Acropolis Read Free

to hide. I want to punch the air
triumphantly. Mom doesn't smile nearly as much as she should.
    "You look ten years younger when you do
that," I murmur.
    Mom grins crookedly, using her finger to push
her glasses further up her nose just as a knock sounds on the door.
The smile vanishes instantly.
    "Emma Chase?" Dr. Reed says dully as she
enters the room.
    I turn toward the voice and grimace. While
Grace had been a cheerful, encouraging woman, the doctor now making
her way across the room is the female version of Attila the Hun.
One of the Diplomas on the wall introduces her as Helen Reed. I
mentally nickname her "Helga." She is the size of a football player
with a huge Grecian nose and large beady, un-waxed eyes. It isn't
pretty.
    “So, how are we today, Emma?” Helga asks as
she steps in front of us, her gaze peering unobtrusively over a
pair of horn-rimmed glasses.
    I shrug. Helga glances from me to my
mother.
    "Can I see Emma alone a moment?"
    This startles us both. Mom knows I'm
not good at conversing with people I'm not familiar with. I am,
quite simply, terrified of anything I don't have control over. My
fears are part of the reason I'm here. Another symptom, the doctors
say. Extreme paranoia. I have developed what they like to call a
hyper-phobic disability. Which means, and I digress, that I am
literally terrified of everything. Literally. Everything. Spiders,
the dark, fire, heights, closed spaces, snakes, . . . everything .
    "I'm not sure that's such a good idea . . ."
Mom says as Helga starts urging her toward the door.
    I don't even have time to argue before the
door clicks shut in my mother's stunned face. Helga turns to
me.
    "I have reviewed your records, Ms. Chase, and
I am not entirely convinced you are as sick as you would have
people believe."
    I am at a loss for words, my heart beginning
to pound as I wipe my sweating palms down the side of my dark blue
jeans. The long sleeve green cardigan I have on suddenly feels too
hot. I know my temperature is rising.
    "M-m'am?" I stutter.
    Helga's eyes narrow.
    "The fever I can't figure out, but according
to my charts, your physical tests have all been outstanding. Maybe
some sort of neurological disease then? And yet, even with the
fever, your mental facilities seem fine.
    "D-doc. . ."
    She ignores me.
    "As for the paranoia . . ."
    I am instantly aware of her intentions, and I
squeal as she reaches for the light switch on the wall next to the
door. There are no windows in the room. If this is a test, it is a
bad one.
    "No!"
    The room goes pitch black. What comes next is
not my fault. The screams that fill the room no longer just my
own.
    Helga pulls at me. I am wrapped around
her. How I got there is beyond me, but I can't let go. I won't let go.
    Distantly, I hear banging on the door. Helga
struggles against me, yelling for help, and shoves me backward so
the people in the hall can enter without any resistance. Lights
suddenly flood the room.
    Helga shouldn't have turned off the lights!
Otherwise, they never would have found me there, bear hugging Dr.
Reed while frantically screaming and shedding tears of pure
unadulterated blood.
     
     
     

Chapter 3
     
    Conor
     
    I was on my way, by taxi, to the airport in
Paris, France when the call comes through. The number is a familiar
one, and I groan.
    "I just left the Council, Will . . ."
    "And I just got called in to assist you.
We've got trouble," my cousin interrupts.
    My foot presses against the floorboard of the
Peugeot 406, an unconscious braking effort on my part. I tap the
seat in front of me, using my hand to signal the driver. The taxi
slows and pulls to the side of the road amidst blaring horns.
    "Define trouble."
    There is a lot of noise on the other end of
the line, and I recognize my aunt's irritated voice. Will is my
first cousin, a year younger than me, and has just been accepted
into the Inner Circle of Gargoyles. As a Guardian, I had ranked
higher, but now . . . .
    "The mark is in danger."
    It takes a