Scorch Excerpt by Gina Damico

7/28/2019 Scorch Excerpt by Gina Damico

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Author of Croak

An amusing blend of whimsy and humor with serious drama and blood.

Kirkus Reviews


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Copyright 2012 by Gina DamicoMap illustration copyright 2012 by Seymour Chwast

All rights reserved. For inormation about permission to reproduce selections rom this book,

write to Permissions, Houghton Miin Harcourt Publishing Company,

215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

Graphia and the Graphia logo are trademarks o

Houghton Miin Harcourt Publishing Company.

www.hmhbooks.com

ext set in Garamond Premier Pro

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Damico, Gina.

Scorch / by Gina Damico.

p. cm.Summary: Sixteen-year-old grim reaper Lex Bartleby tries to redeem hersel among

her ellow Grims by fnding a renegade reaper who is indiscriminately damning souls.

ISBN 978-0-547-62457-0 (pbk.)

[1. DeathFiction. 2. Future lieFiction. 3. Humorous stories.] I. itle.

PZ7.D1838Sco 2012

[Fic]dc23

2012014799

Manuactured in the United States o America

DOC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1


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1

Carl Scutner wondered, or a brie moment, what it would eellike to punt his wie o a cli.

Would you shut up in there? he yelled rom the soa. Be-tween the noisy construction crew down the street, the whim-pers coming rom the dog cage that sat in the corner, and the potsand pans his wie was banging around in the kitchen, the baseballgame on television had become nearly inaudible. Jesus Christ, Icant hear mysel think!

Lydia appeared at the kitchen doorway. Like theres anythingworth hearing in that so-called brain o yours.

Woman, I swear to God . . .Here. She handed him a resh beer and sat on the edge o a

hideous orange chair, its matted abric dingy and stained. Cubslosing?

Carl let out a belch. As usual.

Lydia looked down. Crumpled ast ood wrappers littered theoor. A glob o ketchup had leaked onto the carpet. As the con-struction noises down the street grew louder, so too did thewhimpers rom the cage. She glanced at the telephone, thencouldnt stop staring at it. Her breaths became shallow.

Tey havent called, Carl.

He took a drag rom his cigarette. Teyll call.You always say that. Youre not always right.


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2 GIN AD AMICO

Lydia. Teyll call.Tey better, she said, wringing her hands. I dont want to

do thatagain.Its up to them, not us. You know that.Lydia picked through her mousy hair with a trembling hand.

She shot a resentul glance at her husband and his ever-expand-ing beer gut, then snied the air. It smells like shit in here.

It is shit.

Lydia looked at the dog cage, into the big brown eyes staringback at her. Maybe we should let him out or a little while.Are you kidding me? Te last one got halway down the

driveway beore I caught him. He took a swig o beer. Youregetting sloppy.

Im just She stopped and looked around. Did you hearthat?

Hear what?She listened. I thought maybe the back door Alarm systems on. He stubbed out his cigarette on the arm

o the soa. Would you knock it o ? You should be used to thisby now.

Unnerved, Lydia grabbed his empty beer bottle and walked

into the kitchen. At least let me eed the poor thing.Carl gestured at the bowl o kibble on the oor. Hes fne.

oo at as he is, i you ask me.Four things happened next.Te construction crew grew louder, so Carl grabbed the re-

mote and turned up the volume as high as it could go. Tis just so

happened to coincide with a home run, which prompted Carl tolet loose with a torrent o obscenities.


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SCORCH 3

And so, as the living room erupted into a sustained cacoph-ony, Carl never heard the bottle shatter on the kitchen oor. He

never heard his wies tortured screams. And he certainly neverheard the intruder enter the living room; in act, he didnt evenrealize she was there until she was right in ront o him, her eyespeeking out rom beneath a black hood, her nose almost touch-ing his.

Hello, Mr. Scutner, she said, extending a thin, pale fnger.

Goodbye, Mr. Scutner.

Im sorry you had to see that, she said a ew moments later,opening the door to the dog cage. Are you okay?

Te little boy inside nodded his head, his eyes blurred withtears. She took his hand and led him across the living room, care-ul not to let him get too close to the scorching remains o hiscaptors.

I have to go now, she said, grabbing a phone and dialing .But I need you to be brave and do one thing or me. She handedhim the phone. Just tell them who you are and that youre at

fy-one Forest Drive. Ten go sit out on the ront steps. Canyou do that?

