Everwild by Neal Shusterman Read Free Book Online Page A

Everlost,” Isaiah said. “And anyway, whatever happens there don’t matter to us.”
    Nick kept silent, waiting for Isaiah’s curiosity to kick in. Finally Isaiah said, “What kind of news.”
    â€œHave you heard of Mary, the Sky Witch?”
    Isaiah shrugged. “Sure I have—but it’s just a story, everyone knows it’s not true.”
    â€œThat’s where you’re wrong.” Then Nick told him everything he knew about Mary. How she had kept hundreds of younger kids from finding the light, and leaving Everlost. How Nick had freed them himself, right under her nose … and how she was now gathering more Afterlights to mother, to pamper, to trap. This time, however, he had reason to believe that Mary was building herself an army.
    â€œDid you give them coins?” Isaiah asked. “Is that how you freed them?”
    â€œYou know about the coins?”
    Isaiah nodded. “We all had them once, but lost them, or tossed them. Most of the kids here don’t know what they’re for, but some of us do.” He became thoughtful for a moment. “I’d like to think we’ll find them again. When we’re truly ready to move on.”
    â€œMaybe there’s a whole bucketful waiting for you.” And that’s all Nick said about it. Something told him that freeing the kids of Atlanta was best left for another day.
    â€œThere may come a time when everyone in Everlost will have to take sides,” Nick told Isaiah. “Can I count on you if I need you?”
    â€œIf there’s a side to choose, I’ll choose it when the time comes,” Isaiah said, keeping a stern poker face. “But rightnow, you can count on me to let you pass through Atlanta safely.”
    Nick nodded respectfully. “Thank you.”
    Isaiah prepared to rise, thinking their meeting of the minds was over—but Nick wasn’t quite done.
    â€œOne more thing,” Nick said. “Because I’ve heard rumors … Maybe you could tell me if they’re true.”
    Isaiah smiled. It was unguarded, uncalculated. It was genuine. “So what would you like to know?”
    Nick cleared his throat, and tried to figure the best way to word the question. In the end he decided to just be direct.
    â€œWhat do you know about ‘The Ripper’?”
    Isaiah’s expression was stony. He took a moment before answering as if he had to control some emotion before allowing himself to speak. “I know what they say about him. Not sure if I believe it all, but I don’t want to find out.”
    â€œTell me what they say.”
    Isaiah gripped the arms of his chair as he spoke. “They call him Zach the Ripper. They say he was a bad seed when he was alive, and even worse afterward. Evil to the core, and dumb as a post. They say he hates the living so much, he reaches into the living world and pulls their hearts right out of their bodies.”
    â€œEcto-ripping!” Nick said, not sure whether he was more amazed or horrified.
    â€œThey say he can pull anything out of the living world and into Everlost … but that kind of ability, it can make a person crazy.”
    Nick nodded. He had known a spirit called the Haunter.Ecto-ripping was just one of his powers. He might have been insane, or simply corrupted by his power from the inside out. Regardless, he was darkly evil, and had imprisoned Nick in a brine-filled barrel, where he might have stayed until the end of time, had things been different. The thought of facing another Afterlight like the Haunter made him shiver.
    â€œThere’s more,” Isaiah said, but then he hesitated, as if he was afraid to even speak it aloud. “People say the Ripper can also reach right inside an Afterlight, and pull stuff out, too. And when he does, the wound doesn’t heal … and whatever he takes … it don’t grow back.”
    â€œThat’s impossible.” Nick knew enough