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

both tumble onto the ground. I take a step back and a hand comes out of nowhere, knocking into my arm. My gun tumbles across the floor as hands grip my arms, then pull them together, handcuffing them behind my back.

Maverick is in a similar situation. He struggles on the ground with his attacker, but soon a second figure appears out of the shadows. Both of them are covered in black clothing from head to toe. So that he can’t use his ability on them. They grip his arms, handcuff him. The commotion dies down, both of us trapped now. The chair in front of us has a bullet hole in the middle of it.

The bullet must have missed her, though, because Alice spins around in it, smiling. Then the lights flash on, revealing three more men lined along the left wall. There’s no way we were ever going to escape this, even with our guns.

“As I was saying before, I just want to thank you for coming,” Alice nods to us. She waves a hand in the air, a graceful flick of her wrist. “You can take him away now.”

I watch in horror as the guards yank Maverick to his feet, then turn him away from me toward the door. His head whips around. “Laura! No!” he yells.

“Maverick!” I scream back, struggling. Then another guard comes over to help hold me down.

“Don’t touch her!” Maverick yells, and then the doors slam shut behind him. I turn my gaze on Alice, a fire of hate burning inside me.

“What do you want from me?” I spit.

Alice taps her perfectly manicured fingers on the desk. “That’s what I want to talk about.” She gestures to a chair in front of her desk, and the guards release their hold on me. I jerk away roughly. “Have a seat.”

Chapter 32

I sit. Not because Alice told me to, but because there are four men in the room that are bigger and stronger than me, and I suspect that even if I resisted, they’d have gotten me into the chair anyway.

“I’m so glad you’ve decided to join me today,” she smiles, her eyes squinting up. She looks both old and young at the same time, with heavy blue eyes that don’t miss a thing. She’s terrifyingly beautiful.

“What have you done with my parents?”

She sits up straight in her chair, plucking a hair off the top of her gray pantsuit. “Don’t worry. They’re safe.”

“Where?” I demand, leaning closer. I can’t slap my hands down on the desk like I want to, but I try to give Alice the same experience with a murderous gaze.

“They’re being held downstairs,” she replies, unfazed.

I didn’t expect her to answer so easily, so I pause, watching her movements carefully. She’s impossible to read.

“But your parents aren’t what’s important right now. Right now I want to talk to you.”

“What could you possibly want to talk to me about?”

“I want your help,” she says simply, like it’s the obvious answer to the question. Then she stands up and walks a few paces along the wall behind her. She turns back to me, a hand on her hip. “Let me explain,” she says.

I glance around the room at the men standing at attention. My chances of escape are slim. Probably impossible.

“I’m sorry. Are they making you uncomfortable?” Alice asks, oddly genuine.

I search her eyes, trying to figure out what she’s thinking.

“Why don’t you guys let us have some privacy, okay?” Alice says to the guards. She waves her hand at them, “Go on.”

They don’t need any more persuasion. Immediately, they all jump into action, exiting the room swiftly. I watch them go, taking in my gun still laying on the floor behind me. We’re alone now. It was dumb of her to make her only defense leave. I might not be able to take down any of them, but Alice can’t be much stronger than myself. Maybe this is my chance.

Once the door is closed, Alice sits back down in her chair, folding her hands over the desk. “I don’t know what you’ve been told, so I’ll just start from the beginning. I’ll give you my side of the story.” She pauses, looking me up and down. Then she tilts her head to the side. “Have you ever imagined living a life where you didn’t have to hear the noise of the past?”

I clench my jaw. “How do you know about that?”

Alice shakes her head, the corner of her mouth tilting up. “Oh, honey. I know about a lot of things.” Then her expression goes serious. “Like how your parents were convinced you were ill your whole life. Like how you can’t help but hear the sounds from the past, no matter where you are or what time it is. Like how you’ve never been able to live a normal life because of it.”

I just stare at her, trying to hide the fact that her words are affecting me.

“You see, Laura, you’re not the only one. There are hundreds of people just like you.”

My curiosity gets the best of me and I blurt a question. “Who hear echoes of the past?”

Alice smiles again, though it’s more of a sneer. “No, actually. In fact, you’re the only one with that specific ability. Which is why you’re special.” She puts her hands flat on the table. “But there are hundreds out there similar to you. Anomalies. People who are different, with unique abilities.”

I picture the filing cabinet in Alice’s office, filled with names and descriptions of those anomalies.

“Each of these abilities creates a problem, a danger to society. My work involves researching them. Looking for ways to stop them.”

“So you lock them up here like lab rats so you can study them?” I snarl.

Alice laughs, a light, terrible sound