Read Online Phoenix: The Rising by Bette Maybee - Free Book Online

Tina twisted her braid back and forth in her chubby hands. As soon as Julie sat, they stopped. Grace’s hand shot up in the air, quickly garnering Mr. Fredricks’s attention with its frantic waving.
    “Yes, Grace?”
    “Sir, they got another one.” Julie looked over at Grace. Grace had that same horrified expression on her face as she had last week. Here we go again!
    Mr. Fredricks leaned against his desk and crossed his arms.
    “They ... as in who, got whom?”
    Tina spoke up. “The Nephilim. They took another kid to see if it was the Fire-Child. It’s all over the news. He’s been missing since Friday night after the game.”
    Grace bobbed her head up and down.
    “Another redhead from Palisades .”
    “Don’t forget about the green eyes,” Tina added. “He has green eyes, just like that girl.”
    “What is this, a tag team?” Sloan snorted. The class groaned at his bad joke.
    “Quiet down, now,” Mr. Fredricks warned. “It’s true, there is a young man missing from Palisades . An Amber Alert was issued Saturday evening.”
    “The kid’s probably just hiding out ‘cause he’s embarrassed that he lost the game,” Sloan chimed in.
    The kicker! Julie remembered him pacing along the sideline throughout the game, his flaming red hair weaving through the other players as they stood to watch their teammates on the field. It wasn’t until right before he was called in that he finally put on his helmet. He was definitely a redhead.
    “Did they find him?” Julie couldn’t believe the voice that said that was her own. She looked back at Eli. He was staring at her again. There wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face.
    “They won’t,” Grace said matter-of-factly.
    “At least not until after tonight,” Tina added. “It takes three days for the Fire-child to come back to life.”
    “Why three days, Tiny? Does this thing have some Messiah-complex?” Sloan smirked and looked around at his classmates, obviously to see if they appreciated his sarcasm.
    Julie recoiled in her seat as Tina’s fists slammed on the top of her desk. “My name is TINA!”
    “Okay. Enough!” Mr. Fredricks stepped over by Tina. By now, tears ran down Tina’s reddened cheeks, and she covered her face with her hands. “Sloan, Moseman’s office, now!”
    “What?” Sloan hopped up out of his seat. “What did I do? She’s the one that went apeshit! Why doesn’t—”
    “Out!” Mr. Fredricks pointed towards the door.
    Sloan grabbed his bag and mumbled obscenities under his breath as he marched out.
    Julie leaned over to Tina. “Are you okay?”
    Tina wiped her cheeks as she brought her hands down. She took a breath and exhaled as she looked over at Julie. “Yes. Thanks.” She cocked her head sideways. “Green.”
    Julie straightened up in her chair. “What?”
    “You have green eyes.” She sniffled and shook her head. “Good thing you don’t have red hair. That would have put you on their short list.”
    Julie’s hand shot to her hair as she forced a smile. Platinum blonde. It had taken her a couple of years to perfect the color. Red wasn’t easy to cover, but she finally did it. Now each time she looked in the mirror, she didn’t see her mother staring back at her—the mother who had abandoned her on her twelfth birthday—the mother she had learned to hate. Yes, platinum had been a good choice. Bland. Unobtrusive. Made her melt in with the crowd. And now it was possibly protecting her.
    Stop it ! You’re being ridiculous ! Julie shook her head and stood. “I’m sorry, but this is a bunch of crap. There isn’t a Fire-Child that can come back to life, or giants running around here killing redheaded, green-eyed kids. That girl was stupid, running home in the dark on a highway. Somebody hit her, got scared then dumped her body. That boy is probably hiding out somewhere. Sloan was right. He’s probably gone through his life being called a Ginger or a Day-walker and when he blew that field goal, he knew things