by Alex Hayes
“Oh, shit!” The words whistle out of Idris’s mouth.
My eyes bounce up from the snow. Marek’s car is parked at the back of the Thorny Rose, and Marek fills the space in the open doorway, back turned to us, a hand lifted to his forehead.
Idris jumps down to the parking lot. “Hey, Mar.”
Marek spins around. His rigid stance relaxes at the sight of us, then stiffens again as anger flashes in his eyes.
Part of me wants to head back into the trees. Maybe if I wasn’t around, he’d have less to be mad about, but I can’t leave Idris to deal with this alone. I step onto the tarmac beside him.
“What the mother…” A string of obscenities explodes from Marek’s mouth, while his arms shake clenched fists. “It looks like a bomb went off in there. What the hell am I going to tell my mom?”
“Marek. Calm down, man. We’ll deal—”
“Calm down?” His eyes glint with rage. “Forget that. And don’t even think about throwing your Magneto shit at me because it ain’t gonna work. What the hell happened in there?”
Idris’s whole body goes rigid. “Cadi was attacked by a homeless guy. I managed to…take care of him.”
“What? You did what? Did you kill the guy?”
Idris shakes his head and hands. “No. No, he’s fine. I tied him up. Not very well, but enough to slow him down until he sobers up.”
The man wasn’t drunk; he was possessed, but now may not be the best time to point that out.
“So while she was fighting him off and breaking all the windows, what were you doing?” Marek rages.
Idris waves his hands again. “That’s not what happened. I was in the woods, trying to get my head together, and this guy came in and attacked Cadi. When I came back he was hanging over her. I broke the windows to distract him, then shot him with his own weapon.”
Marek takes an angry step toward him. “You shot a guy? On my mother’s property?”
“He could have killed her,” Idris insists.
“Like I’m about to do to both of you.” He points a finger at me. “I knew you were trouble the second I saw you. Homeless guy, my ass. What is he? Your dealer or your pimp?”
My mouth drops wide open.
Idris takes a solid step toward his friend. “Don’t say another word, Marek.”
“Or what? Whatcha gonna do? Kick my ass? Trash my mother’s place some more?”
“Stop it! Both of you!” I shout.
They ignore me, like I’m not even there. My whole body quivers, but I step forward, and like an idiot, grab both of them by the arm. Marek swats me away, sending me staggering.
“Leave her alone,” Idris growls, his chest expanding as he steps forward.
I raise my hands, palms out, and push them away from each other. Both boys fly through the air and land on their backs twenty yards apart.
31
Idris
Cadi has a way of getting attention, I’ll give her that.
Marek staggers to his feet. He stares at Cadi’s fallen body, then looks at me. He seems about to speak, then shakes his head and strides into the Thorny Rose.
Cadi’s on her back, unconscious. This girl’s been down for the count more times in the past two days than I have my entire life.
I scoop her up and take her inside. Once she’s settled on the sectional with a blanket tucked around her, I head upstairs. Marek sits on a stool, tapping the mahogany bar like he’s a regular, waiting for his next shot. I slide onto the seat next to him.
“You and her,” he says without looking at me. “Seems like you’ve got something going on. Some connection I don’t know about.”
I rub my head and realize I’m getting used to having scales instead of hair. “Seems so, though I’m not sure what. I have some kind of control over sound and she’s telekinetic.”
Marek crosses his arms on the bar in front of him. “She green, too?”
“Does she look it?” The memory of her skin changing color under mine comes back. I lay a hand on Marek’s.
He snatches it away. “What the hell are you doing?”
I reach for him again. “Let me touch your hand.”
Marek pulls back further and growls. “Keep your mitts off me.”
“Mar, I’m serious. I wanna test something, but I need to touch your skin.”
He frowns, eyes dubious, but sticks out his arm.
I lay my fingers across his wrist. No greenish tinge. Nothing. “So it’s got to be her.”
“What does?” Marek’s eyes turn curious, his Swoosh eyebrows dipped low.
