Evanescent - By Addison Moore Page 0,45

My stomach sours a moment. Maybe that explains why she was hanging out with my least favorite Fem on a Saturday morning.

I try to push the thought out of my mind. The last thing I need is to get sucked into Laken’s delusions and drag down the rest of the student body with me.

“Hey, Wes.” A couple of guys pop up on either side of me and begin walking me to the back of the building at a quickened pace.

“What’s going on?” The one to my right is built like a door, blond, and I swear I know him from somewhere. But the one on my left—his black hair, that all-too-familiar face, startles me. It let’s me know something’s not right. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear I was having a nightmare. He looks spot on, exactly like me.

“We thought we’d formally introduce ourselves,” the blond dude says as they launch me into the thorny bushes.

“Shit,” I hiss, plucking my sweatshirt free from the teeth of the overgrown shrubbery. “What the fuck?” They might be ripe for a fight, but right about now, so am I. The blond winces, he narrows in on me with an intense level of hatred, then it hits me. Every muscle in my body freezes. I know him.

“You’re the Elysian.” Skyla’s Elysian.

“Logan Oliver.” He ticks his head back as if things were suddenly casual, as if he and his buddy, that happens to wear my face, didn’t just travel two years into the past to pay me a visit. “My nephew here has been dying to meet you. His fist is looking forward to bonding with your lips—you know—those things you use to hurt Skyla with?”

My clone steps forward. “Gage Oliver,” he says, examining me. “I’d tell you to memorize my face because you’ll be seeing a lot of it, but it looks like you’ve one-upped me and put it on like a mask.” He pulls his fist back before digging his knuckles into my jaw. My teeth bite over my tongue, and a squirt of blood runs down my throat.

Shit.

I let out a hard groan as I fall back into the spiked bushes. My sweatshirt gets caught, and my arms lock, wide open, exposing myself to his viral assault.

Gage pummels me to a level of pain that can only be described as the other side of nirvana. This is no amateur hour beating. This is an old school ass kicking from a muscle-milk guzzler who knows a thing or two about weak points and inflicting near-death experiences.

Can’t lift my head. Each one of my ribs feels severely fractured as my legs buckle beneath me, and I slip to the ground. The sweatshirt I was wearing still hangs high in the branches on the thorns that pinned it.

“Skyla sends you her love.” He shouts from above as a shoe bullets through my stomach. He takes a step forward and repeats the effort into my skull, and the world mercifully fades to nothing.

6

Dearly Departed

Laken

The dove grey afternoon drones on. Coop calls me to meet him at the clearing just shy of Diamond Peak, and I don’t hesitate making my way over.

An autumn rainbow of yellow and crimson blesses the maples as they yield their leaves to Mother Earth. It breaks up the steel grey skies that stretch out overhead like a yawn. It’s majestic out here with the dew of fall settling over the landscape. I’ve never seen hillsides so rich with color, so seemingly alive while experiencing their death.

A pair of arms circle my waist. “Sorry, I’m late.” Coop sears the words into my ear like a hot summer night and my skin catches fire. “Ezrina’s ready to share the results.”

“Are you kidding?” My heart stops at what this might mean. I hope to God that poor girl lived, that’s she’s perfectly resurrected and not in some far more unfortunate state. “I hope it’s good news,” I heave the words out in a sudden panic. “If it’s not, I’ll feel horrible, Coop. Not to mention we’ll be screwed.” A resurrection for Pearl could save the entire Spectator race, namely the Tobias family.

“We’re never screwed. I promise we’ll come out on top.” He twirls me into him, and his eyes offer a gentle smile all their own. “I promise, Laken, I will always keep you safe.”

“I know you will.” It comes out weak, but everything in me believes his words are truer than my next breath.

“Real quick before we go”—Coop nods back toward campus—“Flynn called,