Becoming: The Balance Bringer (A Coming of Age Fantasy Epic Fantasy with Elemental Magic) (The Balance Bringer Chronicles Book 1) by Debra Kristi

Author:Debra Kristi [Kristi, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ghost Girl Publishing, LLC
Published: 2015-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

I can’t find Ry. He should be here and he’s not. What if he’s trapped somewhere, or hurt, or even dead?

Killed by the same guy who killed Crystia.

My grip on the phone tightens and the plastic casing creaks.

This time he’ll pick up. I wish the outcome to be so.

The call connects, rings three times before voicemail answers. Again, no answer. Where the hell is he? I hang up, not wanting to leave yet another message.

The anger and frustration churning within me urges me to punch something. I drop the phone and stare at a blank space on my bedroom wall, gradually shifting my attention to the nightstand and the picture of Crystia with Caesar. She exudes happiness. Simply glows.

Then a thought―what if Ry called back on my cell phone so I just didn’t get the message? I can’t believe I haven’t already thought of this.

Using the landline, I dial my answering service and punch in the code to retrieve my messages. There are a lot. One of them has to be Ry.

The first message is time-stamped just after midnight. It’s Jaden’s voice I hear. His words are few, yet my gut tells me he’s talking about my sister.

How did he know so quickly? He should have still been at the party.

I don’t remember giving him my phone number.

I tug his jacket from the edge of the bed and wrap it around me, hugging it to my body.

Tears stream down my face again. I allow myself a cry before listening to the rest of the messages. When I finally play them, I listen to each one long enough to know none of them are Ry.

Everyone else called this morning. Word about my sister has rapidly spread, and a bunch of her friends, some of the swim team, and a couple of the school staff have called to wish me condolences. The sobbing starts again.

Falling flat onto the bed, I pull at the blankets, tug Oscar against me, and curl into a tiny ball, wishing I could disappear. Nothing should ever hurt this much.

It feels like there’s a crater running through me. Oscar misses her, too. I know he does. He’s been so melancholy since we got home without her.

When my face is raw with sorrow and my eyes swollen from the crying, I pick myself up, set Jaden’s jacket neatly over my chair, and shuffle to Crystia’s room, where I rummage through her closet, hunting for the perfect outfit for her to wear.

Oscar follows and drops on the floor at my feet. It’s better to keep my mind busy for fear of losing it to the pain. That pit of never-ending despair is not an option.

Mom appears behind me with a cup of piping-hot tea and hands it to me. I swear that woman has hearing like a hawk and a love for tea I don’t understand.

“Drink this. It will help calm your nerves.” She brushes the hair back from my eyes, and her gaze travels my face. “It helped mine.

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.