Burn Down, Rise Up: Parts Two–Three

by Vincent Tirado
When people mysteriously disappear and her mother is attacked by an infectious patient, sixteen-year-old Raquel Celestin and her friends start an investigation that leads them to a dangerous game in the tunnels of the Bronx.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Part One, Parts Two–Three, Parts Four–Five, Parts Six–Seven
40 words 11 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. perpetually
    without interruption
    He was an older Jamaican man, with only the hint of an accent and a face that was perpetually unsurprised.
  2. drawl
    a slow speech pattern with prolonged vowels
    “You know where you’re going?” the security guard said, in a bored drawl.
  3. prattle
    speak about unimportant matters rapidly and incessantly
    They huddled together with thick packets in hand and prattled off medical jargon as they considered a case.
  4. jargon
    technical terminology characteristic of a particular subject
    They huddled together with thick packets in hand and prattled off medical jargon as they considered a case.
  5. haggard
    showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
    The door creaked open, and Charlize appeared, looking as haggard as if she’d just fought her way through the Amazon.
  6. deranged
    driven insane
    “It’s clear that Cisco tried the train challenge and broke the rules—which may or may not have been the reason why he’s—”
    “Deranged?”
    “I was going to say losing his mind but potato, po-tah-to.”
  7. coherent
    capable of thinking in a clear and consistent manner
    “Said something about a monster in his head, but he was barely coherent.”
  8. ruminate
    reflect deeply on a subject
    Charlize chewed on her bottom lip, ruminating.
  9. synapse
    the junction between two neurons
    “I think it is,” I said, forcing the synapses in my brain to quit firing so damn loud.
  10. induce
    cause to arise
    The walk to my dad’s place the next day before school was almost more anxiety- inducing than the walk to the hospital.
  11. sanity
    normal or sound powers of mind
    I clenched my cell phone in hand, well aware Papi had sent several text messages through the night. I didn’t answer a single one and eventually shut it off for my own sanity.
  12. entrails
    internal organs collectively
    How was it that Papi had a way of pulling my emotions out of me like entrails until I was a mess?
  13. subside
    sink to a lower level or form a depression
    My nose was so stuffy, I cried because I was certain I was going to suffocate in my sleep. Papi had rocked me in his arms, rubbing my back until I drifted off, and when I woke up, the congestion had subsided.
  14. implication
    a logical relation between propositions
    “All I know is, it’s not exactly like traveling to the past because that would just be time traveling, which would have a whole laundry list of implications. Paradoxes and all of that.”
  15. nostalgia
    a longing for something past
    They were all probably nonfunctional as a result of all the scratches, but even if they could be scavenged, Aaron’s PlayStation 2 broke years ago. He only kept the video game disks out of nostalgia.
  16. sentimental
    marked by tender, romantic, or nostalgic emotion
    Despite being an awkward conversationalist, Aaron was and would always be sentimental.
  17. implement
    ensure observance of laws and rules
    “Though I did hear that if even a single student at Hyde disappears next, they’ll be implementing some sort of curfew.”
  18. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
    The Echo already claimed them, so they don’t need to eat to survive. Their personality gets warped. They’re either too violent or too skittish, they don’t notice when they’re bleeding, they don’t notice how much time passes by.
  19. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    “Keeping it together?” I said, incredulous.
  20. stint
    an unbroken period of time during which you do something
    I didn’t like to acknowledge my crying stints, but that didn’t mean they didn’t happen.
  21. testament
    strong evidence for something
    I walked into the house, my duffel bag slung on one shoulder. A dull pain radiated through it, a testament to how much I was carrying.
  22. nicety
    conformity with some standard of correctness or propriety
    “Yup,” I said, pushing past her. The bag was killing me worse than the social niceties.
  23. placebo
    an innocuous or inert medication
    “Would that have helped?”
    “Well, it couldn’t have hurt.” I pouted. I wasn’t brave enough to start sleeping without it in case those nightmares came back, but even I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t just the placebo effect.
  24. liability
    something that holds you back
    “He can’t help the fact he’s sick. The way he is now, he’ll just be a liability.”
  25. succession
    a following of one thing after another in time
    Charlize undid each lock on the front door in slow succession, pausing each time to hear for evidence of a waking mother.
  26. falter
    be or become weak, unsteady, or uncertain
    Charlize’s smile hardly faltered, and I realized why.
  27. assuage
    provide physical relief, as from pain
    She was terrified. She wanted me to toss the coin again to assuage her fears...
  28. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    Her hands shook, but her face was stoic—ready for anything.
  29. apprehensive
    in fear or dread of possible evil or harm
    Charlize and I held our breaths, and despite the unknown sitting on the other side of the tracks, it made me feel better to know that I wasn’t the only one feeling apprehensive.
  30. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    Like every single time before, he was emaciated. The skin on his bones somehow hung off and clung to him like bedsheets wrapped around a person.
  31. consensus
    agreement in the judgment reached by a group as a whole
    The Echo’s rules were vague, but the consensus was still the same—don’t touch anything if you could help it.
  32. goad
    provoke as by constant criticism
    “Come on, come on,” the man goaded. “Do you really want to waste the one chance you have to get answers from a direct source?”
  33. amalgamate
    bring or combine together or with something else
    Heat rolled into the car. It smelled like an amalgamation of everyone who had been on it. There was Sharpie graffiti on parts of the walls and stale gum stuck to the side of the seat I was on.
  34. intermittently
    in a manner of stopping and starting at irregular intervals
    The train ran on, stopping intermittently, but no one appeared to get on at all.
  35. disparage
    express a negative opinion of
    The Echo was doing a great job of filling my mind with violent imagery—every time I so much as laid a hand on a building, images of bullets and gangs and badges and fire shot fast through me. Littered everywhere were newspaper articles, all disparaging the Bronx.
  36. innate
    inborn or existing naturally
    You’ve always had this...innate ability to see things others can’t. A power buried deep inside.
  37. trinket
    a small cheap ornament, knickknack, or piece of jewelry
    But you’ve had people shield it all this time. With prayers and trinkets, things you might have taken for granted.
  38. mandible
    either of the mouthparts used by arthropods to bite food
    A large, centipede-like creature crawled fast toward me, its mandibles snapping in the air.
  39. staple
    a necessary commodity for which demand is constant
    Corner stores were a staple of the Bronx.
  40. decrepit
    worn and broken down by hard use
    I turned to look back at the decrepit train station even though I knew I couldn’t stay there.
Created on Fri Apr 07 12:44:59 EDT 2023 (updated Sat Apr 08 10:39:18 EDT 2023)

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