Cinder X (Death Collectors, #2) by Jessica Sorensen Page A

states as we cross the piece of lawn between our houses to her car parked in the driveway next door.
     
    “Made who leave?” I work to stay upright as Cameron ungracefully controls my legs.
     
    She grins as she rounds the back of her silver car. “The cops.” She unlocks the door, smiling to herself. “I know they’ve been watching you.”
     
    I swallow hard as my arm stretches out and my fingers wrap around the door handle. I give it a tug and the door swings open. Then, bumping my head on the ceiling, I climb in. Raven gets in too and starts up the car.
     
    “They think you killed all those girls,” she says as she starts the engine while I buckle my seatbelt.
     
    See, I care about you, Cameron says as he forces me to buckle it.
     
    Yeah, I’m sure you do. And that’s why you’ve made me get into a car with a
     
    girl that’s possessed by the Anamotti and is probably leading me straight into a trap.
     
    Just trust me. That’s what we want.
     
    I already told you that you have to earn trust and this isn’t the way.
     
    “So, this should be fun,” Raven says as she backs down the driveway and turns onto the street.
     
    “Yeah, I guess,” I mutter.
     
    What do you mean this is what we want? How are you doing this, Cameron? How are you controlling me? I thought the Anamotti couldn’t control me like they control part of the humans.
     
    I already told you that I’m not part of the Anamotti.
     
    Yeah, but you weren’t able to do this before… make me move like this and talk inside my head. So what’s changed?
     
    You.
     
    What do you mean?
     
    I sit quietly in the passenger seat of Raven’s car, waiting for an answer, however he offers me none. I rack my brain for something that might have changed over the last few days, but I draw up a blank other than the fact that I’ve gotten lonelier.
     
    Is that how you’re doing it? I ask. Because I’m lonely and vulnerable.
     
    He stays silent and I wonder if he’s still inside me. I’ve gotten less cold and the hollowness is starting to fill again. Perhaps he lost his hold over me. How can I find out for sure, though? I glance at Raven and then at the door handle, deciding to give it a try. I wait for her to slow down at the stop sign at the end of the road and then I focus on moving my hand towards the handle to jump out of the car, but it won’t budge—nothing will. Not my legs. My feet. My arms. Dammit!
     
    I sit up straight in the seat with my hands on my lap, doing the only thing I can do. Nothing. Raven has the air conditioning cranked up even though it’s cold outside with frost glazing the leaves and sidewalks and everyone walking up and down the sidewalk is wearing jackets. I didn’t even think to grab mine, but then again, I wasn’t really thinking on my own when I left the house.
     
    Relax, you look beautiful, Cameron assures me . You always do.
     
    “Oh, shut up,” I say and Raven shoots me a stunned look.
     
    “Excuse me?” She says, turning down the radio with one hand while she grips onto the steering wheel with the other.
     
    “It’s nothing.” I sigh and rotate towards the window, knowing there’s probably a very slim chance that I’m just going bowling. Cameron starts laughing in my head again while Raven mutters something under her breath about me losing my mind. I need to calm down. Get myself together. Yes, Cameron has control of my body, but he doesn’t have control of my mind. I start creating poetry, putting letters and words together.
     
    Wings of freedom
     
    Eyes of light
     
    Touch that stills me
     
    And Comforts
     
    Like rays of sunshine
     
    Instead of shadows
     
    I start to relax, but then Cameron’s and my thoughts mingle, and he takes over my internal poetry.
     
    Through the whispers of the willows,
     
    One leaf strives to survive
     
    But endangered from the wind and branches,
     
    It slowly starts to die
     
    Though maybe that’s what’s better for it;
     
    To give up,