Chapter 12
Monday Afternoon, January 10th
Cole stood outside in the cold, waiting for Dinah after the last bell. He was still tense thinking about the demons and the possibility that they would attack while they were at school. But the day was nearly over and Uncle Harper would be there to pick him and Dinah up in a little more than half an hour. They had managed to go nearly the full day at school without any signs of danger. He could sense the presence of four of the wolves in the nearby trees, but while they seemed to be alert for signs of the demons, their minds were otherwise at ease. There was a good chance that they would get home safely and without incident, which caused conflicting emotions in Cole. He was relieved that they hadn’t been forced to confront the demons directly, but he was still worried that they had no long-term solution to the threat of the creatures. And his newfound lack of faith in Uncle Harper’s ability to figure one out didn’t help his anxiety.
He sensed Eliza’s presence before he heard the front door of the school open. He turned around and saw her walking up to him along the sidewalk. She flipped up the collar of her jacket as a slight breeze blew the icy air against her, but the warmth of her smile when he met her eyes dispelled any cold that Cole felt.
“Why are you waiting outside, Cole?” Eliza asked as she walked up to stand next to him. “It’s freezing out here.”
Cole smiled back at her as he answered, “It’s not so bad. I’m waiting for Dinah.”
“Waiting for your sister?” Eliza asked. “That’s sweet of you to do that.”
Cole felt unusually confident as he answered flirtatiously, “Well, I’m a sweet guy.” He couldn’t believe it as he said it, but it seemed to have the desired effect.
Eliza seemed surprised, but smiled in what Cole could only describe as a flirting way. “Well, I think I already knew that, Cole,” she said as she gently pushed his shoulder with hers. “You know, I’ve always liked that name. Are you named after someone?”
Cole’s newfound confidence took a minor dive as he thought of how to answer her question. He and his siblings were all named after their parents’ favorite jazz artists. While this was cool to most adults, it was hard to convince other people Cole’s age that jazz was in any way cool. He thought of making something up to answer Eliza’s question, but he didn’t want to pretend to be something – or someone, that he wasn’t, especially not with her.
“We’re all named after jazz artists that my parents liked,” he answered her. He waited for her to laugh at him or look at him like he was a weirdo, but her eyes brightened and she smiled again.
“Cole Porter or Nat King Cole?” she asked.
Cole stared at her in surprise. He couldn’t believe that she would know either of those names. “Both, actually,” he answered. “My mom loved Cole Porter and my dad loves Nat King Cole. How did you know?”
Eliza laughed before answering, “Most people don’t think it’s cool, but I love jazz. I grew up listening to it with my parents, and it always seems to make me relax when I’m stressing out about something. Is that weird?”
Cole looked at her and it seemed like he was meeting her for the first time. He couldn’t believe that someone as beautiful and cool as she was could have one of the same interests as he did. With everything that had been happening to him and his family over the past few days, it was a welcome stroke of good luck.
“No, it’s not weird at all,” he said, mystified. “Maybe we could listen to some of my music at my house some time.” He couldn’t believe he was being so bold by asking her, but he figured the worst she could say was no.
She looked down at her feet for a second and then looked up at him through lowered eyelids. “I’d like that a lot, Cole.”
Cole smiled back at her as he said, “Cool.” He thought of something else that he wanted to ask her and thought that he might actually have a chance of her saying yes. He had wanted to ask her to the winter dance, but figured she would have preferred to go with about a dozen other guys beside him. But now he thought his luck might be changing.
Harper walked to the front door of the school building while holding Billie’s hand. He stopped to the side of the glass door and waited as scores of other students hurried past them and outside to the cars of their waiting parents. They waited near the door for Louis while Harper looked out the door, scanning the trees near the school for any sign of the demons. He had seen no sign of them each time that he had gone outside during the classroom breaks and silently thanked the universe that it looked like they would make it through the entire day without meeting them. He was relieved that this was the case, but still wondered what his long-term plan was going to be.
