Spiritdell Book 1 Read Online Free PDF

try to pull her back in for a hug, but she's partly twisted to get up, and she falls backward with a giggle, landing on me.
    She looks at my belly button for a second, just as her finger goes straight into ...
    No!
    Too late. Her finger is in my belly button. It's happening.
    * * *
    The world slows, but my breathing is still normal speed. Her breathing is normal too, and I can see the pulse on her neck. We're both very still.
    Something strange is happening. Or, rather, something strange is not happening. There's no vision, no Secret Town. I'm still in real-time, in my bed, next to a beautiful girl.
    “I think my finger's in your tummy,” she whispers.
    “It can't be.” I look down, but there it is, her index finger, resting gently in my navel. I should be having a vision right about now. The only time the vision doesn't work is when it's a dude, and Austin is definitely not a dude.
    “That's weird,” I say as I take her hand, pull the finger out, then stick it back in again. She laughs nervously.
    “What do you see?” she asks. “Am I going to be late for work today? Am I going to enjoy your bizarre raisin and dill bagels?”
    “No, not that.”
    “What is it?” she asks. “Something terrible? I swear, he was very old and the surgery was so expensive. It's what he would have wanted.”
    “Who? I don't know what you're talking about. It's not working. Maybe it's because ... we, um.” Because why? Because last night I poked her in an entirely different way? Could the trick have disappeared from my body, along with my virginity?
    Her voice sounding husky and serious, Austin says, “I blame the cold light of morning.” She waves her hand between us, drawing a zig-zag. “All of this just got a little weird. I'm glad you're seventeen, really, but I think the age gap is still a bit ... gappy.”
    I continue to stare at my belly button, dumbfounded.
    She rolls out of bed and puts on the dress she wore last night. I thought the dress was black with little stars, but it's actually navy blue, just like my photo booth backdrop.
    “Any last words?” she asks, smoothing out the wrinkles of the skirt.
    “I love you,” comes out of my mouth. I'm sure in about a minute, I'll realize I've said the stupidest thing imaginable, but right now, it doesn't exactly feel wrong. I do mean it.
    “Before, what I said—I didn't kill anyone,” she says. “Not really. At the moment when my finger went in, I suddenly thought of our cocker spaniel. He was incontinent, which I didn't mind, but he was also in pain. I don't think it's fair to keep them alive if they're suffering. In more civilized countries, they do the same for humans. That's what you saw, in your vision, right? That's my terrible secret.” She turns away and walks out the door, still talking. “My parents thought it was the right decision, but I dream about him, that he's still alive somewhere.” She disappears down the hall.
    “Are we talking about euthanasia?” I grab my jeans and jump into them awkwardly as I run after her.
    I expect to find her in the kitchen, but she's already at the front door, surprisingly fast, and backing away with her shoes on. She says, “I'm sure you think I don't believe you about the visions, but I do.”
    She fumbles with the door knob behind her, but the door's locked.
    “It doesn't matter,” I say. “Don't go! I'm sorry about whatever I said. Don't go. Stay for breakfast.”
    She pulls at her sleeves, which are striped, unlike the rest of the dress. “For the last few months, I've been seeing all sorts of things,” she says. “Auras. People who aren't there. I like you, Zan, but I don't think two crazy people together can work. It's too much crazy.”
    “Auras?”
    She turns to face the door and curses as she tries to figure out the deadbolt.
    GONG! The clock in the living room gongs with the half-hour, and this time I must be hearing it with Austin's ears, because I jump up and clutch my hands together, my eyes closing