Read Threads That Bind (Havoc Chronicles Series Book 1) for Free Online Page B

concentrated on running and found that I could move even faster.
    I sped along the back roads, at least thinking clearly enough to avoid the freeway. A glowing girl on the freeway would probably cause a massive accident and attract unwanted attention.
    As I rounded a corner less than two miles from my house, I saw a car driving straight towards me. Without thinking, I pushed off and jumped. I leapt over the car, sailed twenty feet into the air, and landed lightly on the other side all without breaking stride. I heard the squeal of tires behind me, but no sound of a crash, so I continued my frantic flight until I reached home.
    I collapsed in the front yard, grateful to live in a house that was isolated and surrounded by trees. As I lay there, I forced myself to relax.
    Gradually my pulse slowed, my senses grew duller, and the glow faded. It was over – for now.
    This was, without a doubt, the worst night of my life. I curled up into a ball. I wanted to cry, but my eyes were strangely dry. I could feel the tears there, needing to come, but blocked.
    Instead of crying my body spasmed, and I began to shake uncontrollably, my teeth chattering.
    I was too ashamed to even go inside, so I shivered alone on the ground. No matter how hard I tried, I could no longer keep out the memories of what had happened tonight. Over and over I relived the terrified look I had seen on Josh’s face, the sound of his body hitting the tree, and his words of rejection. But I didn’t cry.
    What had I become?
     
     
     
     

 
Chapter 4
Tales My Boyfriend Told
     
    I calmed down as much as I could before entering the house. As I expected, my parents were watching TV in the living room. I could tell from their expressions as I walked in that it was obvious I was still upset.
    My mom rushed over and gave me a hug. “Oh, Honey, what happened?”
    That was all it took to unlock the floodgates. I sobbed into my mom’s shoulder for several minutes. When I finally pulled back, my dad was gone. He must have decided this was a girl thing. He always got uncomfortable when Mom or I started crying. 
    “I don’t want to talk about it tonight,” I said. “I just want to go to bed.”
    Mom looked as if she were going to insist, but then she pulled me close again and squeezed me tight. “Of course. We can talk about it in the morning.”
    I went upstairs and got ready for bed. I took comfort in the routine, grateful for something to distract me from the memory of Josh crashing into that tree.
    But when I crawled into bed, I was too wired to sleep and there was nothing left to distract me. Unwanted images from our date flooded my mind, washing out all other thoughts.
    Had there ever been a worse first kiss in the entire history of dating? It was like the Hindenburg of first kisses. How could a kiss that had felt so... glorious end up with Josh smashing into a tree? That had to have been a dating first.
    But the power - that was the real issue. The kiss would have been fine if I hadn’t started glowing like a nuclear meltdown survivor. How was that even possible? I wasn’t strong enough to hurl Josh into a tree with a simple push, but I somehow did. My brain seemed caught in an endless loop as it struggled to reconcile what I experienced with what I believed to be possible.
    After several excruciating hours, my brain reached its limit, exhaustion overcame me, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.
    ***
    The next morning was Saturday, so I was able to sleep in – sort of. No one woke me up, but I could only stay asleep for so long. Once I woke up enough to remember what had happened there was no going back to sleep.
    I got up, stretched, and went to the bathroom. When I came out, my mom stood there waiting for me. She looked tired and worried. Now that I thought about it, she probably hadn’t slept very well either, knowing that something had upset me like that.
    She gave me a hug. “Are you ready to talk about it yet?”
    I hugged her back trying to think of