He wiped his nose and nodded.Good boy. And dont tell anyone I was here. She smiled and

raised something that looked like a knie. Itll be our little se-cret.


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4 GIN AD AMICO

Te news reports that aired later that night were conusing, tosay the least. A married couple by the name o Carl and Lydia

Scutner were ound dead in their home, victims o an apparentmurder-suicide. All evidence pointed to the act that they werethe suspects the police had been hunting or a while now, themonsters responsible or kidnapping and holding or ransomat least a dozen children rom the suburbs o Chicago over thepast six months. Small, resh mounds o dirt in the backyard

indicated that a ew o those children had never been re-turned.No cameras were allowed inside the house. oo gruesome, the

police said.Te little boy was clearly still in shock. Te descriptions he

gave o what had happened the Scutners bursting into amesalmost instantly, without burning a single other item in thehouse, only to sel-extinguish a ew minutes later were too ri-diculous to be taken seriously. Te police smiled politely at histales and rued his hair, while his parents were so overcome withrelie that they barely listened to a word he said. And the media,clearly o the opinion that children should be seen and not heard,were perectly content to snap photo aer photo o the adorable

tear-stained lad, yanking the microphone out o his ace the mo-ment he started to embarrass them with talk o spontaneousmagical fres.

No one listened to him. And it was about that time that thechild realized why the girl had told him to remain silent: becauseno one would have believed him anyway.

Who would have believed that his savior was merely a teenagegirl wearing jeans and a plain black hoodie? Who would have


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SCORCH 5

believed that she simply appeared inside the house, set the Scut-ners ablaze with nothing more than a jab o her fnger, and then

disappeared just as quickly?No one.And so he kept the little secret.


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2

Looks like Zaras at it again, the old bats voice crackled.Lex ignored this jolly piece o news and stared out the car

window at the blurring oliage o the Adirondacks. Te leaveswere just beginning to change a ew splotches o yellow, aspeckle or two o red. Tough a chill had settled in the air, shehad opened her window ar wider than just a crack, and neitherthe loud gusts o wind nor the occasional chattering o teeth issu-ing orth rom the passengers stued into the tiny back seat hadprompted her to close it.

Keep it down, Pandora, Lexs uncle replied into his Cu, thestaticky, ether-inused communications device around his wrist.Ive got rookies in the car. Dont reak them out any sooner thanwe have to.

But this is getting ridiculous! the voice rasped back throughthe Cu. First those mail bombers in Houston, then that rapist

in Nebraska. Now kidnappers in Chicago! Ever since that littlesnake ound hersel a new scythe, shes been going hog-wild!Tere was a pause. I guess we should count our lucky stars shehasnt come aer us.

Count our lucky stars? She ound a scythe, Dora. Whichmeans she also ound an ally.

Which means, Pandora added, that once again, werescrewed eight ways rom Sunday.

Tey exchanged a ew more words beore hanging up. Uncle


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SCORCH 7

Mort glanced at Lexs twitching eye, then turned his attentionback to the road and absent-mindedly ran his fnger up and down

the scar across his ace. You okay?Tis was precisely the orty-third time since they had le her

parents house in Queens that Uncle Mort had asked her this.Lex had been keeping track.

I dont know, areyou okay? she shot back, also or the orty-third time.

Aer her twin sisters uneral in New York City, Lex and Un-cle Mort had gotten back in his cheddar yellow Gremlin andtaken o on a road trip to etch the rookies. And ever since theyle, Lex had turned into such a jittery pile o nerves that shedchewed through no less than fy packs o gum. Te constantsupply o truck-stop coees probably wasnt helping, either.

She just couldnt turn o her brain. It toiled and hummed likea actory, ceaselessly churning out worries and concerns and thedreaded what-is. It never quit not when they stopped orood, not when theyd gained two new passengers, not even whenshe slept. Or didnt sleep, in her case. Most nights she just staredat the dingy hotel ceilings and picked at her long, dark hair, re-playing what had happened, worrying about her sister, wonder-

ing what would happen now that they were almost back inCroak.

In the car, she began compulsively icking the cheap plasticlighter decorated with a skull and crossbones that Uncle Morthad bought her at a truck stop somewhere in Ohio. She wasthankul that they were together, at least; Uncle Mort could be a

pain sometimes, but in the way she imagined an older brotherwould be annoying, but protective. And with the added ben-eft o being a total badass.