“You’re right. There is something different about her because when I touch her skin, she changes color.”
An eyebrow shoots up. “You been touching her a lot?”
I half smile. “A bit.”
He nods. “So, you said she came here looking for you? How’d she know you were here?”
“She talked about a crystal. Said it led her to me.”
“So what’s this crystal?”
I shrug. “Guess we’ll have to ask her.”
While we’re waiting for Cadi to come around, I search through closets until I find a broom and sweep up the broken glass.
Marek inspects the damage.
I pause in my brushing. “I’ll get ‘em fixed. Mom gave me five hundred at Christmas and I’ve more in my savings. So don’t worry about the windows.”
He shakes his head. “I’m more worried about you, Id. This is getting outta control. Some weird guy comes out of nowhere and attacks this girl.”
“He’s not the only one who’s been around. There was an old woman.” I point to the cardboarded hole in the front door. “She punched a fist through the stained glass. Both of them had weird glowing eyes.”
“Glowing? Jeez, Id, this is way too deep.”
I rest my chin on my fist at the end of the broomstick. “Yeah, guess you’re right. But we need to talk to Cadi about that crystal. Let me see if I can wake her.”
Shaking her doesn’t help, but when I touch her face, she stirs and mumbles something incoherent.
“Cadi? Can you hear me?”
Marek leans over the sectional. “Touch her again.”
I skim her cheek with my fingertips. A green trail follows my touch across her skin. I glance at him. “Did you see that?”
“Yeah, spooky.”
“Idris?” Cadi’s eyes are open.
“I’m here.” My voice softens at the sight of her lost expression.
Her eyes find Marek, then drift back to me. “Did you two make up?”
“Yeah.” I help her sit up. “Cadi, I need to see that crystal you told me about.”
“It’s about time.” She smiles but her eyes reflect exhaustion. “In my backpack.”
I hand over the bag and she roots through a front pocket.
“Here.” Her fingers wrap around a silver chain and she pulls the crystal out.
At the sight of it, I freeze.
Screams drill into my brain like a jackhammer. My screams. Memories flood my head like a cloudburst, until my body quivers with latent terror.
Thrown back a dozen years, I’m five. Dad’s yelling at Mom. Losing it. I can’t follow what he’s saying, but I’m scared because he’s angry at me, and I don’t know what I’ve done.
Dad shakes his finger in my direction. My eyes are so full of tears, I can hardly see what’s going on, but he lifts something off the kitchen table. Something metallic and heavy. I know what it is now, though I didn’t then. A bolt cutter. It’s huge. Seems almost as big as me. Big enough to take my hands off.
I scream and run for cover, into the pantry, and push the door closed. I’m panting and crying, pressed against the door as if my weight can keep him out.
“Brandon, stop!” Mom shouts. “You’re scaring him.”
“It’s coming off, Janice. I won’t have a son of mine dressed up like a girl.”
Mom’s voice travels closer. “It’s only a necklace.”
“That rainbow
crystal’s coming off.”
“Brandon, please. He’s only a child.”
“He, Janice. He’s a boy. We should have removed that thing when he first arrived.”
Mom lets out a heavy sigh. “Except it wouldn’t come off.”
“Exactly. But whatever that chain’s made of, it won’t withstand this.” Dad’s feet stomp towards the pantry door.
The room starts to spin as I gasp for breath…
I snatch the crystal out of Cadi’s hand, fury rising like a coiled demon. “This is mine. How did you find it?”
Cadi’s eyes are wide. “It told me where to look.”
Dad wouldn’t have thrown out something that belonged to me. Something I had before he and Mom adopted me. He’d have understood its sentimental value. Even if he took the crystal, he’d have kept it. In his office or the garage or the basement.
My heart runs cold. “Did you take this from my house?”
Her head is shaking, her eyes dark with horror. “No. I told you. The man in the pawnshop wanted a hundred dollars. I gave him my phone in exchange. I didn’t lie to you, Idris.”