His conversation the night before with Tragmar, the leader of the Sentinels, had not gone well. Tragmar had refused to let Harper tell him where the Solas was. He had insisted that so many of the Sentinels had gone missing that he was sure their security had been compromised. He didn’t think it was safe to discuss anything over the phone and had insisted that Harper and the children use ‘the usual channels’ to find him. Harper knew what those channels were, but knew that it would take some time for him to find Tragmar by following them. They had been designed to be difficult for anyone who didn’t know which signs to look for to find. And it meant that Harper would have to figure out a way to convince Jerry that the entire family should go on a trip somewhere to the north, which was all he knew about Tragmar’s whereabouts. He was nervous about leaving the safety of the house, but wasn’t sure how much longer they’d have before the demons made their move on the family.
“Harper,” a woman’s voice called from down the hall. “May I speak with you for a minute?”
He looked down the hallway and saw Ms. Waverly walking over to where he stood with Billie. “I’m glad I caught you before you left,” she said. “I wanted to ask you about helping with some upcoming events.”
Billie looked up to see Ms. Waverly fidgeting as she spoke to her uncle. She always seemed to have that reaction whenever Uncle Harper was around and Billie thought it was funny to watch her when she was like that. Billie looked at her uncle as Ms. Waverly spoke to him and she watched as he kept looking out the window, like he was looking for something. Ms. Waverly seemed to pick up on this and looked out the window, as well.
“Are you waiting for someone?” she asked. “I really don’t mean to keep you, if you need to leave.”
Harper looked over at her and smiled, “No, I’m sorry. We’re just waiting for Louis. Do you mind if we speak outside? It’s a little stuffy in here.” Harper wanted to get a better look at the trees around the front of the school to be sure that there was no sign of the creatures before they walked to the parking lot where his van was parked.
“Um, sure,” Ms. Waverly said. “Let me grab my coat and meet you outside.”
She turned around and walked back to her classroom as Harper opened the door and stepped outside with Billie, who was already bundled up against the cold in jacket, scarf, hat and gloves. Harper still found it funny that humans were so susceptible to the cold when so many of them had chosen to live in it. His people felt the cold, but not in the same way as humans. They knew it was there, but it did not cause discomfort and was not dangerous to them as it could be for humans. He wore a heavy jacket more as a means of blending in than from actually needing its protection and warmth.
Harper scanned the trees that were on either side of the parking lot for any signs of the demons, but could see nothing other than the trees themselves and the snow between them. He reached out with his senses to see if he could feel anything, but there truly appeared to be nothing there. He thought about the other children and felt a stab of worry. He hoped that there had been no sign of the demons at either of the other two schools. Since there had been no communication from either group of wolves or from Cody, he assumed that their sentry duty had been as uneventful as his.
Ms. Waverly walk
ed out the front door and stood next to them, her hands in the pockets of her thick winter coat. “Hoo, it’s freezing out here!” she said. “So, what I wanted to ask you about is some of the upcoming school events. We need some volunteers to help out and I was wondering if you would be interested.” A strong breeze blew against the school building at that moment and Ms. Waverly turned away from it. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait inside where it’s warm?” she asked.
“No, Louis should be out in a minute,” Harper said. He used his inner strength to heat the air slightly around them. It was enough to make Tina Waverly more comfortable, but not enough to make her wonder where the warmth had come from. He saw her relax visibly as he continued, “About the events, Ms. Waverly, I’d be happy to help where I can. Please send me a list of the things that you need help with, and I’ll let you know when I’m available.” He felt slightly guilty for offering help when he knew that it was likely that he and the family would be gone soon, but he liked Ms. Waverly and didn’t want to seem rude by just saying no.
“Please, call me Tina,” Billie’s teacher said with a smile and slight laugh. Harper saw movement from the corner of his eye and looked inside to see Louis leave his classroom inside the school building, followed by his teacher, Mr. Holt.
Louis stood at Mr. Holt’s desk as the rest of his classmates walked past and out the door. Mr. Holt had asked him to stay behind and Louis tried to think of something that he had done to warrant such a request. He had made a conscious effort to behave in class throughout the day, since he had wanted to be more respectful of Mr. Holt after he had cut Louis the break that he had on Friday.
“You wanted to see me, sir?” Louis asked.
