by Judi Calhoun
I hadn’t spoken with Peter since the cemetery attack. I was hoping he would come up with some kind of genius strategy for killing Ian Corbet. Peter was avoiding me like I was Doctor Death. It felt like that, anyway. Every other day he had some place he had to go with my aunt. Imagine my surprise when he approached me, asking if Jake and I could meet him at the library, after school.
Jake and I searched almost every floor in the library but couldn’t find Peter anywhere. I was about to send a text when we spotted him in the toddler area, sitting at a low table, moving tiles from a Scrabble game around.
I introduced Peter to Jake and they seemed to become instant friends, which was both strange and wonderful at the same time. I wondered if this connection might be the result of similar gifting. Jake sensed evil inside people, while Peter sensed advancing evil.
“So what’s with the game?” Jake asked, nodding toward the table.
“Oh, Peter likes to do anagrams,” I interjected.
“I’ve been playing with the name, Arthur Edward Binco,” said Peter. “I always have letters left over. Then I remembered reading that he preferred to be called Art, remember that?”
We both sort of shrugged.
“Check this out…if I use Art E. Binco.” Peter quickly moved the tiles and transformed the name into Ian Corbet. “No letters left over, it fits. Freaky huh?”
This seemed a little more than coincidental.
Jake smiled. “That’s kind of cool actually.”
“Yeah but not enough to convince mom,” I said.
“There’s more,” said Peter. He quickly stood up and walked away, turning once; he motioned for us to follow.
We tailed him stopping when we reached the genealogy lab’s green door. Peter pulled out the keys.
My mouth fell open. “Seriously Peter, you stole Ms. Crow’s keys?”
“I didn’t steal anything. She gave them to me,” he said.
“Impossible. She never lets anyone touch her sacred keys,” I said.
Peter Shrugged. “I made a few calls to my home school teacher’s aide. She persuaded Ms. Crow to allow me access to this room whenever I wanted.”
“So you’ve been hanging out here every day?”
“Pretty much,” he said.
He hadn’t lied to mom after all.
“I saved the best for last,” said Peter. He sat down in front of the old computer and started typing. Jake and I stood behind him. “Check out this photo of Binco.”
Jake and I bent over the desk squinting to see the old newsprint about a big merger with Stafford Medical. My eyes found the photo. The man shaking hands with a Stafford executive was none other than our new principal… Ian Corbet!
“Awesome!” said Jake. “This is exactly the kind of proof Shonna needs to show her mom.”
All lines of evidence converged into one pivotal point…Ian Corbet. I could see it all clearly, now. Ian planned to slip a ring on mom’s finger, confessing his unholy vows, consecrating darkness to light, then he’d thrust a knife into her heart… and I’d be next or first or however he’d planned it.
It felt like icy fingers were squeezing the breathe from my lungs. I couldn’t breath or didn’t remember how. Dizziness drained me of all strength and I started to collapse.
Peter knew. Somehow, he knew. He was out of his seat in a flash, catching me before I hit the hardwood floor. The boys guided me into Peter’s seat, so I could lean my head against the wall.
I stared catatonically at the screen. “It’s true,” I said. “All true. Ian is a Familiar Spirit, alive in Binco’s body.”
Jake wrapped his arms around my shoulder. “It’s okay, ” he whispered.
“Can I handle this?” I whispered out-loud. “Can I do this?’
“You’re not alone in this,” said Jake. “I’m here for you.”
I smiled at him and nodded.
Thank God for Peter and friends like Jake because I wasn’t convinced that I could handle this alone. Knowing I had to break mom’s heart, seeing her face as I killed her fiancé, was not going to be a happy family memory. That was for sure.
“Drink, you’ll feel better,” said Peter, handing me a plastic sports bottle.
I gulped down the liquid, expecting it to taste like water, not salty and strange.
“What is this?” I asked, half expecting him to tell me it was another one of his lab experiments like the vampire venom.
“Vitamins. A few minerals,” he said. “Good for you stuff.”
I was still frowning at Peter, when Jake handed me a photocopy he’d made. I slipped it into my Calculus folder. I took a very long deep breath and closed my eyes feeling some relief, feeling as if my nightmares might finally be coming to an end.
For months now it felt like I had been holding my breath, waiting for the beginning of the end. It was finally here, now, today. I had in my hand tangible proof, evidence that Ian Corbet was not who he said he was. When mom learns the truth, she’ll drop Ian and he’ll be out of our lives forever! It was a fairy tale for sure, as I knew blood would be shed…had to be shed. I was praying it would not be my mom’s.
The next day Jake set up the meeting with the Slayers at the ballpark behind the school. He was going to tell us the plan that he’d come up with.
Gabby overheard us at lunch. She insisted on coming. She said I owed her, since she hadn’t seen me for a week. I tried very hard to persuade her to stay home, no matter what I said she would not relent.
Jake and the Cross brothers had already arrived at the dugout and it looked like we were the last to show up.
I noticed a skinny black guy named Joey Miller. Forever branded as a sci-fi geek, he wore thick glasses and Star Wars T-shirts. I’d seen him before, trailing behind Jake in the halls. I never thought much about him. I sure didn’t think I’d be seeing him here tonight, of all nights, I figured Jake had his reasons. I hoped he knew what he was doing.
“Why’d you bring HER?” asked Nate, pointing at Gabby.
“Leave her alone!” I snapped.
“Come on, Nate, this is important,” said Jake.
Nate moved to the other side of Joey, to distance himself from Gabby.
“Ian’s spies are everywhere,” said Jake in a low, guarded voice, glancing around the field.
“They don’t even try to hide it,” David spoke up, shaking his head. “Dude, we know who they are.”
Nate chuckled. “MIB replicates wearing those stupid dark glasses…invisible to everyone else except us. Do they really think they are that cool?”
“Listen up,” said Jake. “I was in the office this morning and I overheard Ian say he had business with the boss tonight. You know what that means?” He glanced at everyone, getting no answers. “The school board’s not meeting.” Jake was getting a tiny bit impatient at our vague reactions. “Don’t you get it? Ian’s got only one boss. Belial. Which means…”
“He’s going to the cemetery,” I interrupted.
“Exactly,” said Jake. “The portal! I’m sure that’s where he’s headed.”
“We’re going to take him out!” said Nate, pounding his right fist into his left palm. “Four against one, we’ll destroy him.”
“What about Slash’s mom?” David asked, glancing at me like I’m the one who should be asking this question. I started to speak, but Jake answered for me.
“Ian doesn’t come back,” said Jake. “Shonna’s mom thinks he deserted her. She’ll eventually get over him.” Jake gave me a conspiratorial nod. “At least she’ll be alive.”
“I like it,” I said.
Before we left, we agreed to meet at the edge of the woods on the east side of the cemetery. I was wishing Peter could be with us tonight; instead he had an appointment with his homeschool teacher aide.
Before I left the house, I had already made the decision to leave the Jeep at home. I didn’t want Ian to see it parked outside the gate. I jumped when my phone went off. I had a text from mom.
Working late. Take some cash from the jar
for supper.
Instead, I made myself a PB and J sandwich and was just about to take a bite when I heard the front door open. Gabby breathlessly tossed her bag on the counter, knocking mom’s mail all over the floor. “I’m coming with you! Don’t try to stop me!”
“Fine,” I said putting my sandwich down on the plate and bending to pick up the mess of envelopes. “Walk me as far as the cemetery, after that you’ve got to go home!”
“Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever...come on.” She shoved my sandwich into her mouth and we left the house.
* * *
Chapter 15
