Naomi Grim (Part 3) (The Silver Scythe Chronicles), Page 2

  "Hang up," I said firmly.

  Principal Sharpe looked up at me. "Excuse me? What are you—"

  Before she could finish her sentence, I strode over to the wall and yanked the phone's cord out of the outlet. Principal Sharpe shot up from her seat, her dark curly hair bouncing around her face. "Young lady!"

  I stood face to face with her. She looked afraid, as if I were going to hit her. "Listen to me," I told her. "You have to evacuate the school right now! There are bombs everywhere. Some kids are going to start shooting. A lot of people are going to die if you don't get them off this campus!"

  She looked at Mrs. Clark, who stood in the doorway, looking shocked and then she narrowed her eyes at me. "How do you know—"

  "I just do! I've heard and seen things. This is not a joke. Principal Sharpe, please!"

  She stared at me some more. I wanted to shake her. We didn't have time for her to decide whether or not she believed me. One hundred and forty-eight people didn't have time.

  Finally, she began to move toward her desk. "Okay, but if this is a joke, I hope you know that would be a federal offense."

  "Get them out!" I screamed.

  She nodded and pressed a button on her desk. "Students and staff. Please stop what you're doing. This is a code black evacuation. That means you are to leave all your belongings and evacuate the building immediately. Find your nearest exit. Please do not panic. No pushing or running. Just file out in an orderly fashion." A bell sounded, and I could hear the noise of commotion, even from where I stood deep in the office.

  "Come on," Principal Sharpe said, pushing me toward the door.

  The other people in the office were already heading out. I followed them and pressed myself against the large glass pane in front of the office.

  The hallways were jam-packed with students. Some wore nervous expressions, but most talked and laughed with their friends as if their lives weren't in danger.

  "Relax, people. It’s just a drill," said a tall girl as she walked past me. No, it wasn't just a drill.

  I had to give the students credit. The evacuation was pretty orderly considering the amount of kids who were trying to get out of the building all at once. The vision of Bram pushing his way toward me through the human traffic going in the opposite direction brought me back to real life—my real life. I had just broken the biggest rule of being a Grim. My instincts told me to run, but I wouldn't get anywhere in this crowd.

  When Bram reached me, he grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. "What did you do? What did you do?" I leaned back as his saliva wet my face. I'd never seen my brother so frantic. He squeezed my shoulders so hard they hurt. He'd been angry plenty of times before, but never this angry at me.

  I only shook my head. Nothing I said would make this okay.

  "Get to the vehicle!"

  I tried to keep up with Bram as we made our way through the lessening crowd of students. Bram pushed people out of his way left and right. Some kids cursed and shot him dirty looks. He shouldn't be taking out his anger on them.

  Keira, Dorian, and Josh were already in the car. Keira was in the driver's seat. I climbed in the back with the boys and Bram got in the front. He turned, staring at me accusingly. "Well?"

  I looked around us. A flood of students headed down the block, away from the school. Small groups of students and teachers still trickled from the building. Everyone would be safe now. "Bram, I'm sorry. I couldn't let it happen."

  "You couldn't let it happen? Who do you think you are? It's not your choice to decide whether or not it should happen. Just collect the lives!" The others said nothing. "Let's just get to the chamber," Bram said more calmly. The chamber was in the forest clearing and would transport us back to Nowhere. I didn't want to think about what was going to happen to me when we got back.

  Keira pulled out of the parking lot, and we headed for the clearing. We needed to get to the tree that had brought us there. Everything we passed on the way was a giant blur to me.

  "Bram I—"

  "Don't, Naomi, just don't."

  "It's just money, Bram!"

  "It's not just money. Nay, don't you understand what they're going to do to you, to our family? And for what, those stupid humans? So they can live for what? To smoke pot? Fornicate? Listen to garbage music?"

  "They're people, Bram," I said softly.

  "Yeah, well I hope those people were worth dying for."