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8 GIN AD AMICO

He ran a hand through his black, electrocution-style hair,then shot her another concerned look and leaned over. Do you

need to stop? he said in a quieter voice, in a tone that suggestedhe wasnt talking about urinary demands.

No. Lex shrank in her seat a little. I . . . discharged back inBualo.

Good girl. Should only be another hour or so, okay?Lex sank arther into her standard-issue, thermoregulated

black hoodie and pulled the hood over her head. Te thought ohaving to discharge even the ugliness o the word itsel madeher eel so diseased. Fittingly, a hospital ew by her windowjust then, its stark concrete aade mocking her copious dysunc-tions.

She thought back to where shed been nearly three monthsearlier: on her way to Croak or the frst time with a rap sheet solong and terrible that her ed-up parents had decided to send heraway or the summer to live with her uncle, in the hopes that hedstraighten her out. O course, theyd had no idea that his idea ostraightening her out meant inorming her that she was a Grimand proceeding to give her a crash course on how to reap mortalsouls. Not exactly the kind o thing one can describe in a pam-

phlet.It had started out so well, though. For the frst time in years,

Lex made riends; hell, she even snagged a boyriend. And true,she didnt agree with everything the Grimsphere stood or let-ting murderers go ree without punishment was at the top o herlist, and shed had more than a ew urges to deliver her own idea

o justice but overall, it was turning out to be the best summero her lie.

Until it all turned into a steaming pile o crap. Te abnormal


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SCORCH 9

abilities that at frst had turned her into the best Killer in Croaksoon morphed into something much more sinister: the ability to

Damn souls, a oul, unspeakable act that resulted in everlastingtorment. And beore she could even fgure this out or hersel,Zara a ellow Junior, a Grim-in-training jumped right in totwist it to her own advantage. Not only did Zara murder almosta hundred people under the radar all summer long, but she alsodevised a way to Cull Lexs Damning ability or hersel.

She did this by using Lexs twin sister, Cordy, as bait.And Lex had allen or it.Tat wave o nausea arose yet again. Lex bent over to pick

through the bag at her eet, her sisters old backpack. In it sat aew clothes and Cordys old stued octopus, Captain Wiggles,along with two items Uncle Mort had invented just or Lex: aLieglass an hourglass-shaped device that stored and recordedall her memories and a Spark, a ickering glass bulb that meas-ured her lie orce. Te Spark hed made or Cordy was in theretoo, although it was just a bright, glowing ball now

Lex gulped another breath, sat back up, and closed her eyes.Tis drive will be over soon, she told hersel. Youll be home.

Because despite everything that had happened, Croak was

still her home, and she loved it. Te quaint streets, the rollinghills, the complete and utter lack o a Starbucks all the thingsthat shed initially hated about the small town, she now missedwith a burning passion. Being a Grim, traveling through themind-numbing space that was the ether, Killing targets, deliver-ing their souls to the Aerlie it was what she was born to do,

and Croak was where she belonged.It was the citizens in it that were the problem. Very soon shed

have to ace the townspeople, whom she hadnt seen since Uncle


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10 GIN AD AMICO

Mort had whisked her out o town two weeks earlier. What couldshe possibly say to everyone? Tey must hate her or letting Zara

escape with the ability to Damn whomever she wanted, wherevershe wanted.

Still, shed get to go back to the job she loved. Shed get to seeDriggs and be kept up until two in the morning by his incessantdrumming. Shed get to see her riends.

Friends that shed be putting in danger. And it wasnt as i

things were going back to the way they were. Shed have to be onher guard at all times. Shed have to control her vengeul urgeseven more vigilantly now. Shed have to fnd Zara and stop her.

And shed have to see Cordy.Lex anxiously shoved the lighter into her pocket. She couldnt

avoid her sister orever. Cordy was waiting or her, just on theother side o the great hereaer, and by now had undoubtedlylearned that she was dead because her dumbass sister had beentoo stupid to realize she was being manipulated. Lex didnt knowwhat to expect. A cold, unloving stare? Te silent treatment? Teangriest bitch slap o all time?

Lex grabbed the handle and cranked the window down as aras it could go. She stuck her head out into the rigid air, letting

the wind sting at her ace, utilely hoping to numb her thoughts.

