Read Online The Gathering by K. E. Ganshert - Free Book Online

want to deal with prophecies and genocides and whatever evil lurks up above. It’s all too much.
    Exhaustion drags at my eyelids. I’ve barely slept in the last seventy-two hours. And Luka’s fingers are playing with my hair again. My mind wanders to my best friend, Leela. She’s probably waiting to hear from me. Last we talked, I told her about the plan and she followed through with Clive. I hate that he was in her car. I hate that he knows her face and her name. My thoughts grow fuzzier. Less cognizant as I tiptoe to the edge of sleep.
    “It’s time for you to go to your room.” It’s Cap’s voice. Disapproving. Far away.
    There’s a brush of lips against my temple. My weight is gently shifted. The mattress springs squeak. I’m alone, and I let sleep take me.

Chapter Twelve
    A Familiar Sound
    I wake up inside a mass of hot, sweaty bodies. There’s smoke and lights and screaming—not the frightened kind that arises out of terror, but the frenzied kind born of adoration. Through the mob, up on the stage, stands B-Trix, a pop star from London who has people fainting by the truckload.
    She begins playing a familiar song and the crowd goes wild.
    Beside me, Leela throws her hands up in the air and sings along. I scratch the inside of my wrist. The spot is completely numb. A few lines in, Leela turns to me, her brown eyes bright with excitement. “I can’t believe we got tickets to a Trix concert!”
    I lean toward her ear and yell back, “I can’t believe it either!”
    It takes a bit. A few seconds, maybe, before it happens. Leela’s eyelids flutter. She looks around the mass of bodies, as if realizing that yes, it really isn’t believable. Me and her here together? She brings her arms down to her sides.
    The stage and the lights and the crowd disappears.
    Her dream world turns into a generic holding place. I expect disappointment, because B-Trix has gone away. Instead, Leela wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes so tight, I can’t breathe. “Oh my gosh, Tess! I’ve been so worried!”
    The generic holding space morphs into my old bedroom in Thornsdale, complete with the breathtaking view of ocean and cliffs and towering redwoods. I want to fling open the window and inhale the briny air. Or better yet, fling open the door and run downstairs to my mom and Pete. If only it would really be them instead of Leela’s projections of them.
    Leela lets go. “What happened? Why wasn’t your grandma there? Oh my gosh, the drive with that man was the most awkward thing in the world. I was so nervous and he wasn’t talking and you know how I get when I’m nervous. I kept chattering away. About really stupid things, too. Like how Matt cheated on Bobbi with Summer.” Leela mimics gagging herself. “And how Bobbi’s been crying in the bathroom and how Summer won’t stop talking about it. I kept going on and on like he cared.”
    I smile at my friend. Man, I’ve missed her.
    “So what happened? Tell me before I go crazy.”
    “My grandmother is dead.”
    Leela’s eyes go round. She slowly sinks onto my bed. “What do you mean?”
    “Her room was empty. So many of the rooms were empty.”
    “Empty? Tess, what are you talking about?”
    “They’re killing patients.” I sit beside her. “In the mental rehab facilities. Innocent people are being murdered.”
    Leela blanches. “Why?”
    “You’ve heard President Cormack’s speeches. They’re a burden to society.” But even as I say it, I know that’s not the real reason. Whether our government realizes it or not, they are pawns in a master plan. This isn’t about eradicating weakness. It’s about eradicating The Gifting. And all-too-often, The Gifting are mistaken as crazy. How couldn’t they be? In a world where nothing supernatural exists, where that fact has been ingrained into our minds since birth, the only logical explanation for seeing the supernatural is mental illness.
    If I hadn’t had Luka and Dr. Roth to explain what was really