This reminded her of the friend she had just deserted: Grailynn. They had become proficient cyber-buddies. The holo-port connection provided by their PALs wasn’t as cozy as being in the same room together, but it was a useful, immediate, and tangible way for them to converse. On the second evening in their new home, she had told Grailynn about her chance meeting with Miera.
“You’re replacing me already?” Grailynn had teased.
Kayla had felt a twinge of guilt. “I could never replace you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Grailynn said. “You know I feel the same way. I’m just bummed you found another running partner so quickly.”
They communicated one way or another daily, often more than that. But Kayla knew this would taper off when Grailynn began preparing for the upcoming year-end exams.
It was now more than a week since she left Grailynn. Sighing, Kayla began her warm-up routine, preparing for Miera’s imminent arrival. While she did so, she glanced outside, noting the leaden sky, heavy with its promise of a last spring snow. Even as she watched, the sky darkened.
Completing her warm-up, Kayla stepped outside. Then she stiffened as the full wrath of the polar air hit her. Sheesh! That’s bitter! Debating going back in and getting her face mask, she saw Miera opening the street door of their home. It was now or never. Kayla dashed back inside and darted upstairs to her room, where she grabbed her face mask, and then scooted back downstairs, reaching her own street door just as Miera arrived.
“Seriously!” Miera berated the arctic air, vigorously stomping her feet on Kayla’s front porch.
Kayla grinned, donning her face mask. “Ready?”
“No,” Miera snapped, to Kayla’s surprise.
“You want to skip?”
“I’d love to, but considering we haven’t run for the last two days, I guess we don’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice—” Kayla began, but Miera interrupted.
“Whatever, you know what I mean. It’s not getting any warmer, so let’s hustle before we freeze where we stand. Is the lake route okay?”
Kayla nodded. It was both the closest and shortest of the three trails they had run.
Miera took off, her accelerated pace a clear sign she intended completing the exercise as quickly as possible. Feeling the effects didn’t take long. Not only was Kayla unaccustomed to the increased speed, but she had to wrestle the glacial air for each ounce of oxygen. As forcefully as she pulled the chilly air in, the wind sucked it back out. The tiny amount of air she retained burned with icy fury as it scraped past her throat. Then the frosty needles prickled their way down her trachea until they pierced her lungs. Every successful breath was a painful victory.
Thankful for her thermal layers, Kayla soon realized that, despite their warmth, she would only make it around the lake once today. She continued struggling with her erratic breathing, fighting for a regular rhythm. Before they were even halfway, Kayla was wheezing. Her lungs were demanding more oxygen. Motioning to Miera, she puffed, “Hey, slow down a bit, battling to breathe here!”
Miera shot her an annoyed look, decelerating marginally.
Kayla bridled. Really? Is that all she can manage? Irritated, Kayla deliberately lagged, not surprised when Miera didn’t slack off. Too bad. Kayla maintained her staid tempo. Miera rounded on her and ran in place, resentment clouding her face at being forced to slow down or end up without a running partner. A chill ran down Kayla’s spine. Wow, I didn’t think Miera would be that upset.
Catching up, Kayla wasn’t surprised when Miera said nothing. But as they ran on, Kayla grew more uncomfortable by the second. She snuck a peek at Miera. Shockingly, Miera’s face showed none of her earlier hostility.
So why do I feel like I have invisible worms crawling over my skin? Kayla wasn’t normally insecure. Then she tasted a familiar metallic tinge—the taste of her fear. Something she hadn’t experienced in ages. Through sheer willpower, Kayla had learned to conquer her nerves whenever they settled in a new area, dodging the unpleasant experience of her saliva turning leaden in her mouth. What am I so afraid of? Surely Miera won’t turn into some monster? To calm her nerves (and avoid Miera’s gaze), Kayla shifted her eyes toward the frozen lake. She stumbled. Whoa! What’s that?
Miera growled. “What?”
“Over there!” Kayla whispered, pointing.
Miera glanced at the lake. “The geese?”
“No, silly, whatever’s scaring them!”
