Stealing Snow Read Online Free PDF

that magic was being used here, I had no idea it would lead me to you of all people.”
    Magic? Had he just said magic?
    His hair fell over one of his eyes as he leaned into my personal space.
    Most people at Whittaker—if they knew anything—knew not to get that close to me after the Hannibal incident with Vern.
    But Sleepy had made my wits slow, and instead of biting him, I closed my eyes in a drawn-out blink.
    “There you are. I see you under all those drugs. Don’t you want to come out and play, Snow?”
    Who was this guy? I stared off toward the wall and refocused, trying to shake off the drugs.
    “Fine, just listen. The pills that Dr. Harris is giving you aren’t helping you. They’re hiding you from who you really are and what you’re meant to be. They’re hiding you from your destiny. Stop taking them. Start feeling everything. And when you are clean, come to me. I’ll be waiting on the other side of the Tree.” He stood up straight and crossed his arms. The room was still cloudy around him.
    This guy I’ve never met wants me to leave and go where?
    Bale used to talk about running away, and sometimes I would indulge the idea. But the truth was, deep down I was alwaysworried that I would end up face-first in a mirror again. And Bale would burn down whatever house we were in. Now I regret never trying, for him. For us. If I were going to escape, it would be with Bale. Not for this stranger.
    My lips and voice finally decided to work. “I could yell right now, and the White Coats would be here in sixty seconds,” I said, thinking about the panic button behind my bed. There was one in every patient’s room. I had never pushed it for a real emergency. I’d only used it once as a joke and asked for room service when Dr. Harris had briefly assigned me another orderly. Vern was back in a week.
    The boy was undaunted by my challenge. He did not move a muscle.
    “You could have called for help, but you haven’t. Besides, I am the help.”
    “Who are you?” I asked.
    “Who you are is what matters, Princess.”
    I had been called a lot of names at Whittaker. “Princess” was never one of them.
    He saw that he had my full attention. A smile spread across his face. He was pleased. Then he bent down, closer. “You need to leave this place, Princess. It’s breaking your spirit. The gate on the north corner will open for you. Head north until you see the Tree.”
    “The Tree?” I asked. I thought of the tree from my dreams. This had to be another dream. It was too coincidental.
    “You’ll know it when you see it. I promise. When you get to the other side of the Tree, I’ll be waiting. And they will kneel for you.”
    “What are you talking about? And why do you keep calling me Princess? I am no one’s princess.”
    “You really don’t know, do you?” he said solemnly. “They’ve dulled your magic and your wits.”
    “What the hell?” I snapped. Sleepy’s effects were starting to wane, and this guy’s riddles were starting to piss me off. He clearly was a new patient off his meds.
    “Just remember the Tree…”
    I started to sit up farther, ready to show this guy just what kind of princess I really was. Then the boy abruptly turned around and walked toward the plastic mirror on my closet. And he did something that stopped me cold.
    He stepped right through it.
    I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my palms into them. This was a dream. Yes, it would be my weirdest one yet, but still. A dream. Had to be.
    I opened my eyes again. They adjusted to the dark quickly this time. The room looked normal. No strange boy to be seen. But when I stared into the mirror next to my desk, I swear I could see the silhouette of a boy in an oversize white coat, growing smaller and smaller … receding in the reflection. And in the background was the faint outline of a large tree, the Tree.
    When I blinked again, the Tree and the boy were gone.

7
    Even though I could barely see in the dark, I grabbed my sketchbook