Read Online Luminosity (Gravity Series #3) (The Gravity Series) by Abigail Boyd - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Abigail Boyd
Tags: Young Adult, Ghosts
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around, about a microscopic parasite in the birds’ brains or a poison in their diets, but nothing concrete. I was personally tapped out of ideas.
After class one day, I stayed behind to talk to Mr. Golem. He was shoving things into his briefcase and shutting down his computer.
“Mr. Golem, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure, Ariel.” He looked at me. “What’s up? Did you have a question about the lesson today?”
“No, I understood all of that. I was just wondering why you have such a strong interest in what killed the birds.”
He snapped his briefcase shut, his eyes darting around like he wanted a way out. I watched him bite the inside of his cheek and slide a pen behind one ear. “I thought it would be a fun project. I just don’t think the CDC’s explanation is sufficient.”
Fresh from Stauner’s push for evidence, I asked, “What makes you think that the cold front is the wrong explanation?”
He took a deep breath and shuffled around in the side pocket of his laptop case. “Birds dying without warning is not unheard of. Normally when birds are killed by a change in temperature, ice forms on their wings. But I have a friend who works in the CDC laboratory.”
He pulled out a few papers and hesitantly handed them to me. I scanned the pages quickly; they were lab test results.
“What am I looking at here?”
He pointed down to a line near the bottom.
I read aloud, “ Feathers are singed. Cause unknown. ” I looked back up at him in confusion. “So the birds’ feathers were burned, not icy?”
Golem nodded. “The crush injuries they sustained were evidence that they had been blasted back, indicative of an explosion. Yet there was no obvious sign of one. This is where it gets weird.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and put his hand on his chin. “What building was burning that night?”
“The Dexter Orphanage,” I said almost immediately. He stayed in stony silence. “You think that Dexter sent out a force that killed the birds?”
Golem bowed his head, ripping the papers back and shoving them into their hiding spot. He unzipped the case and zipped it back up jerkily, like the zipper was stuck. “I know, it sounds like the ramblings of a crazy man. That’s part of why I offered it as extra credit; I wanted someone to come up with a theory that made sense.”
“It doesn’t sound crazy,” I said. “I just didn’t connect the two before. I know I’m just a student, but I’ve seen more than your average kid. I’ve had my own brushes with Dexter; that place is evil. Those birds were possessed; one broke our sliding glass door and another beat itself to death on my aunt’s window. I thought maybe they were Dexter’s spies. Maybe when the orphanage burned, it took their power away?”
For a moment, I regretted spilling so much. But he seemed excited by my theory. “That’s what I was thinking. I just didn’t have the courage to say it out loud.”
“It’s not really courage. More like a lack of a censor on my mouth,” I said, attempting a smile.
“Don’t let anyone make you feel naive because you’re young,” Golem said. “You still want to learn. Adults are so set in their ways that they can’t see new paths.”
“Do you think Thornhill covered it up? Made the CDC ignore evidence?”
“Thornhill has a deep influence,” Golem admitted. “Not just money, but fear. Deep enough to silence anyone they don’t want to speak out.”
CHAPTER 7
“ EVEN IF DEXTER is evil, how could it kill anything? It’s a building,” Theo said on the ride home. We were rehashing what Golem and I had spoken about after class. She’d seemed very surprised that he had taken me so seriously. Now she appeared spooked, her knuckles white on the steering wheel, her face just as moon-pale.
“I don’t know. Whatever happened back when the children were housed there, whatever sacrifices John Dexter originally performed, left a scar there that’s now open and
After class one day, I stayed behind to talk to Mr. Golem. He was shoving things into his briefcase and shutting down his computer.
“Mr. Golem, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure, Ariel.” He looked at me. “What’s up? Did you have a question about the lesson today?”
“No, I understood all of that. I was just wondering why you have such a strong interest in what killed the birds.”
He snapped his briefcase shut, his eyes darting around like he wanted a way out. I watched him bite the inside of his cheek and slide a pen behind one ear. “I thought it would be a fun project. I just don’t think the CDC’s explanation is sufficient.”
Fresh from Stauner’s push for evidence, I asked, “What makes you think that the cold front is the wrong explanation?”
He took a deep breath and shuffled around in the side pocket of his laptop case. “Birds dying without warning is not unheard of. Normally when birds are killed by a change in temperature, ice forms on their wings. But I have a friend who works in the CDC laboratory.”
He pulled out a few papers and hesitantly handed them to me. I scanned the pages quickly; they were lab test results.
“What am I looking at here?”
He pointed down to a line near the bottom.
I read aloud, “ Feathers are singed. Cause unknown. ” I looked back up at him in confusion. “So the birds’ feathers were burned, not icy?”
Golem nodded. “The crush injuries they sustained were evidence that they had been blasted back, indicative of an explosion. Yet there was no obvious sign of one. This is where it gets weird.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and put his hand on his chin. “What building was burning that night?”
“The Dexter Orphanage,” I said almost immediately. He stayed in stony silence. “You think that Dexter sent out a force that killed the birds?”
Golem bowed his head, ripping the papers back and shoving them into their hiding spot. He unzipped the case and zipped it back up jerkily, like the zipper was stuck. “I know, it sounds like the ramblings of a crazy man. That’s part of why I offered it as extra credit; I wanted someone to come up with a theory that made sense.”
“It doesn’t sound crazy,” I said. “I just didn’t connect the two before. I know I’m just a student, but I’ve seen more than your average kid. I’ve had my own brushes with Dexter; that place is evil. Those birds were possessed; one broke our sliding glass door and another beat itself to death on my aunt’s window. I thought maybe they were Dexter’s spies. Maybe when the orphanage burned, it took their power away?”
For a moment, I regretted spilling so much. But he seemed excited by my theory. “That’s what I was thinking. I just didn’t have the courage to say it out loud.”
“It’s not really courage. More like a lack of a censor on my mouth,” I said, attempting a smile.
“Don’t let anyone make you feel naive because you’re young,” Golem said. “You still want to learn. Adults are so set in their ways that they can’t see new paths.”
“Do you think Thornhill covered it up? Made the CDC ignore evidence?”
“Thornhill has a deep influence,” Golem admitted. “Not just money, but fear. Deep enough to silence anyone they don’t want to speak out.”
CHAPTER 7
“ EVEN IF DEXTER is evil, how could it kill anything? It’s a building,” Theo said on the ride home. We were rehashing what Golem and I had spoken about after class. She’d seemed very surprised that he had taken me so seriously. Now she appeared spooked, her knuckles white on the steering wheel, her face just as moon-pale.
“I don’t know. Whatever happened back when the children were housed there, whatever sacrifices John Dexter originally performed, left a scar there that’s now open and
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