I sat back against the seat, taking deep breaths. Bram was right. I needed to keep my head in the game. I needed to be thinking about all the Fated I'd seen that night, not making out with a cute boy. I should have gone home with the others. “It's kind of late. I have to get home.”
Hunter gave me a tight smile. “Sure.”
I wanted to tell him that it wasn't him. He wasn't the reason I had to hold back; it was me. We rode the rest of the way in silence. No music, no talking—nothing.
We pulled into the driveway. “I'll walk you to the door,” Hunter offered.
“No!” I hadn't meant to shout. “I mean, that's okay.”
“Why are you so jumpy? Snowflake, whatever it is, you can tell me.”
No, I couldn't. “Good night, Hunter.”
“Good night.”
I walked toward the dark house. No lights were on, so I assumed everyone had gone to sleep. By the time I'd made it to the door, Hunter was still parked in the driveway. I put my keys in the lock and then I finally heard him backing out. Before closing the door, I turned around for one last look.
It felt as if my heart had stopped temporarily. I froze in the doorway as Hunter pulled out of our driveway.
He was glowing.
* * *
“So, I think we all saw a good amount of the Fated last night,” Bram commented the next morning at breakfast.
We all sat around the dining room table munching on cereal. I hadn't slept, thinking about all the kids I'd seen glowing—Hunter and Roxy in particular. “That pretty boy of yours, he's one of them.”
“How do you know?” I demanded. Hunter hadn't begun to glow until after he pulled out of the driveway. “You were spying on me!”
“I was not. I just happened to be looking out of the window at the same time he was leaving,” Bram lied. “Anyway, he's going to die.”
“Yeah, I know,” I mumbled.
“I told you not to get involved with them. Just watch from the outside. Now you're going to be all depressed, and it's totally your fault.”
I shoved a spoonful of Cheerios in my mouth to keep from telling him to shut the hell up.
“Anyway,” Keira said, “we know time is running out since we're seeing more and more of them, but we're not sure who's doing it. I've been hanging out with these kids since we've been here, and I haven't heard a thing. I don't think they have it in them.”
Bram shrugged. “I haven't come across anyone suspicious either. Still, stay alert. Be aware of your surroundings. This can happen any day now.”
Chapter 20
American History turned out to be the never-ending hour. Ms. G. talked about how the United States was a government ruled by the majority. I wondered what that felt like. In Nowhere, Dunningham and the Covenant had the only and final say. We Grims did what we were told, no questions asked. I spotted two more Fated in the class, and I was restless. I had no interest in American History to begin with, and there was no way I could focus.
My whole day was spent dodging Roxy and Hunter. How could I look them in the eye? During PE, I'd pretended to be sick so I could spend the period in the nurse's office. She took my temperature because I was so pale, unaware that I always looked that way. She'd told me to call my mother because my temperature was lower than it should have been. I realized my mistake and hightailed it out of there.
When Mr. Mayer assigned us to answer questions at the end of the chapter in Language Arts, I asked for a hall pass to use the restroom. I took my sweet time walking down the empty hallway. It was my intention to take as much time as possible.
I went into the bathroom and found it empty. I stared at myself in the mirror for a minute. I had been playing around with my makeup, following Roxy and Paige's tips. My face didn't look as good as when they had done it, but it looked okay.
I went into a stall because I did kind of have to go. I heard someone enter. Whoever it was didn't go into a stall. They stopped in front of the mirror. I heard water running from the sink. I flushed and left the stall.
The girl at the sink was washing her face. She had that familiar look I knew all too well—the look of a Forager. Doyle had said he’d taken care of them.
The girl looked at my reflection in the mirror and smiled. “Hello, Grim.”
I went to the sink to wash my hands. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
The girl had an ashy, sunken-in face. Although she was young, she was beginning to age prematurely. She wore a cap over her brown dingy-looking hair. I noticed Foragers’ features weren't as dark as ours.
She laughed. “Please. You know what I am, and I know what you are.”
“Why are you here?”
“We know. We know there are many lives to be collected here. Enough to sustain our people for a while. We need these lives a lot more than you do. You don't need them at all.”
I turned the water off and grabbed a paper towel. “You won't get to those lives before us.”
“Don't be too sure about that,” the girl said. “This is life or death for us. You'd be surprised what one would do to survive. Of course, you wouldn't know about that. You've never had to fight for your life.”
She was right about that. “How many of you are here?”
“Enough. A lot more than five.”
“It doesn't matter. Even if you have us outnumbered, we're much stronger than you are.”
The girl ran her fingers through her dirty hair. “That may be, but your group has a weak spot.”
“Yeah, what would that be?”
She laughed cruelly. “You. You're the weak spot. You think we don't watch you? Follow your every move?”
That couldn't be. I was a Grim. If someone had been following me, I would have known.
But the Foragers were good at that sort of thing; watching us was how they beat us to the lifestones sometimes.
“I see you getting close to them. Falling for that boy. Trying to fit in. I mean, look at your face. Grims don't wear makeup. I've seen the glow. I hope you're not thinking of doing anything stupid,.”