My temper flares as my fingers snap closed around the crystal. A tingling sensation radiates up my arm and into my chest. Awareness. Anger. Frustration. Fury. Feelings outside myself, but they resonate through me. Become mine. An image of Dad wielding the bolt cutter flashes through my mind. The crystal demands action.
I turn to Marek. “I need to go home. Right. Now.”
My best friend straightens and nods. “Let’s go.”
I’m up the stairs and out the door with Marek close behind me. The sky has turned dark gray and it’s snowing. I brush the fine layer of white off the side window before diving into the passenger seat. Marek gets in and sets the window wipers going, full speed. The snow flakes fly off as he puts the car in gear.
It isn’t until we’re halfway to my house that I realize I didn’t say goodbye to Cadi. I didn’t say anything to her. Except accuse her of stealing. What the hell is wrong with me?
But I can’t think about that now. I need answers. And there’s only one place to get them.
We turn onto my street. “Pull over. Right here.” The afternoon light is dulled by snowfall, but visibility is clear enough. I tug my hoodie as low as it will go over my face.
Marek slows the car a couple of houses down from mine and throws me a sideways glance. “You sure?”
There’s no one around. “Yeah. Don’t want to announce my arrival.”
“I hear you, Id. See you later.”
I nod and step out. Airy snowflakes seem to gravitate toward my sweatshirt, but I ignore them. As I walk, my mind spins, twining together everything that’s happened over the past few days. To make sense of it all, I need to understand why Dad took this crystal. What the hell was he thinking?
My mind jumps back to Cadi. Jesus, I can’t believe I said those things to her. This green mug must’ve made me stupid. Okay, stupider. I wasn’t exactly Einstein before.
A dark green Jaguar sedan, its color half hidden under a layer of fresh snowfall, sits in the horseshoe driveway, right in front of the house. Probably one of Dad’s business cronies.
I skirt the pavement, sticking to the trees until I reach the back of the house. After checking no one’s around, I slip onto the back porch, kick off my snow-crusted sneakers, and unlock the kitchen door.
The house is quiet, the fading smell of roast chicken in the air. My stomach rumbles a reminder that I haven’t had breakfast, let alone lunch. I pause and look around. I’ve only been gone a few days, but the place seems different.
Detecting voices from the dining room, I tread softly across the floor and stop close enough to listen. Mom, Dad and another voice. An older guy, I’m guessing, judging by his rough tone and the Jag outside.
Words are bandied about. I catch “studio” and “contracts.” Dad’s been talking about TV for a while. Maybe it’s finally happening.
Whoever his visitor is, I can’t walk in looking like an overgrown iguana, so I head for the backstairs to wait for this lunchtime visit to be over. I hesitate outside my bedroom but don’t enter. Instead, I turn the corner of the passage and stop on the landing above the front staircase.
Choosing the best lookout position, I slide down the wall to sit and wait for my parents to finish entertaining.
As I settle, a soft clack reminds me of the crystal in my pocket. I pull it out and finger the gem.
Strange. Dad snapped the chain with those scary bolt cutters, but this chain is in perfect condition. Repaired? Given the original damage, I’m doubtful. Replaced then? Maybe, but it’s identical to the one Dad broke, except this one has a clasp.
I suck in a breath. Cadi must’ve replaced it. With her own.
Of course. That’s how she found my crystal in the first place, because she has one too. With shaking fingers, I unclasp the chain and lift it to my neck. As the crystal drops against my chest, I feel a shuddering vibration that slides into a satisfied purr. Clasp secured, I tuck the chain and stone under my shirt and rub it gently against my chest.
32
Cadi
I race up the staircase after Idris and Marek. As I open the back door, Marek’s Toyota swings around the side of the Thorny Rose, leaving behind patterned tire tracks in the new-fallen snow.
“Stop! Dre!” Fear catches in my throat, reducing my words to a strangled whisper. “Don’t leave me.”
I’m a child again. A child who’s lost everything. Because he’s left me. Again.
