Prep School: Bonus Content

Christa

Keep in mind what you previously read.

Christa walked out of her father's hospital room. He was getting slowly better but didn't yet have the energy to go home.
Riel had helped a lot, what with his own father injured.
Christa rubbed her face. "Pull it together. Keep it together."
She took a deep breath and walked down the hall to the vending machine.
As she slid in coins into the machine, she heard heavy sobbing from a nearby room.
A black haze seemed to drift out of the room's door.
Black haze. Death.
Christa slowly walked to the open door.
Inside, a woman with a loose, brown bun cried over the limp body of a pretty brown girl with long, dark hair.
Another girl with a messy, high ponytail held a brown haired small girl, crying softly.
Christa let out a breath and walked in.
"I'm sorry to intrude."
The woman's head swiveled around and the tall girl steeped forward, clutching the younger girl tightly.
"Who are you? How'd you get in here?"
The girl snarled at her. The woman stood up next to her.
"I believe my daughter asked you a question."
Their voices are quiet but hard and brittle, like they're about to break.
Christa smoothed her hair. "I can help you. I'm a person who can help you."
The woman blanked, her eyes tearing up.
The girl stepped in front of her protectively.
"What?"
"I can help you."
She stepped toward the limp girl.
The tall girl lunges forward, pushing Christa in the chest.
"I don't know you. But if you think I'm going to let you touch my sister......." The girl growls.
The woman puts a hand on her shoulder. "Becky, let her. She has this...... Aura."
She nods at Christa and gestures toward her limp daughter.
Becky glares at her as she walks toward the bed.
Christa placed a hand on the limp girl's forehead, feeling the tight skin.
Christa breathed and concentrated. She closed her eyes.
She felt a sea of black ink, completely dark and empty. The haze of death.
Finally, she felt a sliver of warmth, the barest hint of light. Of life.
She pulled at it, concentrating, until she could feel warmth around her.
She opened her eyes, seeing the no-longer-limp girl's skin fill with color.
Her eyelids flickered and her chest puffed out.
She opened her eyes. They flash gold then simmered down to a soft brown.
She slowly turned her head to her shocked mother and sister.
"Mo-Mom?"
The woman rushed forward, gripping the girl tightly.
"Mom? Becky? What happened?"
Christa moved out of the way, slipping out the door, smiling softly to herself.