Read Online Into the Ether by Vanessa Barger - Free Book Online Page B

eyes and I gritted my teeth.
    I charged. There was no other way to describe it. One moment I stood, clutching the hat and note in my hands, and the next my feet were flying across the floor. My hands opened and the items dropped from my fingers. I swung at Thomason, my puny attempt at damaging him glancing off woolen clothing.
    He didn’t even move. There was no sign that I’d even come closer, other than the brightening of the perpetual, unnerving glow of his face .
    Without thinking, I swung my open palm into the side of his face. Pain flashed up my arm at the contact. My palm connected to him for only a moment, but it might as well have been days. Confusing images rolled through my head. My skin blistered and reddened like fried bacon.
    A shriek bounced off the walls around us, and I realized it came from my lips, but did little to stop it. The thoughts and images st r eamed through my mind, confusing and frightening. I staggered back, holding my hand and taking shallow breaths through my mouth, even as I struggled to push the scenes from my mind. They made me feel more emotion than I wanted. But Thomason moved closer , and my weak defenses couldn’t stop them.
    His voice, which had been silent to me until now, hissed through my thoughts like a burst of gunpowder. Remember .
    I shook my head, trying to decide which obstacle to face first, the pain throbbing up my arm, or the faces flashing before me. Thomason didn’t leave me the option. In a way I still do n’ t understand, he thrust the memories at me. The people screamed and smiled and cried through my tired brain, some haunting and familiar, others I shied from, and still others I knew nothing about. They moved so quickly I couldn’t hold on to any one for long . I knew, deep in my gut, that Thomason had shown me pictures of my parents. As the memories began to taper to a stop, I realized I could n't identify my parents. Fresh tears sprang to my eyes, and the pain that flashed through me drove me to my knees.
    I looked at Thomason, standing so still before me.
    â€œ Why would you show me this? How can you know? ”
    Nothing. No response. I shoved all other noise to the side , focusing intently on the automaton. Whispers moved from other objects around me, but I brushed them away . All my attention rested on Thomason.
    No hissing. No noise at all. Listening to him was like getting a taste of being deaf. Either he couldn’t speak and I had imagined it —a conclusion that made the most sense —or h e would speak only when he wanted. Anger boiled around and within me. My fingernails bit into the palm of the hand that wasn’t throbbing, and I ground my teeth. If I hadn’t already tasted what would happen when I touched Thomason, I’d have smacked him again. Thomason had known my parents. And he had been involved in my abandonment six years ago.
    My anger had no outlet. Tears streamed down my face . The air around me seemed thick and the walls press ed in on me.
    One scuffed , black boot and the scratched , brass stem of a crutch appeared in my field of vision. I gulped air down, trying to stop the flow of tears.
    â€œCome on then, Gennie. Let’s get that hand bandaged up.”
    Colonel Worthington ’s rough, lined hand reached down and I looked up into his face.
    â€œThings never happen the way I plan.”
    His smile was kind. “I know. But it makes the rewards that much better later. Trust me.”
    There was little comfort in his words for me now, but I appreciated the attempt. He hissed when my hand came into view. “You don’t do anything by halves, do you?”
    I grimaced and lurched to my feet with his help. “Of course not.”
    Phillip’s heavy treads echoed around us, and he scooped me from my unsteady legs as if I were two.
    Colonel Worthington picked up the hat and crumpled note and held them out to me. I took them, and neither of us mentioned how much my hand shook. I