Flight of Life (Essence Series #1) (3 page)

When she pulled up to the curb, the car
convulsed violently then stopped just as suddenly. Most of the
seatbelts in the car didn’t work so they pulled the straps over
their chests whenever a cop drove by. Only two radio stations
worked so they had to choose between classic country and mariachi
music. They usually left it off.

Calloway climbed out of the seat behind
Breccan then adjusted his backpack. Breccan slammed the door twice
because it wouldn’t stick to the frame. Aunt Grace leaned over and
rolled down the window manually. “Tell me when you want me to pick
you up,” she said with a smile. “Have a good day.” She drove away,
and the loud engine could be heard even when she reached the end of
the street.

“
Let’s go,” Breccan said
as he tightened his backpack on his shoulders. Calloway walked
alongside him as they headed to the campus down the street. They
were both wearing the only warm jackets they owned, and it was
enough to keep them warm.

When they got to the campus they went
into their separate classrooms. Calloway had English first thing in
the morning, and when he walked inside his gaze immediately turned
to Beatrice, a girl who sat in the third row. Calloway looked away
and took his seat at the back of the class, trying not to stare at
the blonde hair that always caught his eye. Beatrice was whispering
with her girlfriends and a quiet laugh escaped her lips every few
seconds. The sound made his shiver spine but he forced himself not
to think about her. He had to concentrate on school.

The teacher began
lecturing about the Shakespeare play,
Hamlet
, which they had been reading
the past week. Mr. Avey was calling on students and asking for the
significance of the various prose of the play. Calloway wasn’t
paying attention. He kept thinking about his run-in with the
Hara-Kir from the evening before. It was a close call, one that
almost cost him more than his life. He wanted to know the contents
of the book he’d stolen from the Grandiose Historian Library but
there was no way for him to decipher it—he needed a professional.
Calloway could return to the library and search for a decoder—if
such a thing even existed—but he couldn’t risk his essence
again.

“
Calloway,” Mr. Avey said
to him. “And to thine own self be true. What do you think Polonius
meant?”

Calloway dropped his gaze from the
window and looked at his teacher, who was watching him while he
held the play in his hand, waiting for him to speak. It was obvious
that Calloway wasn’t paying attention and the teacher realized that
as well. Calloway had read Hamlet before but it was a while ago.
When they read it together in class he wasn’t paying attention
because he was pondering his plan to get the sacred book from the
Grandiose Historian Library.

“
Polonius was giving
advice to his son,” he said as he sat up in his chair. “That you
need to be true to yourself and to others around you before you
find what your best interests really are; where you truly belong
and what you’re best suited for.”

Mr. Avey flashed him a look of
surprise. He wasn’t expecting that response. “Very good.” He turned
to another student and called on him, asking another question.
Calloway glanced to Beatrice and saw her looking at him. Quickly,
he turned his gaze away and stared at the front of the classroom.
Her family was rich and she was beautiful, popular, and perfect.
Calloway wasn’t stupid; she would never be interested in him. He
only owned one jacket and two sweaters and he always brought his
lunch to school because he couldn’t afford to buy food. He was a
loner. Breccan was his only friend in the school. It wasn’t because
he wasn’t nice or friendly, but he chose to isolate himself,
finding solitude more comforting than the disappointment of people.
Calloway already knew what the other students thought of him; a
poor kid that had no parents.

Calloway went to his other classes but
didn’t pay attention to what was being taught. His mind returned to
the adventure from the night before. He hated being distracted from
the real world with unknown beings and events, but at the same
time, he needed a distraction from the dullness of reality. What
was better? Living a life with a purpose, albeit a dangerous one,
or having an existence that was so meaningless you wished it was
over?

The bell rang for lunch and Calloway
walked to the library on the other side of campus, knowing he had
to complete his school applications and apply for a part-time job.
They didn’t have a computer at home so Calloway had to utilize the
resources at school. Breccan spotted him walking toward the
building and advanced to his side.

“
Why are you going to the
library?” Breccan asked.

“
We have to work on
applications.” Calloway said. “Remember?”

“
Why do you suck up to my
parents so much?” he asked. “They aren’t going to throw you out if
you make them angry.”

“
It’s important to them
and I think we should do it,” he said. “What could
hurt?”

Breccan rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he
said. “At least I’ll have something positive to say when my mom
interrogates me.”

“
She’s just trying to talk
to you.”

“
Well, she should stop,”
he snapped. “She can be so annoying.”

“
You’re lucky you have
someone to care for you until the point it’s annoying,” Calloway
said as he opened the door.

Breccan didn’t respond to his comment.
They never spoke about Calloway’s dead parents and his status as an
orphan. Calloway walked to a computer and sat down. Breccan sat
next to him and opened his sack lunch from his bag; a salami and
cheese sandwich. He ate it while Calloway searched the internet for
admissions information.

The librarian looked over at the two
boys and spotted Breccan eating. “There is no eating in the
library,” she yelled across the room. She stood behind the book
return counter. “Finish it outside or put it away,” she said
harshly. Her hands were on her hips and her large nose made her
look like a sinister witch. All she needed was a hat.

Breccan rolled his eyes and put his
lunch back into his backpack. When she wasn’t watching, he opened a
bag of chips and ate it from his backpack, hidden from her
view.

“
You don’t have to stay
here because of me,” Calloway said as he looked up a local college
that was affordable.

