Harbinger (20 page)

I thought about following suit and avoiding Kel altogether, but Nami had already spotted me. She was waving and doing some sort of air guitar riff. I wanted to stop her before our Family attracted unwanted attention from the Takers. I hurried through the hostile forces to get to them.

Kel pulled off his sunglasses and looked up at me. The adrenaline of the chase pounded through my body again, and I wanted to run. Had Kel told any of them about yesterday’s exploits? Had Maya told them about the symbols on our floor? My body tensed, not sure what to do.

But everyone acted normal. In fact, they’d lost the exhaustion I’d seen this morning. Nami scooted closer to Damion, making room for me to sit.

“Miss us?” Nami’s eyes not-so-subtly darted toward Kel. The real question showed plainly on her face. Trying to figure out what was going on between him and me.

Her guess was as good as mine.
It didn’t look like Kel had said anything to turn the Family against me, but after yesterday, I didn’t know what to believe.

“Back from the front lines, I see.” Damion’s face was still serious, but relaxed now. Like his proximity to Nami had melted some of his ice.

Zach cut off his explanation of Gray Hulk versus Green Hulk and saluted me. Maya scowled in my direction, but I guessed this was more an expression of her disgust with the conversation topic than her feelings about my arrival.

I sat down, wishing I could feel more comfortable, more a part of the group. The rest of them seemed like they were taking a vacation from reality. From red hands and Tasers and the other students. But I was too acutely aware of Kel, sitting just a few feet away, to be able to relax.

Kel pulled off his hoodie. I’d never seen him without it. He looked like a different person, smaller, more vulnerable. Unlike everyone else, he looked more tired than he had that morning. Whatever he was sick with, it was getting worse. His cheeks were tinged red and he sat stiffly, like he was in pain. He peeled off his gloves, exposing a rash speckling his long, brown fingers. No one else noticed, their attention on me.

“What’d they do to you? Lock you in Solitary?” Maya asked.

Kel’s eyes met mine. I tried to look away, but they held on to me. I thought about his low voice drifting through the wall, wrapping me. About his body so close to mine.

“No.” I shook my head, clearing it all away. “Bathrooms.”

Groans of sympathy came from them, and I felt a little more stable.

“Latrine duty.” Damion’s usual bark was quiet now, softer around the edges. “That’s what they called it at the cadet training I went through last year. Fifty guys. One bathroom. Enough said.”

“Anything would’ve been better than being exposed to what Zach calls art.” Nami rolled her eyes over-dramatically. “You should’ve seen the busty ninja chick he drew as his ‘self-portrait’ in art class. The Uncle flipped.”

Zach turned red as both Nami and Maya struck a karate pose, but I could tell he was enjoying the attention.

“Now that you’re here, Faye—” Damion cleared his throat then and everyone’s face fell. Like Dad telling the kids to get out of the swimming pool. Not that there were many pools anymore. “We’ve gotta talk about what’s going on. I can’t afford to get in any more trouble. This is my last chance . . .”

We were silent while Damion struggled with his words. This was the first time he’d revealed anything personal to the group, though I could tell by the tears in Nami’s eyes that she’d already heard this story. She reached out as if to hold his hand, but Damion pulled into himself as he talked, physically distancing himself from all of us.

“Last year, my parents were deployed.” Damion’s voice was terse. As if sticking to the facts would make it less painful. “They both got killed in the Peak War. I freaked out and did some pretty stupid shit. Two months later, I got kicked out of the Air Force Academy. But I worked my ass off this summer, and the dean finally gave me one more chance to prove I can keep it together. If I toe the line at Holbrook, I can graduate from the Academy next year. I can make my parents proud and help win this war. I can’t screw this up.”

I ached for Damion. And his pain was not only echoed in my eyes, but in everyone’s around the circle. Suddenly, despite what had happened with Kel the day before, I wanted to tell them everything. To open up the way Damion had.

But Kel’s dark eyes locked on mine again. Was it a threat? A dare? A plea? I had no idea.

And what if I do tell them what’s going on?
They’ll think I’m crazy.

What good would it do anyway? I didn’t have any answers to give them. Only hallucinations, a symbol drawn in crayon, and a fistful of tarot cards.