Mr. Holt looked up at him and smiled. “Yes, Louis. I wanted to thank you for being so well-behaved today. I noticed that you were making an effort and appreciate it.”
Louis smiled as relief set in, “Oh, no problem, Mr. Holt.” He looked at his teacher, expecting him to say something else, but he just smiled up at him. “Was that it? I mean, can I go now? My uncle’s waiting for me outside.” Louis couldn’t think of a time when he had ever been told that he had been well-behaved at school. The most he typically hoped for was that he didn’t receive detention or other after-school discipline for being caught pulling one of his usual pranks. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he sort of liked the feeling of not being in trouble.
Mr. Holt’s eyes brightened and he asked, “Your uncle’s here? That’s excellent! I’d love to let him know what a change I saw in you today.”
“Oh,” Louis said as he shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll introduce you, if you want.” He realized as he said this that the only thing he thought he would like better than not being in trouble was for his uncle or dad to find out that he had been good. He wasn’t sure if they would believe it coming from him, so having his teacher say it was a blessing.
“Thank you, yes,” Mr. Holt said as he stood up.
Louis saw something metallic glint in the light near the top of Mr. Holt’s shirt as he stood up. “What’s that? In your shirt?” he asked as he saw it flash again.
Mr. Holt looked down in confusion and then his eyes widened in recognition as he reached into the top of his shirt and pulled out a small silver medallion on a chain. “It’s my necklace,” he told Louis as he held it up for him to see.
Louis looked at the silver disc that was carved with an intricate design. It was covered in a strange pattern that seemed to have no starting point and no ending point. The style of the carvings looked familiar to Louis, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen it. “It’s really cool, Mr. Holt. Where did you get it? Does it mean something?”
Mr. Holt looked embarrassed as he answered, “Well, I actually made it. It’s sort of a hobby of mine. The symbols are supposed to…” He chuckled as he continued, “Well, they’re supposed to protect the wearer from evil.”
Louis was fascinated by the medallion which continued to shine in spite of the fact that it was now in the shadow of Mr. Holt’s head. “Does it always glow like that? My mom used to make jewelry that glowed,” Louis said to his teacher. As he watched it, the faint light that it had first put off grew into a steady glow. “It looks like it’s getting brighter.”
Mr. Holt looked down at the medallion in confusion, “You know, I’ve never seen it do that before.” He covered the medallion with his other hand, leaving a small opening between his hands. The light coming from it poured from his cupped hands as he continued to frown down at it. “Huh,” he said as he finally let it go. “It must be retaining heat from my body or something.” He didn’t sound convinced to Louis, who continued to watch the glowing pendant. He looked at it one last time before saying, “Anyway, we’d better not keep your uncle waiting.”
Louis nodded and grabbed his backpack from the ground next to Mr. Holt’s desk and walked out of the classroom with his teacher following behind him.
Vaughan stood next to Sarah under one of the trees near the parking lot. It was a large pine tree that provided some protection from the slight breeze that had begun to blow across the front of the school. He wasn’t very cold, but he could see that Sarah was shivering. She was waiting with him until his uncle arrived to pick him up, but Vaughan knew that her mother wouldn’t be picking her up for at least another hour, since both of Sarah’s parents worked in downtown Denver. Uncle Harper frequently gave her a ride home and Vaughan knew that he would offer today since it was so cold.
Vaughan had been telling Sarah about him signing up for karate lessons and more importantly, the conversation with his father in which he had discovered the reason for his father’s aversion to Vaughan’s dancing.
“You’re kidding,” Sarah said with amazement. “He actually said that?”
Vaughan smiled and nodded, “Yes, he said that the reason he had a hard time watching me dance was because it reminded him of my mom. He also said that my dancing was beautiful, just like hers.” He remembered what he had felt when learning that his assumptions of why his father had avoided his dancing had been so wrong. And he remembered the feelings of guilt that came with that realization. “I felt horrible, Sarah. I didn’t even try to understand what he was going through.”
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up,” Sarah told him as she put her arm around him. He returned the gesture to try to provide some warmth as she continued to shiver. “It sounds like you two just need to learn to talk to each other about stuff.”
