Read Online Where Silence Gathers by Kelsey Sutton - Free Book Online Page B

securely as her arms. Honeysuckle.
    Then the sun brightens.
    I open my eyes, and I’m utterly alone. Mom and Hunter are gone. I turn to where Dad was, but he’s disappeared too, along with the Emotions haunting him. The only thing left in his place is a single, glinting flash drive.

    The town clock is sounding, over and over again. Wake up, wake up , it says. I want to take a hammer and smash it into silence.
    My eyes flutter open, and even before I see her I know she’s here. “I hate you,” I rasp.
    Dream blinks, the movement slow and deliberate. She’s a new Element that—for some reason—replaced the old Dream. There was something especially disturbing about him, anyway, so I accepted the change without bothering to ask questions. She stands next to my bed. She’s one of the strangest-looking Elements there is: black hair and eyelashes, skin so pale I should be able to see veins, long limbs that are almost unnatural. Her lithe body is draped in a gossamer gown of more black. Her feet are bare and her toes peek out at me. Long, bony toes.
    â€œNo you don’t,” she replies, in a voice that’s made of feathers. Then it’s my turn to blink, and my room is empty.
    She’s right. I don’t hate her. Twisted as it is, she gave me back my family for one night.
    I must be running late; the air smells of burnt bacon and the clock struck eight times. Missy didn’t wake me up. I fly out of bed, stumbling over clothes on the floor. The window is tightly shut, exactly as it should be. Relief blooms in my chest and I dart to the bathroom, ignoring the Emotion hurrying after me.
    Fifteen minutes later I’m tentatively poking my head into the kitchen. My wet hair drips, and my eyebrow ring must be getting infected because it hurts. Saul is in his usual spot, chewing loudly. There’s a bowl of cereal in front of him and Missy is nowhere to be seen. He doesn’t even look up when he asks, “What happened to your car mirror?”
    Hesitating, I dare to take two steps closer. Is he going to mention the application I lied about? “Some freak broke it. He came so close I was lucky the mirror was all he hit.”
    â€œWhat?” Saul’s head jerks up. An Emotion appears. “You don’t know who it was?”
    I take a banana out of the fruit bowl and shrug, leaning against the counter while I unpeel it. “Must’ve been someone passing through.” A glance at the clock on the wall tells me there’s no possible way I’ll make it to my first class. I take a bite and a bad taste greets my tongue; I didn’t see the bruise. Making a face, I toss the banana into the trash.
    â€œNo one passes through Franklin.” Saul turns his attention back to the paper and shovels more cereal in his mouth. “I’ll talk to Frederick about it. And you should pay a visit to Erskine about the mirror. He always gives us a good deal. Shouldn’t you get going?”
    Crunch. Tick. Crunch. Tick. I watch my uncle and—though there aren’t any Emotions around him now—know that he’s disappointed. And hurt. And angry. That clock won’t stand still long enough for me to attempt to bridge the distance between us, and I’m already late. I move to the doorway again. Just as I reach the threshold, I pause and think about saying something meaningful. But, like with Missy, all I have are lies. So I slip away without saying anything and Saul doesn’t try to stop me.
    I wish he would.
    Angus watches me leave again. He doesn’t wave or smile while I drive off into the fog. Saul must have fixed my car window, because it’s finally shut.
    I’m halfway to school when the urge to run consumes me again. Briana will be there, probably wondering about the flash drive I haven’t been able to unlock and looking at me with those troubled eyes. The teachers will drone about times and things and places I don’t care