Mortal by Kim Richardson Read Free Book Online

its small
comfort.
    Crack!
    Electricity filled the air above the
pool. Kara’s clothes and hair flapped in an invisible wind. A
coolness sucked out the hot air. The oracles reached out and
clasped their hands together in a circle around her.
    Kara watched mesmerized.
Their blue eyes glazed over with a golden color. They started to
chant in a language that Kara couldn’t recognize. As their chanting
grew louder, thunder rumbled overhead. Jenny and Peter stepped
backwards with fear in their eyes. But David stood still. His
fingers were curled into fists and his eyes locked onto Kara with
an expression as if to say, ‘ say the word
and I’ll come get you ’. Part of her wanted
him to.
    Lightning flashed from crystal to
crystal, until they were all connected like a white-hot spider web.
Kara’s feet slid, and she strained to keep her balance. The silver
waters bubbled and mist coiled above its surface. She didn’t want
to slip and fall in.
    Suddenly the water from the pool rose
all around and formed a ring around Kara and the oracles. David and
the others disappeared behind the wall of rolling water. She was
inside a tornado of water. The chanting grew even louder. She
thought she heard David calling out to her, but there was too much
noise to hear anything clearly.
    A bright light burned her eyes. It was
miracle she still stood on the crystal ball. She blinked the
blotches away. Images appeared on the water like a giant movie
projection. Kara watched amazed as images of people, places and
things blurred passed her as though they were on fast forward. The
images began to slow until she could make sense of them. She saw
faces of different men and women and children. She saw a field of
orange poppies swaying in the wind, then a city’s
skylight.
    Then the images shifted, and she saw
her reflection in the water.
    She saw herself walking down the
street with her portfolio and cell phone. A scream died in her
throat as she witnessed her body slam against the front of a bus.
The images changed. She saw herself standing in the elevator with
Chimp 5M51. Then she was a guardian, fighting shadow demons with
David. The image shifted again, and she saw herself at a breakfast
table, laughing with her mom. A blur, then she was in the
Netherworld fighting a higher demon with David. More and more
images of her life as a mortal and as a guardian flashed before her
eyes. She felt dizzy. She wavered on the spot. Her body felt cold.
The visions spun faster and faster. Her head throbbed, and she
screamed. Her mind was on fire. A bolt of energy flashed through
her like chill. She looked down. Her body was enflamed in white
fire.
    The white fire exploded. Kara
screamed, and her body disappeared.
     
     

Chapter
4
Amnesia
     
     
     
    K ara knew she was dying.
    She closed her eyes and let it come.
It was only a matter of time now before her heart stopped pumping
oxygen to her brain. She had no idea one person could lose so much
blood. She sat in a pool of her own blood, and she could smell it.
The demon had killed her.
    She was numb. She could feel herself
drifting towards sleep. It was too late to get to a hospital. She
would never have the chance to tell David how she truly felt. She
would die cold and wet in a dark alley with a stranger who held her
hand and knew her name...
    But death wouldn’t come.
    Then a gush of warmth spread through
her as though she had been submerged in a hot bath. The veil of
weakness lifted and was replaced by a surge of strength. She
trembled as blood gushed to her limbs. She sucked cool air into her
lungs and felt warm again. Her heart pounded strongly in her chest.
She opened her eyes.
    It was dark, and snowflakes gleamed
under the streetlight that flickered and buzzed. She blinked her
snow-crusted eyelashes. A full moon peeked through thick navy-blue
clouds.
    A young man peered down at
her.
    Kara sat upright.
    The stranger smiled warmly. Snow fell
from his tousled blond head. His clothes were covered in snow.