Flight of Life (Essence Series #1) (25 page)

“
I sincerely hope so.” She
smiled. “We want both our boys to attend.”

Breccan stared at his plate while he
ate and avoided his mother’s gaze. Calloway knew Breccan was
working on his school applications but he was very secretive about
it—he wasn’t sure why.

“
What are you studying,
Marquan?” Uncle Scott asked.

“
Biology and chemistry,”
he answered.

Uncle Scott widened his eyes in
surprise. “That’s impressive.”

“
Not really.” Marquan
laughed. “It’s just a flashy degree.”

Calloway laughed. “I’m sure you tell
all the girls that.”

“
Actually, I do.” He
laughed. “It works every time.”

Even Uncle Scott laughed at the joke
and choked on his water for a moment. After a few coughs he
regained his composure and started to laugh again. Aunt Grace
patted his back as she smiled at him. Breccan didn’t laugh at their
joke and stared at Marquan. He ate his food in silence and kept to
himself. He was so quiet that Calloway forgot he was
there.

“
Any news on the dance?”
Aunt Grace asked. “Do you have a date, Calloway?”

Calloway drank from his glass of milk.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m going with Easton’s sister.”

Aunt Grace clapped her hands together.
“That’s wonderful news! I’ll rent two suits for you boys—you’re
going to look sharp.”

Calloway had no intention of letting
her pay for his dress clothes. “I’ll get my own,” Calloway said.
“But thank you.”

“
Don’t be difficult,” she
said. “We’ll take care of it.”

Calloway looked at Uncle Scott.
“Marquan said I can borrow one of his old suits. I don’t need to
rent one.”

Marquan looked at Calloway but he
didn’t respond to his comment. He never said anything of the
sort.

“
Oh okay,” Aunt Grace
said. “Then we’ll just get something for Breccan.”

Breccan ate the bread on his plate and
didn’t look at his mother.

“
How much is the winter
formal fee?” Uncle Scott asked.

“
Seventy five dollars,”
Calloway said.

Aunt Grace sighed when she heard the
amount, and Calloway knew she was concerned about the money. “One
of my friends gave me his ticket because he can’t go and there are
no refunds,” Calloway said. “So I don’t need any money.”

“
Well, that worked out,”
Uncle Scott said happily. “We can afford Breccan’s
ticket.”

Calloway felt guilty for lying to his
family but he refused to let them pay for his expenses. It was the
only way he could avoid wounding their pride and hurting their
feelings. He appreciated everything they did for him but he was
almost an adult—they shouldn’t have to support him any
longer.

The plates were cleared off the table
after they finished their dinner and Calloway walked Marquan to the
front door.

“
I’ll see you later,”
Marquan said to Calloway. “And thanks for having me.”

“
No problem,” Calloway
said as he shut the door behind him. When he turned around Aunt
Grace was cleaning the dishes in the sink, and Uncle Scott was
reading a book on the couch. Breccan was nowhere in sight. Calloway
walked up the stairs and entered the bedroom that he shared with
his cousin. Breccan was already lying on the bed with his eyes
closed, acting like he was asleep.

Calloway pulled his wallet out of his
pocket and counted the bills. He owed Mr. Avey seventy five dollars
for the formal in addition to the one hundred and fifty dollars for
his applications, and he also needed money to pay for his suit.
After Calloway calculated the total cost he realized he barely had
enough funds to pay for everything. He couldn’t give Uncle Scott a
single dollar and the revelation made him feel selfish—he was
worthless.

Inheritance

“
How are we going to get
the decoder?” Breccan asked as he rested his feet on the wooden
table.

“
Put your feet down,”
Easton said. “This isn’t a playground.”

“
It’s abandoned,” he
argued. “Who cares?”

“
The Hara-Kirs might,” she
whispered.

Breccan stared at her for a moment. His
eyes were wide with fright at the mention of the creatures. “That’s
not funny.”

“
I wasn’t trying to be,”
she said.

Calloway ignored them and concentrated
on his SAT preparation book. The exam was only a few days away and
the anxiety was starting to take its toll. Even though he knew he
would do well, he was still worried about his performance. If his
score wasn’t perfect he wouldn’t be admitted to any college—his
grades were that low.

Breccan hadn’t spoken to Calloway since
yesterday and Calloway wasn’t sure what caused the tension. As far
as he knew, he didn’t do anything wrong. His cousin had been acting
unusual for the past few weeks. It was obvious that he disliked Mr.
Avey for some reason, and it seemed like he hated Marquan last
night. Calloway wasn’t sure what was bothering his cousin—he wasn’t
being himself.

The fire crackled in the hearth and
made the room feel warm and cozy. When Calloway looked at the heavy
fog outside and the light drops of rain he was thankful he was
inside—out of the cold. The only setback to this library—other than
the creatures that tried to kill them—was the warmth and the light.
Sometimes Calloway could feel his eyelids grow heavy and the
exhaustion creep into his veins even if he wasn’t tired. He was
both frightened and comfortable in this place.

The notebook sitting next to Easton’s
hand on the desk was blank. She hadn’t written anything in over an
hour, and Calloway knew she couldn’t translate any more of the
Kirin Book. They needed the decoder but weren’t sure how they were
going to get it. Easton sighed. “I don’t know how we are going to
pull this off.”

“
We’ll have to distract
her,” Calloway said. “I can talk to her about formal—say I need to
speak to her in private.”

Easton shook her head. “My sister is a
cold-hearted genius. She’ll see right through you.”

“
I never knew someone
could be beautiful and smart—it’s surreal,” Breccan
said.

“
I’m beautiful and smart,”
Easton said.

Breccan smiled. “Sure.”