Kayla’s feet slowed to a standstill. She gaped at the geese, scrabbling over one another in their frenzied attempts to escape the intruder in their midst. Their panicked honking filtered through her earmuffs. The intruder was huge! And it wasn’t floating either. Just hovering above the water.
“Why have you stopped?”
Miera’s irate tone pricked Kayla’s consciousness, and she automatically countered. “Because I’ve seen nothing like that. Have you?”
That got Miera’s attention. She jogged back to where Kayla stood, and Kayla squirmed under her scrutiny, sure her face must be ghostly pale. She averted her face, looking back at the lake again, and caught Miera swiveling her head toward the geese. But then Kayla’s attention honed on the creature, lifting higher.
Disgust replaced curiosity. Kayla put a hand over her mouth. Ugh! It’s awful! Like some horrendously misshapen bird. But how can it be with that long, scaly neck and bizarre tail?
Kayla craned her neck, squinting to see more of the tail the senseless geese were obscuring. It was long and tapered with an odd bulge at the end. Shouldn’t it flare? And where were the feathers? Instead, the tail looked . . . hard and scaly. Like the neck. The beast lumbered upward and then twisted, allowing Kayla her first true glimpse of the entire tail. A scream escaped—a scorpion’s stinger!
Miera jumped. Her eyes tracked to Kayla’s face, and when Kayla jerked backwards, Miera rushed closer and grasped Kayla’s elbows to steady her. Kayla swayed, aware of Miera’s worried face peering into hers. Flicking her gaze back to the lake, Miera tried pinpointing the cause of Kayla’s distress. Her frown only deepened, and she looked back at Kayla and moved her hands to Kayla’s shoulders.
“Hey, are you okay? Do we need to walk a bit?”
Kayla couldn’t speak.
Miera shook her a little. “Girl, talk to me! I need to know you’re alright.”
Kayla stared at Miera. How is she so calm? Then the stunning realization hit. Miera couldn’t see it. How is that possible? No, how awful is that? As if the grotesque bird could be any more horrific, now only I can see its ungainly ascent? Incapable of speech, Kayla watched, appalled, as the revolting thing suddenly flew straight toward them. Her blood chilled. Silvery saliva filled her mouth, and her legs wobbled.
The abomination halted thirty yards away. Its massive bulk towered over them. As it drifted, it glared, heated, amber eyes flashing resentment. Kayla goggled at the head bigger than a basketball. The head should be orange to match its eyes, she thought hysterically. Wouldn’t that be a fine Halloween trick? The tip of the monster’s tail swished up and down, like a cat ready to pounce. But it didn’t attack.
Kayla’s feet took root where she stood. She couldn’t move even if she’d wanted to. Dizziness swept over her. Breathe, Kayla chided herself.
Just as suddenly as it had approached, the monster lurched upward. With a few short strokes of its warped wings, it was far above them. If Miera hadn’t been holding her by the shoulders, Kayla knew she would have fallen. Feeling the comfort of her friend’s firm grip, she sucked in air, desperate to restore oxygen to her deprived system. Her heart pounded painfully. She continued her measured breathing, gradually feeling calmer. Sensation rudely made a stinging return to her limbs, half frozen from the sub-zero air. Rubbing a hand over her runny nose, Kayla turned her face slightly, and the frigid wind hit her like glacial water, breaking the spell. What exactly was going on?
“Ready to stand on your own now?” Miera’s face still showed concern.
; “Yeah, I think so. What happened?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t see it?” Kayla asked, wanting confirmation only she had seen the monstrosity.
“Girl, I don’t know what you saw, but I sure didn’t. What I do know is that whatever it was, it scared you senseless. And that frightened me more than anything. You’re white as a sheet. Maybe you should sit a minute?”
“No, I’ll be okay. I think we just started out too fast. I couldn’t get enough air. That could make me see things, right?”
Kayla mentally patted herself on the back. That sounds plausible, doesn’t it? I can’t have Miera thinking I’ve lost it. Or did I? Kayla was still trying to wrap her mind around how Miera hadn’t seen what was plain as day in front of them.
