Speak No Evil-Gifted 6 by Marilyn Kaye Read Free Book Online

precise moment to appear. ‘Are you ready to go?’ she asked Amanda.
    Amanda should have known Jenna wouldn’t wait long by the back door. She was probably worried Amanda would sneak out of the front entrance. Which was exactly what she had been considering.
    Nina, of course, was staring at Jenna with her mouth open. Amanda didn’t have to be a mind-reader to know what was going on in her so-called friend’s head. The notorious goth girl had plans with Queen Beeson?
    ‘Class project,’ Amanda offered by way of explanation. She raised her hand in a casual salute to the others. But inside she was tormented as she left Ken alone with Nina to get ice cream.
    Was Nina really a threat? OK, she was cute, but Amanda knew she herself was cuter. Looks weren’t everything, though. And Nina did have something Amanda didn’t have. Nina was normal. She didn’t have any weird gift to deal with. Ken wanted to be normal. Would he be intrigued with the notion of hanging out with a normal girl?
    Of course, she said nothing about this to Jenna. Not that Jenna would care. As soon as they were out of the building, she started to give instructions.
    ‘We’ll take the bus to City Hall and walk from there. There are usually three or four new admissions to Harmony House every day, and we can check them out in the reception area.’
    ‘Whatever,’ Amanda mumbled. They crossed the street and went to the bus stop.
    Jenna continued. ‘It’s important that you’re very careful about whose body you take over. Boys and girls live in separate sections, so it’s best to pick a boy. You’ll be able to hang around Carter more. If you’re a girl, you’ll only be able to see him in the dining hall, the TV room and the game room. You won’t be able to get into Carter’s room.’
    Amanda tried to tune her out. Blah, blah, blah . . . She didn’t want to listen to Jenna’s instructions. All she could do was concentrate on blocking Jenna from hearing her own thoughts, mainly the thought that she did not want to be doing this at all.

C HAPTER S EVEN
     
    T HE BOY FORMERLY KNOWN as Carter Street had been in Dr Paley’s office for hours now. This was the third time he’d watched the video and listened to himself tell his story under hypnosis, but it wasn’t getting any easier for him. He still couldn’t get used to the sound of his voice. He sounded so normal – even if the story he told wasn’t ordinary at all.
    ‘I didn’t know where to go. I stayed at home.’
    From off screen, the voice of Dr Paley could be heard. ‘Why did you choose to be a gerbil?’
    ‘It was the first thing that came to my mind, because I’d just asked my mother about getting a gerbil.’
    ‘Where you shocked to realize you could do this?’
    ‘No. It felt natural. I had to be something very small to hide.’
    ‘How did you survive?’ Dr Paley asked. ‘Were you able to eat anything?’
    ‘I found some crumbs behind the stove. That was a surprise. My mother was always sweeping the floor.’
    ‘Where did you sleep, Paul?’
    That name . . . He’d completely forgotten it. It still wasn’t familiar, but strangely enough, it sounded right.
    ‘The bottom drawer of my chest of drawers was open. I was able to jump in and sleep on a sweater.’
    ‘How long did you stay in the house?’
    ‘I don’t know. I couldn’t see a clock. I couldn’t even tell if it was day or night.’
    ‘Why did you leave?’
    So many questions . . . Paul watched his own face on the screen. He looked tired, but he kept on talking.
    ‘Some people must have come. I heard them close the drawer of the chest of drawers. I could feel it moving. I couldn’t get out. I was in a dark place with no food. I was hungry.’ He stopped talking, and Paul could see that his body had begun to tremble.
    ‘Keep talking, Paul. What happened next?’
    ‘The chest of drawers stopped moving. It was in another place – a cold place. I got hungrier and colder. Then the drawer was opened. I was weak,