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"Of course not" She rolls her eyes

As we drive over the bridge, her eyes dart to the median There’s a faint scent of death in the air and on the lamppost is a blue flyer with Laden’s face on it His car is no longer in the street, but the large red X on the asphalt is still visible

"Such a shahter hints her voice, and her eyes, sawks at the spot Laden vanished "He was a really good kisser" She leans forward and relaxes her head on the dashboard, and then she shuts her eyes, sweeps her hair to the side, and fans her sweaty face "It’s so hot… Isn’t it so hot?"

I notice the scratch on her shoulder blade looks a little infected "What happened to your shoulder?"

She shelters the spot with her hand "Things got a little rough between Laden and e"

I press h exactly?"

Her head whips up and her eyes scorch fire "What are you getting at exactly? That Ito do with his death?"

"There’s no proof he’s dead yet" I veer down the road that leads to our houses "And I didn’t say anything about you being involved It just looks infected"

"Yeah, whatever If anyone should be accused of his murder it’s you, especially with your whole little I-saw-hi You better watch what you say, E to think you’re as crazy as your dad Oh wait, they already do"

At that moment, I loathe her She is not ain I want to rip her hair out, hurt her, and screas

"You need to tell me what happened With the details," I demand as I turn into the driveway of her house I force the shifter into park and place a hand on her ar"

She glances at my hand on her arm and then her eyes drain of e about" She jerks her arm away and junition and jump out after her "Raven, we’re not done with this conversation yet I’ like you’ve lost your mind"

"You would be the expert on that, Death Girl" She spats and then whisks around the front of the car, thrusting her hand at me "My keys, please" I slam the keys into her pal But honestly, I really need a break froe " She sashays into her house and sla in er

I storm for my house, but a flash of black in the trees sends s from the tree infrom his lips His pale skin is blue and his eyes stare lifelessly atnot to panic, I fu and nearly drop it I start to dial the police, but when I look back at the tree, the phone falls frorass

Chapter 8

I work as a cashier down at the one and only gas station in town It’s a tedious job, one I hope I’m not stuck with for the rest of o home and head to the computer desk I stay there for hours until the words on the co on the internet Ghost possession De on with Raven Or what’s going on with me

I shift my focus to Garrick A death omen has never been that powerful before It felt like a thousand deaths, each one a thorn on a dying rose, individualized but connected to the sa on the keyboard when Ian’s head appears over my shoulder and he reads the screen

"Wow, should I be worried?" he asks, reading my search history on the sidebar as he hovers over y and hulish class," I lie easily

"Well, if you need any help, let y for this oil-based painting class I took my freshman year The Professor was seriously into that crap"

"Yep, I sure will" I wait for hi pops out, so I delete "tattoo" and put "syh the options and click on a link about execution

I read through the article: "An X sy the elimination of a life" I slump back in the chair and cross my arms "Well, look at that It does have to do with death"

Still, why does Garrick have an X on his eye? Could Garrick be… could Garrick be causing the disappearances? But why does he have so ers and type: Death O in the chair as I hesitate before clicking it I skih the search results, until I coel with her head tucked down, tears seeping fros elongate the page and a lifeless rose crumbles fros and a circle rounds the stone floor beneath her bare feet

"It’s just like in Asher’s painting of the Angel," I el is the title of the sketch "It’s like a el"

I do a search on Griels are a unique breed iifts Griels are believed to be insane due to the curse of their hybrid breeding of an Angel of Death and a Griues them with a constant burden of death They may suffer from blackouts and lose track of their ain "Blackouts and a general burden of constant death" I shiver and peek over s But the inner voice deep insidea few ht "What are these things, like some kind of hush-hush ?"