  We rode the rest of the way in silence. From time to time Keira would shake her head, but thankfully she said nothing. I couldn't even turn to face Dorian and Josh. They were silent, but I knew they had to be disappointed.

  "All this time for nothing," Bram muttered.

  I felt good about saving all those lives, but I had screwed the other Grims over in the process. Who knew what Dunningham was going to do to me?

  Keira parked the vehicle in the clearing. The others climbed out before me. Slowly, I opened my door, slid out and made my way to the tree. I took as long as I possibly could and then Bram shouted at me. Why would I want to move any faster? I was a dead Grim walking.

  Chapter 24

  The door of the chamber closed, sealing us inside like a tomb. I took a deep breath and released it slowly. Bram leaned against the wall, scowling. The others stared at the ground. My heart sank as I imagined the look on Father's face.

  The chamber door opened up to our pantry. The others stepped out first. I followed behind reluctantly. Keira and Josh left out the back door without a word. I wondered if my best friend would ever speak to me again.

  I heard Mother's voice upstairs. Part of me was excited that she was home, but then part of me remembered I had just disgraced my family. Bram and Dorian took seats at the kitchen table as I heard feet coming down the stairs.

  Mother entered the kitchen. "You're back." I ran to her. I couldn't help it. She was my mother. Maybe she could make this all better.

  Father appeared behind her. The broad smile he wore dropped when he saw my brothers. Dorian had laid his head down on the table, covering his face with his hood, and Bram stared intently at a wall, his brow furrowed. Father's smiled faded. "What's wrong?"

  "Ask your precious daughter," Bram said bitterly.

  Mom touched the left side of my face. Her touch was cold and familiar. I had missed it. "Naomi, what happened?"

  "I made a mistake."

  Father breathed heavily. "What did you do, Naomi?" I think he already knew.

  "I warned them," I whispered. I don't know why. Maybe I was afraid Dunningham would hear me, although he was probably aware of what I'd done by then. I imagined him sitting in a chair with his dogs Black and Blue on either side of him as he mentally planned my execution.

  Father ran his hand over his face, and Mother left me to lean over the sink. She looked as if she might vomit.

  "So it didn't happen?" Father asked.

  "No, it didn't," Bram answered. "She ruined everything. She's put us all in danger."

  Mother looked at Father and he nodded. Then she disappeared upstairs. I didn't want her to leave me.

  Father lifted my chin, forcing me to look him in the face, which I hadn't wanted to do. "Naomi, how could you do such a thing?" I appreciated his gentleness. He hadn't screamed at me from the top of his lungs like Bram had.

  Bram stood and came between me and Father. "Oh, it wasn't just that. She made friends with them. She fell in love with some stupid human. She brought him to the residence after Doyle had told her not to—"

  "Yes, yes," Father interjected. "He told me about that, but I would have never imagined—"

  "I would have," Bram said, glaring at me. "I keep saying it. She's never had the heart of a Grim." He'd said that many times, but that final time cut me deep. He meant it with his whole being, and he was probably right. Something was wrong with me. I wasn't like everyone else.

  "What's going to happen to us?" Dorian asked, finally lifting his head from the table. "What's Dunningham going to do? Is he going to subtract our years and t
hen execute us?"

  Mother reappeared with a large black duffle bag. "What's that for?" I asked as she threw it over my shoulder. The weight of it caused me to lean on one side.

  Mother looked at Father. He swallowed hard. "Naomi, you've put not only yourself, but this entire family at risk. That was very selfish of you. Dunningham will be here any minute. You have to go."

  I looked at Mother. She was crying. Bram, who had sat back down, looked like there might be just an ounce of sympathy in him. Dorian had buried his face in his hands.

  "What do you mean, I have to go?"

  Father put his hands on my shoulders and led me gently to the door. "You can't stay here. They'll kill you. Maybe if you're not here, the rest of us will stand a chance. I have to do everything I can to try to get some mercy from Dunningham." Father opened the back door. It was already dark in Nowhere.

