The Chronicles of Winterset: Oracle by K.G. Reuss Read Free Book Online Page A

trace of the burns. I gaped in shock, unsure if I should believe what I was seeing.
    I tried to push the memory of the strange dream out of my head as it prodded me to remember, and I trembled when I recalled the men in it. Had that been real too? What was happening?
    I rushed from the bathroom and ran down the hall, not caring if someone had something to say about unsafe hallway procedures.
    I needed air. Fresh air. I was suffocating in madness it seemed. I was hot. I had a fever. My head felt like it was going to explode. My hands could burst into flames. I was going crazy.
    Air. I needed air.
    “Ana? Ana!” Kellin called from behind me. I kept running out the doors and straight to my car, the cool autumn air on my face.
    I dropped my keys in my rush to get into my car and fell to my knees, tears flooding my eyes as I tried to find them, desperately trying to gulp in the fresh air.
    “Hey, Ana, what’s going on?” Kellin asked, bending down in front of me and grabbing my shoulders. “Talk to me.”
    “I-I need to find my keys. I need to go home,” I cried, wiping angrily at my eyes. “I need air!”
    “Calm down,” he said gently. “Let me help you.”
    He tightened his grip, and I bit my lip as a tremor of pain nipped at me.
    “You’re burning up, Ana,” he murmured, pushing strands of my blonde hair out of my sweating face.
    “Just leave me alone, Kellin. If Courtney finds out you’re out here with me there will be hell to pay,” I said frantically, trying to push him away. He lifted me to my feet and stared at me, his blue eyes quickly sweeping my face.
    “Let me help you, Ana,” he repeated, his voice soothing. My head felt numb inside and I stared dazedly at him. “Calm down.”
    “I’m calm,” I whispered, wondering how that was true. It was like his words had commanded me to be calm and my body had obeyed without question. My mind flashed back to the field of the dead and how the Nihilist in my dream seemed to obey willingly. I visibly shuddered at the memory.
    Kellin placed his hands on either side of my face and studied me closely. “What’s going on, Ana?”
    “I-I don’t know,” I answered, my voice shaking. “I had a bad dream last night, and my head hurt yesterday. Then all that stuff happened today and . . . and . . .”
    I didn’t want to tell him about my hands bursting into flames. I already seemed like a big enough nutjob; no sense in adding to it.
    “I took care of Jared and Courtney,” he said gently. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry they were doing that to you.”
    “She’s your girlfriend,” I said softly, my heart thumping unevenly in my chest. “What’s that say about you?”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, narrowing his eyes and dropping his hands to his sides.
    “I-I don’t know. Never mind. I’m sick or something,” I muttered, wiping at my eyes hastily. “I just need to get out of here.”
    “I’ll come with you,” he replied, taking a step forward and reaching for me.
    “No. No, I-I don’t want you to. Just . . . just leave me alone, Kellin,” I whispered, backing away from him. I didn’t know what I was capable of. I’d just had my hands on fire in the bathroom, and then I’d suddenly healed the burns. I could be a walking bomb or a hallucinating psychopath, neither thought comforting and neither one something I wanted anyone to know about.
    I got into my car and backed away before he could say anything. When I looked in my rearview mirror, he was still standing where I’d left him, a deep frown carved into his features.

Chapter 9
     
    I wasn’t surprised when my phone rang later that afternoon and Mel’s name popped up on the screen.
    “Hello?”
    “Is everything OK? You weren’t at cheerleading,” she said the moment I answered.
    “Yeah, I just needed to get away. I don’t think I could’ve managed an afternoon listening to Courtney pick at me,” I sighed and flopped back onto my bed.
    “Well,