The Cupid War Read Online Free PDF Page A

communicate with that soul, like a voice in the back of the mind. The person is likely not even aware of the communication, at least on a conscious level. Mark there”—Caleb nodded his head back in the cashier’s direction—“will probably not even remember the voice. Or perhaps he will. That would be a very romantic thing to tell his love, that a voice from beyond told him to … are you all right?”
    They had walked out through the front entrance and were facing the half-filled parking lot. Fallon had stopped, his eyes wide with realization.
    â€œWhen I first saw Becky, my ex-girlfriend,” Fallon said, “I heard a voice in my head, too. I was in class, sitting at my desk reading a book, and a voice told me to look up. I did, and there was Becky. I … fell in love with her right then.”
    â€œAh, yes,” Caleb said. “That would have been Cole’s doing. I trained him, too.”
    â€œBut that means I never really loved her!” Fallon said. He tried to lean against the side of the building, but instead he fell through it.
    â€œThat is not true,” Caleb replied as he helped Fallon back up.
    â€œYes it is!” Fallon replied, shaking off Caleb’s helping hand. “I just liked her because of what your buddy did to me. He … that’s what you guys do! You trick people into falling in love.”
    â€œNo,” Caleb replied. “That’s not it at all, Fallon. What we do is the very thing that keeps the world turning.”
    â€œOh, come off it!” Fallon said. “Don’t give me that greeting-card crap. I’ve seen what love really looks like, and it’s nothing but chunks of red fudge.”
    â€œFallon,” Caleb said, his voice serious, “I will tolerate any number of things, but I will not listen to anyone belittling the wonder that is love.”
    â€œFine,” Fallon said. “Keep your love.” And he turned and ran off across the parking lot.
    â€œFallon! Come back,” Caleb called after him, but Fallon did not stop.

5
    F allon ran, not bothering to look where he was going. It hardly mattered; it wasn’t like he was going to run into anything. He went through cars, trees, houses, and people, farther and farther away from the grocery store, Caleb, and everything.
    Eventually he stopped running, not because he was tired but because hiding seemed like a better idea. It occurred to him that a nice, big, solid object would make a good hiding place. He could walk into one of the houses, stand inside a wall, and wait for Caleb and Louis to stop looking for him.
    Fallon turned in the direction of the nearest house, and realized he’d come back to his old neighborhood. His own house was just up ahead, and there was a police car idling in the driveway. Two police officers stood on the doorstep, their hats in their hands.
    The middle-aged man they were talking to was his father.
    Fallon knew what was going on. He was witnessing the report of his own death. His family was only now finding out about his fall from Pape Bridge.
    As Fallon watched, his stepmother joined his dad on the doorstep. A moment later his big sister joined them, too.
    Fallon collapsed onto the ground. This was too much for him. This was what he’d imagined would happen after his death, but having to see it being played out was simply not fair. He was dead now; he shouldn’t be seeing this!
    Out of the corner of his eye, Fallon thought he saw something dark …
    Despair flooded through him, soaked him like a monsoon, stuck to him like tar. It was similar to the way he’d felt during the last year of his life, but that wasn’t this bad. No, nothing was as sickening as this. Fallon wanted nothing more than to return to the bridge and throw himself off, on purpose this time, but he couldn’t muster up the energy to move. And the feeling of hopeless despair kept getting worse, so much worse