  I looked back at Mother, who stood with her arms folded across her chest, looking at anything but me. "Mother, please. Please don’t let him do this!" But she wouldn't help me.

  Father pushed me out of the door and I stood on the top step of the porch, leaning against him with all my weight. "Naomi, please. Please, don't make this harder than it has to be." I could tell by how he spoke that he was crying.

  "Father, what am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?"

  "Just run. Run as fast and as far as you can. Past Farrington, past Litropolis, don't stop until you're in the Outskirts."

  The Outskirts were where the Foragers lived. I was being banished by my own family to go dwell among beings they considered to be rodents. "Mother!" I screamed out of desperation. Maybe something in her—her maternal instinct— would make Father stop this.

  Father stopped pushing for a second, then he whispered something over the top of my head. "You haven't left us a choice. I'm sorry, Darkness. I'm so sorry."

  Then my Father shoved me. I landed on my hands and knees, the duffle bag between my legs. The door slammed behind me. The tears that had already streamed down my face became rivers now. I was on my own.

  Chapter 25

  I wanted to go back and bang on the door, but I knew it would be useless. Father was right, Dunningham would be there any second looking for me. Maybe he would spare my family. I hoped so. I wouldn't be able to take it if they were executed because of me.

  I had to get out of Farrington. I slid my hood over my head and began to run. I ran past the rows and rows of Farrington houses that reminded me of my own. I ran through the bushes along the city limits of Farrington. I was stomping through the stream when sirens blared through the air, and I was positive they were for me. Dunningham had made it to my house and discovered I wasn't there. Now every Watcher in Nowhere would be after me. I had to get out of bounds and hide before they caught up with me.

  I was thankful my family had given me a head start. I hoped with all my might that they would be spared. They shouldn't be held responsible for my crimes, but I knew very well that Dunningham had executed entire families because of the actions of one.

  I ran along the wall that separated us from Litropolis, looking desperately for the hole. I was sure I had passed it. It didn't usually take long to find it, but things probably seemed to take longer when you were running for your life.

  Finally, I saw it. The loose stones in the wall were difficult for me to push alone. I wished someone was there to help me, then I reminded myself that I was one my own. I had to learn to be independent.

  I pushed enough stones away for me to squeeze through. My arms shook from exhaustion. I slid my duffle bag through the hole first, and then myself. Once I crawled through, I stood and put the bag back on my shoulder. The strap hurt and felt like it was cutting through my skin. I wondered what Mother had put inside the bag, but I didn't have time to stop and check. I was winded, but I had to keep running. People stared at me strangely. Some of them probably recognized me from my two recent visits. Not many people who didn't belong in Litropolis went there. Sirens blared, even there. The Grims there whispered to each other as I ran through. Shacks and tents became a blur as I darted around tin cans and piles of garbage.

  I only noticed the pipe sticking out of the ground as I tripped over it. An old woman helped me up. Her eyes were gray, much like her hair. She didn't seem to have many teeth in her mouth. "Child, what have you done?"

  I didn't have time to answer her. I kept running. I wanted to stop so badly, but I couldn't. At the end of Litropolis was another stone wall, twice as tall as the other, for it was designed to keep Foragers out.

  I turned. A man sitting outside of his tent watched me.

  "How do I get out of here?"

  "You don't."

  "I have to. They're after me."

  The man laughed. He was missing a few teeth. "If they're after you, you're already caught. I don't know why you're running. Whatcha do?"

  I ignored him and sprinted along the wall. Maybe I'd get lucky and find another hole. I jogged, running my fingers over the concrete, hoping for any indentation or movement that would mean there was an opening. I wished I could use my Grimbilities, but I wasn't on assignment, so they were disengaged. I had to find some way to get over that wall.

  Then I spotted a Watcher. Reynold, to be exact, sticking his head in and out of tents. He was no doubt asking people had they seen me. Reynold was actually throwing people's things every which way as he looked for me. I felt even guiltier. The people who had seen me running through were bound to snitch. They had no allegiance to me. I was a snooty Grim from Farrington who looked down on them.

