A Single Spark (Gale City Charge Book 2) by Jennifer San Filippo

A Single Spark (Gale City Charge Book 2) by Jennifer San Filippo

Author:Jennifer San Filippo [San Filippo, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2021-09-27T23:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER NINE

Charlie

CHARLIE STEPPED OFF the trolley in front of the school and shivered.

Gale was rarely quiet, no matter how late in the day, but the school looked eerily deserted. The outside brick looked the wrong color—too dark, like drying blood. The windows of the second story were completely dark, but he saw light coming from a few classrooms on the bottom floor.

Maybe Eloise was right—maybe he did listen to too many radio programs.

He climbed the front steps and reached for the door, half-expecting it to be locked. It wasn’t.

It opened with the same rickety creak of hinges, which only sounded louder and more ominous to him because no one else was around, he was sure.

The main hallway light was on, just like he expected it to be. He started towards his classroom, feeling the hall stretch into infinity as he walked. He glanced in other classrooms as he passed. Most were closed. A few had their lights turned off. All were empty, as far as he could see.

He turned the corner and saw his classroom door open a crack, the light on.

“Hello?” he called as he pushed the door open.

The classroom was empty.

He stepped inside. Night pressed heavily against the windows, looking black and claustrophobic. The whole room looked grayer than usual, accenting the scuffs in the floor and the scratches in desks. It felt as if the room had hosted class years ago and not hours. Charlie hated it.

The teacher’s desk had papers and books stacked on it, though Charlie didn’t know if that meant she was here now, or if she just left those things there after class. The rest of the room looked barren and untouched. Except for Saachi’s desk.

He recognized her notebook lying open, a pen sitting on top. He approached, putting his stuff down in his seat. Usually she drew lots of small, cute things, but this drawing took up the whole page.

A man—or the silhouette of one, drawn in an angular style. He faced the viewer, hunched, arms out slight, fingers curled like claws. Twisting shadows curled around him from behind.

His eyes were two triangles, colored blue.

Charlie’s heart plummeted through the floor.

The lights flickered off.

Charlie whirled around, but no one was by the light switch. The hallway light flickered but remained on.

It was just a power issue. Charlie had heard an announcement about that, hadn’t he? Certain parts of the city weren’t yet hooked up to the new power grid. Power outages weren’t unusual.

Unless it was one of those electric people.

No, he was being chicken. The teacher probably wanted to meet in a different room. Eloise had probably told him and he just hadn’t been paying attention.

Thinking of Eloise reminded him of why he was here. If he didn’t take this test, he’d be held back a year. No matter what Eloise said, he did care about that.

He left his backpack and crept back to the door, glancing down both ways before entering the hallway again. Still no one. The lights above him flickered again.



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