Shattered Read Online Free PDF

window, blinking furiously, trying to keep myself together until they are gone from sight.
    Aiden nods once when I say hello, then keeps his attention on the icy road, and keeping us on it. The silence is as frosty as the winter morning until he pulls in front of the train station.
    ‘Aiden, I’m sorry. But I had to see Mum before I could go. Don’t blame Mac: he couldn’t have stopped me. Don’t let us say goodbye like this.’
    He catches my hand in his. Face serious, his deep blue eyes stare into mine. ‘Kyla, please be more careful in future. Don’t let anything slip. Your life, and those of others, depend on you not getting caught.’
    ‘Don’t let anything slip: like getting my name wrong?’
    ‘Exactly.’
    ‘Like you just did? I’m Riley now, remember?’
    A trace of a smile crosses his face. He reaches into a folder, then hands me a plastic card. ‘Here is your train ticket. Don’t lose it.’
    I roll my eyes, tuck it in my pocket. ‘I’ll try not to.’
    ‘Have you got your ID?’
    I give him a look, but he doesn’t relent. I sigh, fish into my bag and hold out my new ID card so he can see it, then tuck it away again.
    ‘And have you got your story straight from the file I sent? Tell me.’
    ‘I’m Riley Kain. I’m eighteen, and my birthday is 17th September, 2036. I’m from Chelmsford, an only child. My parents are both school teachers. I’m going to Keswick and staying at some place for under-twenty-ones along Derwentwater, called Waterfall House for Girls, and I’m signing up for CAS: the Cumbrian Apprenticeship Scheme. Whatever that is. Do I really have to do that, by the way?’
    ‘You can’t just visit; you have to be there for a reason.’ He smiles properly this time, and the tight knot of tension inside me eases with it. ‘I did consider a hospitality job, majoring in dish washing: we’ve got a connection in a hotel there. So things could be worse.’
    ‘Thanks. But you haven’t told me one kind of big bit of information.’
    ‘What is that?’
    ‘How do I find who reported me missing?’
    His lips quirk. ‘I’ve told you before: it’s need-to-know.’
    I stare at him, indignant. ‘Who needs to know more than I do now! Aren’t you going to tell me?’
    ‘Can’t I leave it as a surprise?’
    I glare.
    ‘Just kidding. It’ll be easy to find your mother, Stella Connor. She runs Waterfall House. She knows you are coming; she knows you are her missing daughter.’
    My mother . My actual, real mother: the one who gave birth to me, not one assigned in a Lorder insta-family. She was the one who reported me missing, just like I thought. My mother…the one I can’t remember.
    Aiden squeezes my hand, as if he can see the thoughts that are keeping me from speaking. ‘Get going. Don’t look like security worries you, or they’ll pay extra attention. Just sail through the gate like you haven’t a care in the world.’
    ‘Okay,’ I manage to say. But I’m still sitting in the van, and Aiden is still holding my hand.
    ‘Kyla – Riley, I mean – take care of yourself. You know what to do if you need help, if anything goes wrong?’
    I nod. Aiden’s file also mentioned a certain community notice board. One where a coded note will reach his contact.
    ‘I hope this works out for you. I hope you find what you’re looking for. But if you don’t…’ His voice trails away. ‘Anyhow, best get going.’ But he still holds my hand in his, some emotion too raw and private in his eyes, but I can’t look away. Seconds slow and stretch until finally he lets go.
    I clamber out of the van with my bag, shut the door, then turn and hold up my hand in a goodbye; a hand now empty and cold. Words are stuck in a throat that feels tight. Another friend I may never see again. I stare at him through the window, storing him up: the way he tilts his head to one side when he looks at me intently like he is now, the fiery glints of his red hair in the morning sun. Aiden has done so much for