Escaping Grace: A Turning Grace Novel Read Online Free Page A

hadn’t checked anything computer related since we left. Internet connection was at one bar…no bars for most of the time. My heart raced at the thought of reading an email from Tristen.
    I had only been gone for three days, but I was desperate to know what he was doing. What he was thinking. How much he missed me. The thought of him not missing me caused my chest to cave in. Maybe it was because I missed him so much. I was afraid I’d be the only one.
    My unread messages loaded and I scanned through the junk emails. There were about fifty of them, though it seemed like a million. All emails encouraging me to sign up for a credit card, Facebook notifications, and crap I cared nothing about.
    When I finally reached the last bolded heading, my heart sank. Nothing from Tristen.
    At that moment, a faint sound of laughter resonated in my ears. I peered over to the patio door and saw people walking toward the beach.
    I stood up and got closer to get a better view from inside. There was one guy and two girls, one of which seemed to be pretty young. The little girl’s red pigtails dangled below her shoulders as she skipped through the sand holding a boogie board. The older girl had short, black hair and was also holding a boogie board and smiling at the little girl. The blonde-haired guy looked like a walking Abercrombie and Fitch ad, wearing a wet suit and clutching onto a neon yellow surfboard.
    I stared for another moment before the guy turned around. He looked straight at me. I quickly moved over and away from his glance, almost as if I was caught spying.
    Get a grip, Grace! They are just people.
    I shook my head and chuckled.
    There was a low rumble in my belly. It was time.
    I opened the door to find Number One standing in the hallway, facing away from me.
    He quickly turned around. “Everything okay?”
    “Um…yeah, yes. I’m just getting hungry. Do you know where I can get some food?”
    “Would you like it sent here, or would you like to go to the mess hall?”
    “I have room service?” I asked, a little shocked. What, am I at some fancy hotel or something? Although, the thought of eating in my own room did sound better than going to the mess hall, whatever that was. I wasn’t quite ready to meet other people, which was obviously showcased a few moments ago by my amateur attempt of going unnoticed.
    “I’ll eat it in my room, if that’s okay.”
    “Absolutely.” Number One began walking down the hall with his finger on his ear.
    Poor guy. He had to stand in front of my room all day? Why didn’t those other people have bodyguards with them?
    I left my door open and began unpacking my things.
    I heard a chirp from my cell phone and pulled it out immediately. It could be Tristen.
    But of course, it wasn’t. It was a text message from my mother. I should at least let her know I was here and safe. Well, as safe as I thought I was.
    Veronica Watkins: Grace, I just wanted to tell you that I love you.
    Grace Watkins: I’m here and fine. Love you too.
    I blacked out my phone and threw it back on the bed. That was about all she would get from me for some time.
    Over the many hours of traveling, I thought long and hard about the last thing I said to her. I will never forgive you… At the time I was furious! I was just told after seventeen years of my life that I died for twenty-three minutes and brought back to life by some experimental serum when I was a child. That my body only worked halfway and that my mother was feeding me dead people without my knowledge. My life was based on a lie. Even my own mother’s name was a lie. How else was I supposed to react?
    What is that smell?
    But the point was that she lied to me, and I didn’t understand why. Why couldn’t she be honest with me? Why did she make me find out on my own? And in the worst way possible!
    God, that smells so good!
    My face flushed and I could feel that I was getting angry…and even more hungry. I would just have to talk to her when I was