“What does that mean?”
“Stupid like stopping this. Make no mistake, Naomi Grim. If you do anything to prevent this, you'll have bigger worries than Dunningham.”
I stepped close to the girl and looked her dead in the eye. “Don't you dare threaten me, filthy Forager.”
The girl chuckled, checked herself in the mirror a final time, and then left the restroom.
* * *
“Casper! Where've you been all day?” Paige asked.
I turned to see her, Roxy, and Ashley standing behind me. Roxy was still glowing, and I couldn't bear to look at her. “I haven't been feeling well. I was in the nurse's office.”
Roxy frowned. “Oh. Feel better?”
“A little.”
“We're going to the mall,” Paige said. “Wanna come?”
“Um, no thanks. I have a lot of work to do.” I thought it would be best if I broke ties with them. I didn't trust myself around Roxy. I figured I'd blurt out my secret at any given moment.
“Ah, boo, party pooper,” Paige whined.
“Sorry,” I said, backing away. “I'll see you guys around.”
* * *
The weekend came again without incident. We had been at Kennedy High for almost two weeks now, and I wondered when “it” was going to happen. I avoided Hunter as if he had the plague, but once again he convinced me to go out with him. Hunter was going to die soon. The least I could do was give him a few hours of my time. I told him on Saturday afternoon we could go for a quick bite to eat, but that was it. Part of me wanted to see Hunter because every time I saw him could be the last.
We went to a place called Bubba's, which was half arcade and half restaurant. We shared a pizza and then spent a good portion of the afternoon challenging each other at various games. Hunter won every time. I hadn’t expected any different. We didn't have arcades and video games in Nowhere, so he had a lot more experience than me.
&nb
sp; “Snowflake, you suck,” Hunter said playfully as we left Bubba's.
“Hey, I'm just warming up. Next time—” I caught myself. There wouldn't be a next time. I couldn't go out with Hunter anymore. This had to be it. For all I knew, this massacre could happen on Monday, and I'd never see him again.
Hunter grinned. “Next time, huh? Is that a promise?”
I didn't answer his question as he opened the door of his pickup truck for me.
Hunter tried to make small talk on the way home, but I didn't make it easy for him, replying with yes and no answers. I think the more I thought about it, the more reality was setting in. Hunter's life was over—not only his, but Roxy's and 146 other unsuspecting kids. Kids who had dreams of homecoming dances, proms, graduations, and going off to college. Their dreams would never happen, and their families would be crushed.
We pulled into the driveway. Hunter looked at me expectantly. He wanted me to kiss him, but I couldn't. I did touch his chin and stare into his eyes.
I had the power to save him. There was a possibility that I could stop this, so why shouldn't I? For money? To have more years added to my life? There would be plenty more opportunities for that.
Then I reminded myself that this wasn't just about me and the kids at Kennedy High. It was about my family, Keira and Josh, and the entire colony of Nowhere. We needed the lifestones. A sacred part of the Covenant was that it was not my place to determine who lived or died. It was my job to collect the lifestones. Nothing more.
“Thanks, Hunter,” I muttered, grabbing the door handle. “See you Monday.”
He looked disappointed once more, and I wondered why he had so much patience with me. “Okay. Monday.”
Both cars were gone, so I assumed no one was home. Dorian and Josh had mentioned something earlier about going to see some zombie movie. Maybe they all had gone.
When I entered the house, I heard nothing except for the gentle hum of the air conditioner and a rumbling from the ice maker in the fridge. I had the house to myself.
I dashed upstairs to change into something more comfortable—sweat pants and a T-shirt. I planned on parking in front of the TV for the rest of the day. From the bedroom, came the chirping sound the front door made when someone opens it. The others were home—so much for quiet time. I hung my clothes in the closet and raced downstairs. I'd hit the bottom step when I saw Hunter standing in our living room, looking around. His back was turned to me.
“Hunter! You can't be here!”
“I wanted to use your bathroom before I— How did you do that?” he asked, finally facing me.
“Do what?”
“That—to your face. The makeup.”
I had no idea what he was talking about. “I don't know . . .”
Hunter stepped closer to me, looking skeptically at my face. “What the—” He reached out to touch my face and quickly brought his hand back, as if something had burned him.
“What?”
“Why does your face feel like that?”
“Like what?” I touched my face. It felt like it always did. I checked the mirror that hung on the living room wall. My face looked normal.
“Like what? Like bones. A skeleton.”
So that was why Humans weren't to come inside our home. He could see me for what I really was. “Listen, Hunter. I can explain—”
But Hunter backed away from me as if I was a monster. “No, no. Ashley said there was something weird about you. I should have listened to her. Stay the hell away from me.”
He darted from the house, leaving the door opened behind him.
I closed it and plopped down on the living room couch, trying to catch my breath. How was I going to explain this? How was I going to tell the other Grims I had blown our cover?
* * *
“See? Do you get it now?” Bram screamed.
We were all gathered in the living room. When the others had made it home, I told them what had happened.
“I'm sorry. How was I supposed to know he would come inside?” I wasn't accustomed to locking doors. We didn't have to do that in Farrington.
