Read Spark (Legends of the Shifters) for Free Online Page B

“Were
you?” she asked, pasting a fake smile on her face. “All
good things, I hope?” The threat was not overlooked by anyone
in the room.
    “ Of
course,” said Roselle. “Everything about you is good—at
least in your eyes…. So I can’t
go wrong.”
    January’s
eyes flashed. “Don’t overstep your boundaries,” she
warned. Her narrowed eyes turned to me. “And you make sure that
you don’t either.”
    With
that, she walked past us to her bunk which was on the top in the
farthest corner. Natalia had already gone into a room that ours was
connected to.
    Roselle
rolled her eyes, and turned over in her bed.
    I
stood and opened the trunk at the end of my bed. It was separated
into two parts. On the left, the number five was scratched into the
metal, and on the right, there was a number six.
    Figuring
that I was number six, I took out all my items and studied them. Our
uniform was very plain. The shirt was brown and baggy, like a potato
sack. The pants were a faded black. Instead of the thick coat that
would be needed in the freezing temperatures, we were only given a
ragged black cloak. Mine was much like Natalia's, except it looked a
little worse off. Although the gaps had been sewn up, there were
several places where a blade had penetrated the fabric. The boots
were brown, made of leather, but I had a feeling that they wouldn't
be as comfortable as my old ones. The traction needed for the ice had
been completely worn off with use.
    I
sighed and set all the items back in the trunk, except for the
nightgown. I unfolded it and froze. Right up where the heart would
be, there was a tear. And a red stain that looked fresh. I reached up
to touch it, and my fingers came away wet with blood.
    I
screamed and threw the nightgown across the room, trying to wipe the
blood off of my fingers and onto my pants. Roselle and Natalia were
silent, but January erupted with laughter.
    Then,
the realization hit me, and I glared at her. This was her doing.
    Natalia
looked at January, and seemed to bare her teeth at the witch.
    January
picked the nightgown up off the ground, revealing that there was no
hole. No blood. “Some warrior you'll turn out to be,” she
sneered. She threw my nightgown at my feet and climbed into her bunk.
    Seething,
I stooped to pick it up. I tossed it in the trunk, deciding that I
would sleep in my dress. I didn't want to admit it, but the stunt
that January had pulled had gotten to me.
    I
climbed into my bed, bringing the covers up to my chin. With a sigh,
I closed my eyes and kept them that way even when I heard the other
girls come in. Finally, when the only thing I could hear were snores,
I fell asleep.

CHAPTER
FIVE

    I
woke up to sudden light and the blaring of a trumpet, just as Roselle
had described. All the candles and lanterns in the room had been lit
up, probably by magic. What an awful way to wake up.
    I
gritted my teeth as they pounded our door so hard that I was afraid
it would be smashed in.
    The
girl next to me, one of the girls that hadn't come back in until late
last night, sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning as if she hadn’t
just been rudely awoken. I watched as she smiled and got out of bed,
reaching into her trunk for her clothes. Roselle had sat up also, but
she looked a lot crankier.
    “ I
don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” she
whined. Natalia wordlessly got out of bed and got her clothes just
like the first girl, except a lot less smiley.
    I
decided that I should do the same, no matter how much I would’ve
loved to stay in bed. I was used to waking up before everyone else at
the orphanage. There, everyone was only required to wake up at eight
o’clock. I usually woke at seven.
    When
I got to the other room, Natalia was standing outside of the changing
screen, waiting for the first girl to come out.
    I
sighed and looked back into the other room, noticing for the first
time that January’s bed was made and she wasn’t anywhere
to be seen.
    “ Where
is January?” I