“I know, right?” Vaughan told her with a chuckle. “We were becoming a stereotype – the kind of father and son that don’t ever talk about stuff.” He thought of what a huge difference there had been in his relationship with his father in just a few days and vowed not to let that go. He would talk to his father when something was bothering him, and try even harder to understand where his father might be coming from. He thought of something else that had changed in the past few days. “And how about the change with Leroy and Emmitt? They didn’t say one word to me all day,” he said as he looked at Sarah.
Sarah smiled, but then her expression darkened as she looked over Vaughan’s shoulder. “Maybe you spoke to soon,” she said as she nodded in the direction of the school building.
Leroy and Emmitt were walking toward them and Emmitt had a mean look on his face. Leroy looked upset as he walked next to Emmitt and was gesturing wildly. He grabbed Emmitt’s arm and stepped in front of him. Emmitt stopped for just a moment, but then yanked his arm from Leroy’s grasp and shoved him aside as he locked eyes with Vaughan.
“Crap,” Vaughan said as he felt his heart start to race. He stepped in front of Sarah to meet Emmitt and prepared himself for what was about to happen. He was about to get into a fight. And this time, he was going to fight back.
Jerry sat at the diner’s lunch counter as he waited for Larry to return from the restroom. The diner was one of their favorite spots downtown and they had stopped by for a late lunch
before returning to the office to finish their workday. Jerry took a sip of the coffee that he had ordered while he watched one of the early local newscasts on the TV mounted high on the wall. It was a story about someone being shot in one of the Denver suburbs, something that happened more often than Jerry liked to think about. Overall, Denver was safe for a large city. But there were pockets of violence-ridden areas in some of the poorer sections of the city that had been slow to follow the trend toward public safety that most of the rest of the city had seen. It was one of the reasons that he and Arianna had chosen to live in Evergreen.
“Excuse me, but is this seat taken?” a man’s voice asked from Jerry’s side.
He turned to see if the question had been asked of him and was suddenly looking into the eyes of a well-dressed man who stood just a few feet from him. He wore a gray pin-striped suit with a light purple shirt and deep purple tie that made the strange violet color of his eyes nearly glow. He had dark hair, and skin that was nearly the same shade of white as his brilliant, straight teeth. Those same teeth were bared in a dazzling smile. His face was what just about anyone would consider as extremely handsome. And though he didn’t really look like Harper, the man reminded Jerry of his brother-in-law for some reason.
Jerry was sitting on one end of the counter, which was otherwise completely empty. He counted eleven open seats beside his own, any of which should have been a more logical choice for the stranger. He wanted to suggest that the man take a seat further down, but he didn’t want to seem rude.
“Um, sure,” Jerry said instead. “Help yourself.” He turned his attention back to the TV as the man settled himself next to Jerry. He felt the man’s eyes on him, but tried to pretend that he didn’t notice. A city the size of Denver was also filled with its share of weirdoes, and Jerry had encountered many of them in his line of work. He felt the stare continue, so he finally turned to look at the strange man. Before he could say anything, the man stuck out his hand.
“The name’s DeForester,” he said with another dazzling smile.
Jerry wasn’t sure if it was a first name or a last name, or one of those stage names that a lot of entertainment people seemed to go by. He wanted to ignore the man, but Jerry had to admit to himself that he was most likely harmless. And he remembered that Larry was going to be back from the bathroom at any moment and they would be leaving. This meant that he would only have to entertain the strange man for a few minutes at most. He was confident that he could keep his manners for at least that long. Had his mother or grandmother been there to see his behavior, he knew they would have been proud that their frequent and consistent discipline around manners had paid off.
Jerry took the man’s hand, “Jerry Ambrose. It’s nice to meet you.” The man had a firm handshake, but Jerry could feel the softness of skin that suggested, along with the expensive suit, that the man was wealthy.
DeForester’s eyes lit up as he said, “Ah, I thought you looked familiar!”
Jerry looked back at him in confusion. Though he reminded Jerry of Harper, he was sure that he had never met DeForester before. There was no way that he could have forgotten such strangely beautiful eyes. “I’m sorry, have we met?” Jerry asked.
“No, we haven’t,” DeForester said with the smile still pasted on his face. “I knew your wife Arianna quite well, though.”