“Yeah, I suppose it could’ve.” Miera didn’t sound convinced. “Let’s get you home. And let’s go slow. I don’t want you freaking out on me again!”
They started back, first walking, then jogging, and then increasing their pace to their regular rhythm. Normalcy returned for Kayla with each step. Desperate to believe she had imagined it all, she tried to block what she had seen from her memory.
Could I really envision something so repugnant? Her skin crawled again, and Kayla shut the images from her mind. She would not think about it. She would get home, have a hot shower, and get into bed. She would forget this afternoon ever happened. Because if Miera didn’t see it, I had to have imagined the whole thing, right?
No verbal communication was necessary for them to decide they were going straight home. Home and indoors, where sensible people belonged in weather like this. They were not doing a second lap. They were not taking any detours. Relief trickled through Kayla when they exited the lake route. The trickle was a flood by the time they turned onto the last street. Comforted to be home at last, Kayla gave Miera a thankful hug at the street door.
“Sure you’ll be okay?” Miera asked.
“Yup, my breathing’s back to normal, and a hot shower will do wonders to chase away the chill. I’ll call you later,” Kayla added, sensing Miera’s lingering concerns.
“Alright. But let’s skip running the next time it’s so cold. Probably wasn’t the best idea that we ran in such freezing weather. Sorry I started out so fast. I thought you’d be able to keep up.” Miera glanced down at her feet.
“Not your fault,” Kayla soothed. “I have a mouth. I can speak up!”
“Well, I hate to admit that you did, but I didn’t want to slow down. It was too darn glacial! Next time, I’ll listen,” Miera promised.
“Deal. Now get back home before you get sick.” Kayla eased Miera off the porch.
Entering the blissful warmth of their heated home, tension oozed from Kayla’s frozen body. She suddenly felt inexplicably exhausted. It was only three o’clock, but it felt like it was past her bedtime.
Wearily, Kayla climbed the stairs to her room, stripped off her icy clothes, and crawled under the drumming heat of the shower. She didn’t know how long she stood there, but she realized it was a long time when the water ran cold. Dragging herself out of the shower, she dried her wet skin and then fell onto her bed. Too drained even to drum up the energy to dry her sodden hair, she pulled the covers up over herself and fell into a deep sleep, haunted by images of an ocher-eyed monster: suspended, watchful, and waiting.
Chapter Five
Jaden paced. Three weeks had passed since his encounter with the strange beast, and it was gnawing at him. The more he tried to convince himself he had hallucinated the whole thing, the more he knew he hadn’t. He had seen something. More than that, those “feelings” he got rarely lied. What he had felt was real. The threat wasn’t a trick of the altitude. But the question remained: how to prove it?
He glared at his wall screen, silently rebuking him as it displayed his current study materials. Study materials he should use to prepare for his year-end exams, scheduled to start in four days. Four wretched days, including today, for him to take action and settle his mind so he was free to concentrate on his studies.
Finalizing the plan swimming in his head for the last twenty minutes, Jaden strode from his room in search of his mother. She would be the one to ask. Her love of hiking would make it happen.
He found her in the kitchen, baking cookies. Wryly, he thought of Bree’s extravagant creations. While they were spectacular, there was something special about his mother’s baking. It was a treat to get home from the LC and find freshly baked cookies to snack on, stuffed with wholesome goodness. An afternoon tradition he counted on even more these days with his near-constant hunger.
He inspected his long limbs, knowing his hunger was driving their growth. Although he understood their disproportionate length was a necessary, transient part of attaining his full height, he wished he would start filling out now.
His friends joked that if he didn’t stop growing soon, he’d be a candidate for the hoop games, an annual event starring kids with one thing in common—their height. Already taller than his peers, Jaden took comfort because he was still far short of the hoop games’ contestants’ lofty status. However, winners received substantial grants, which merited consideration. Still, is that adequate compensation for the gangly limbs?
His stomach growled as his nose acknowledged the unique aroma of chocolate chip cookies. Smiling at his mother, he sidled up to the cooling rack and snagged a warm cookie.