Her riends were waiting or her, sitting atop the ountain at thecenter o town. Tey were hard to miss; Ferbuss orange hair

stood out like a trac cone, and Elysias blond ponytail caughtthe sun as she climbed up onto the ountains ledge to get a betterlook at the car though she was so short, it didnt make much o


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SCORCH 11

a dierence. Ferbus stood too, rolling up the newspaper hedbeen reading. And Driggs

Driggs was lying on the ledge, staring at the sky. At the soundo the engine, his head opped to the side and ollowed the car asit made its way down Dead End. He barely moved.

Lex rolled up her window with shaking hands. By the time thecar came to a stop in ront o the ountain, her body elt as i itwas about to snap apart at the seams.

Uncle Mort glanced at the welcoming committee, then backat Lex. You ready or this, kiddo?Do I have a choice?He gave her a sympathetic smile as she clambered out o the

car. Tats the spirit.Lex! Elysia squealed, jumping to embrace her in an epic

bear hug. Oh my God, we missed you so much! Ow! Ferbushad pinched her. What?

Let her breathe, he said as Elysia detached hersel. Hi, Lex.Lex couldnt even muster a response. Elysias contagious zeal

usually had a way o making terrible things seem not so terribleaer all, but it wasnt working this time. Lex wrung her clammyhands, her anxiety heightened by this deluge o undeserved love.

Didnt they know what shed done? Didnt they realize howmuch danger they were in by even being in the same zip code asher? She didnt even want to look at Driggs . . .

O course, she had to. Tere he was, just as she had le him,her imperectly adorable partner with that messy coee-coloredhair, those mismatched eyes one brown, one blue. Her brain

spun into overdrive. Did he even care that she was back? He waslooking at her with an unreadable expression. Was it a sneer? Washe mad?


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12 GIN AD AMICO

Her ace was doing that weird twitching thing again, so shelooked away. Te last thing she wanted was or Driggs to realize

that he was now in a relationship with a spastic robot. He inchedto her side, wordlessly hooked his pinkie fnger through hers, andgave it a squeeze.

But he didnt say anything.Uncle Mort exited the car, rowning. Ferb, Lys, what are you

doing here?

Elysia threw a nervous glance at the library. We didnt reallyhave a choice.But you know the drill youre not supposed to meet your

new partners until training.A mued burst o sound came rom within the library. Some-

one peeked out rom behind the blinds, then disappeared as soonas the Juniors looked over.

What are they like? Elysia said. She squinted at the two-door, where the rookies were trying desperately to ree them-selves rom the back seat.

Dumb, right? said Ferbus. Scared? Liable to get us in evenmore trouble than were already in? He shot a bitter glance atthe library.

Go easy on them, okay? Uncle Mort said, ollowing Ferbussgaze with a hint o suspicion. Ferbus and Elysia had spent thepast year guarding the Aerlie, but now that rookies were arriv-ing, it was their job to train them as Killers and Cullers muchto Elysias delight and Ferbuss dismay.

Ill try, said Ferbus. But I anticipate suckitude.

Um, hello? A trapped voice came rom the car.Uncle Mort sighed. Fine. Introductions today means more

time or training tomorrow. Give me a minute to pry them out o


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SCORCH 13

there. He walked back to the car and started to wrestle down thetricky ront seats. Hed confded in Lex that some o the towns-

people thought he was nuts or bringing new kids into a such anunstable and dangerous environment, but frm believer in theJunior Grim program that he was, he had summed up his replywith one rude ip o a fnger.

Elysia leaned in to Lex. I still cant believe he let you go withhim.

Ferbus let out a snort. Whats so hard to believe? Te manwould let her blow up the moon i she wanted to. And she prob-ably does.

Lex narrowed her eyes, but was still too rattled to think o agood comeback. And Driggs didnt even jump to her deense.Odd.

It didnt matter, as Elysia could always be counted on to fll asilence. But Morts never taken anyone with him on his annualtrip to etch the rookies. No Juniors, no Seniors, not even anyonewhos retired. Was it cool, Lex?

O course it was cool, Ferbus said. I remember when he gotme just picked me up, like I had called or a taxi. He glared atElysia. Imagine my disappointment when we etchedyou next.

