Read Online Winter's Fury - Volume Two of The Saga of the Twelves by Richard M. Heredia - Free Book Online Page B

be
going through something as frightening as this , came the thought. Not sure why, Christina’s heart lurched
for the girl she did not know. She turned from her, even as the
desire to place a protective shield around the 3rd grader
blossomed. Resolution settled upon her shoulders as if she’d made
some sort of decision. It was general though, not a thought geared
at anything in particular, but it was one all the same. She would
look out for the girl regardless if she knew all that much about
her.
    Her eyes found the
darkness at the further reaches of the passage. Her brow furled on
its' own, as if creasing the skin upon her forehead would somehow
increase the power of her vision. Yet, her orbs did not penetrate
the black veil. Where the lantern-light failed, so did her ability
to see beyond. She shivered from the growing chill. Or maybe it was
something else, something she felt inside. She could not tell
which. Either way she was cold.
    She found Marissa once
again. “Why are we here?” she asked no one, but still said it aloud
nonetheless.
    Maybe she was asking
God.
    “ We’re part of the Event,”
said the nine-year-old. Her voice seemed light-years
away.
    The teens’ grimace spread
throughout her visage. “What event?”
    Marissa turned toward her,
crossing her legs as she did so. “You know all that stuff that
happened with the Plaza, with Vons and the missing kids. It hasn’t
stopped. We’re part of it.”
    “ How do you know that,
sweetie?”
    “ Because,” was all she
managed before she stopped to wipe at her eyes, angry at being on
the verge of tears. Marissa hated crying. It made her feel like
such a big baby and she was not a baby, not anymore. She might look
years younger than her nine, but it did not mean she had to act
like it too.
    “ Because…?” Christina
prompted, gentle.
    “ Because, two of the kids
taken were my best friends,” clarified the little girl. Her eyes
were accusatory as if she was searching for someone to blame. “I
bet you knew some of them as well.” She looked back at the lantern.
“I bet my life on it.”
    Christina's shocked was
palatable. Why hadn’t she made the determination before? It was so
simple. The answer was right there in front of her. Of course she
had known some of the kids abducted two days prior - none more than
Anthony. He had been her friend for a while now. They were part of
the same clique. They were the same group of kids who spent every
nutrition and lunch by the picnic table under the towering oak tree
toward the back of the school. They had even gone so far as feign
they were dating whenever a boy could not quite get it in his head
that Christina did not like him. They had even kissed once, taking
their rouse a bit too far. It had been a nice kiss though.
Christina remembered it well. His lips had been soft. They were
warm, almost red before her eyes. The entire group had whooped and
hollered something fierce at the sight of them trying to convince
some poor sap that they were an item.
    For a split second,
Christina had contemplated continuing, but then reality had set in
and she had pulled away. She liked Anthony, a lot, and because of
it, she did not want to botch things between them. Every guy she
had ever dated ended up hating her when they broke up. She was
loath to see an expression like one of theirs on Anthony’s face as
he considered her. She could not bear that. It would be too
much.
    So, she had pulled away,
though he had made her weak in the knees, made her heart jump in
her chest. She took all the ridicule and fun-loving jibes from her
pals with stoic patience. She had peered at Anthony with fleeting,
side-long glances through a tumble of her hair.
    He seemed to take in
stride, but every once and a while, he caught her looking and his
expression would change. He became unreadable within seconds. His
gaze was direct and only for her.
    It had made her quiver in
strange places. She pushed those yearnings away as fast as she
could. She