Free The Prophecy by Melissa Luznicky Garrett

sweet.”
    Jasmine
hoisted the gun over her shoulder and looked directly at me. “Doubt it’ll even
take that long.”
    I
turned my back on her as Caleb raised his arm in the air and made a sort of
swirly motion with his finger. Everyone took off in opposite directions, except
for me, who just stood there. Apparently I’d missed the signal. I broke into a
jog to catch up with Adrian, staying as close to him as possible. How in the
world had I got roped in to playing paintball? Adrian took my hand and led me
to where Caleb had taken cover behind a section of old fencing.
    “Get
your mask on,” Caleb said to me, not even bothering to hide his irritation at
my apparent stupidity.
    “Oh.
Right.” I fumbled getting it on, barely able to control my trembling fingers. I
had to remind myself repeatedly that this was only a game, that it wasn’t real.
I might get bruised, but I wasn’t going to die. Twenty minutes, probably less,
and this would all be over.
    “So how
do we do this?” I asked, my voice muffled behind the thick plastic. “Is there
some, like, tactical mumbo-jumbo I should know about?”
    Adrian
looked at me and laughed. “Tactical mumbo-jumbo?”
    “The
plan!” I shrieked at him as I got a heavy dose of adrenaline. “What’s the
plan?”
    Caleb jabbed
my shoulder with his finger, which made me rock back on my heels. “The plan is
for you to stay away from Jasmine and Astrid. Especially Jasmine. Don’t
worry about Will. He’ll go after me or Adrian. Got it?”
     I guess
I wasn’t too shocked that Caleb had picked up on Jasmine’s apparent hatred of
me. And for what reason? I mentally dog-eared all the questions going through
my head. Adrian and I would definitely have to talk later.
    “Got
it.”
    “Are
you ready?” Will’s question carried from across the field.
    “Ready!”
Adrian and Caleb yelled together. I closed my eyes and said a quick prayer to
whoever might be listening.
    “Game
on!”

 
    EIGHT
    I rose
and dressed before sunrise, and had my bag packed and ready to go. I’d barely
slept at all—not with what happened during paintball running on a loop in my head.
    Everyone
was still asleep. I crept into the kitchen and measured out water and grounds
for coffee, and then flipped the switch to ON. While I waited, I poured myself
a glass of orange juice and took it outside where I could be alone with my
thoughts.
    Only I
wasn’t alone, after all.
    Caleb
didn’t turn around as I approached him from behind. I knew that he knew I was
there—the door had groaned on my way out—but neither of us said a word. Instead,
I stood staring at the gray tee-shirt stretched taut against his back, and his
blue-tipped hair, spiked in its ridiculous faux-hawk, even at this hour.
    “It’s
early,” I said at last. “What are you doing here?” I sat on the step next to him
and closed my eyes for a moment, basking in the quiet early-morning light as it
struggled through the trees and tried in vain to warm my prickly-cool skin.
    Caleb
had been making a small pile of twigs and leaves on the concrete step between
our feet. His hand hovered over the debris for a moment before it smoked and finally
caught fire. It quickly fizzled out, though. “I still suck at that one,” he
said.
    I
licked my lips, my breath catching in my chest. This was exactly what I had
suspected yesterday, and he’d just confirmed it. “Does anyone else know?”
    “My
mom,” he whispered. “And Jasmine.”
    “H-how
. . . what . . ?”
    Caleb’s
shoulders rose and fell. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
    I wrapped
my arms around my knees, feeling suddenly very cold. “Adrian doesn’t know?”
    “Nope.”
    “Or
Shyla?”
    Caleb laughed
under his breath. “Definitely not her.”
    “Why
not? They’d understand, Caleb. Especially Shyla.”
    Caleb
remained tight-lipped, though, and I knew I wasn’t going to get any more out of
him today. The fact that he had intentionally revealed what he could do, to me ,
of all