“That's not the point,” Keira said. “You shouldn’t have been with him anyway. You should have never brought him to this house. He wouldn't even know where we live if you hadn't let him come here. I don't get you, Nay. You know he's going to die. What's the point of you hanging out with him?”
Even Josh and Dorian watched me with angry eyes.
“I'm sorry,” was all I could say.
Bram stood by the window. “I knew it. I knew you were going to be the one to mess this up.”
“Nothing's messed up,” I replied.
“What if he tells everyone what he saw?” Dorian asked.
I shrugged. “So what? That doesn't hinder the assignment. We'll still do what we need to do.”
Bram pulled the curtains shut. “I'm going to feel really, really sorry for you when we get back to Nowhere.”
* * *
To add insult to injury, Doyle showed up that night. He didn’t say much at first. He made himself comfortable on the couch, and Keira served him coffee.
He took a sip and thanked her. “Grims, leave me a moment to speak to Naomi alone.”
I shuddered as the others made their way up the stairs. I studied the pattern in the rug as I listened to three doors close—leaving me alone with Doyle.
He placed his mug on the coffee table. “Naomi, we have a problem here.”
I cleared my throat. “What's that?” I asked, as if I didn't know.
“You deliberately broke my rule. Did I or did I not tell you that no Humans were to be in this house?”
“Yes, you did, but I didn't bring him inside—”
“He shouldn't have been here in the first place. You were present in the training when I told you to keep your distance, or did you think that didn't apply to you?”
“No, sir—I mean, yes, sir.”
Doyle sighed and picked up his mug again. “You know what this means, don't you? I've going to have to subtract fifteen years from your life.”
“No!” This would be my third deduction. Three offenses were too many to be considered an upstanding Grim. I would be in the same category as Bram—a troublemaker with a bad reputation. My body ached from the thought of being strapped to that chair. “Please, Mr. Doyle!”
“Your father has already been notified. Needless to say, he is thoroughly disappointed.”
That statement hit my gut like a stone. Letting Mother and Father down would be worse than the chair. I wanted to make my parents proud. Maybe I could still make it up to them.
“As you've been told countless times before, this assignment is extremely important. Do you need to be removed? Should I just let the others continue without you?”
“No, please, Mr. Doyle. I can handle this. I won't mess up again.”
Doyle placed his half-empty coffee cup on the table. “Be sure that you don't.” He grabbed his briefcase, as if preparing to leave.
“What about the Foragers? They're still there. One spoke to me the other day.”
“You're dismissed. Call your older brother downstairs, please.”
I sighed. I would have appreciated an answer to my question. On the way to my bedroom, I knocked on Bram's door. “Doyle wants you.”
In our room, Keira sprawled across the bed watching TV. “What happened?”
“He's taking fifteen years away from me.”
“That sucks,” Keira answered absently.
I wasn't surprised by her lack of sympathy. I sat beside her. She was watching a crime documentary about serial killers.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Naomi, I didn't expect any different.”
“Keira—” I started to argue with her, but her feelings were justified. Before we left Nowhere, Keira had predicted I would mess this up. I had proven her right.
* * *
I was dreading Monday mor
ning. I had no idea what to expect. Had Hunter told everyone that I was some sort of creature? The first part of the day went by as usual, except for the fact that I spotted more Fated. This was the beginning of our third week, but it felt as if we'd been there much longer.
As I changed my into my gym uniform in the locker room, none of the girls would look at me, not even Roxy. Hunter must have told them. I pretended it didn't bother me.
We played volleyball, which I was no good at. I stood off to the side and hoped the ball didn't come my way. It came to me once, and I actually managed to hit it back over the net.
After class, I tried to change as quickly as possible. While putting my shirt on, something slammed into the back of my head. A volleyball dropped at my feet. Rubbing my throbbing head, I turned around.
Ashley smirked at me. “All this time we’ve been calling you Casper, who knew?”
“Who knew what?” I asked.
“Hunter told us. He's says you're like some kind of skeleton-alien-ghost or something.”
The locker room fell silent. Everyone was watching.
I had to say something. “Do you really believe that, Ashley? That I'm a skeleton-alien-ghost?”
A few girls laughed.
Ashley looked back at Roxy, who looked at the ground. “He said your face was like a skeleton,” Ashley said. “I told him it was probably a mask or something, but he swore it wasn't. He said he touched it. Why would Hunter lie about that?”
I wanted to know what Roxy thought. “Roxy?”
She shrugged. “Ashley makes some good points. There is something weird about you and your brothers. How you just showed up at the same time with a bunch of other kids. You would never let us come inside your house. Your brothers and Keira are all wearing those scythe charms. I don't think you're a ghost or anything like that, but something is off that I can't quite put my finger on.”
“Maybe this is an alien invasion,” said a girl with pink-streaked hair. She looked totally serious.
A few of the other girls nodded.
I turned to finish dressing and addressed the entire locker room. “You guys have been watching too many movies. I don't care what any of you think. It doesn't matter.”
Naomi Grim: The Final Breath Chronicles Book One Page 13