Free Immortal by Gillian Shields Page B

giving up. I had to go on.
    I forced myself to walk down the musty passage, holding up the flashlight and trying to imagine that Helen was with me as I tiptoed past the deserted rooms and storage areas, past the row of old bells, past the door to the ghostly kitchen, on and on until I reached a cobwebbed green door. I tugged at the bolts and chains, and then I was outside in the cold night air.
    The moon was huge and low and yellow in the autumn sky. A horse stamped restlessly nearby. I had made it. I took a few deep gulps of air and grinned. It had been worth it. I was free.
    I tucked the flashlight behind the green door and ran lightly out of the stable yard to the terrace at the back of the house. Checking to make sure that no one was watching from the tall windows, I flitted across the lawns and under the shadows of the trees. The dark ruins on the other side of the water seemed to loom taller than in the daytime, and for an instant I thought I could see something fluttering between the broken archways. An owl hooted. Go back, go back …it seemed to screech. I ignored its warnings and made my way down to the silent lake.
    I stooped over the water, feeling wildly happy. I was myself again, not a zombie in a Wyldcliffe uniform. My hair fell over my shoulders as I trailed my hands in the shallows, and the breeze ruffled my clothes. I closed my eyes in ecstasy, imagining that I was sitting on the beach at home, with the wind blowing and the waves racing and the water calling me.
    Then I heard a footstep and I knew someone was behind me, watching me, waiting for me. I forgot to breathe, and cursed myself for being so stupid. What dangers might be waiting?
    I opened my eyes and saw my wavering reflection in the dark water, and behind it a familiar figure in a long black coat.
    “I told you we would meet again.”
    I whipped around. He was standing there in the moonlight, the boy with the haunting eyes.
    “You terrified me!”
    “And you enchanted me.” He smiled teasingly. “You looked like a water nymph saying her prayers. What were you dreaming about?”
    I blushed scarlet and tried to summon a brusque tone. “It’s none of your business.”
    “I want to make it my business. I want to know everything about you.”
    “What makes you think I want to have anything to do with you?” I snapped. I had secretly hoped I would see him again, but now I wanted to get away and hide, as though he already knew too much about me. “I have to go, and so should you. You’ll be in terrible trouble if Mrs. Hartle catches you here.”
    “So will you,” he replied. “What is the punishment for girls who wander by the lake at night?”
    “I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out.” I began to walk away.
    “Don’t go yet,” he said. His voice was soft and pleading and I hesitated. “I’m not used to asking for things. But I’m asking now. Please stay. I just want to talk to you.” He came up behind me and wrapped his thick coat around my shoulders. The warmth of his body still clung to the heavy fabric. The strangest feeling that I had known him before, long ago, swept over me. For one crazy moment I wanted to sink into his arms and lose myself totally in him. But I pulled away and turned around to face him, trying to ignore his strange, compelling beauty.
    “What happened that night when I cut my hand?” I demanded. “Who are you? Why are you here?”
    “To see you,” he replied. “I’ve been waiting for you, girl from the sea. I think I’ve been waiting for you all my life.”
    “How…how do you know I come from the sea?”
    “I saw it in your face; that’s all.” His eyes held mine in their gaze, like a magician.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Haven’t you ever seen something that other people can’t?”
    “Of course not,” I began, then stopped, remembering my “vision” of the old schoolroom and the girl in white. “I don’t know,” I said, confused. “Maybe in dreams.”
    “One person’s