ARC: Essence Read Online Free PDF Page A

pendant around my neck. This excursion definitely wasn’t a practice in neutrality. What if Cedar was right?
    “This is stupid.” I didn’t realize I’d said the words aloud until I saw my breath mist in the night air. Golden Gate Park was silent, socked in once again with fog, and the air felt cold and electric as it swirled around my skin.
    I peered toward the outline of the carousel in the distance. How do I know they’ll even still be there?
    I was playing with the idea of turning around when I felt the vibration of footsteps on the trail behind me. I spun to see the outline of a very tall, dark-haired person approaching me through the haze.
    My heart dropped.
    “Who’s there?” The male voice on the other side of the fog was tremulous, even shakier than mine. “Is someone out there?”
    I clenched my fists and attempted to disappear in the foliage.
    “I can see your outline. Who are you? Are you with Ryder’s group?”
    I found myself stammering: “No. Um… not really. Well, I wanted…”
    The figure approached. A break in the fog briefly revealed him as a lanky boy about my age, with a tangle of coal-colored hair and a drab, rumpled suit.
    He relaxed when he saw me. “Hey, I know you. Autumn, right? What are you doing out here?”
    His voice was warm, lilting, and he spoke with a degree of tenderness unusual to hear in a stranger’s voice. It was unusual to hear in anyone’s voice, actually, and it was so unexpected that I felt myself softening.
    I squinted. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I recognize…”
    “I’m Javier.” He extended his hand. “But everyone calls me Javi. I see you at morning meditation sometimes.” He paused. “So, they got to you, too?”
    “Yeah.” I exhaled. “Found me in the park last night.”
    “Cornered me on my way home from afternoon lessons yesterday.” He tugged at his Centrist pendant. “Think there’s any truth to what they’re saying about Essence drain?”
    “I don’t know. But… I really hope so.”
    He swallowed. “Yeah. Me too.”
    We began walking toward the carousel, and a knot of tension tightened in my chest. A few scattered raindrops dripped against the top of my head, and I felt a pang of longing for my bedroom’s warm blankets. What am I doing out here?
    It struck me that I didn’t know Javi any more than I knew Ryder or Jett or Cody. This left my insides jumbled and unsteady. “I haven’t really decided what I want to do yet, actually,” I said. “I want to listen to what they have to say, but I’ll probably go home if I don’t like what I hear. I haven’t made my mind up either way.”
    Javi glanced at me, no doubt appraising my backpack. “Yeah,” he finally said. “I can definitely respect that.”
    A flashlight beam suddenly blasted me. Shielding my eyes and staggering backward, I groped blindly for a moment as Ryder’s voice boomed through the darkness: “Red! Javi! You came back!”
    Lanterns flared, and we were abruptly surrounded. Jett flitted forward and pulled me into a hug. “I was hoping you’d come back,” she said. “Cody, what did I tell you?”
    “Good to see you again, Autumn. Javi.” Cody’s voice was deep and genuine, and he lingered at the outskirts of the circle while Ryder strode back and forth between Javi and me.
    His hair was damp from condensation, but his eyes were bright. “Wow, you guys already know each other? How fantastic is this?”
    “No… we met on the way in,” I stammered, glancing sideways at Javi.
    Tall and affable, like a puppy that hadn’t quite grown into himself yet, Javi appraised me through almond-shaped eyes the color of copper. His lips were curled in a tentative smile, and his skin was deeply tanned and smooth-looking. We made eye contact, and I quickly glanced at my feet.
    “I want you guys to meet Amneet,” Ryder continued, motioning to a small, olive-skinned girl with hair long and thick as a horse’s mane. She wore a plain brown dress just like mine, and her