Page 1 of Irreversible

PART 1

IRREVERSIBLE: NOT ABLE TO BE UNDONEOR ALTERED.

PROLOGUE

Machinery growls like a hungry T-Rex, sending vibrations through the earth. As dirt and debris rains from above, I huddle under my only protection: a scratchy blanket and a hoodie big enough to fit a large adult.

I’m trying to be brave, but I want to go home.

“Still with me, Aiden?” A beam of light follows the man’s voice as he leans out from the bucket of a crane suspended overhead.

I bob my flashlight in response, my throat so parched it hurts to talk. I’m tempted to ask for another bottle of water, but I already drank the last one from the supply pack lowered by the rescue team, and now I really need to pee.

“Good. You just hang in there a little while longer, kiddo. Soon as we’re stable, I’ll come get you myself.”

I’ve already forgotten his name. Drew, maybe? Yesterday, I might’ve told him that I’m almost thirteen and not akiddo.But right now, I just want to crawl into my parents’ bed with my dog, Barney, eat Mom’s chicken soup, and cry. Won’t even bother me if that kid Carson from down the street calls me a baby; let’s seehimstay down in a dark hole for half the night.

Drew’s light makes spots dance in front of my eyes. “They’re going to lower me down, so I don’t touch the sides. Then we’ll get you in this harness and haul you out of there.”

Somewhere above, I hear Kaylee’s high-pitched whine, saying she told me I’d get in trouble for coming out here. I know she’s scared, too. We’ve been warned to keep away from the back of the property, where the old house used to be before it caved with age, and the demolition crews came.

This time, my little sister was right.

“You’re being so brave, honey,” Mom hollers, while Dad promises I can take off school and hang with him at work for the rest of the week if I’m feeling up to it.

I’m clinging to that as tightly as the mud-crusted wooden box I found sticking out of a pile of broken concrete a few feet away. Maybe Dad will let me use his tools to clean it up.

Now that the dust has cleared, I let the blanket drop and balance the box on my knees so I can take a bite of my granola bar. Peeling the wrapper back, I watch my fingers shake from the chill.

A few hours ago, I didn’t think anyone would find me out here.

I’ve been thinking about this place since I heard Mom and Dad whispering around the kitchen table one night after I was supposed to be in bed. Rumors had been passed through the generations about my great-great-grandparents, who lived here originally. When I begged them to tell me more, they said they were just stories, and that I should never go near it.

That was a long time ago, but I never forgot about it. Early this morning, I decided to explore, hoping to find something cool. Some human bones; maybe even a skull. Anything could be a clue from the past.

Dad might let me help in his forensics lab if I found something like that.

But then the ground gave way…

I thought I was going to die. I really thought I was?—

Something shifts ahead of me, and I jerk my light toward the gaping opening. There’s nothing. Just darkness and dirt.

Now I’mreallyglad I didn’t find a skull.

Scooting as close to the wall as I dare, I glance around. No dead bodies. No ghosts.

BANG.

My heart beats like the wings of a trapped bird. Making myself as small as possible, I clutch the box.

No ghosts, no ghosts, no ghosts.

“Hey, kiddo.” Movement above me. Grinding, clanking. Drew. “How’d you like to get out of here?”

“Really?” Scrambling to my feet, I look straight up into the beam of light, like it’s from heaven and this man is my guardian angel.

“Move back, I’m coming for ya.”

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