Alive (The Veiled World Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

and clutched my head. Oh God, it hurt.
    “Sorry, but you were in the way!” Reuben shouted as he steadied himself against the wall of the cockpit.
    Gripping Jacob’s seat, I pulled myself up, swaying on my feet a little before lunging for the handle of the cockpit door. It was locked, which was a no brainer. Bruce would have expected a reaction after screening that weird video.
    “What’s going on?” I shouted, pounding my fists against the door.
    The plane seemed to dip then rise, then dip again. My stomach dropped and what I’d eaten hours ago threatened to rise up my throat, but after a few deep breaths I managed to keep it down.
    Reuben lost his footing again and gripped my arm to steady his feet. I’d have bruises tomorrow from the way his fingers were squeezing my bicep. I clutched the metal door handle to keep us both from falling. Reece was swearing up a storm behind us as more turbulence rocked the plane.
    “Open up, Bruce!” Reuben shouted, his meaty fists pounding the door. After repeating this several times to no avail, Reuben turned and leaned against the door to catch his breath. Sweat trickled from his temples down his dark cheeks.
    “What’s wrong with him?” he shouted in my ear while eying Jacob. I followed his gaze.
    “He’s never flown before,” I said. “He’s probably terrified.”
    Reuben nodded and his eyes widened. “Shit! What if Bruce was showing us the pictures because he wants us to join the dead? What if this is a suicide mission?” He squeezed my arm even harder. “His wife’s dead, remember? Oh my God, we’re fu—”
    The plane jolted to the right and Reuben and I went flying. The bain-maries at the back of the plane crashed to the floor, along with the metal bins. It all came zooming up the aisle towards us. Just as I was getting to my feet someone’s food tray hit me in the temple and I fell to my knees.
    “You okay?”
    I nodded at Reuben, even though my head was throbbing. “I’m going back to my seat. Go buckle yourself in!”
    The loudspeaker crackled to life.
    “Bruce here. Getting ready to land. Please remain buckled in your seats until we land or until I instruct you otherwise. I repeat, return to your seats for landing. When we touch-down I’ll explain everything. By now you should all know that you haven’t been selected to sample my energy drinks. You have all been carefully selected for a higher purpose.”
    The loudspeaker crackled for a few more seconds, then silenced.
    I crawled, using Reuben’s seat then Jacob’s. But before I could move on, I seized Jacob’s seatbelt and strapped it around his stomach. His eyes snapped open and he seemed surprised to see me there, with my hands on his belt. But he quickly realised what I had done and nodded a thanks before screwing his eyes shut once again.
    I passed Noah, who was already buckled in, his eyes closed, possibly praying by the looks of his moving lips.
    In what seemed like forever, I finally got back to my seat and strapped myself in.
    “We’ll survive this, Amber, won’t we?” Claire shouted through her tears, and I nodded to reassure her, though my heart was going a mile a minute and my skin was coated in sweat.
    “It’s just a storm, don’t worry,” I shouted back. “He flies this thing all the time. We’ll be okay.”
    My ears began to ache, a sharp pain that radiated down my jaw as we descended, and I recalled Sam and myself both suffering excruciating ear pain upon landing in Bali last year.
    I leaned my head back on the seat and gripped my armrests with sweaty palms. My head still throbbed from where Reuben butted me and where the tray hit me.
    Mum and Dad sprang to mind. If we crash-landed and I died, how would they cope with the loss of another child?
    But as the plane took a sudden dive and shuddered even more, causing the muscles of my arms and legs to vibrate against the seat, all I could think about was those seven words that had appeared on the screen in front of me.
    What