Shut up, Ferb.Uncle Mort let out a triumphant yell as he fnally collapsed

the ront seat. Te Juniors eyes ew to the car.First to bound out o it was a boy with dirty-blond hair and a

seemingly unlimited cache o pent-up energy. His gaze dartedabout maniacally, not settling on anything or more than a sec-

ond or two. Tough he stood not much taller than Elysia, a set osturdy muscles sliding beneath his skin suggested a hidden, tena-cious strength. And a icker o jumpiness seemed to compel his


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14 GIN AD AMICO

every motion, as i he might run o to scamper up the nearesttree at any given moment. Indeed, everything about him the

quick movements, his nimble hands, the way he even seemed tobe sning the air led to the overall impression o a peppy littlesquirrel.

His counterpart, on the other hand, resembled less a rodentthan a large, ightless bird. A lanky girl o Indian descent, sheslipped out o the car in total silence and hardly moved, the very

portrait o someone who had recently been blindsided by a par-ticularly cruel blitz o puberty. Te kid was all angles; she didntseem to know how to stand or what to do with her limbs or howbest to hide her knobby knees. Poker-straight black hair hungdown to her waist, and a curtain o thick bangs nearly coveredher eyes, though not completely. Massive, round, and waveringsomewhere between blue and green, they popped so radiantlyagainst the darkness o her skin that her stare seemed electrifed.

Eventually she settled into a dejected stance, hugging a bookto her chest and rocking nervously rom side to side. I got a two-or-one deal, Uncle Mort told the Juniors. Foster kids rom thesame amily. Can you believe it?

Where are we? the boy said. Is this the town? Who are

they? He began to hop rom oot to oot. What are we doinghere? Arent you going to tell us? Didnt he say he was going totell us? he asked the girl, who didnt move.

Good Lord, kid, Uncle Mort said over his questions. Nomore sodas or you.

I only had three!

Like they made a dierence, Uncle Mort told the Juniorsunder his breath. Intrinsically buoyant, that one.


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SCORCH 15

Ferbus stared in wonder. Hes like a bag o microwave pop-corn.

Driggs fnally spoke, his voice equally amazed. But popcorntends to stop popping aer a couple minutes. Hes . . . still going.

Are we in the Adirondacks? Where are we staying? Do weneed money? How

Zip it, jumping bean. Uncle Mort took the boy by the shoul-ders to still him. All will be explained shortly. For now, meet

Ferbus, Elysia, and Driggs.Te boy nodded at each o them. Hi. Hi. Hi.Kids, meet the new rookies. He prodded the boy. Go

ahead, introduce yourselves.Im Pip, he said with a little wave. And this is Bang. Because

shes originally rom Bangalore, India. And No need to say where youre rom, said Uncle Mort. Youre

earthlings, thats all that matters.Ferbus studied the odd pair. You sure about that?Te girl unolded her arms, tossed her book to the ground,

and directed a urry o rantic hand gestures at Pip, who ol-lowed them with an intense stare. When she fnished, shedropped her hands to her sides and looked at Uncle Mort.

He stared back, uncomprehending. What did she say? heasked Pip.

Pip had stopped bouncing around. He looked hurt. She saidthat you promised they would be nice to us.

Whats wrong with her? Ferbus said. She dea ?Nothings wrong with her! Pip said. She can hear perectly

fne. She just doesnt talk.But thats not Elysia looked conused. I learned some


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16 GIN AD AMICO

sign language when I was a kid, and whatever all that was thatsnot sign language.

Pip looked at her blankly. Its oursign language.Bang inched closer to him. He grabbed her hand and backed

up a little. Youre not going to be mean about this, are you? heasked. Because high school back home was hard enough or us,and i youre going to be the same as those jerks

No, o course were not! Elysia cried. Im so sorry. Were all

sorry. She elbowed Ferbus in the ribs.Right. Fergus coughed. Sorry.Dierent is good here, said Driggs. Weve all got weird

things. Te weirder, the better.Pips ace slowly soened back into a grin. Almost impercep-

tibly, Bangs did too.You guys ready or a walk? Uncle Mort asked them.A walk where? asked Pip. Why are we here? Where is ev-

eryone? What Silence. Uncle Mort clamped a hand over Pips mouth. Ac-

tually, thats not a bad question, he said to the Juniors. Where iseveryone?

Tey exchanged anxious glances.

Driggs cleared his throat. Youre not going to like this.

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Scorch Excerpt by Gina Damico