The Conduit The Gryphon Series - By Stacey Rourke Page 0,12

and peppered the front of my shirt. The only clean part of me was where Grams tended to my scratch. Leaves, dirt and pine needles covered me. I had a bird’s nest for hair. Pretty. I reached for the faucet to wash away the grime. My extended hand stopped me short. It was filthy. Both of my hands were. Dirt was packed under my fingernails, as if I’d been digging.

Or clawing at the ground.

The room shrunk around me. I remembered. I remembered everything. My breath came short and fast as panic bubbled through me. I could feel the concerned eyes of my family and friend burning into my skin. On the verge of losing it, I bolted from the room.

“I’m going to take a shower.” I stated and ran up the stairs to our bathroom.

I didn’t risk another look in the mirror, but stripped off my soiled clothes and stepped into the shower. I turned the water as hot as I could stand it and scrubbed my skin raw with my loofah. I couldn’t have seen what I thought I did. It was fodder for sci-fi movies, not real life. There had to be a rational explanation. There had to be. What did I know? I knew I hit my head, and I knew I was a chronic klutz. Maybe, just maybe, I confused the order of things. I could’ve fallen, in typical Celeste fashion, then dreamed the bird-woman.

I sighed and let the tension leave my body. Of course that was what happened. It made sense. I climbed out of the shower and toweled off. Then pulled on my pajamas and went straight to bed. After I flicked off the light I pulled the covers up to my ear. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, other than a wickedly vivid dream. And if I told myself that enough, maybe it would remove that lingering doubt that tugged at the back of my mind.

Worried I may have a concussion; Grams came to check on me frequently throughout the night. Each time she found me awake. Staring into the darkness. I couldn’t fool myself no matter how hard I tried. I knew what I saw.

CHAPTER 6

By the early hours of the following morning Grams determined I was fine, and left me alone to rest. Once sleep finally got a hold of me, it didn’t want to let go. I slept the entire day away and woke as the sun was beginning to set.

I stumbled downstairs to find an empty house. According to the note Grams left me on the dining room table, Kendall was at Keith’s, Gabe was at football practice, and she had gone to Opry Land with her Red Hat Society friends for the weekend. She assured me she could be back in an instant if I needed her, but that was the last thing I wanted. After last night’s ordeal I didn’t want anyone hovering over me, watching my every move. I needed normalcy. Time alone with my thoughts to convince myself I hadn’t gone completely loony.

I poured myself a bowl of cereal and thumbed through the packet of information that came in the mail from Rhodes College. The campus was beautiful. All the buildings were stone with elaborate archways and impressive moldings. They looked like undersized castles. I tried to envision what my life would be like there. Cramming for exams in the library. Meeting friends at the Lynx Lair for lunch. Taking in a little culture at the gorgeous theater. A wonderful adventure, far away from weird birds that cause hallucinations.

Halfway through my second bowl of Fruity Pebbles my belly began to flutter. Worried the milk may’ve been passed its prime, I took some deep breaths and gave my stomach a chance to settle.

Instead of the problem correcting itself, it got worse. My heart began to pound like a jackhammer. My pulse thudded in my veins. I felt — agitated. I was frustrated and angry for no reason what-so-ever. I couldn’t sit still. I wrung my hands as I paced from the kitchen to the living room and back again. My jaw tensed to the point of pain.

The front door squeaked open. Hoping it was someone breaking in that I could unleash this fury on, I stalked toward the foyer.

Gabe intercepted me when he rounded the corner into the living room. “Hey.”

It hit me like a punch to the gut. The anger I felt was coming from him. I could feel what he was feeling, and