Jerry’s confusion increased as he stared back at the stranger. Jerry thought that he had met the few friends that Arianna had and again, he could find no memory of a man with violet eyes.
As if sensing Jerry’s skepticism, DeForester clarified, “Well, I shouldn’t say that I knew her well. It was more of a professional friendship. You see, I was one of your wife’s best customers.” He smiled again as he added, “For her jewelry I mean, of course.” He pulled his right sleeve back slightly to expose an intricately worked, slim silver bracelet. A brilliant blue sapphire had been worked into the swirls of silver and Jerry could see the telltale sign that the piece had been created by his wife. The sapphire seemed to shine with an inner light of its own. Jerry had seen sapphires in other jewelry and only the jewels used by his wife had such a light. It was the one thing more than any other that had made her jewelry so popular and able to fetch such a high price.
As DeForester spoke, Jerry could hear a slight accent that sounded familiar and realized that it was similar to the accent that his wife and Harper both had. He wondered if the man was originally from Ireland, as well. “I’m sorry, but if we’ve never met, how could you have recognized me as Arianna’s husband?”
DeForester’s expression went flat for a second before his eyes brightened again, “Well, I recognized you from pictures of course. Arianna spoke fondly and frequently of you and the children.” He smiled again and his voice sounded reasonable as he explained. But Jerry didn’t believe him for a second. There was something very odd about the man and Jerry got the sense that he wasn’t being completely honest with him.
“I was so sorry to hear of Arianna’s passing,” DeForester said with what appeared to be genuine sadness. “She was a true light in a world that can be far too dark at times. I shall miss her terribly.”
Jerry couldn’t remember ever hearing someone speak in such a way outside of the movies, but he had little experience with people from Europe and thought that maybe it was just the way that they spoke.
“And the children,” DeForester said next, the sadness in his voice turning to pity. “How have they taken the whole thing? I hope that they’ve taken after the strength of their mother and are adjusting?”
Jerry didn’t like hearing the stranger speak of his children and didn’t like where the conversation was going. He wanted the man to shut up and leave, but Jerry’s instincts told him not to chase DeForester away. He had the strange and sudden feeling that he was going to meet the man again and he wanted to see if he could learn something about him.
“The children are fine,” Jerry answered him. “Thank you for asking.”
DeForester smiled in response, but then his eyes grew distant and his smile faded. He looked like he was seeing something far away, something that Jerry couldn’t see. It made him even more uncomfortable to watch, but Jerry couldn’t tear his gaze from those violet eyes. Just as Jerry was about to ask DeForester if he was okay, his eyes refocused on Jerry’s, though the smile didn’t return.
“I’m truly sorry to cut our conversation short, but it appears that I must leave,” DeForester said, as if he had received a phone call in his head. His gaze intensified and he leaned in as he added, “I’m sure you know this, but your children are precious. Cherish and guard them as well as you can.” He blinked and leaned back and then the dazzling smile returned, “I do hope our paths meet again, Jeremiah. Until then, do take care of yourself.”
Jerry smiled and nodded, but could say nothing in response. DeForester’s parting words had been so strange that Jerry was completely taken aback. He watched as DeForester left the diner and walked down the street until he couldn’t see him any longer. As he walked out of sight, Jerry realized something else that was strange. He had introduced himself as Jerry, not Jeremiah. And yet the strange man had called him by his given name just before he left. Most people would assume Jerry was short for Gerald or Jerome.
“Who was the movie star?” Larry asked as he walked up, dispelling Jerry’s concentration. “Someone you know?”
“I’m not sure,” Jerry answered after thinking for a moment. “He knew Arianna. At least, he used to buy jewelry from her.” He thought again of what DeForester had said about the children and felt a moment of irrational fear for their safety.
“That’s quite a coincidence to run into him in a diner in Denver,” Larry observed as he looked out the door through which DeForester had left. “Does he live here?”
“I don’t know, Larry,” Jerry said as he finished the last sip of his coffee. “And I have a feeling that it wasn’t a coincidence that I ran i
nto him.” He looked at the check and then pulled out enough cash to cover it and a small tip from his wallet before leaving it all on the counter.
