Death Touch novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Quiet

I slept for nine hours, and nobody woke me.

That had never happened.

At Site Nine they woke me every four hours for readings.

I lay in my own bed with the morning light on the ceiling, and I felt rested in a way that frightened me.

My hands felt light.

When I flexed my fingers, the pull under my skin was so faint I could barely find it.

Trina sat on the other bunk with a mug, watching me.

"You look different."

"I slept."

"You look like you got hit by a truck and enjoyed it." She sipped. "Did the sergeant finally give you a pep talk?"

I stared at the ceiling, burning.

"Oh my God," Trina whispered. "You did not."

"Trina."

"You absolutely did. Mara Hargett. I'm not telling anyone."

She held up a finger.

"I'm just going to quietly scream into a pillow for several minutes."

She did.

When she came up she looked at me with wet, bright eyes.

"Are you okay? Is he, is it, does it?"

"It's quiet," I said. "When I touch him. It goes quiet."

"That's amazing."

"It's something else too."

I looked at my hands.

The pull was so faint.

I'd had a whole night of skin, and everything in me felt softer.

"Trina. Give me your hand."

She stopped smiling.

"No. He said never."

"It's weak right now. I can feel it. Just a fingertip. Please."

I wanted so badly to touch another person.

She looked at me for a long time.

Then she held out her palm, trembling, and I reached with one bare finger and brushed her skin.

Warm, soft, alive.

For one wonderful second nothing happened.

Then the pull woke, hot and sudden, and a grey patch the size of a coin bloomed under my fingertip.

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