My Soul to Take: A Novel by Tananarive Due

Author:Tananarive Due [Due, Tananarive]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Horror, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781439176146
Google: lnoyesuMhMcC
Amazon: 1439176140
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2011-09-05T12:00:00+00:00

Twenty-two

“Wake up, you selfish son of a bitch.”

The voice made Johnny stir.

He opened his eyes, and saw only a white sheet of light. Am I dead?

The woman’s voice sounded mousy and faraway. Not Fana. Somewhere outside him.

“I can’t believe you would go over without me. I hope you have a really, really bad hangover. Worse than a hangover. But you better wake up and stop scaring the crap out of me.”

Johnny was awake, suddenly. His heartbeat rang in his chest, thump thump. He could hear it without trying to. His bloodstream was swollen, all his nerve endings tingling. His lungs drank in the air, and oxygen flooded him. Had he gained ten pounds? His back chafed against his soft bed because he felt so heavy. His blood was glowing as it charged through his veins.

Glow. They had named it right.

He opened his eyes and saw Caitlin leaning over him.

“You jerk—thank God!” she said. She grabbed his hand, then flung it away as if it had bitten her. “What the hell were you thinking? She could have killed you, Johnny!”

“We knew she wouldn’t.” Johnny’s throat was so parched that it hurt. He glanced around the room for water and found none within easy reach. When he sat up, the room whirled. His heartbeat was louder in his ears.

You did it, he reminded himself. It’s done.

The simple words stilled Johnny’s thoughts, paralyzing him.

He didn’t have to ask Caitlin if he had died and come back. More than his blood was new; he had new skin, too, taut and lively across his bones. He barely recognized the room because his vision was so much brighter, everything vivid and crisp. Johnny stuck out the tip of his tongue, and his tongue lapped up the flavors in the air: citrus and incense and rich oxygen. Had the air had a taste before? He closed his mouth when he noticed the bed’s odor. The bed smelled rotten, as if that scent was on his tongue, too.

Johnny had been tired when he first heard Caitlin’s voice, but after a minute he was ready to leap to his feet and run. It was hard to imagine ever feeling tired again.

“She did it?” Caitlin said, hushed. “She gave it to you?”

Slowly, Johnny nodded. His head rocked up and down, fluid. Johnny thought about the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz, and how oil made him a new man.

“How do you feel?” Caitlin said.

Johnny wished his throat weren’t so parched. Talking hurt. Johnny rolled his head on his neck, testing every angle of himself. No twinges, pops, or pain.

“Weird. Wired. No wonder they don’t need much sleep.”

“You,” Caitlin corrected him gently. “You won’t need sleep.”

Her unblinking blue eyes made it real again. He was one of them. Immortal!

“We should be recording this,” Caitlin said, awestruck. “Documenting it.”

Johnny leaped up and paced, ignoring her. Caitlin was missing the point “Is she gone?”

“They left about four hours ago,” Caitlin said. “You’ve been out for nine.”

Fana was four hours closer to Michel, and four hours farther from home.

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.