“Yum!” He drooled, his teeth sinking into the soft, crumbly center and his taste buds responding to melted chips of heavenly chocolate.
His mother grinned. “Hungry again, are we?”
“You know I can’t resist your cookies.”
Clara Jameson smiled as she continued lifting cookies off the baking sheet and placing them on the cooling rack. “How are your studies going?”
Jaden grimaced. “Not as well as I would like.” Now to plant the idea, he thought. “Some fresh air and exercise would help clear my head. Re-energize me. Help me concentrate.”
Demolishing the cookie, he covertly studied his mother’s reaction. She seemed to consider his request—probably calculating whether this was a ploy to get out of studying for an afternoon. Unexpectedly, she looked at him, her gaze penetrating. Jaden tried to keep his face expressionless. Snakes! It’s like she knows I’m up to something.
“I guess you’re hinting at going on a hike?” she finally said, raising an eyebrow.
“You got me!” Jaden laughed. “But seriously, Mom, I need to go. It really would help.”
Although he tried, he couldn’t keep the pleading from his voice. He sounded desperate, and desperate he was. Not for the fresh air. Not for the exercise. But for the chance to prove he had seen something, to prove the altitude hadn’t affected him. To prove he wasn’t losing it! Something was out there, and for some unknown reason, he was compelled to know what it was.
His extreme anxiety didn’t escape his mother’s attention. Genuine concern replaced contemplation. “Jaden, is everything alright?”
“Yes. I just need to get out the house for a bit. Please?”
Hesitantly, his mother replied, “If you feel that strongly about it, I’ll talk to your father and see if he’s open to going tomorrow. I imagine he’ll jump at the opportunity, considering it’s his day off, and you know how he loves to spend the day outdoors when he’s home.”
Relieved, Jaden hugged his mother. But even though she smiled, he saw the worry lurking in her lovely brown eyes. Wanting to reassure her, he said, “Tell Dad that if we go tomorrow, I promise to study on Saturday to make up for lost time.” But the concern remained. What else could he tell her except the truth? “Mom, really, going up the mountain will help more than you know.”
Whether it was the conviction in his voice or the earnestness of his countenance that swayed her, he didn’t know, but it appeased Jaden when her smile crept up into her eyes. She understood hiking would solve his problem. And if it solved it for him, it solved it for her.
&nb
sp; “Alright then,” she agreed. “I suppose I know what we’re doing tomorrow afternoon.”
Elated, Jaden winked and grabbed another cookie. His mom would persuade his dad to agree. And she’d probably bake up a storm too. Score!
The next day dawned bright and clear. When Jaden stepped outside to leave for the LC, the warm air caressing his face made him wish he had asked his parents for the whole day on the mountain instead of just the time after the LC’s early closing at eleven. But that never would’ve happened. Mandatory LC classes filled the morning, and Jaden would need his wits for the last day of the academic year before exams.
Even though it was short, it was vital. Today, trainees received instructions for their upcoming exams. With testing no longer standardized, they assessed each trainee to present the greatest challenge. So while one trainee might have a written exam, another might have to give an oral presentation, while yet another would be required to demonstrate the solution. No matter how they tested you, time taken to solve the problem, performance under pressure, and the ingenuity of the solution itself were all used to determine your final grade. This made learning for an exam as much of an exercise in lateral thinking as in memorizing facts.
Despite Jaden making excuses yesterday about needing fresh air, it would, in fact, be beneficial. Exercise not only relaxed him but prepared him mentally, helped him perform better under pressure, and allowed him to come up with more innovative solutions for his testing than the years where he spent all his time just hitting the books.
The morning passed in a blur, a mixture of innumerable instructions and jubilant, last-day celebrations. Jaden had no time to think about the mountains again until he stepped outside the boundary of the LC to greet his parents. Waiting at the door of their terraporter, they wore their hiking gear and offered hot chocolate.
“Any cookies to go with that?” Jaden asked, climbing aboard. He grinned when his mother slid a container toward him.
Destiny Series Boxed Set Page 3