Arkadium Rising Read Online Free PDF

slow last fifty years," Delaney said, breaking the tension between them. Her words seemed like a peace offering, or at least a band aid to cover their last few hours spent together.
    "It must be sad to know your town peaked fifty years ago."
    Delaney smiled and said, "You know, any other time..."
    "And any other brother. I know."
    "Thanks for understanding, Jason."
    "It's not like I understand you and Marcus, but hey, I'm just fulfilling my role in life."
    He stopped the Accord at the first stop sign in town. They were on Main and the crossing street was called Sleepy Road.
    "This is nice," Delaney said as she peered out her open window at the serene homes with their tidy yards.
    "Yeah, but I just can't see Marcus living here. Or the locals allowing him to stay."
    Jason eased off the brake, letting the car idle down the street. Anything faster would feel unseemly in such a peaceful neighborhood. To either side, actual white picket fences cordoned off yards. Basketball hoops hung above garage doors.
    "Why the hell would Marcus choose to live here?"
    Delaney didn't respond.
    When Delaney had asked for his help, he fully expected to find Marcus holed up in a rundown hovel or a derelict minivan strewn with dirty syringes, perhaps even inside an inner city dumpster with a bullet in his brain. Anywhere but here.
    His mother's plea reminded him of his reason for being here. Bring Marcus home. If he's found the right path, family will only make him stronger.
    Maybe their mom had been right.
    When she had hugged him, she'd whispered, Do this for me. Her voice had been so quiet, so weak, that he would've sworn he heard something breaking within her.
    Fine. He would find Marcus and bring him back home to rehab or therapy, or wherever he needed to go this time. Who was he to judge where his brother lived, especially since it was much nicer than he expected? After another block of houses, he abruptly stomped on the brake pedal, the slightly rusty squeal sounding disproportionately loud.
    "Where is everybody?"
    "I know, right?" Delaney looked behind them for passing cars, then shrugged.
    "Where are the stay-at-home moms talking across the picket fences? Nobody's on their way to the grocery store. Where's the mailman?"
    The streets of Concord seemed abandoned. Felt abandoned.
    He eased off the brake pedal, again moving at an idle, this time out of curiosity. A tire swing swung in aimless circles, childless, nudged along by the wind. A flimsy produce bag swirled across the street as lonesome as a tumbleweed. His reporter's curiosity shifted to worry. Something was wrong. He didn't know what, but he knew he would have to find out.
    Then, from the corner of his eye he sensed a sudden movement—someone jumping behind a tree to hide.
    "That's it."
    "What? What's going on?" Delaney said.
    Jason pulled the car to the well-manicured curb and shifted into park. The engine clicked and sputtered as he stepped outside.
    "Wait. Hold on a second... Hello?" he called out, stepping into the grass edging the street.
    A thin arm pulled back, now fully hidden behind the tree.
    "I saw you. I know you're there," he said, feeling like a child playing hide-and-seek.
    No response. No movement. No sound but the hot wind whooshing through the neighborhood's trees.
    Jason stepped over a low picket fence, cautiously circling around the tree.
    "Jason, what the hell are you doing?" Delaney said, leaving the car to join him.
    "Hello? I'm looking for someone. My brother. I have an address, but I don't know the layout—"
    He lost all sense of what he was saying when he saw the boy. No more than nine years old, he wore only boxers and a sweat-soaked undershirt as he cowered behind the tree. Even his feet were bare. Raw rope burns ringed his wrists, his ankles. A necklace of used duct tape hung around his neck. Bits of blond hair clung to the tape's crinkled sticky side. In his shock, it took Jason a moment to realize the tape was a ripped-off mouth gag.
    "Jesus..." Jason