Capture by Melissa Darnell Read Free Book Online

was wrong.
    I had hoped all the talk about the Clann and freakish abilities would die out over the break. But then on Tuesday I discovered Tarah and a group of her weird friends gathered near my locker. In her hot pink sweater over a bright blue tank top and blue jeans, Tarah stuck out like a neon light in contrast with all the black the others wore as she leaned against the wall of red lockers.
    Yet again, I had to wonder why she wanted to hang out with them. Clearly she didn't fit in, and not just because she liked to wear a little color now and then. The girl I'd once known was always happy, upbeat, nothing like the emo crowd she now called her friends.
    Usually the closest I ever managed to get to Tarah was in World History class. But not today. Her back was so close to my locker that when I opened the door, my hand brushed her thick ponytail. She glanced at me over her shoulder, her ponytail swishing over my fingers again. Then she went back to comforting some girl who was crying. The girl was really laying into it too, the black rings around her eyes melting into dark rivers down her cheeks.
    “ Hey. What's up with her?” I asked Tarah, leaning in towards my locker so I wouldn't have to yell over the noise of the crowded hall.
    After a long pause, Tarah answered me with a sigh. “Aimee's cousin, aunt and uncle are all missing.”
    “ They're not missing, they were taken!” Aimee wailed through her hands. “You heard the phone message.”
    “ Phone message?” I kept my voice lower this time so only Tarah could hear, trying not to set off Aimee again. With a wail like that, she must have descended from banshees.
    “ It did sound kind of…suspicious,” Tarah murmured. “Aimee’s cousin was in the middle of leaving a message. Then she just stopped, made this weird gurgling noise, and then it sounded like she dropped the phone or something. You can hear some people shouting in the background. Then it just ends.”
    I frowned. “Anyone stop by their house? Maybe they went somewhere for the holidays and got stuck there by bad weather or something.”
    Tarah frowned. “No, they were staying home for the holiday since Aimee’s aunt had a bad cold. Aimee’s mom went to their house to check on her sister and said the front door was wide open with all the lights still on in the middle of the day. Aimee’s mom said she talked to the neighbors too. They claim some men in camouflage uniforms with big guns showed up, busted into the house, then took the whole family off in a military-style truck.”
    “ When were they last seen or heard from?” I asked.
    “ Friday night.” A hint of pink spread over Tarah's cheeks. I noticed she was careful not to turn her head towards me. If she had, our mouths would have been inches away from each other.
    “ Military types, huh?” My fingers itched to touch her thick hair, see how soft it was. “Was the family connected to terrorists or something?”
    Tarah scowled. “According to your buddy Kyle, they are. Aimee’s aunt posted a video on YouTube showing how she could...um...”
    “Play with fire?” I suggested without even the slightest urge to smile.
    She watched me for a few seconds, seeming to debate, before shaking her head and saying, “Before showing how she could create water out of the air without anything other than her mind.”
    Suddenly, Tarah's hair was the last thing on my mind. I straightened up. “You’re screwing with me. Right?”
    Tarah shook her head. “I warned Aimee days ago that her aunt ought to take that video off the internet.”
    “ We shouldn't be afraid to be ourselves,” Aimee sobbed. “You heard what Simon and that Phillips brother said. We outcasts have to speak up, reach out to others like ourselves, or we’ll never learn how to control what we can do!”
    The short, wiry guy beside Aimee hugged her to him, his dark eyes narrowing. Over her head he told the group, “Aimee's right. Why should we be afraid to be ourselves? We need to