The Immortals by Mary Hallberg (chrysanthemum read aloud txt) 📗

vacation and ended up talking our ears off about her planned ski trip after the New Year. I mostly grunted or provided some vague response. No way in hell was I going to tell her about the turkey incident; my mom’s attitude toward me using my newfound wealth to buy her things was the main reason my Christmases would never be like Elizabeth’s.

We'd been working for about an hour when the camera crew arrived. There wasn’t supposed to be any media coverage for this event, but Elizabeth didn’t seem surprised to see them there. As they walked in, she looked up from piddling with the paintbrush and waved them over.

“Elizabeth!” the cameraman said. “Have you guys been working all day?”

“Sure have,” she said. “We’re almost done with this wall!”

“This is incredible.” He panned the room, barely skimming over Luke and me. “Isn’t it a rewarding feeling?”

“The best!” She spread her arms revealing her sleeves spotted with pink paint that probably hadn’t gotten there accidentally. I clenched my fist and Luke gave me a warning look.

chapter thirteen

I drove back to The Necropolis the day after the house painting incident. Gage called me later that afternoon and said we should go to Dr. Cooper’s New Year’s party. I wasn’t sure what else to do, and didn’t want to turn down an invitation that most people would give their right arm to get. So four days later we headed to the doctor’s mansion.

The bright lights of the city gradually faded out as we went north. Dr. Cooper had lived in The Necropolis back when it was called Buffalo and it was a thriving city, even bigger and busier than The Necropolis now. But since he announced TNV to the world, he had had a fair amount of both critics wanting to confront him and people who admired him so much they wanted to find his house. So he left the city and confined himself to a huge mansion that had once belonged to some pre-collapse celebrity. It was strange to see less and less multi story buildings as we drove, even though the same thing happened every time I went home to Rochester.

It was cloudy that night and the gravel driveway leading up to the house seemed miles long. If the moon had been full and peeking out from behind the clouds, all we would have needed was some spooky music and it would have been the perfect setting for an old horror movie.

Inside, however, the mansion was alive. People chatted in clusters and danced in twos and threes to pulse pounding electric music. The punch-with-punch was readily available but since Gage’s (and plenty of other people’s) parents were close by we had to be careful; no drinking to excess here. Shame, because once we got in I felt like I might actually need it that night.

Paige stood near the front table, whispering in the ear of some blonde girl I didn’t recognize. I wasn’t planning on talking to them but Paige flagged Gage down and I didn’t want to leave him so soon after arriving.

“So my friend Casey and I went to this jewelry store,” she was saying. “And there was one within walking distance and we had to drive like, ten minutes to get to this one. And I didn’t know why she had picked this one but I figured there was a good reason, right? So we go in and she just picks this ring up. This gorgeous diamond ring that she could have easily paid for herself, and the store clerk saw her pick it up and walk out. I mean, she had to have known there were no felony cameras in there and that the clerk wasn’t Immortal so she knew we couldn’t get busted. But she didn’t even have to steal it. She just did it because she could!”

The blonde girl looked impressed, but I wasn’t so sure I felt the same. The locations of the felony cameras were supposed to be hidden and random so we wouldn’t feel like we were being watched all the time but would still feel safe. I wasn’t sure I felt safe anymore. Then again, most people outside The Necropolis didn’t feel safe not being able to testify against an Immortal if they witnessed them committing a crime. It was like our crimes didn’t exist without video evidence.

“Kenzie?” Gage said.

“Hmmm?”

“Some friends of mine want to meet up at nine and get beer.” He kissed the top of my head. “What do you think?”

“I think if you get gum in my hair I’m breaking up with you,” I said. Paige laughed a lot louder than I had anticipated and I pushed Gage’s gum-filled mouth away. He frowned and pretended to sniffle.

Mom called a minute later and I stepped out. After fumbling my way through a dark hall on the other side of the living room, I finally found a quiet spot. I could still faintly hear the music from the living room. The hallway was dark and difficult to navigate and I couldn’t find a light switch, but it would have to do.

I set the phone on the floor and opened the video screen. Mom was using an old phone without a screen so I couldn’t see her and she couldn’t see me, but I opened it anyway out of habit.

“Hi sweetheart,” she said. “Are you having a good New Year’s?”

I lay back against the wall. “It’s great.”

“Okay honey. I hope you’re being safe.”

I grunted.

“Have you told Gage yet?”

I nodded, then paused before remembering that she couldn’t see me. “I told him.”

“How did he take it?”

I shrugged, once again forgetting the absence of the video screen. “He seems to be okay with it, I guess.”

“I’m so proud of you, sweetheart. I know it’s difficult, but I really think this is for the best.” I knew she was smiling, maybe even preparing to shed a tear. “Living in The Necropolis is tough.”

How would you know? I thought. You’ve never lived there. You’ve never even