AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My memories of living in the Highlands with the MacGregors have left me with new ideas. A simpler life, without all the trappings of modern society. I can’t say that though. I’m trying to find my way back and if I tell that truth, at best she’ll think I’m nuts. At worst I’ll get locked away.
“What difference does it make that we can talk to people around the world when we can’t notice the person standing next to us?”
“What, you want to return to ‘simpler’ times, is that it? Go back to when the only people you’d work with was your own village, maybe once in your life go see the next village over?”
“Would that be so bad?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind inbreeding, prejudice, and oh let’s not forget witch hunts.”
Witch hunts.The word echoes in my head as if she shouted it into a cavern. The fear I was living with every day that I’d be labeled a witch and exiled while I was with the MacGregors hits me like a fist into my gut. I choke on my sip of coffee. Moira hands me a stack of napkins which I use to clean up my face and dab at my shirt.
“Forget about those, did ya?” she asks.
“We don’t have to go back to that. We can be, I don’t know, we can be better.”
“We are better. Sure, there’s a lot of bad stuff happening, but there always has been and always will be. I don’t know, you’re the archaeologist and all that, but I think we romanticize the past when the world we have is a lot better.”
Doubts wiggle their way through my thoughts as my phone vibrates in my pocket. Glancing down, I see a text from Savannah.
Where are you? Class started ten minutes ago.
“Oh crap,” I exclaim, jumping to my feet. How did I forget? “I’ve got to go, I’m late.”
“Sure, I’ll see you soon.”
I grab my bag, rushing for the door. As I push the heavy door open something tugs at my thoughts. I glance over my shoulder. For an instant, not even a heartbeat, Moira shimmers and a tingling sensation crosses my face. It’s gone as fast as it comes. She waves and I give her a smile, nod, and hurry out the door.
ChapterFive
The campus is awake.Throngs of people are moving around on their way to class, jobs, or doing whatever. I push through the crowd filling the sidewalk to the crosswalk. I push the button and wait, the stiff voice of the crosswalk ordering me towaitevery twenty seconds. This is one of the busiest intersections by the college. Cars zoom through as the drivers try to beat the light which is, in my opinion, one of the longest in the world.
I check the time on my phone, calculating how long it will take me to get to class and avoid being marked absent. Another girl walks past in my peripheral vision. The hairs on the back of my neck rise and a cold finger touches my heart.
The world around me snaps into sharp contrast. The girl I caught in the corner of my eye is staring at her phone and walking right into the crosswalk. She doesn’t seem to notice that the light is still red.
Time slows to an almost stop and I’m aware of everything in a way I’ve never experienced before. A racer red 2014 Dodge Charger is roaring down the street. His light is yellow, but the driver is intent on not waiting. The girl is blind to her surroundings, completely absorbed in her phone.
She takes two steps into the street. She’s unaware of the car barreling down on her and the driver, apparently, isn’t aware of her either. The catastrophe plays itself out in my head and if I don’t act, it’s going to happen right in front of me.
“Look out,” I shout, reaching for the girl.
Three other people are on the corner and all of them look at me. All of them except the girl who is about to be killed. The engine of the Charger blasts louder, echoing off the buildings, filling my ears. It sounds like a growling beast, hungry for blood. And it is. It’s like a dragon, flame red, bearing down with no intention of stopping. The girl is a quarter of the way into the crosswalk. Beyond my reach, but I can’t let this happen.
Get off your phone. Look up.I scream in my head.
Every detail is so clear. She’s scrolling through social media, looking at a video of kittens. She has a small smile on her face. Her eyes are alight with joy. Joy that is about to be destroyed. I move.
I’m not sure I touch the ground between where I am and her. I don’t recall it if I did. I’m on the sidewalk, then I’m next to her. I grab her around the waist, and I throw both of us forward. Her phone flies from her hand as we dive. The road rushes closer, filling my vision. I brace myself as we slam onto the asphalt.
I grip my arm around her and roll her with me. Her phone clatters as it hits the ground, followed by the sound of breaking glass as her screen shatters. The dragon roars as it passes through where we both were but a moment prior without slowing down.
People shout. Someone screams. My face hurts where I impacted the rough material of the road, scraping my cheek and arm. My heart is racing with adrenaline. The girl struggles like a wild animal, punching and kicking her way free. I let go of her and scramble out of the range of her flailing arms. I push myself onto my knees, trying to slow my breath down.
“What in the living hell is wrong with you?” she screams. She rushes to her broken phone and grabs it up, cradling it in her hands as if it is some sacred object that has been damaged. “My phone! Oh my god, you destroyed my phone.”
On my hands and knees, I stare in disbelief. She’s livid, her face is crimson, and spittle flies from her lips as she continues screaming.
“You were—”
