9781422288177

C HAPTER 1

12

broke into her consciousness and drowned her dozing. As she waited to be roused from bed, she listened to her mother running hot bath water. Across the room, the clock’s red letters showed 7 A . M . School didn’t start until nine, but Kayla had to get up early be- cause it always took her a long time to get ready. Slowly and reluctantly, Kayla rolled onto her side. The constant ache stretched through her body. Heavy with exhaustion and pain, Kayla inched across the warm sheets. She felt as if someone had poured liquid metal into her body during the night—metal that had settled dense and cold in her bones. By now, it was a familiar feeling. “Bath’s ready,” Kayla’s mother called, her too-chipper voice echoing off the bathroom tiles. “Better hurry or you’ll be late.” Kayla rolled her eyes, but made no answer. Gripping the bed- post with a white-knuckled hand, she shimmied her legs to the edge of the bed and peaked through the sunny window. Rupert sat chained to his doghouse, peering expectantly up at Kayla’s bedroom. His tail wagged, and she wondered if he had seen her. “Poor Ru- pert,” Kayla thought. “I bet you had the same dream I had.” She re- turned her attention to her legs and let them flop over the side of the bed. Her feet hit the floor with a thud that sent little daggers of pain reverberating up her shins to her knees. Kayla sucked in her breath. “Are you up?” her mother questioned, high-heeled footsteps clicking up the hall toward Kayla’s room. Kayla released her pent-up breath in an exasperated burst. “I’m up!” The footsteps paused then retreated back down the hall. Kayla closed her eyes, pulled herself up to standing, and began the long journey to the bathroom. The cold, slow pilgrimage from warm bed to steaming bath was always the hardest part of her day. Inching along with shuffling feet and hunched back, Kayla looked much older than her fifteen years. She teetered dangerously through the open space, one hand out- stretched for balance, one shoulder sliding along the wall for sup- port. By the time she got to the bathroom door, she was already exhausted. In the bathroom, the air hung moist and thick with fog. Kayla