I looked down at my hands, thinking of what Rita had said
about the future the tarot cards foretold.

Only one person can stop Death’s approach.

The bathroom cleaner had finally gotten rid of the red stain on my palms, but I could still feel it marking me.

Maybe I’m the person.
Maybe I can stop it.
The words perched precariously in my mind. If I was supposed to stop the Harbinger, then everything made sense. My nightmares and visions. Whatever happened when I was a kid. The arrow markings in the Compass Rose. The tarot cards. They were all signs. For me.

That powerful thought tremored through my body.
For me.
I wouldn’t have to hide anymore.

A shout sounded from the other side of the yard. Two guys were shoving each other, yelling something I couldn’t hear. A mass of kids circled them, drawn into the fight’s gravity. Takers rushed to get inside the fence.

But a few of the students beat them to it. They barricaded the gate, keeping it from swinging open.

The fight was exploding into a riot. By now most of the kids were punching someone, half fighting each other, the other half fighting off the invading Takers. One of the revolutionaries screamed and flew back from the fence.

It’s all fun and games until someone gets a Taser in the crotch.

Under all the chaos, I heard my name.

“Faye?” The voice was weak and low. “Faye?”

I turned reluctantly. Kel’s face was pink. The rash on his hands had grown into scaly blotches. Sweat beaded up on his forehead, and invisible lines pulled his skin tight across his face.

“Kel?”

This time when I looked in his eyes, all I could see was pain.

“Kel?” I tried again, crawling over to him. His cheeks had darkened into a red rash that spread across the bridge of his nose. “What’s wrong?”

His voice wheezed, dry and faint.

“Help.”

23

THE WHOLE FAMILY
was on their feet now.

“Is he okay?” Nami’s voice rose in panic.

“I don’t know.” I racked my brain, trying to remember exactly what Kel had told me in Solitary about what he was sick with. Nothing. He’d told me exactly nothing. “I’m getting help.”

Freddy and the other Takers had rammed open the gate by now, and there was a guerilla war going on. Screams and pepper spray filled the air.

“Help!” My voice got lost in the mutiny. I tried again, and this time my shout was louder, stronger. Zach was right behind me, his voice joining mine.

We nodded at each other, then jumped into the fray. Freddy manned the gate now, shouting into his earpiece. Takers streamed in from all over Holbrook. We fought our way through the mob.

“Kel’s sick. I think—”

“Sure, princess.” Freddy was a professional bastard, remembering to patronize me even in the middle of a crisis. He kept his eyes on the crowd while he talked to me. “I’ll be right over to deal with his tummy ache. Right after I deal with this little riot we’re having.”

“No. Something’s wrong. He looks like—”

“Just in time to distract me, huh?” He swung the gate open to let out a Taker who was dragging a girl by her hair. “How long do ya think I’ve worked with you monsters? I know every pathetic thought that goes through your head before you do.”

Zach stepped up, right in Freddy’s face. Zach’s body trembled, but rage lit up his eyes, driving him forward. “Listen, you fucker . . .”

Freddy laughed down at him, spit flecking Zach’s face.

“Remember who you’re talking to.” Freddy fingered the canister of pepper spray in his fist. “Your little friend here already knows what a bitch this is to inhale. Think of what it’ll feel like directly in your eyes.”

Maya ran up behind me. “Damion says Kel’s getting worse. He’s having some sort of fit or something. All spasmy and his skin’s burning up.”

Through the chaos, I spotted Damion and Nami huddled over Kel. Damion was propping Kel up against him, adjusting the tilt of his head, while Nami felt his forehead.

Doubt flickered across Freddy’s face. I had to find some way to convince him I was serious. Some way to reach him through all that Taker bullshit.

“Kel told me he’s been sick for a while. As in hospitals and doctors. Please! Just call it in to Nurse.”

Freddy turned away. Desperate, I grabbed his hand to stop him. “Please, it might be too late—”

He looked back and met my eyes, alarm spreading across his face. We were no longer standing in the battle zone. A cacophony of sounds and images buzzed around me. Fractured sensations stung at my mind. Then they distilled into individual moments. It was like what had happened with Kel, but this time it wasn’t just a single memory. Vivid scenes whipped past me with alarming clarity.