“You’re just being paranoid because of the whole wolf thing,” Larry told him. “Don’t let it bother you.”
Jerry stood up and was about to respond to Larry when a familiar face flashed across the television screen. At first, he couldn’t remember where he had seen the smiling young woman and then he remembered. The face was Anna’s – the young woman that had come to his house the day before, trying to sell magazines. The name that displayed under her picture was Anna Bukhalo. He leaned in and heard the newscaster say that she was a student at University of Denver that had been missing for over a week and had last been seen at a tavern in the center of Evergreen.
“What’s up, Sid?” Larry asked as he looked up at the TV. “Do you know her?”
Jerry looked over at Larry, trying to process what he was hearing. “She came to my front door yesterday morning, trying to sell me some magazines.”
“They just said she’s been missing for a week,” Larry said with a frown. “You saying she’s been selling magazines for a week and just forgot to tell anyone where she was?” His words sounded sarcastic, but Jerry could tell by the way that he watched the TV intently that his investigative instincts had been alerted. The story ended on TV with a toll-free number for people to call if they had seen the young woman. “Are you sure it’s the same girl?” Larry asked.
“I’m positive, Larry,” Jerry asked as they walked toward the front door of the diner. “And she said her name was Anna.”
Larry nodded. They had been working together for so long that he knew when to take his partner seriously. “Let’s take a look at the case when we get back to the office,” he said as they walked out into the cold.
As he rode in the passenger seat of their unmarked sedan, Jerry couldn’t stop thinking of two sets of eyes. The first set was the violet eyes of DeForester, which had been so captivating and familiar in an odd way. The conversation with the strange man had been very odd and set him on edge. He knew that he had heard the man’s name before, but couldn’t remember where. He decided that he would do an internet search on the name when they returned to the office. The second set of eyes that stuck in his mind was the bright blue eyes of the missing girl, Anna. She had come to his home and he had turned her away, into the cold and the potential danger of the wolves that were likely in the forests around his house. He felt guilty for not making a more concerted effort to ensure that she had been okay and hoped that she hadn’t been hurt or killed because of his apathy.
Dinah walked with Eduardo down the hallway that led to the front entrance of the school. Her mind was filled with thoughts of everything that had happened the day before. She was relieved that nothing had happened that day and it made her feel a bit safer to know that Uncle Harper was right about the demons not wanting to move against them at school.
“Dinah, I have to ask you something before it’s too late,” Eduardo asked her suddenly. He stopped moving and she stopped with him, though she looked at him in confusion. He exhaled loudly before asking, “Will you go to the dance with me?” He looked nervous as he looked back at her and she almost laughed at the fact that something that had been so important to her just three days before could have been pushed completely to the back of her mind.
She smiled and even giggled a little before she answered, “Of course I will.” She punched him lightly on the shoulder before adding, “I thought you would never ask, you jerk.”
“Sorry it took me so long,” he said with a smile. “It’s not exactly easy asking one of the most popular girls in the school, you know. You can be a little intimidating sometimes.”
Dinah was a little hurt by what he said until she realized that he was messing with her. She smiled and shook her head, “Very funny. Let’s go meet Cole outside before I show you how intimidating I can really be.”
They walked through the front door and Dinah spotted Cole talking to Eliza. They were both laughing and Eliza had her arm in Cole’s. Dinah had never seen her brother look so easy and comfortable with a girl before and it made her smile. She had always been pushing Cole to be more social and here was the exact reason why – when he forgot about his shyness, his easygoing manner made it even easier for people to talk to him. She looked over at Eduardo and saw him smiling at the pair, as well. As they walked over to meet them, Dinah reached over and took Eduardo’s hand. His hand felt tense for a moment before it relaxed and gripped hers in return.
A car pulled into the parking lot at that moment and Dinah involuntarily tensed. It was a black sedan like the ones that the agents at her father’s office all drove, though it wasn’t her father or Larry. She knew that her father would never send anyone for them unless it was Larry. As Dinah thought of this, she dreaded the thought of what the car showing up at school meant. Something had happened with her father.
The Ambrose Beacon Page 13
