Rising Read Online Free PDF Page A

harder than it looks.” Xanthus breathed heavily as he nursed his sand-burned palms and elbows.
    “Well, you have a month to learn to walk on those hideous things before you travel to the surface, and from the looks of it, a month’s not enough time.”
    Xanthus growled. “I sure hope you’re wrong.”

     

    ~Hawaii—Six Months Later~
     
    A fine mist of rain slicked over Sara, dampening her clothes as the wind plastered her hair against her face. With both hands occupied pushing her wheelchair, there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. She pursed her lips to keep her hair from getting into her mouth.
    W hy oh why didn’t I notice how late it was? Grasping the cold metal rings on her wheelchair, she bumped over the buckled surface of the darkened parking lot.
    She focused on the dilapidated building ahead. The dark shape loomed tall. Light flickered from a pole, high above. It cast knarled shadows on the already menacing building below, making the image worthy of any horror movie she’d ever seen.
    Sara scowled and grumbled. “Home sweet home.”
    She hated being out after dark, especially in her neighborhood. All around Oahu shined pristine neighborhoods—places where tourists poured out their money. But if one looked deeper, they’d find pockets of poverty. Sara lived deep in one of those pockets. Her tiny shoebox apartment gleamed as the one clean spot in her grimy, run-down building. She’d worked hard scrubbing the filth away as soon as she moved in two months ago.
    Cleaning her apartment was quite the reveal. It started out looking brown and grey, but after a thorough cleaning, she was left with oranges, greens, browns, and dirty yellows —compliments of the 60s.
    She didn’t have the luxury of being choosy about decor. She ’d rented this apartment because it was the only place she could afford. Her meager earnings didn’t provide much in the ways of clean, modern style along with the privacy she required.
    She felt better if she thought about how bad it could be. A year ago, she’d lived with her mother. Anywhere was better than living with her .
    S ara bumped over the curb onto the sidewalk. The blanket covering her chair billowed in the cool breeze. No worries there. It would take a hurricane to tear it loose. Her embarrassing deformity would remain hidden from the world.
    A creepy, crawly feeling tickled her spine.
    Someone’s eyes were on her.
    Sara’s looked around. She held her head still, careful not to turn it. She didn’t want whoever it was to know she was aware of their presence. She couldn’t see anything but the outline of cars behind a curtain of misted rain. Still, she started to freak.
    She jerked her wheelchair to a stop at the front door and yanked out her keys. Her hands were shaking so hard that they couldn’t move fast enough to settle her frantic mind.
    She almost dropped her keys as tires screeched in the street. A dark SUV had stopped in the middle of the road for no apparent reason—probably a drive-by shooter taking aim. Please, just let me get into my apartment and I’ll be safe.
    “Sara, I’m surprised to see you out this late.” A voice emerged from the darkness.
    Sara squeaked out a cry as her heart catapulted against her chest wall. She breathed a sigh of relief as her friend stepped up beside her. “Oh, Gretchen, it’s you. You scared the life out of me.”
    “I’m sorry, sweetie.” Gretchen didn’t look at all surprised that she’d scared her —probably because she knew her so well.
    Sara finally got the key in the lock and turned it. As Gretchen pushed the door open for her, Sara glanced up. Gretchen stood as calm as a mountain lake on a windless night—her normal demeanor. At a very un-formidable height of five feet with a model-thin frame, Gretchen’s confidence must come from inside.
    Sara’s insecurities came mostly from her mother, who reinforced them on a daily basis. Now her mother was just a negative voice in Sara’s mind. Yeah,