The Hidden Read Online Free PDF Page A

pick, but it wasn’t that bad.
    “What about your favorite church song? Like a hymnal?”
    Mom leaned back and thought about it for a minute. “I guess I’d go with ‘Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In.’”
    “Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that one. ‘Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In’ is kind of peppy for a funeral.”
    “A funer—?” Mom stared at me. “What did you just say?”
    “Funerals have songs and flowers. I just wanted to know which ones you like.”
    “Why are you talking about this, Abigail?” Mom’s voice had that high-pitched hysterical note in it again.
    “Well, since Kristen died really young, it made me realizeanything could happen. For my funeral I want a red casket. Like she had. White lilies are okay. I don’t really mind those. But pick a better song than ‘Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In,’ okay?”
    Her fork clattered to the floor. Pushing back her chair, Mom stood up abruptly. “That’s not funny. This conversation is over. I’m not in the mood to watch any movies today. You’ll have to find something else to keep yourself occupied.”
    She left the kitchen without saying another word, but her footsteps were angry as she stomped into the living room.
    I stared down at my plate. Why was everyone around me so sensitive about death all of a sudden?
    I went back upstairs to Caspian and threw myself down onto the bed. Groaning, I said, “You’re so lucky you don’t have a mother to deal with anymore.”
    He didn’t respond.
    I looked up, regretting the words already. He was sitting at my desk, hands folded. “Sorry. I didn’t mean …” I sighed loudly. “I keep doing this. Keep saying the wrong things. I don’t know what it is, but it’s like I’m all straight corners and bad angles.”
    He came over and reached for my face. I sat still, unsure if he was actually going to try to touch me, or was going to keep some space between us. I felt the faint buzz on my cheek, and I turnedmy face toward him. “Is it November first yet?” I whispered.
    Caspian shook his head and mouthed a silent
No
. But he held his hand there a bit longer. “Just let her get over everything, Abbey, okay? Give her some extra time. And space. She’s going to need it.”
    “I know, I know. When did you get so smart?”
    “I’ve always been this smart. Wait, are you into smart guys?”
    “
Definitely
into smart guys.” I smiled at him, then looked away. I didn’t know how much more of this not-touching I could take. It felt like this invisible wall was between us every time we got close, and I couldn’t tear it down. I got up and walked over to the window.
    The window Vincent Drake had escaped from.
    I traced a line down the glass. It made a soft rubbing noise as my finger slipped down it. An invisible trail left behind.
    “Don’t you think it’s kind of messed up that the Revenants want me dead, while Vincent wants me alive?” I mused, keeping my fingertip on the glass pane.
    Caspian came up behind me. “What did you say?”
    “Vincent doesn’t want to kill me. In fact, he even told me not to do anything stupid.”
    “What
does
he want, then?” he asked.
    “Me. Alive. Why? I don’t know.”
    I stared out the window, lost in my thoughts. I couldn’t stopthe scene with Vincent from playing out again and again in my head. If I’d only done something different … defended myself somehow, or made him pay for what he’d done to Kristen … If only I could make it all go away …
    I turned, and my eyes landed on an old perfume notebook gathering dust on the corner of my desk. I couldn’t even distract myself with a project; all of my perfuming supplies had been inside the cabinet Vincent had destroyed.
    “I wish I had something new to work on,” I said. “Maybe it’s time to take Mom on a little shopping trip for some perfume stuff. Spend some
quality time
together. That should make her happy.” I crossed over to the chair and rested my sling on the desk.
    “You