Hereafter with Bonus Material by Tara Hudson

Author:Tara Hudson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins US

I stood on the bank of the river and paced, unwilling to walk too close to the water’s edge but unwilling to stray too far away from it, either. The bank itself was empty of everything but me and a few chirping crickets.

“I’m here,” I called out to the air, my voice echoing off the surface of the river. “You said I’d come back to talk, and you were right. So let’s talk.”

Only the rustle of the leaves answered me. I sighed and began to pace more forcefully.

“Hello? Anyone out there? Do I have to do a rain dance or something?”

“Only if you want it to rain.”

Cold air swept over me in a wave, rolling up my body until it finally crested against the sensitive skin of my bare shoulders and neck. I wanted to shiver, but I wanted to present a powerful front to Eli more. So I kept my face expressionless, ambivalent, as I turned around.

Eli stood alongside the riverbank, where only moments before there had been nothing but tall grass and mud. He crossed his arms over his chest—mirroring the position I’d inadvertently taken as he approached—and leaned forward with a conspiratorial grin.

“Hey, Amelia.”

“Hey, Eli,” I answered, obviously in a less amused tone.

“So,” he said with a barely concealed laugh in his voice. “What can I do for you on this fine morning?”

Looking at his smug grin, I lost a fraction of my confidence. But I forced myself to clear my throat and straighten my backbone. “I have some questions for you.”

“Such as?”

The genuine curiosity in his tone, which was usually so smug, surprised me. Perhaps this wouldn’t be as difficult as I’d anticipated? This unexpected turn disoriented me, and I blurted out the first question that came to mind.

“How did you get here so fast? This place was empty a few seconds ago.”

Eli shrugged. “I materialized.”

“You what?”

He slipped his hands into the pockets of his tight jeans and strolled closer to me. “Haven’t you ever noticed, during times of stress or excitement, you’re able to travel? To move through time and space at will?”

I frowned. “Um . . . not exactly.”

Eli stopped only a foot from me, tisk-tisking. “You really should take more time to notice these things, Amelia.”

I scowled heavily. There was the smugness with which I was already so familiar. “Why don’t you take time to be a little less condescending, Eli? Otherwise, I’m leaving.”

He tisked again. “Didn’t you invite me here?”

“Yeah, but I can just as easily uninvite you.”

“I don’t doubt you can.” Then his smile faded, and he tilted his head to one side, giving me a quizzical sort of look. “You know, I’m very interested in seeing exactly what you can do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” he said, “we all have abilities—and by ‘we’ I mean the dead. You’re no exception, I’m sure.”

“Abilities? Like being able to move through time and space at will?”

He nodded. “Yes, that’s one of the more common abilities. But really, Amelia, this shouldn’t be news to you. I’ve seen plenty of your materializations, each time you disappeared.

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