. At first, I thought he was a janitor. He wore blue denim pants and a blue button-up shirt. Light brown hair stuck in messy clumps around a thin face with a scraggly goatee. When my gaze hit his knees and the pant legs thinned and faded into nothing, my stomach dropped. The ghost turned, as if he suddenly realized I saw him, and his mouth opened into a preternaturally wide scream.
    “Hey!” Grant waved a hand in front of my face. “Earth to Claire! What’s wrong with you?” He turned, following my gaze and then raised an eyebrow, concern slipping into his tone. “Claire? Everything okay?”
    “Yeah, I’m fine. Just zoned out for a moment.”
    Haven’s brow furrowed and he glanced back as well. When he turned around, he stared at me. One finger rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Do that often?”
    “Sorry. Just sleepy. All that moving and new place and all that.” I laughed a little too brightly. “What did you ask me?”
    “I asked how your