Mutiny Read Online Free Page B

me. It doesn’t really even feel as if I’m walking, the town sort of just passes by me in slow motion until I’m eventually standing behind the church.
    I’ve never been inside this building, but I remember Dad doing a broadcast out front a couple years back when a lightning bolt struck the bell in the tower. Back then, I thought it was just a cool freak of nature. But after reading more of Dad’s notes on the weather and the energy he thought storms produced that could possibly create supernatural powers, I look back on it differently now.
    The streets are deserted and it’s way past midnight, well past the unofficial curfew for Lincoln. I keep walking, knowing exactly where I’m going and how to get there. My foot touches the stone that’s only slightly covered by short blades of grass. I stand on it and wait.
    In seconds, I’m floating down a dark funnel as a cool breeze brushes over my skin. I’m traveling fast, and my stomach is doing mild flip-flops as I spiral downward. When my feet hit the soggy ground, I fall to my knees to gather myself before standing again.
    This time I’m walking along a cavernous path. It’s cold here below the earth’s surface. I remember being here before and being afraid of what would happen next. Tonight I am not afraid.
    I am in Trance, moving along like I belong here when, in fact, my fate is still undecided. It feels normal, me being in this space at this time. It feels like home.
    When I come to a small clearing, I hear the ripple of water and see a steady billowing of steam. There’s a lake there, just a few feet ahead of me. It curves around like a road inside the cavern. Where it ends I don’t know. If it leads to a larger pool of water I’m not certain. There’s life in that lake—something that has its own energy, negative energy—that breathes moisture in the air. I breathe in that moisture, inhaling deeply. It’s like food and I’m gorging myself, enjoying the fullness it leaves inside me.
    As the moisture gives way to a darker mist, I smile. It’s Lor. I know what the cloud is now. The chameleon has a name. He knows mine and I know his. It’s like we are friends.
    I walk toward Lor, even though the mist simply rolls along the floor of the cavern. I know it’s taking me somewhere, the place I came in search of. I think it’s cool that I know what it’s thinking without saying a word. It probably knows the same about me or why else would it have appeared right now.
    The path opens up to reveal a larger cave, like a room within this dark dank place. There’s a large chair or what looks like the back of a chair, with no seat. There’s a frame along the wall, in a deep crimson color outlined with crystalline rocks. On each side are birds, ravens with beady red eyes. They are the largest ravens I’ve ever seen, like the size of pit bulls. They eye me as if I’m the main course on the dinner menu.
    I’m not afraid as I continue walking. I am welcome here. I know this, I feel it deep inside.
    Without a sound, he appears in the seat. His cloaked form simply materializing out of the air. Everything is still covered. Unlike Nasiel’s cloaked appearance with its skeletal frame, Charon’s form is shapeless, just an endless blackness that evokes an ominous feeling.
    â€œYou are beginning to believe,” he says.
    Sticking my hands into my pockets, I nod. “I’m seeing things a little differently now.”
    â€œYou desire more answers.”
    â€œI do.”
    â€œAsk.”
    â€œWhy them? Why do you need me to help you break them up? They’re just a group of teenagers. They’re not important.”
    â€œTo me they are. Each one of them separately has some meaning. Together they could destroy all that I have worked for.”
    â€œBut they don’t even know about you.” At least I’m almost positive they don’t, since