A drunk man, leather belt gripped in his white knuckles.

Three suitcases surrounded by glittering glass.

A whiff of pot smoke, angry voices coming from the other side of a closed door.

Then there was the car crash.

Even though I could barely see, the memory came into cutting focus. Slumped in the driver’s seat of the car, I wiped at my eyes. Pain flared, obliterating all thought, and my hand came away with bright blood on it.

Whimpering came from the seat next to me. The girl in the passenger’s seat was only a few years older than me, and she would’ve been beautiful if her body hadn’t been twisted into an unnatural angle. Her eyes were closed, and blood seeped from her dark auburn hair, streaking her face. A cell phone lay on the floor. I reached for it, a gravelly grunt coming from my mouth as fresh pain cut into me. The whimpering grew louder, and struggling, I reached for the phone again. But it was too far away and the pain was too sharp.

Then the girl went quiet.

Fear drenched my body in the silence and I surged forward, grabbing the phone off the floor of the car. I tried to focus on the light of the cell phone glimmering in front of my face and—

The phone, the car, the pain vanished as Freddy pulled his hand out of mine. His eyes bulged, and his face turned redder than usual. The old scars turned white with tension, and I knew. The girl had died. Because he’d smashed the car. Because he hadn’t gotten to the phone in time.

Freddy ordered into his earpiece, “Send Nurse. We got a sick kid down here.”

It took me a second to realize he was actually calling it in. Freddy had experienced that memory along with me.

Zach looked at me with awe. Maya’s expression was stuck somewhere between confusion and disbelief.

“I don’t care if she’s dealing with kids from the fight. We need her here now!”

Pause.

“I don’t care about effing protocol either. I’ll bring him in myself.” Freddy tore out his earpiece and turned to me. “Crap! Let’s get him to Nurse.”

We raced over to Kel. His whole face was red, with a fuchsia band across his cheeks and nose. His hands looked swollen, and he was curled in a ball.

I knelt next to him. “Kel, can you stand? We’re gonna—”

But Freddy pushed past me and, with a cry of pain from Kel, picked him up.

Kel reached out and grabbed my arm. “Don’t leave me,” he croaked.

“I won’t, Kel. I’m right here.”

Freddy just growled, “Keep up.”

I followed in Freddy’s wake as he charged through the warring factions, out the gate, and straight into the woods. Shielding Kel, Freddy barreled through branches that whipped back to smack me in the face. He zigzagged through the forest, clearly knowing the fastest way through the trees. We were making good time when Kel started flailing.

“Damn. Damn. Damn.” Freddy’s scarred face puffed red. He fumbled in his pocket, trying to hold Kel and get out his earpiece. He finally laid the bucking Kel on the ground and jammed the device back into his ear. “Kid’s having some kind of seizure.”

Pause.

“Okay, we’ll stay put.” Freddy stared down at Kel’s jerking body. “We’re out in the woods, close to the . . . the . . . Damn it. I’ll have to come get you.”

Freddy’d had the same look of horror on his face since he’d jerked his hand out of mine. Like he was reliving a nightmare. “They said to be careful he doesn’t hurt himself. And turn his head to the side so he doesn’t choke.”

Then Freddy was off. No warnings or threats about me staying put. Just a final look backward.

Kel’s eyes were closed, and his body seemed to be settling down. Was that a good sign or a bad one?

Panic exploded in my chest. I wasn’t one for praying, but I looked up into the green canopy of pine needles. Searching for guidance. Through the trees, the sea shimmered in constant motion. Its rhythm steadying me.

“Don’t do this, Kel, come on. Wake up. I’m sorry.” No matter what secrets he’d kept, no matter what I’d seen in his mind, I didn’t want this. I knelt next to him in the soft pine needles, in case he started flailing again.

But he was so still, it was eerie. Kel’s whole body burned. I pulled him onto my lap, reassuring myself he was still breathing, putting my ear to his heart. I tried to remember the ABC mnemonic from Health class. Something, Breathing, Circulation?

“Please don’t die.”

Kel shifted slightly, opened one eye, and asked, “Is he gone?”