Meg Cabot - Awaken

My son,

Here may indeed be torment, but not death.

DANTE ALIGHIERI, Purgatorio, Canto XXVII

In school they told us to follow the rules.

Dont talk to strangers. Safety first, they said. Walk, dont run unless its from a stranger, of course. We were supposed to run from strangers as fast as we could, the way Persephone, the girl from that old Greek myth, tried to when Hades, the lord of the dead, came after her.

Funny thing about the rules, though. Sometimes they were wrong. According to the rules, no one in our own families was ever supposed to hurt us.

Not running from my own flesh and blood was my first mistake.

My second was running from John Hayden. He was exactly the kind of stranger they were always warning us about in school. No, he didnt offer me candy or drugs. But one look into those storm-filled gray eyes, and even as a nave fifteen-year-old, I could tell what he had to offer was something way more addictive than chocolate or crystal meth.

How was I to know the reason his gaze was so storm-filled was because he, too, knew the pain of being betrayed by someone who, according to the rules, was supposed to care about him?

Maybe thats what kept thrusting the two of us back together, no matter how far we tried to run. Why else would we both have ended up on an island named for the human bones that had been found there? It turns out we have more than a few skeletons in our closets.

By now the bones that have earned this place its infamous name Isla Huesos, Spanish for Island of Bones are supposed to have been removed. But the tendency for cruel acts of deception to be committed on Isla Huesoss tempest-tossed shores hasnt waned.

Now its not my family or John thats coming for me, but a storm. I know from the weather alerts I keep receiving on my cell phone. A large tropical cyclone, producing extreme winds and dangerously high flood conditions, is expected to reach landfall soon on the island where my mom was hoping she and I could make a new start. According to the latest warning, I should proceed with caution (walk, dont run) to the nearest emergency shelter.

The problem is, Im eighteen hundred miles below the earths crust and the storms projected path.

Still, every time my phone vibrates and I look down to see one of the alerts, my pulse speeds up a little. Not because Im in imminent danger, but because I know people who are.

Its especially upsetting because, in a lot of ways, my family has turned out to be like the seawall Isla Huesoss community leaders built in order to protect its low-lying areas from flooding: Theyre not very reliable. Some of them, in fact, have turned out to be made from inferior material. They crumbled and broke apart instead of doing what they were supposed to do: keep their loved ones from drowning.

But maybe thats what I deserve for being trusting enough to believe the rules would keep me safe.

All thats changed now. This time, the only rules Im following are my own.

And this time, when the storm comes, instead of running from it, Im going to face it head-on.

I hope its ready for me.

Always before him many of them stand;

They go by turns each one unto the judgment;

They speak, and hear, and then are downward hurled.

DANTE ALIGHIERI, Inferno, Canto V

He Is First.

Thats what it said in flowing white script on the T-shirt the girl was wearing.

Who is he? I asked her. If I hadnt been so tired, Id have figured it out right away. Instead, I thought the shirt was referring to a new band or the title of a movie or something not that I was going to get to see it anytime soon.

Oh, the girl said, smiling, clearly happy to be asked. This was evidently why she wore the shirt, to generate questions like mine. I could tell by the cheerful, rehearsed way in which she replied, My personal Lord and Savior. He always comes first.

Dont do it. Do not engage. This isnt the time to have a theological conversation or any conversation at all beyond whats necessary. Remember what John said, I reminded myself: There are hundreds of people here, maybe even a thousand. You cant help them all, only the ones who seem the worst off, or might be about to cause trouble .

Dont you think there might be some circumstances in which Hed want you to put yourself first? I heard myself saying. What if there was a fire? Wouldnt He want you to run first and pray later?

Yes, of course, the girl said with a laugh. But Id still be putting Him first in my heart, the way He puts me first in His heart. Hes always with us, you know, keeping us safe from harm.

I shouldnt have asked. Even the person in line behind her a young guy whod probably died in a Jet Ski accident, judging by his tropical swim shorts and lack of a shirt gaped at her in disbelief.

Have you taken a look at yourself in the mirror lately? he asked her.

She dropped the smile, appearing startled. No. Why? Do I have something in my teeth?

She reached to open the backpack she had slung over one shoulder, but I put out a hand to stop her. If I hadnt, I suspect shed have found her compact mirror, then seen what the rest of us could: the crystalline shards of windshield embedded into her blond hair like diamonds from a tiara, the angry red imprint the steering wheel had left behind on her forehead when the airbag in her car had failed to go off.

No one had kept her safe. But what would be the point in telling her so? Shed probably only start to cry, and then Id have to waste even more time comforting her, time John had warned we couldnt afford.

Your teeth are fine, I said to her hastily. You look great. Here, drink this. I passed her a water glass from my tray. Youll feel better.

For the first time ever, it was hot in the Underworld. Thats why I was holding a tray of glasses, each one filled with ice water. It was a ridiculous gesture like handing out life preservers on the Titanic. I couldnt change what had happened to these people. All I could do was make the journey to their final destinations a little more comfortable and try to hurry them along.

The Underworld was currently suffering from overcrowding as well as overheating, to the point where conditions had grown dangerously untenable.

Thanks, the girl said, taking the water and sipping it gratefully. This time when she smiled, there was nothing rehearsed about the gesture. Im so thirsty. She said the latter in a voice of wonder, like out of all the things that had happened to her in the past twenty-four hours, her thirst was the most amazing.

Well, dying can be dehydrating.

Yeah, I said. Sorry about the heat. Were working on it.

Working on it? the guy in the tropical shorts echoed. Weve been waiting here for hours. How about some answers instead of water?

I know, I said to Tropical Shorts. Sorry. The boats on its way, I swear. Were trying to accommodate as many of you as we can as quickly as we can, but were a little backed up at the mo

Why should we believe you? Tropical Shorts interrupted. I want to talk to whoevers in charge.

I felt a spurt of red-hot anger shoot through me, but I fought to remain calm.

What makes you so sure Im not in charge? I challenged him.

He burst out laughing. Look at you, he said.

I couldnt help it. I looked down at myself. Whereas most of the people in line were dressed in light casual clothing, like Mr. Tropical Shorts some of them were in hospital gowns or even pajamas, whatever theyd been wearing when death overtook them I had on a cap-sleeved gown, the hem of which swept my feet. Even though the material was the lightest cotton, it nevertheless clung damply to my skin, and not just because the waves from the lake had grown more violent than usual and were splashing bits of foam and spray up against the side of the dock. Curls of my long dark hair had slipped from the knot into which Id tried to tie it, sticking to the back and sides of my neck. Id have given my cell phone or possibly even my bra for some air-conditioning or a fan.