  "Anyone who hides you is no doubt going to be killed," said a young woman as she hung wet clothes on a clothesline.

  "I know, I wouldn't ask anyone to do that," I said. "I only ask that you don't tell them you've seen me."

  "Get inside," the woman said, motioning toward a small shack with her head.

  "What?"

  "I said get inside," the woman ordered. She took my duffle bag.

  I obeyed and ducked into her shack. She followed me in. "Get in the corner and tuck yourself into a tiny ball." I did. She then covered me with sheets and pillows that she probably slept on. "Don't move. I'll hide your bag somewhere."

  I couldn't hear any more movement so I assumed the woman had gone back to hanging her laundry. I willed myself not to move by reminding myself I could die if I did. I would probably be caught anyway, once Reynold or another Watcher threw the covers aside.

  After a few minutes, I felt a weight on top of me. The woman was sitting on me. It hurt and I wanted to tell her to get off, but her sitting on me was probably a good idea.

  I heard several gruff voices asking, "Have you seen this girl?" The voices and footsteps got louder as they neared the shack.

  "Hey," said a man. He was in the shack now. "Seen her?"

  The woman shifted a little, squashing my ribcage. "No. Why?"

  The man said nothing. She was only a Litropolite, so why would he answer her question? I heard things being moved and tossed around. I prayed he didn't ask her to move.

  "Fine. Keep an eye out for her." Then he was gone, but we still didn't move from our positions. After a few more minutes, the sirens stopped. Did that mean they had given up searching for me?

  The woman moved from on top of me. I was sore and it pained me to move, especially in my abdomen. Slowly I removed the sheet from over my head. The woman was releasing the sheets that hung on either side of the shack's opening. They fell gently, covering the doorway. I sat up and rubbed my arms.

  "Thanks so much . . ."

  "Odessa."

  "Odessa. You didn't have to do that."

  "I know. What the hell did you do?"

  I shrugged. "I don't know."

  "You don't know? They don't sound alarms and do full searches for one Grim unless that Grim has done something horrendous. What did you do?"

  I looked around the shack at the mess the Watcher had made. I would help her clean up. "I was on assignment. We were supposed to be co
llecting lives from a school massacre and I stopped it. It didn't happen."

  Odessa whistled. "Wow. Forget Gattica. Dunningham's going to kill you."

  I didn't want to die, and I definitely didn't need to hear her saying that. "Not if he can't find me."

  Odessa scoffed. "That demon has eyes and ears everywhere. He'll find you."

  "He doesn't have eyes and ears over the wall."

  "No, he doesn't. But how are you going to get over it?"

  I rubbed a scrape on the side of my hand that I had just noticed. I must have gotten it when Father pushed me out of the door. "There has to be a way. If the Foragers can get in, there has to be a way to get out."

  Odessa got up and began to put things back where they belonged. I moved to help her, but she raised her finger at me. "Don't. You don't know where anything goes."

  I sat against her pillows and watched her clean. Odessa was beautiful. Her olive skin was covered with black smudges, but still she was beautiful. Her dark, curly hair fell past her waist and her black eyes were large and almond-shaped. "Stop staring. It's rude," she said without even looking up.

  I looked away and sighed, wondering how I was ever going to get out of this mess. Odessa had been in the process of straightening up some pots and dishes when she stopped and watched me over her shoulder. But I was the one being rude?

  "They come every other day. They're scheduled to come tomorrow. Maybe if you ask nicely, they'll take you over the wall with them."

  "Who?"

  Odessa paused, looking at the ground. I imagined she was wondering if she should tell me. "Foragers."

  "What? Foragers come here? For what?"

  "That I cannot tell you. All I can say is they'll be coming over the wall tomorrow morning. Going back with them will be the only way for you to get out of here."

  My stomach growled. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. "Do you think they'll help me?"

  "I don't know. It depends on who comes. Some of them are nicer than others."