Read Online Thunder: The Shadows Are Stirring (Thunder Stories Book 1) by Hannah Sullivan - Free Book Online Page A

it.
    “Sheesh, man. This was all them. They don’t need my help with dumb choices.” Olivia shoots me a death ray. See? I can read her just fine.
    “What’d you do to your fingers? Can you move them at all?” He takes Livs’ arm first and she gasps as he turns her hand palm-up.
    I back up to a table and sit on the corner, while Ethan leans stiffly against the side of a tall cabinet, holding his arms very still. He tries to appear bored but his eyes follow Olivia and, when she notices, they share twin grins.
    Ethan opens his mouth, but Livs jumps in, her voice strained despite her quick smile. “We just went for a climb, is all. It was harder than expected.”
    I’m sure there’s more to it. Knowing them, they were trying to figure out a new hammer throw or something, while free-climbing a cliff. Sometimes I think they try to out-do each other with who can get the strangest injuries, just to test Jamie’s skills.
    Jamie rolls his eyes. He’s probably thinking the same thing. “Uh-huh. Sit here, Liv; this isn’t going to feel good at first.” He grabs a clear container from a shelf and rubs a goop of thick yellowish ointment onto all of her fingers. She winces with an audible gasp and mutters dire death threats under her breath.
    “They should go numb in a moment; then I can see what needs to be splinted. The ointment’s what Mr. Gunther used on us in the cave; you’ll be good in a day or so.” I watch my sister’s eyes and, sure enough, her pupils are returning to their regular size. Livs gets one splint, after Jamie pops her finger into place. She doesn’t even flinch, but my stomach clenches; it sounded awful.
    Ethan’s next, and he doesn’t handle it as well as she had. I think his swearing echoes down the mountain and across the valley. Two of his fingers need splints; two need just tape.
    As they leave, Livs kisses the squirt’s head and he waits until the door closes behind them before wiping it off and making a failed attempt to put his spiky hair back into place. When he turns to me, I’m shocked by how similar he looks to Dad. His face shines with accomplishment. If he were a flashlight, his glow would challenge the beam of a lighthouse.
    I’m in awe of the kid. “What’s it like, being able to fix everyone?”
     “Ah, man, it’s the best feeling in the world. Nothing can compare. When pain can be healed …. You know, I wonder how Dad felt using regular human medicines in the hospital. When he lived here, he would’ve worked with everything Mr. Gunther’s been teaching me to use. And all Mr. Gunther’s supplies are the enhanced things from the Shadows. Here, check this out.” He takes my elbow and pulls me to a back table, filled with mad scientist vials and beakers.
    “See, Mr. Gunther’s been showing me how to make everything. All these plants? What do you notice about ’em?”
    “Uh, they’re green and leafy.”
    “Sa-am.”
    “Sorry. They look the same, but this one is shinier and the leaves are … wow, it’s almost like I can see inside of them, like if I cross my eyes I could see chlorophyll moving through the veins.”
    “Yeah! Isn’t it cool? The plants from the Shadows are just like our varieties, but ours are much more diluted in their properties, which makes the ratios for compounds different.” He spins a circle, encompassing the whole room and all its contents. “Which plants or flowers or roots or barks have healing potential? Which ones are poisons? What mixtures can be made into rubs and creams; what needs to be given orally? What can numb, what can mend, what can induce sleep? I know those answers, Sam. It’s mind blowing. I can do this; I can live this. I need to. It’s in my blood.”
    I raise an eyebrow.
    “Mr. Gunther’s got me studying the human body, too: anatomy, biology, and physiology. It’s all stuff I’ll continue to study as I get older and can go to medical school. I want to be a surgeon. Be able to take something broken, or sick, or