Read Online Immortal by Gillian Shields - Free Book Online

my feet began to shake, and there was a flash of lightning. A blustering wind that sounded like the hungry sea swept through the cave. I dropped the Book and stretched out my arms. Tiny white flames danced in my cupped hands. I felt no pain or fear, and in that moment I felt more myself than I ever had before.
    I saw him stagger away from me with a cry, and the Circle was broken. The white fire vanished, the wind dropped, and the earth was still. We stood eyeing each other warily, panting for breath, overcome with wonder.
    “The Elements answered your call, Agnes,” he said slowly. “You have called their spirits and they have answered. The Fire has spoken to you.”
    We walked back to the Abbey in silence, trying to believe it, trying to understand. And I knew that nothing would ever be the same again.
    Since then I have felt transformed. I am indeed on fire with hopes and dreams. Everything shimmers and glitters around me. Life is overflowing; I see tiny insects crawling, I see fish in the lake and birds swooping over the chapel ruins—and I crawl and swim and fly with them.
    And there are other things that I see too: strange ghosts glimmering in the shadows. This morning, as I left the schoolroom to fetch some new embroidery silk for Miss Binns that my aunt Marchmont had sent from Paris, I had an odd feeling that I was being watched. I turned and saw the faintest image of a young girl walking in the corridor behind me. I thought at first that it was a trick of the light, but it was as though the curtain between this world and another had been lifted. She wore a short tunic, and her legs were covered only by stockings, and like me, she had flame-colored hair. When I saw her shimmering there, half hidden by the gulf that lay between us, I seemed to hear the sound of the waves and smell the salt tang of the sea….
    Our “game” has proved to be gloriously, unimaginably real. Now I am burning to know more and discover every secret.
    I have never felt so alive.

Ten
    I
    had never felt so depressed. It was as though part of me had died. Everything about Wyldcliffe seemed strange and uncomfortable—no, more than uncomfortable—threatening. Every shadow made me jump; every night brought disturbing dreams; every morning I woke with a sinking feeling in my stomach.
    I told myself that it was just because the school was so different from everything I had ever known. I would soon get used to it. I would soon toughen up. Be sensible, Evie; of course that teacher didn’t have a dagger in her pocket. It was simply a letter opener shaped like a knife . Of course I hadn’t really seen Laura drown. It was only a dream. And the girl with the flame-colored hair was imaginary. There was nothing to worry about. I was just anxious and homesick. But somehow I couldn’t quite convince myself.
    When I had been at Wyldcliffe about a week, I finally got a letter from Dad. It was set out with the rest of the students’ mail on a long table in the entrance hall. My heart skipped as I recognized his neat handwriting. I stuffed the letter in my pocket and counted the seconds until the bell rang for morning break. When it did, I followed the class out onto the terrace overlooking the grounds. The other students hung around Celeste as she went on about the marvelous vacation she’d had in some exclusive island paradise. Helen had stayed in the classroom, reading, and there was no sign of Sarah either. I hadn’t seen much of her, as she spent all her spare time in the stables.
    No one offered to talk to me, or to share the cookies and hot chocolate that were always served at this time of the day. It was as though Celeste’s dislike of me had made me untouchable. I told myself I didn’t care, and ran down to the ruins to open my letter in peace.
Dearest E.,
I hope by now you are getting used to your new school and making friends. What do you think of Wyldcliffe? It is fine countryside around there. Your mother and I visited the area when we