Tears come as I remember Dre’s fingers slipping from mine, and for the first time, I see a face. A little-guy face. Near-black eyes. Curly hair. Solid dark eyebrows and full lips. He looks as scared as I feel.
I’ve no doubt now. Idris is Dre, and as little kids, we both had crystals around our necks. Somehow, those stones affect the way we look, which means, all Idris has to do is put the crystal around his neck, and it’ll fix him.
I grab my coat and run out the back door, because he needs to know. Pausing, I let my crystal guide me in Idris’s direction.
My breath comes out in pants as I brake to a standstill, almost an hour later, at the entrance to a horseshoe driveway.
In front of me stands a modern white and yellow colonial with an enclosed entryway and wraparound porch supported by fluted columns with heavy carved lintels. The place is a mansion and a classic green Jaguar stands out front, slowly disappearing under a blanket of perfectly white snowflakes.
Idris lives here?
Well, of course he does. His dad is famous. Why hadn’t it occurred to me that he’d also be rich?
I back away from the entrance and slip into a gap between a box hedge and a massive oak tree. What am I going to do? Walk up to that enormous front door and ring the bell?
In my mind’s eye, I shrink in size before that imposing entry until I can barely reach the doorbell. Its resonant chime sends shivers of fear through my chest. Several decades later, a guy in a black suit answers. He looks down his aquiline nose, disdain radiating off his features. “The service entry is that way.” He waves his hand dismissively and slams the door in my face.
Ugh. How can I possibly approach that house?
33
Idris
Half dreaming, I feel this tug at my chest and think Cadi must be nearby.
Voices and the front door opening startle me awake. Downstairs, pleasantries are exchanged and the entry closes. My parents’ voices drift toward the kitchen.
I push myself up the wall and head for the backstairs. As I round the corner, I crash into Mom.
She gasps and grabs my arms. “Idris! You’re home!”
Mom doesn’t flinch in the slightest at the sight of me. She throws her arms over my shoulders and hugs me tight. “I’m so glad you’re okay, sweetheart.”
I hug her back. “Sorry I worried you, Mom.”
She pulls away and cups my cheeks. “And you’re all better.”
I’m what?
I blink and look down at my hands. They’re golden brown. Normal. The green scales have completely gone. I fly to the bathroom and stare at my face. It’s human. A grin spreads wide across my cheeks.
Dad appears at the top of the stairs as I burst back into the hall. “Idris? You’re okay.”
Yeah, I’m okay! I’m normal. I’m me!
My brain rattles in my head, struggling to comprehend that the nightmare is over. A buzzing at the V of my neck makes me reach for my crystal. At first I don’t find it, then realize its shrunk. I pull at my shirt and look down the gap in my collar.
My jaw slackens. What the hell? The crystal has sunk into my flesh.
The timing cannot be coincidence. The crystal changed me back. The hows and whys of it, I have no clue. Does it even matter? I’m normal again. I can go out in public, be seen. I’m no longer a monster.
Total and utter relief slides through my body, down my legs and into my feet, grounding me. And then I notice the way Dad is beaming, his eyes lit with a speculative gaze I know too well. His mind is working, cogs turning, planning an overhaul of my future.
My smile fades. How dare he sport that look when it’s his fault I turned green and scaly in the first place?
The relief that had sunk into my feet, swirls up into a tornado of fury. “Dad, I need to ask you about the crystal you took off me when I was little.” I unhook the snaky necklace and hold it out. “It hung from a chain like this one.”
A quizzical eyebrow rises, but otherwise, Dad’s face remains passive. “What about it?”
“The crystal was mine.” Frustration shakes through my voice. “Why did you sell it to a pawnshop?”
Dad responds with a dismissive flip of the hand. “I didn’t sell it, Idris. I left the thing in someone’s…care.” A frown flashes across his features.
I drag my hands over my head, through a bed of tight curls, but I’m too annoyed to relish the feeling. Whoever that someone was, he sold the crystal to Cadi without batting an eyelid. “Whatever,” I grind out. “But I need to understand why you took the crystal off me in the first place.”