Infinite Days Read Online Free PDF Page A

left them for me) and a black floppy hat, I followed the boy out of my dorm apartment, down the stairs, and into the lobby. Once I was in the lobby, I hesitated in the doorway. Outside, birds chirped and the voices of students flew from all directions. The blazing sun blasted the cement walkway leading from the front of Seeker Hall, out onto a grassy lawn. Perhaps the sensitivity to sunlight was much like my vampire sight? Would I still be affected by it?
    Sunlight breaks down the magic that seals the vampire, though the danger of sunlight lessens as the vampire ages in years. As one moves forward in their vampire life, the magic to withstand sunlight strengthens. Though I have heard that death by sunlight is nearly unbearable to experience. It’s supposed to be the worst pain, like being ripped apart and scorched to ash while conscious for every moment of it. Regardless of my age, I never directly stepped out into the light without protection.
    I nudged a toe out of the doorway and let my foot and leg hit the sunlight. I whipped it back inside and paused. I twisted my leg so I could see the back of my calf muscle. I also checked my shin. No red mark. No burns.
    “You gonna go outside?” said a voice to my right. The security guard, a squat woman with thick-framed eyeglasses, watched me. The way she spoke was so strange. “You gonna…” The phrasing of her words was interesting . “Gonna”—what could this possibly mean? I waited for her to say something else, but she just looked at me. Through my sunglasses, I moved my gaze to the car deliveryman. He raised an eyebrow at me from the sunny entryway. I was in a pair of thin sandals, wearing Rhode’s oversized black sweater, and a pair of shorts. I was ready. I took a deep breath and walked outside.
    The summer heat was the first thing I felt. How glorious! Sunlight felt like a bath by a roaring fire, like sweat and happiness washing over me from head to toe. I exhaled happily.
    Wickham’s campus was enormous. Although it seemed pastoral at first glance, the buildings were brick with sleek metal-and-glass façades. There were meadows of green grass and serpentine pathways that linked throughout the campus. In the distance, through swaying, leafy branches, a Colonial-style chapel shined white under the morning sun.
    Seeker was the dormitory closest to the boarding school’s entrance gates. It also had the largest lawn. Directly outside the front door, a collection of girls were lying out on a blanket in the sun. They seemed to be wearing only their undergarments, but then after watching them a moment I realized their ensembles were meant for this kind of activity. I watched the girls rub a white lotion into their skins, adjust their blankets, and lie back down.
    “So there it is,” the lanky boy said. He pointed at the parking lot, which abutted the lawn. In the row closest to the lawn was a baby blue car. My car. I couldn’t at the time tell you the name or the make, but just the idea that I had one was brilliant.
    “You’ve got nice parents,” the kid said.
    I started to walk toward the car when a group of students about my age (relatively speaking) ran by and pointed into the distance, past Seeker. To the left of my dormitory was a tree-lined pathway that led to the Wickham campus. Later I discovered that there were many pathways just like this that snaked all throughout the campus. One of the girls yelled to another pack of students trailing behind her.
    “It’s one fifty-four! Come on! They’re gonna start in six minutes.”
    “What’s the commotion?” I asked the car delivery kid.
    “Enos brothers. Kind of a daredevil group. They race their boats out in the harbor, right in front of Wickham’s private beach, every Labor Day weekend. Been doin’ it for two years. The youngest Enos had to turn fourteen before they could do it together.”
    I signed my name, took the car keys, and decided I would worry about driving later. I wanted to see the