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Back The Infinity Courts Save as PDF
Chapters (52)
  1. Dedication
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  52. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

If I could, I’d whisper to Ophelia—tell her to call 911. But I’m in the man’s line of sight, and I’m not sure I’m brave enough to be a hero.

There’s no blood left in my body. My mind is too frantic to think beyond a single thought that repeats itself, over and over again, the pounding of it as loud and desperate as my pulse.

I don’t want to die.

And then I see her in the mirror—the little girl at the back of the room, hidden behind the shelves the gunman can’t see past. She’s looking for her mother—trying to find a way to reach her. Trying to find a way to be safe.

No, I want to shout. Stay where you are. He hasn’t seen you yet.

But I’m too afraid to find my voice.

I wish she could hear me. I wish she could understand that everything will be okay if she just stays still.

But she can’t, and she doesn’t.

The girl starts to crawl to the other aisle, and at first I think maybe she’ll make it, but then some part of her bumps into one of the shelves, and something falls—a box of crackers or a bag of chips—I can’t tell, but I know it’s enough to draw his attention.

It’s enough to make him point his gun.

And for a moment all I can see in that mirror is Mei.

Mei, a child, who needs protecting.

A girl like my sister, scared and alone and in so much danger.

And I run toward the masked man without thinking another thought.

I don’t know if the sound of the bullet comes first or the screams of the girl’s mother, but it doesn’t matter, because they both turn into ringing in my ears.

The world slows. Time slows. I am falling, falling, falling.

And then I’m not.

3

IT’S SO VERY QUIET.

I wonder if this is what everyone feels like when they die.

It’s different than I thought it would be.

But

exactly

the

same

too.

4

THE FIRST THING I SEE when I open my eyes is a bright white light, and all I can think is, Wow, Death, way to be a cliché.

But then my sight adjusts, and I realize I’m not staring at a light—I’m seeing the sky through a glass windowpane.

I’m looking at the sun.

I sit up too quickly, and an ache that feels like a trillion drumbeats throbs behind my eyes. My entire body recoils in shock.

I thought you weren’t supposed to feel pain after you die. Isn’t that a rule? The rule?