Free Altruist (The Altruist Series Book 1) by Ashley Walsh Page A

myself drift off.
     
     
     
    Rain beats down against my face, soaking through my clothes; they cling to my body and a fierce force holds me in place. Hands clutch into my arms, holding them behind my back. It doesn’t take long for me to realize that even though rain is streaming down my face and arms, tears and blood are as well. I somehow know that any attempt at escape is futile. I am not strong enough to overcome whoever has a grasp on me. A cold blade slowly moves up my spine and I hear a guttural laugh as it begins to pierce the skin under my shoulder blade. The expected rush of blood follows and as I sink to my knees, I fall upon a body laid in front of me. My face hits his back hard and the second it does, I know he has already met the fate that I’m about to. My fingers move against his cold skin as if trying to fight their way to survival. Beneath them I feel raised skin and trace the pattern over and over, struggling to remain alive, any movement I can muster is thrown into the motion. My eyes close and a chill comes over me; the pattern beneath my fingers is of two horizontal lines, encompassed by a triangle.
     
     
    My eyes shoot open and I jump out of Abel’s bed. I remember every moment of what I just dreamt as if I had actually lived it. He’s startled by my sudden physical outburst and, panicked, shouts, “What’s wrong Cate? What happened?” He’s disoriented and clearly had fallen asleep alongside me. I jump over to the opposite side of the bed to where he’s standing looking around the room for whatever could have triggered my outburst. Reaching around to his back I pull at his shirt but he grabs my hand before I make any progress, “What are you doing?” his face searches mine in complete confusion.
     
    “Turn around!” I yell. His face is blank then puzzled. I take a deep breath. “Turn around, Abel.” The voice that escapes my mouth sounds nothing like me, its even toned and rid of any of the compassion that existed only hours ago.
     
    His deep blue eyes stare into mine and as he swallows hard, he obliges my request and turns. Lifting up the back of his t-shirt, I hold my breath. Inch by inch I raise the cloth and just as I think I may have begun to lose my mind, I feel it. The raised skin, there on his back staring back at me is the symbol that has haunted my thoughts for months. The lines appear deep red upon his fair skin as if he were branded. Sadness starts to pour into my heart at what that must have felt like but it’s instantly replaced with anger, frustration and betrayal.
     
    “What the hell is this?” I feel my cheeks begin to turn bright red as tears from pure anger begin to flow. He turns back around, his face blank, with absolutely no sign of recognition to my question. “Answer me, Abel! Dammit, what is this? Who are you? Answer me!” My voice is leaving my body with so much force that I feel my throat start to burn. Nothing. He says nothing, his eyes say nothing, nothing.
     
    “Abel? Cate?” I hear Shoshanna coming from down the hall. We stand there, Eliath and Shoshanna are staring at me from the doorway, I’m staring at Abel, Abel is staring at the floor. What is happening? Absolute silence counter balances the crescendo of questions in my mind. I can’t do this. I turn to leave but Abel grabs my arm, “Cate, wait…” I tear my arm from his hand, my eyes meet Shoshanna, and then Eliath’s, and all I can manage is to mutter, “Stay away from me.”
     
    I can feel the blood in my veins warm as my legs reach out, one in front of the other, faster and faster. My heart pounds so quickly that I can barely tell where one beat ends and the other begins. My skin is hot and I can feel it begin to tingle but for some reason, I’m not sweating. I realize that my lungs aren’t burning with exhaustion even as trees wiz by me and his house fades into the background. Energy pulsates through my limbs and propels me faster than I could ever imagine moving. After a