A Diamond in My Pocket by Lorena Angell Read Free Book Online Page A

toward what
appeared to be a tool shed at the edge of the property where we stopped beneath
another redundant floodlight.
    “Calli, the Shadow Demons are found
in absolute darkness after sunset. They are drawn to people of powers because
they themselves once held powers, but for some reason are trapped in a
suspended state of, well, hell. These lights are the only thing keeping us
safe. Around the corner it is completely dark and is where we’ll find the
Demons. Stay in the light.”
    We walked to the edge of the shed,
staying in the light and I peered into the darkness. I said, “I can’t see
anything.”
    “Regardless, we know they are in
there. Many people of powers have been devoured by them. Now, I will
demonstrate to you what happens if you wander into the shadows at night. Hand
me your shirt.” I handed it to her and watched as she pulled out one of her own
and wadded the two together like one would when forming a snowball. She then
tossed the wad into the shadows. I gasped in terror at the sight of the unnaturally
suspended shirts shredding in mid air. It was like nothing I’d ever seen
before. The only thing to be heard was the woven cotton being ripped apart. The
eerie sound reminded me of when my mother tore old sheets into rags. I stared
in utter amazement as her shirt was reduced to a small pile of confetti sized
pieces which glided softly to the ground. Mine was ripped into long, large
strips and was already on the ground.
    “What was that?! Was that a trick? What
happened to our shirts?” My heart raced faster than I’d ever felt before. No
logical explanation could describe what I’d just witnessed.
    “Our scents on the shirts were
enough for the Shadow Demons to attack. Lesson number one; stay out of the
shadows or that will be the last thing you do. Oh, and that pile of shirt
remains is more than what would remain of you. Let’s get back inside.”
    Once inside the safety of her
office, she began telling me more.
    “A Runner’s abilities surface in
puberty, and like with you, I was present with the purpose to protect you until
we arrived here. The other existing superhuman abilities show up at any point
in life and sometimes come out slowly. One consistent element to all people of
powers is their fear of the dark. It’s as if they can sense the danger awaiting
them. The instinctual hesitation actually saves their lives but incapacitates
the individual causing the development of agoraphobia. Some therapists, who
specialize in the treatment of severe fear of darkness, or nyctophobia, are
people of powers and they help the patient by introducing them to their
appropriate clans.
    “Something else, Calli, another
reason I was present at your track meet was to protect you from being
kidnapped.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “There is a splinter-group which
broke away from the Healers and they call themselves Immortals; in reference to
the ancient legend of clansmen who cannot die. Everyone else refers to them as
the Death Clan due to the fact they can bring about your death by merely
thinking about it. Some call them the Death-by-Thoughts or DBTs. As a group,
they efficaciously heal each other’s infirmities thus keeping each other alive
longer than nature allows. They cannot heal themselves, the same as a Healer
cannot and they have one major restriction to their abilities; they need to see
you to be able to kill you. With this in mind, the question remains as to why
this clan might try to kidnap you. The DBTs like to capture emerging Runners
and force them to be their ‘slaves’; to be their legs. When a person of powers holds
hands with a Runner, the running ability is passed on to the tethered person.
We’ve lost more than a few clan members to the Death Clan and also to the
Hunters. It is always extremely sad when we lose someone, especially because
our power is the only one the Seers can foresee emerging. It simply shouldn’t
ever happen.”
    “Hunters kidnap Runners too? I
don’t