Entranced (Guardian Academy Book 1) by Jessica Sorensen

Author:Jessica Sorensen [Sorensen, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Growing up as part of the Keepers circle, death happened often, but it never hit so close to home until I lost my grandpa.

Death is brutal. Death is painful. Death makes you think of all the things you wished you’d done and said yet can never say or do again. Death, the end of someone’s life and the beginning of your life without them. Death is overwhelming to take in, which is why I’m currently and purposefully living in denial.

I’ve been home from the Academy for four days and haven’t shed a single tear. I distract my pain with hours of kickboxing, fencing, and self-defense lessons. I know I’m overworking myself, but the moment I stop, the pain will hit me like a violent wave. Eventually, I’ll have to stop and feel the pain, but not yet. I just need a little more time to breathe.

My mom, on the other hand, has been crying for days. My dad and I constantly try to comfort her, but she always stops crying the second we try to console her and makes up an excuse of something she needs to do, like the dishes, and hastily leaves the room.

“I’m worried about her,” I announce to my dad as I wander into the living room and slump into a chair across from him

He removes his attention from the sword he’s sharpening and looks up at me. “It’ll just take some time, Alana. She’ll be okay eventually. Your mom’s strong.”

I rest back, exhausted. “I just wish she’d talk to someone. She’s barely said anything since I got home.”

“She talks to me every night.” He sets the sword on the coffee table. “I think she’s just being cautious around you.”

I pull my long, brown hair into a ponytail and secure it with an elastic. “Why? I’m fine.”

“You are, huh?” He eyes over my yoga pants, sneakers, and tank top that reek of sweat. “Then what’s with the crazy work-outs?”

I shrug, picking at the midnight blue polish on my fingernails. “I thought I’d take advantage of it before I go back to the Academy and trade my strength for brainpower.”

He frowns. “I can tell when you’re lying.”

I grimace. “Fine. Keeping busy, working out … It distracts me, okay?”

His expression softens. “I know you miss your grandpa. The two of you were close, but sooner or later you’re going to have to deal with this.”

“I’m not ready to deal with it yet …” I suck back the tears burning in my eyes and spring from the chair. "I’m going to go see if Jayse is home.”

He opens his mouth to call me back, but I’m already rushing out the front door.

Clouds grumble in the sky, promising rain, as I jog across the dry field and toward Jayse’s house. I send him a text on my way, hoping he’s made it home by now.

After I found out about my grandpa’s death, I messaged him for three days straight without getting a response. He finally replied last night and told me he was up in the mountains where he barely got a signal, but that he’d be home today.

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