Blue by Lora Carlson (best ebook reader for chromebook .TXT) 📕

Blood was everywhere. All I could see was red. My skin had the reddish-brown tint of dried blood. I reached for the door handle, my hand slipping on the metal. I fumbled again. Finally I got the door open and stumbled into the hallway. I looked behind me, seeing the silhouettes of bodies. My stomach turned and I covered my mouth with my hand. I headed down the hallway, trying to control my breathing. I looked around a corner. Two guards were standing in front of an unmarked door. I quickly stepped back, feeling my heartbeat skyrocket. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. I clenched my fists, feeling the spark of energy flicker in my chest. I tried to keep it up, but it faded away. I bit my lip trying to spark it again with pain. I heard footsteps coming my way. The spark flared intensely, my skin heating up. I grinned with confidence. I side stepped from behind the wall and raised my right hand. I felt the heat travel from my chest down towards my palm. The guards raised their guns. My middle finger twitched and a burst of blue tinged energy shot from my hand. It hit the guards, knocking the guns from their hands and making them fall back. I ran past them and headed towards the unmarked door. I gathered the spark in both hands and set my palms against the cold metal. I twitched both middle fingers and turned my head away from the blast as the door dent away from me. I repeated this three times until the door fell with a clang onto the ground. I stepped over the charred metal of what used to be the door.

I made my way to the vault at the back of the room and pressed my ear against the vault door. It was warm. I stood back, calculating how much spark I would need to destroy the vault. I heard shouts coming down the hall. My pulse quickened and I started collecting as much spark as I could. I brought my hands together, feeling the heat rise. The shouts got louder. My hands shook with the heat of the spark. I pressed my hands against the vault and let the spark out. I winced as the vault started to melt. I raised the heat a few degrees. When the vault was melted enough I reached inside. My fingers wrapped around a small blue stone. I ducked as bullets flew past my head. I ran towards the wall next to me while summoning as much spark as I could. I hit the wall with full speed, feeling the metal of the wall melt around me. I amped up the heat just enough to break through the wall into another hallway. I stumbled to the ground and accidently dropped the stone. I felt my skin cool down but my pulse rise. I reached for the stone sitting a few feet away from me. As my fingers connect with the warm stone my vision went white.

I wake up in a cold sweat. The dream... or memory... has been haunting me for months now. I pull the rusty chain with the blue stone on it out from under my shirt. The stone doesn’t look as shiny or blue as in my dream. It’s not really even the same shape. I sigh and tuck it back into my shirt. I’ve tried doing the whole “spark” thing, but it never works. I run my fingers through my long and tangled hair. I’ve been in this half dead forest for about a week. But, as always, I have to keep moving. I roll up my slightly ripped blanket and disgusting old sweatshirt into a ball. I shove it into my muddy backpack along with my three cans of food and chipped mug. I have a fork with two prongs and a dull kitchen knife. I search the second pocket of the pack for a hair tie. Finding it I pull my hair into a bun. I roll up my sleeves and tie my boots. I really need to find new shoes. The soles of these are basically gone. Only my left foot has a full lace. I reach down to grab my backpack when I hear a screech. I flinch and sling the backpack onto my shoulders. The screeching gets louder. My feet go into overdrive as I run as fast as I can away from the Banshees. Banshees are what The News dubbed a string of The Virus that makes the hosts vocal cords five times louder. But they lose the ability to speak. Banshees use their newfound volume to find each other and scare their prey.