“
Where else am I going to
go?” he said as he ate another chip. “So, what college do you want
to go to?”

“
There’s a state school
about an hour away from here,” Calloway said as he looked at the
screen. “We might be able to get in if we get a good score on the
SAT. Also, there’s Fresno University.”

“
Well, that’s never going
to happen,” he said.

“
It’s not that hard,”
Calloway said. “We can do it.”

“
You’re a genius,” he
spat. “Yes,
you
can do it.”

“
Well, my GPA says
otherwise.”

“
That’s because you don’t
try.”

Calloway started researching part time
jobs in the area. Breccan closed his backpack when he saw the
librarian walk over. He wiped his lips quickly then stared at the
screen like he was reading it. The librarian watched at him for a
moment before she walked away. She had thick glasses that made her
look like an insect, and her floral skirt looked like it was from
an antique store. She walked away and carried a stack of books to
the history section down the middle aisle. The library was large
and antique looking, with dark-colored wooden chairs and tables
that matched the bookcases in the room. There were lamps at every
table to keep the room well lit since the windows to the library
were tinted. Breccan wasn’t sure why their high school had such a
magnificent library. No one used it. He saw Calloway read a job
application for a sandwich shop.

“
Why are you looking for a
job?” Breccan asked

“
I need money.”

“
My parents will pay for
the admissions stuff.”

“
I don’t want them
to.”

“
Why?” he asked. “It’s not
a big deal.”

“
They barely make it by as
it is,” Calloway said. “Plus, they support another kid that they
never expected to have. I can’t let them spend anything extra on
me.”

“
It’s their fault,”
Breccan snapped. “If mom got a job, we wouldn’t be so
poor.”

“
You’re missing the
point.” Calloway sighed. “And I need a job anyway—we’re graduating
soon.”

“
Or you could just enjoy
this while it lasts.”

“
No,” Calloway
said.

The library door opened and a girl
walked inside. She was wearing pink pants and a white top, and she
strode across the room with a perfect posture. Her golden earrings
reflected the light of the laps and made her appearance noticeable.
The girl had her gaze focused straight ahead, indifferent to the
presence of any other person in the world. She had brown hair that
reached her shoulders and she wore sandals even though it was
winter. She walked by the two boys without looking at them before
she took a seat at a table.

Breccan looked over at her. “Easton
just sat down.”

Calloway didn’t look away from his
computer. “She’s here?”

“
Yes.”

Calloway logged out of the computer and
grabbed his backpack from the floor. They both walked over to her
table and sat across from her. She was chewing a piece of gum while
she started at the webpage on her phone; it was the Google search
engine. She stared at it blankly like she was reading something.
Breccan glanced at Calloway, and Calloway met his look. They were
both thinking the same thing; Easton was different.

“
Hey,” Calloway
said.

“
Hi,” she said without
looking away from her phone.

“
Are we too ugly to look
at?” Breccan asked her. “Or do you prefer artificial intelligence
over real people?”

“
Yes,” she said

“
Yes to what?” Breccan
asked.

“
I prefer computers to
people—they can’t hurt you.”

“
You are so weird,”
Breccan blurted.

“
And
that
is why I prefer the company of
computers.”

Calloway glared at Breccan before he
looked at Easton. “I was hoping we could talk in private about
something sensitive.”

“
Like what?” she
said.

“
Well,” he said as he
looked around the library. All the students were enjoying their
lunch in the cafeteria or outside in the quad. They were alone.
“It’s about the Hara-Kirs,” he whispered.

Easton finally looked up from her
phone. “Why are we having this discussion?” Her voice was serious
and her eyes were wide with fear. “I don’t think this is
appropriate.”

“
Can we talk about it
after school? We need your help with something,” Calloway
said.

“
I don’t know how much
help I can be,” she said.

“
Well, you’re our only
option—please.”

Easton sighed. “What is this
regarding?”

Calloway leaned forward. “We found the
Kirin Book in the Grandiose Historian Library.”

Her eyes widened. “There are only two
books in the known world—how did you find it? And how do you know
if it’s authentic? What are the odds that it would be in
Fresno?”

“
I’ll show it to you after
school,” Calloway said. “That will prove it’s the real
thing.”

“
And what do you need me
for?” she asked.

“
We can’t read it—we need
you to translate it.”

Easton nodded. “I know a lot of the
symbols but not all. My sister is better at this than I am. Should
I ask for her assistance?”

“
No,” Breccan said
quickly. “You better keep your mouth shut.”

Calloway glared at Breccan before he
turned back to Easton. “What he meant to say was, this needs to be
confidential. The fewer people that know, the better. I can’t even
begin to think about what would happen if the news got
out.”

“
I agree,” she said. “If
the Hara Kirs know you have it, they’ll come after
you—forever.”

Calloway sighed. “They know I possess
the book—at least two of them do.”

“
How?” she asked with a
frightened voice.

“
When I was in the library
last night I wasn’t alone—a Hara-Kir was there. He chased me from
the building and I barely escaped with my life and essence. I think
my identity is a secret and so is my address, but I suspect they’ll
find me eventually. I need to decipher this book before that time
comes.”

Easton sighed. “Yes,” she said. “This
has become a state of urgency. We can meet after school. Where do
you want to go?”

“
How about here?” Breccan
asked.

“
No,” she said. “It isn’t
safe. What about the Grandiose Historian Library—I know it’s
abandoned.”

“
No,” Calloway said. “They
may anticipate my return.”