Echoes by Michelle Rowen Read Free Book Online Page A

Ethan,” I said, feeling stunned and confused to my very core. “You said you didn’t want anything to do with me.”
    He glanced at me over his shoulder and our gazes locked. “Actually, I said it would be better if you forgot about what happened.”
    “How can I forget any of this when people are trying to kill me?”
    “I guess you can’t.”
    “What did he mean when he said he’ll return again?”
    “What part of it was difficult to understand?”
    Exasperation welled inside me. “That he said it just before he disappeared. Before he
died
.”
    “He’s not really dead. But he’ll be gone for a bit as he summons the energy to find another shell.”
    “Ethan, tell me what you know about what’s happening.
Please
.” My voice broke.
    “I can’t do that. I’m sorry.”
    My house looked out on the park, so it wasn’t much further before we were on my street.
Our
street.
    “Good-bye, Olivia.” Ethan’s stride didn’t slow as he walked past my house.
    “How do I make them leave me alone?” I called after him.
    He didn’t look back at me. A couple moments later he disappeared around the curve in the road behind a thick hedge.
    o0o
    By eleven o’clock I was in bed with the lights off, staring wide-eyed at my digital clock, knowing I wasn’t going to get even a moment of sleep that night. The room felt like it was closing in on me.
    11:01
    11:02
    11:03
    Finally, I sat bolt upright and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I wore my usual sleeping attire—black shorts and a pink tank top I’d grabbed out of the dryer before bed. I absently ran my palm over the front of my right thigh feeling the familiar gnarled surface of my scar in the darkness.
    A minute later, I got up and left my bedroom, quietly heading downstairs. No sign of my mother or father. They were probably in bed already. The thought that he was so willing to accept her back in our lives, just like it had been before, still upset me.
    This time last year everything had been fine. Or so I’d thought. Little did I know she’d been so discontent living her life with me and my father and craving her freedom that she’d been looking for true love at the freaking grocery store.
    But I had way more important things to think about at the moment.
    I went to the kitchen and rooted around in the cupboard for the phone book, flipping through the pages with only the light of the moon streaming through the window to help me search the list of names.
    Cole.
    There were three Coles listed in Ravenridge, but only one here on Cyprus Street. Without over-thinking it, I grabbed the phone and pecked in the numbers. It rang three times before someone picked up.
    “Hello?” It was a woman’s voice. Ethan’s mom, probably.
    “Uh, hi. Sorry I’m calling so late. May I speak to Ethan, please? It’s important.” I spoke in a half whisper, knowing that I sounded like a crank caller, but hoping she wouldn’t hang up on me.
    “Who’s calling?”
    “It’s...tell him it’s...Olivia.”
    “Just a sec, hon.”
    There was a soft thud as the phone was put down and then silence for a couple minutes. It felt more like forever. I clutched the phone so tightly that my hand began to hurt. Finally she returned.
    “His bedroom light’s still on but he’s not answering me, Olivia. He’s probably fast asleep by now. Do you go to school with Ethan?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then whatever you want to talk about will have to wait till tomorrow morning. Sorry.”
    I was about to ask her to try again, but decided not to press my luck with her patience. “Okay, thanks anyway.”
    After ending the call, I tried to ignore the tight feeling in my chest. I should have called earlier when he was still awake.
    Only...I didn’t believe for one second he was
really
sleeping right now. He just didn’t want to talk to me. Just because he’d been called upon to save my life again didn’t mean he was suddenly going to open up to me about what was going on in this town.
    Ethan