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I push a branch away from my face and sprint as fast as I can down the hill. I yell in surprise as I hear another screech, but this time it’s only a few feet away. I pivot and run in the other direction. My messy bun falls apart and dirty hair falls into my face. I curse under my breath as I rest behind a tree, my hands on my knees. I feel my hair, to see if my hair tie is knotted in, cursing again as I don’t feel it. I tuck my hair into the back of my collar as I hear another screech. This time I don’t see the Banshee in my way and she tackles me to the ground. She opens her mouth and hisses, spit dripping from her teeth. I turn my head away from her infected saliva. The Banshee strand of The Virus is spread through saliva. She grins. This Banshee has her dark brown hair pulled into a side braid with strands on her bangs hanging in her face. Her eyes glow red with adrenaline. My heart skips a beat and I feel like I’m going to throw up. She lowers her head closer to my face and opens her mouth, her cold breath creating goose bumps on my skin. I use my knees to push her off of me and I quickly crawl back. She rolls onto a crouch and screams. I cover my ears in agony, feeling them start to bleed. The scream dies off as the Banshee runs out of breath. My body crumples, my ears ringing. In a daze I look up as the Banshee crawls towards me. I groan as she lifts me onto my knees. She tangles her fingers into the roots of my hair and slams my head into a tree. I yell in pain. She make this high pitched sound, which sounds like a laugh. I reach for her arm, clawing at the skin of her wrists. My head hits the ground as she unwinds her hands from my head. A strangled sound breaks out of my throat as tears fall down my cheeks. The Banshee walks away from me, but then stops. I curl into myself as she screams again, the pitch changing in a rhythmic way. After she stops I hear other screams echo from around the forest. Girls start running to the Banshee. I count five. They all have their dark hair in various braided styles, red eyes gleaming. Four of the new Banshee’s are slightly crouching, as if searching for danger. Only one is staring at the Banshee who attacked me. This Banshee has her brown hair loose with a braid crown. Like she is the Queen. She quickly strides over to the Banshee with the side braid and grasps her face with her hands. The Queen makes a sort of purring sound, which Side Braid answers with a slightly higher purr. Then Queen kisses Side Braid. Queen pulls back, kisses her forehead, then looks at me. I push myself up onto my elbow, head spinning. She walks over to me and kneels down next to me. I push myself away.

“Please...please...” I gasp. Queen grabs my ankle and pulls me towards her.

“No!” I scream. My voice cracks and I cough. She grabs my neck and pulls me up.

“Let me go... I’ll never come back, I promise.” I plead, my hope sinking with every heartbeat. The dream I had only a few minutes earlier, which feels like forever ago, flashes into my head. I remember being able to fight. To use my Spark. Tears roll down my face as I realize just how weak I really am. I stop struggling and wait for Queen to infect me. But she stops. I open my eyes and see her looking at me with a curious look. I notice a blue light illuminating her face. I look down and see the light coming from my chest. My eyes widen and my mouth goes dry. I slowly reach into the collar of my shirt and pull out the chain. The blue stone is glowing brightly. Queen looks between me and the stone, then lets go of my neck. I feel energy flow through my body. I shakily stand up and feel my body heat up. Queen backs up and puts an arm in front of Side Braid, in a protective way.

“I won’t hurt you if you let me go.” I say with half hearted confidence. Queen steps towards me. She nods and looks back at the other girls. They purr and nod. Then they all run into the forest, Queen and Side Braid holding hands. After a few minutes I let out the breath I had been holding. I feel the energy slowly leave my body and my knees give out. I slump to the ground, shaking slightly. Blood slowly trickles out of my nose and lower lip, onto my neck and shirt. I lift my arm to my face and wipe my nose.

“Ow...” I mutter as my nose throbs. I tenderly feel the bridge, sighing in relief as I feel nothing broken. I do my best to wipe away all the blood that I can feel. Getting the hell out of here seems like the best idea. Shakily I stand up, my head spinning. I lean against a tree until the nauseating feeling goes away. I shuffle through the woods, following the horrible wind that hurts me everytime it blows in my face. I see a break in the trees and I smell something burning. Survivors? But... it could also be Witches. If that’s the case I'm screwed. I slow my pace, cautiously approaching the smoke. I kneel down at the top of the hill, looking down at the camp below. I search for people. I spot a man with a ponytail tending to the fire, his back to me. I study his bare back. My heart stops as