Death Wish Read Online Free PDF Page A

around his neck is visible. The light blue of his shirt nicely compliments his caramel-colored skin, which has a slight sheen of sweat over it from the heat of the day.
Harrison notices my unabashed ogling and catches my gaze in his own. He smiles and stretches his hand across the table to hold mine. I turn his hand over and take it in both my own, pressing my fingers down to massage the surface of his palm. He moans in appreciation.
“So are you ready for the Wish today?” I ask him, finishing his first hand and motioning me to give him the other. “This will be your first animal-based Wish, right?”
Harrison nods and gives me his other hand. “Yeah. I mean, I’ve had Wishes that used animals, but this is my first ‘animal cause of death’ Wish.” He uses his free hand to make air quotes at that phrase. After all, removal of the Life Chip will be the actual cause of death, but no one besides Security Branch employees know that. I nod. While I continue massaging he asks me if I have any advice for animal attack Wishes.
“Well, the main thing is to keep moving.” Besides the Great White shark, I’ve also been on Wishes involving an oxen stampede, an attacking swarm of wasps, and a mountain lion. “When I was dealing with the cougar, keeping on my toes kept any injuries down to a minimum. And I’m guessing that the bear will be similar.” I look up and find his eyes downcast. I squeeze his hand to get his attention. “Hey, sweetie, are you okay? Are you nervous?”
Harrison looks up with what seems to be an attempt at smiling, but he is so nervous that he just looks queasy. My heart aches, and I want to pull him across the table into my arms. He nods at my question.
“Yeah, a bit. I think I told you this story, but when I was little one of my brothers and I got attacked by a neighborhood dog. My brother was being stupid and annoying the dog, pulling its tail and hitting it, but it turned on both of us. I got messed up pretty badly, so ever since then I’ve been a little wary around animals.” He looks really embarrassed, and I feel a protective wave surge up inside me. I wish we could choose to reject certain Wishes, but that isn’t an option for Godparents. The only time we have a choice is if the Clerical Department screws up and assigns you two Wishes that are scheduled for the same time. But I still feel upset that Harrison will have to complete this Wish despite his fears. Since he’s done with his meal, I pull my partner to his feet and lead him back onto the pathway connected to our office building.
“It’ll be okay, Hare,” I say, resting my arm on his shoulders and kissing the top of his head. He leans into the touch and wraps his arm around my waist. “I’ll be right there, and you won’t get hurt.”
     
    *
     
    Clearly I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep.
The Wish had been going well at first. Harrison and I were in an outdoor, woodsy-looking area — all thanks to the Prop Department — with Mr. Alexson, pretending to be a group of hikers camping out in the woods. Everything was going according to plan, but once the bear came out things took a turn for the worst. I don’t know what the trainers did to get the animal worked up into a frenzy, but whatever they did was a bit too effective.
The bear barreled out into the clearing, and while Harrison and I prepared to take it down it attacked Ricardo Alexson. Ricardo was screaming, probably re-thinking his desire for a violent bear to be the last thing he would ever see. But it was too late for second thoughts, and within moments the animal was on him. Thick claws ripped across his skin, blood and gore spurting from his body. I had to turn away for a moment, nausea at the sight washing over me. But I recovered quickly. The gel sedative worked, because even though the bear was still swiping at him Ricardo was motionless, his eyes closed in his final sleep.
Harrison turned to me, clearly nervous but doing his best to ignore