Touching Smoke by Airicka Phoenix Read Free Book Online Page A

really was: all too real.
    “Fallon! No!” I heard my mystery companion roar as I scrambled out of my hiding place and bolted.
    I heard the panic in his voice, the anger and fear, but my body had already made up its mind; I wasn’t sticking around to watch the end of that fight. The whole thing was crazy and I wasn’t going to be put in the middle of whatever gang war they were having. I’d seen enough movies to know when things were about to go down badly.
    It didn’t take long to circle around the collapsed and burning building to where the rest of the school stood, watching in horror as everything went up in flames. I was the only one who got their stuff out. I couldn’t imagine the things everyone lost that night. It irritated me that I felt guilty, as if the whole thing was somehow my fault. But it wasn’t. How could it be?
    No one took any notice when I slipped around the huddled crowd and passed through the open gates. I jogged quickly the rest of the way down the hill towards town, never stopping or glancing back to see what happened next. Fire engines rushed past me, sirens blaring. I didn’t know why, but I ducked behind a clump of bushes and waited for them to pass before running the rest of the way down.
    Rettop County looked even more rundown and deserted in the dead of night. It seemed to echo like a ghost town. Most of the people probably didn’t even know about the fire, but they would soon enough.
    The hole in the wall pub, Mom had hooked a waitressing gig at, was just off the main road that cut through the entire town and up towards the school. I remembered the way from when mom had dropped me off the first day. I would have gotten there faster if my duffle didn’t suddenly weigh more than I did.
    “Mom!” I banged with both fists against the door of room eight, hopping from foot-to-foot as I waited for her to open it.
    I tossed a glance over my shoulder, half-expecting those fire-throwing demons to be right on my heels. But the night remained silent… still. It seemed to hum around me like some haunted melody I couldn’t quite place, but I knew the lyrics like I knew every inch of my own face. It was a song that echoed through my very soul. I would have lost myself in it happily had the door not opened, revealing my mother’s baffled and sleep-tussled expression.
    “Fallon?” She grabbed my elbow and dragged me inside. I didn’t miss the frantic glances she threw over the empty parking lot before shutting the door. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you call? I would have—”
    “We were attacked!” I tossed my duffle on the rumpled bed, my hands shaking. “I don’t know what… the earthquake… we have to call someone!”
    “Earthquake?” She pushed me down next to my duffle and pressed a cool hand against my brow. “What earthquake? Who attacked you?”
    Why wasn’t she listening?
    “Didn’t you hear me?” I grabbed her wrist, stopping her from pushing tendrils of hair off my sweaty brow. “We have to do something!”
    “Calm down and tell me what happened exactly.”
    “I don’t know what happened!” I cried, tearing both hands through my hair. “We just can’t stay here! Those things are still out there and they know I saw them. They’ll come after us…” Why hadn’t I thought of that before? I led them straight there… they could be right behind me. “We have to go! We have to go now!”
    She seemed to hesitate a second, staring into my face with a great deal of uncertainty, and maybe a little doubt. But she nodded, taking a step back.
    “Okay, let me just… let me get my things.”
    She hurried into the bathroom. I heard her rummaging a moment later, collecting her things. It seemed like hours before she emerged again, toiletries in hand.
    “Tell me what happened,” she said, tossing the items on the bed and reaching for the suitcase she’d tucked between the bed and nightstand.
    Where to start? The dream I no longer remembered? The earthquake