Read Online Dead Girl Walking by Ruth Silver - Free Book Online

she ever will alive.”
    Leila swallowed the lump in her throat. “How do you know that?”
    “Because I've seen what it does to a person,” Edon said. “Only those that die from an external influence have a guaranteed time of death. She missed her appointment, because you weren’t there in time. These kinds of mistakes can cause a ripple effect. That little girl deserves better. So does her family.”
    Leila silently nodded. Edon walked up to the front door and gave a swift knock while Leila snuck into Isabella's room through the window.
    “Hi,” Leila said. The little girl stared back at her with wide eyes. The smile from Isabella's face was gone. A sheen of sweat coated the little girl's forehead. “How do you feel?” Leila asked.
    Isabella hugged a cloth doll tight to her chest. “Sick.”
    “Close your eyes,” Leila insisted. “I can make it all better.”
    Isabella watched Leila for a moment before the little girl shut her eyes. Leila reached down and brushed a gentle hand across the child's forehead. Her body grew limp, unresponsive, as she died in her sleep. Leila watched as the soul of Isabella stood beside her. She reached for Isabella's hand. Leila climbed through the window, taking Isabella's soul with her.
    “I don't understand,” Isabella said.
    “Me either.” How could Isabella understand, when Leila didn't fully know what was going on around her. “Do you feel better?” Leila asked, hoping that Isabella no longer felt sick.
    Isabella nodded. Leila walked with the ghost of a girl beside her, a shadow of this life, her soul, before traveling into the next. “Can I go?” Isabella asked. “I always wanted to go to the circus!”
    Leila saw a shimmer of lights, but couldn't make out what was behind them. It wasn't for her to see. “Of course.” She smiled at the young girl as she skipped off toward her circus.
    Edon walked up behind Leila and patted her on the shoulder. “I fear what she's brought.”
    “What do you mean?” Leila spun around on her feet to face Edon, now that Isabella was gone.
    “Her mother was telling me how Isabella and her father travel to different cities, as traders. That wasn't the worst of it. After you slipped out of the room, I examined her daughter, pretending to be a doctor. Obviously, I couldn't revive her, but what I found was unsettling. Her fingers were black.”
    “Why were they black?” Leila asked.
    “She contracted a disease, probably during her travels,” Edon said. “My concern is that we took her soul too late, and it had time to spread.”
    Leila walked toward the horse and saddled up. “Maybe you're wrong.” She was going home. The scroll hadn't given her another assignment.
    “Let's hope so.”
     
    Swiftly, Leila rode home. As she arrived back at the house, she was surprised to see three additional horses tied up alongside Emblyn's. She climbed down and secured Violetta's horse before walking inside. Candles lit up the living room. She was surprised to see Jasper and Wynter joining Emblyn and Violetta.
    “You must have made a big mess,” Violetta said, the moment Leila stepped inside.
    “I cleaned it up. Why's that?”
    Jasper stood up and opened his scroll, showing it to Leila. “Look at my assignment.” In three days’ time, he had twenty reaps to perform at approximately the same time. No more could fit on the scroll.
    Leila cleared her throat. “Has this ever happened before?”
    “Not to this extent, no,” Jasper said. He walked back toward the couch, sitting with Emblyn. Wynter sat on the floor and Violetta took her favorite chair across from the sofa.
    “Do you all have excessive assignments?” Leila asked, hoping it was a one-off thing. Maybe Jasper was being given overtime or something.
    “Don't you?” Violetta asked. “Let me see your scroll.”
    Leila hesitated before she finally reached for her scroll, removing it from her stocking. Unrolling the scroll, Leila revealed that it was blank.
    “They don't trust