Read Online Aftermath by Jenna-Lynne Duncan - Free Book Online Page B

months since I’ve had
a death threat.”
    “How can you say that
so casually?”
    “How can you not?
You’re the one who can’t die.”
    “Hilarious,” he
said sarcastically.
    “Hayden,” I slowly
walked down the stairs, looking up at him through lowered lashes
while giving him my best pout, “I’ll be fine. It’s just work
again, around lots of people. Then I just have to run somewhere real
quick, twenty minutes tops, and I’ll come right home.”
    He gave me a slighted
look. “Where’s ‘somewhere?'”
    “Downtown. Again,
lots of people.”
    His features relaxed,
he knew what I was doing.
    “Sure, I’ll just
get a ride home with Luke.”
    And yet he trusted me.
    My heart warmed. I gave
him a quick kiss and then ran back upstairs to get ready for school.

    As other schools
rebuilt, most of the new faces at Ecole left and some of the old ones
even returned. Slowly, day by day, piece by piece, we were coming
back. I thought back to a couple months ago, just after Katrina, and
the words of the naysayers who had told us not to rebuild or that New
Orleans would never be the same again. How silly all that sounded
now. I still tried to do as much as I could with volunteering.
Working at the diving company took more of a toll on me than I had
hoped for. I used to not mind working for my dad when it was teaching
the scuba class at the St. Bernard Parish community center. Now, and
finally, I had a life. I wanted free time.
    I didn’t know if it
was me that had changed or the school, but going to school each day
was suddenly different. Knowing Nikki and Marie would be there, and
Hayden and Luke, I actually wanted to go, now. The only thing that
hadn’t changed was Stephanie. Clearly nothing fazed her, not even a
Hurricane.
    My morning classes,
like always, went by quickly and peacefully except that Stephanie had
been looking particularly smug since third period.
    I looked around my AP history class
with the feeling that something was missing. Luke wasn’t at his
desk and my thoughts directly went to Hayden. Had he skipped as well?
Did they have to go take care of something? I quickly texted Hayden
before Rachel started her lecture.
    Me: Hey, where r u?
    Hayden: In class, without you.
    Hayden: Why? He added quickly.
    Me: Just checking :)
    Okay so he was in class
and Luke wasn’t. So it had nothing to do with hunting. Which meant
Luke was absent for his own personal reasons.
    I found it hard to pay
attention during class. I debated whether or not to do something
about my dream when I got off from work. I wanted to go to the
theatre.
    Late last night, as I
lay in bed with my eyes open, I thought about my dream and what it
had meant. The theatre had sounded familiar and I knew I had to have
passed it countless times while in the French Quarter. I remembered
the brochure I had taken from the ghost tours place and wondered if I
still had it. I took a chance and dug through my laundry basket. I
found the map just where I had left it: in the back pocket of my
jeans. Sure enough, one of the highlighted stops was La Petite
Theatre du Vieux Carre aka Vampire Street Theater. I flipped the map
over a few times, looking for any information on why it was “the
most haunted theatre in the South.” I seriously considered taking
the owner up on her offer for a tour. If I was going to keep having
these dreams, at least I should know the history behind the places.
    Although I hadn't
committed to going yet, there was a pit of excitement and nervousness
in my stomach just thinking about it. I couldn’t concentrate on
schoolwork but rather on going over the details of what I would do if
I went. Would I just drive by? Should I ask Hayden to come with me?
Should I go back to the ghost tour place? If I kept this up, this
would be a long day. And how, exactly, was I going to make it through
work?
    Rachel lectured almost
the entire period which gave me plenty of time for several scenarios
to run through my head. I felt guilty for not