Easton ignored his comment. “I don’t
know what to do.”

“
Let’s just go to the
White Wing and hope that something happens. Maybe an opportunity
will present itself,” Calloway said.

“
So we’re just waiting for
luck?” Easton asked.

Calloway shrugged. “It’s been working
for us so far.” He turned his gaze back to the book and
sighed—everything was redundant. The test was going to be just like
these practice exams but Calloway felt obligated to study anyway—it
would feel weird not to.

Breccan glanced down at the study book.
“You’re wasting your time,” Breccan said.

It was the first time he spoke to
Calloway today. Calloway was surprised his first words were so
hostile. They were dripping with anger and annoyance.
“Why?”

“
There isn’t going to be a
college to go to,” he snapped. “It’s obvious the people at the
White Wing have no idea what they’re doing. And your grades are so
bad that you aren’t going to get in anyway.”

The anger started to rise inside
Calloway. He was tired of Breccan’s aggressive tone and dismissive
attitude. A few weeks ago his cousin said Calloway was a genius and
now he thought he was stupid. It was obvious that Breccan was angry
with him but it wasn’t obvious why.

Easton tried to diffuse the tension in
the air. “The White Wing does know what they’re doing,” she said.
“They are just hiding the information from us.”

“
I doubt it,” Breccan
said. “I think we know more than they do.”

“
I don’t agree,” Calloway
said. “We noticed that the Hara-Kirs are always in this library but
we have no idea why. All we’ve done is killed them—we’re just as
ignorant.”

Easton pushed her notebook away. “Let’s
get to the bottom of this mystery,” she said. “I’ve been thinking
about this since yesterday. Let’s research the
building.”

“
Where do we begin?”
Calloway asked.

Easton looked at the counter on the
side of the room. It used to be a storage area for returned books
and it had cabinets with drawers along with a few chairs to sit in.
“The information about the building will probably be somewhere over
here,” she said as she walked to the desk.

They searched through the cabinet and
opened the desk drawers, searching for anything that related to the
building.

Calloway found a slip that detailed the
year it was built. “This library was built in 1912,” he said. “You
were close, Easton.”

“
I know,” she said as she
wiped the sweat from her forehead. Moving the furniture around and
sorting through the paperwork was making them all sweaty and hot.
Even though it was winter outside the room was still stuffy and
warm.

Breccan pulled out a piece of paper.
“Here’s the list with people who have fines,” he said. “I guess
they didn’t return their books.”

“
How is that supposed to
help us?” Easton snapped.

Breccan shrugged. “I thought it was
interesting.”

Easton sighed and continued to search
through the rubble of the library. Dust from the shelves floated in
the air and made all of them cough. They ignored the discomfort as
much as possible and continued their search.

Easton pulled a folder from the cabinet
and skimmed through the papers. She took a seat in an old wooden
chair and searched through the contents. All the papers were
covered in dust and dirt so she blew the filth from the surface so
it was legible. Easton rose from her chair and Calloway looked at
her. “I think I found it,” she said.

“
Thank god,” Breccan said
as he stood upright and stretched his back. Calloway felt the
tightness in his lower back and he felt the stress ebb away when he
stood upright.

Easton continued to read the paper and
both boys stood behind her and read over her shoulder.

“
What am I looking at?”
Breccan asked.

“
It says the library was
owned by a man when it was built, including the property that
surrounds it, but he sold it in—” Easton brushed the dust off the
page so she could keep reading. “To a man in 2002 and he still
holds the property to this day. It doesn’t say it was sold to
anyone else or the government took possession of the property—the
man still owns it.”

“
He obviously doesn’t care
for it much,” Breccan said.

“
Then why does he still
have it?” Calloway asked. “No one is using it and it’s just taking
up space. He could renovate it and make it into a new library or
just sell it.”

Easton nodded. “I have no idea,” she
said. She continued to read the paper but Calloway and Breccan
walked away, losing in interest in the history of the Grandiose
Historian Library. This was irrelevant to the information they
needed—it was useless.

Easton gasped as she covered her mouth.
Calloway and Breccan both returned to her and waited for her to
speak. Easton looked at Calloway with a frightened
expression.

“
What was your father’s
name again?” she asked.

Calloway stared at her for a moment.
“Sven.”

Easton took a deep breath.
“The Grandiose Historian Library is his—he
owns
it.”

Calloway grabbed the property deed from
her hand and stared at the ink on the page. Even though it was
covered in dust, Calloway could read the page clearly, and his
heart skipped a beat as he stared at his father’s name.

SVEN MARTINS

The sight was undeniable—they all saw
it. Calloway steadied his breathing as he read the name repeatedly,
trying to make sense of this revelation in his mind.

“
What if it isn’t the same
person?” Breccan asked. “It could be another Sven
Martins.”

Easton shook her head. “Sven is an
unusual name in Fresno.”

The paper fell from Calloway’s fingers
and drifted to the floor. He stood there for a moment and watched
the wrinkled paper lie on the ground, old and untouched. “It’s
him,” he said. “This is the Grand Historian Library—that’s too much
of a coincidence.”

“
What do you mean?” Easton
asked.

“
My father was a
historian,” Calloway said. “He would have loved this
place.”

“
Then doesn’t it belong to
you, technically?” Breccan asked.

Calloway shrugged. “No one ever told
me.”

“
What did you inherit?”
Easton said.

Calloway was quiet for a moment.
“Nothing,” he said. “I have the trunk because Uncle Scott assumed
it belonged to me. I never received anything else.”

Breccan raised an eyebrow. “How is that
possible?” he asked. “Then where did all his stuff go? Who did he
give it to?”