Echoes by Marissa Lete (best books for students to read txt) 📕

We drive for a long time on a two-lane road, nothing but trees on either side for miles. My ears pop as the road drops in elevation, letting me know we must be somewhere up in the mountains. I wonder if Maverick knows where we are or if he’s just heading in an arbitrary direction. I don’t ask him. I don’t want to break the silence.

Fatigue hits me as my heart rate finally slows, the adrenaline wearing off. I’m not sure how long it’s been when we pull off onto a dirt road, but I feel heavy like I’ve been asleep. The sky is a bright orange, the sun probably setting somewhere behind all the trees.

At the end of the dirt road is a mobile home, and next to it, a garage. I wonder if this is where Maverick lives. He obviously doesn’t live in the house across the street from mine anymore.

“One second,” he tells me, then hops out of the car and walks into the house. A moment later he comes back out and the door of the garage slides up. Inside is another car, a blue Toyota Corolla that looks about a decade old. He hops into it and backs up next to the sport’s car, then comes over and opens the door.

“We don’t want them to be able to follow us in this, so we need to move to the other car. Is that okay with you?” he asks. As if I have a say in the situation. As if I have any idea what is going on.

“Where are we going?” I ask, my voice gravelly.

“Somewhere safer than here,” he tells me. It’s purposefully not much information, but I’m too exhausted to dig for more. Maverick helped me escape from Alice, at least, so for now, I don’t care where we go. As long as it’s far away from her.

Climbing into the Corolla feels strange after riding in the sport’s car. The sport’s car was cramped and had a brand-new car smell. The Corolla is more spacious and smells stale like it’s been sitting for a while. Maverick pulls the sport’s car into the garage, closes it up, and gets back in the car with me.

As we pull out of the driveway and back onto the road, I try to think of something to say, but I can’t even begin to imagine where to start, so I let the silence be our companion. I don’t know what’s happening, but I know that at least for right now, I feel somewhat safe. And I let that feeling carry me down to sleep.

Chapter 21

“Laura,” the voice is soft, like it’s from the past, but echoing back and forth through my mind, growing louder and louder as time shoots towards me.

“Laura,” the voice calls again. I open my eyes.

Two golden eyes are staring back at me. The door of the Toyota is open and bright, artificial light shines onto my seat. I sit up, squinting.

“Where are we?” I ask, looking around. We’re parked on a hedge-rimmed, stone-circle driveway, a massive water fountain jutting from the center. It’s dark outside now, but there’s a surprising amount of light coming from something behind me.

“This is—” Maverick begins, then pauses. “My, uhh… house.”

I slip out of the car, turning around to take in the house. Or, I guess I should say, mansion. The sight of it makes my jaw fall open.

Giant spotlights light up the front, explaining the glow that reaches out into the driveway. Four giant stone columns line the front, and there are more than a dozen windows along each side. It has a pristine white exterior and a front door that’s at least twice my height.

“This is your house?” I exclaim in disbelief.

He scratches the back of his neck. “Kind of, I guess. Come inside.”

I follow him hesitantly, wondering if this is all just some wild dream.

When we step into a massive, brightly lit entranceway, I gasp. I can see a swimming pool through giant, floor-to-ceiling windows at the opposite end of the room, and then the house continues behind the pool. There’s a grand staircase to my left, and directly above me is a glass dome that I can see the stars through. The hallways to my left and right appear to go on forever.

As I stand there, gaping, I notice how quiet it is. There are a couple of echoes of footsteps tapping across the marble floor and voices talking in a distant room, but they’re all so old they’re barely there. Other than that, the house is quiet.

“Jacob, will you find Laura a room? And some clean clothes, too” Maverick calls. I look down at my muddy jeans and torn shirt, feeling suddenly improper in this massive, gorgeous house. An older man in a suit walks out of a side room and nods to me. Is he the butler?

“You may follow me,” he says, turning on his heel. I glance over at Maverick, suddenly wanting desperately to stop and ask him all of my questions. But he gives me a nod that says go on, so I follow Jacob. I’ll ask the questions soon.

Jacob leads me down a hallway, up a hidden staircase, and down a second hallway. At the fourth door on the left, he stops and pushes it open. The room is as massive as the rest of the house, with a four-poster king-size bed in the center. Two windows with dark blue curtains pulled to the sides provide a nice view into the front yard, and a door attached to the room leads into a similarly grand bathroom with marble countertops and white tile floors. Even here, the house’s past is eerily quiet.

“I will be back in a moment with some clothes,” Jacob tells me.