Luminosity by Stephanie Thomas

Author:Stephanie Thomas [Thomas, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Perseus Books Group
Published: 2012-10-30T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The skyline is bright with lights that all look the same color and contrast. They glitter in the stark silence that is only interrupted by the occasional wailing Watch sirens. Up here on the roof, I’m alone. Well, as alone as I can be with two guards following me around. Because it is the middle of the night, though, they prop themselves against the door that leads back down into the Institution and only half pay attention to me as I stand by the ledge, glancing over the City.

The memory of my Vision and what we saw on the television continues to flutter through my mind. Every time I remember the boy dropping down on the bridge, my heart sinks deeper into my chest, so far I’m sure it is sitting somewhere by my stomach. I could have done something to help him, right? I could have gone out there to look for him. I could have done something to help him. But I didn’t. None of us did. All we did was sit there and watch him perish like he was some fictional character in a television show.

I wrap my arms around my chest, hugging myself against the brisk night wind. With the Keeper depending on the Visions of others, acting on them, believing in them…maybe she will stop paying attention to me. And of course, there’s always the option of just hiding my Visions from her altogether—but then I risk her Seeing this herself. And no one has ever faced the punishment of deceiving the Keeper. Nobody has ever tried.

The door clicks open and the two guards are suddenly awake again. Out of the shadow of the stairwell Gabe emerges, dressed in his black robes, just as I am. He nods to my two spies and without waiting for any sort of permission or approval from them, he approaches me. “You know, I don’t like when I go to your bunk past curfew and you aren’t in there. Makes me think something’s wrong.” He stares out at the lights, just as I had been doing. “How’d you manage to escape up here anyway?”

I laugh, rubbing my arms with my hands to keep warm. “I walked out. Figured if I was going to get in trouble for it, I would have right away, thanks to these guys.” Idly, I wave a hand back toward the guards, who have predictably gone back to half-watching what I am doing. “I don’t think the Keeper cares if I spend my night on the roof.”

“You never know.” Gabe runs a hand over his head, his eyes still directed toward the City lights. “I feel like things are about to change for the worse. I can just…sense it. Maybe it doesn’t help that my own Visions, as sparse and brief as they are, are always of something so shadowy and unknown.”

“I think things have already changed for the worse, Gabe.”

“How so?”

I hook some of my hair back behind an ear and move toward the ledge of the building.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.