“Oh yeah, cupcake? That kind of talk won’t get you a slow dance with me,” Tack warned her.
“Be nice, Clover,” Dennis said as he walked into the room. “Besides, nasty comments like that really clash with your outfit. You dig?”
Clover instantly began to rethink her costume choice. Maybe a peace-loving flower child from the sixties wasn’t a good fit for her personality. But she sure loved the white go-go boots.
As Dennis drove them to the dance, Vero peered out the car window when they passed Davina’s house. Vero couldn’t see her, but all appeared calm.
“There’s Danny!” Tack said.
Sure enough, Danny was walking in the opposite direction and headed toward Davina’s house. He was dressed in an old-fashioned convict’s uniform — a pair of baggy black-and-white striped pants and a matching shirt. Vero couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy when he noticed Danny was carrying a corsage in a clear plastic box.
Tack rolled down the car window and yelled, “Hey, Konrad! Didn’t you hear? It’s supposed to be a costume party!”
“Shut up!” Vero hissed and elbowed Tack in the ribs — hard.
Clover rolled her eyes. “Tack, you seriously need to get a life,” she said.
“No, don’t you get it? He’s headed for prison one day,” Tack explained matter-of-factly.
“Get down! He’s gonna see us!” Vero hissed again.
“Relax. We’re in disguise, buddy,” Tack reassured him.
With that, Dennis steered the car closer to the curb and pulled up alongside Danny.
Danny stopped walking and stared at Tack and Vero sitting in the backseat.
“Tack, you should apologize,” Dennis said.
Tack’s eyes went wide and he turned beet red. “Um, sorry, Danny,” Tack stammered through the open car window.
Danny didn’t say a word. He just kept staring at Tack.
“Okay, well . . . enjoy the dance!” Dennis said, giving Danny a little wave before he drove off.
Vero shot daggers at Tack while Tack rolled up the window.
“Don’t worry about Konrad,” Tack said under his breath. “There’s only one of him and two of us.”
“Don’t forget his goon friends. That makes three of them and only two of us,” Vero whispered.
“What friends? The guy’s got no friends,” Tack said.
“What do you mean? What about Blake and Duff?”
“You’re dreaming, dude,” Tack said. “No one would be friends with that guy.”
Using the mirror on the passenger side sun visor, Clover looked at her brother in the backseat. From the expression on his face, she could tell he was totally confused by what Tack had just said. She opened her mouth to argue with Tack but thought better of it.
25
THE DANCE
A disco ball hung from the center of the gym ceiling. Multicolored twisted streamers stretched from the ball to each corner of the gym. Strobe lights flashed, and a professional disc jockey played dance music through an elaborate sound system.
Cupcakes, cookies, potato chips, pretzels, and all kinds of other snacks filled a huge table, and there were two punch bowls — one at each end. Nurse Kunkel was watching over the food, and Vero had seen her sneak at least two cupcakes so far.
Parent chaperones and teachers circled the gym, and they had the focus of a hawk. Albert Atwood walked around with a field hockey stick in his hands, poking kids who were dancing too closely.
“There will be no dirty dancing on my watch!” he said, poking Missy Baker and her date as they slow danced to a rap song.
Vero stood off to the side, watching Tack dance. He was out there in the middle of the floor, not dancing with anyone in particular, and he displayed no grace whatsoever. He just jerked his body around as if someone had poured a jar of spiders down his shirt. And he was having a total blast.
Clover walked up behind Vero. “Is Tack okay? I mean, is that voluntary, or should we call 9 – 1 – 1?”
“And those are his best moves,” Vero said. He continued scanning the room, looking everywhere for Danny and Davina. They should have been here by now, he thought.
Vero was so preoccupied by his search that he barely appreciated the fact that Clover was talking to him . . . in public . . . at a school function.
Clover followed Vero’s gaze to the gym doors. She knew something was going on. “Are you worried that Danny and his buddies are coming to get you? Because Tack was pretty stupid to egg him on like that.”
Danny was exactly who Vero wanted to see right now, because if Danny walked through those doors, then Davina would be with him, and that would mean she’s safe. Before he could answer his sister, a guy dressed in a Batman costume grabbed Clover.
“Let’s dance,” Batman said.
Clover went along with Batman but gave Vero a little wave and a shrug as she was being pulled onto the dance floor. Something was going on, and she had a bad feeling about it.
“Hey, it’s Elvis,” someone said.
Vero turned around. Three big kids wearing identical masks circled Vero. The rubber masks were made to look as if the facial features had been partially decomposed. They were streaked with blood. Vero had a hard time seeing their eyes as the mask made the sockets appear hollow. They looked like zombies. One of them grabbed Vero’s black wig off his head and threw it to one of the other guys.
“Monkey in the middle!”
Vero lunged for his wig, but they quickly chucked it from one to another before Vero could snatch it back.
“Seriously?” Vero asked. “Are we in first grade again?”
I don’t have time for this, Vero thought, and he was just about to walk away and forget the wig when he noticed some stray hairs sprouting from the tops of their masks. Those hairs triggered a memory. He’d seen these masks before in his daydream during gym class. But in his daydream, he’d assumed he was surrounded by demons. Now he realized they were only middle school boys wearing masks.
Whatever the Ether had been trying to show him that night was happening now! Vero looked over the guys’ shoulders and knew exactly who he’d see — Davina, wearing a toga and scanning the room with panic in her eyes. And there she was!
Vero’s heart leapt into his throat, and he pushed his way past the trio of tormentors. In his race to reach Davina, he bumped into some kids on the dance floor.
Clover watched her brother hurry past and saw Vero tap Davina’s shoulder. When Davina spun around, Clover saw the worried expression on her face.
“Have you seen Danny?” Davina asked Vero. “Did he come in here?”
“He’s not here,” Vero said.
“I have to find him!” Davina shouted over the music.
“I saw him walking to your house earlier,” Vero said.
“He came to my house, but then he got really upset and stormed off,” Davina said. She was visibly upset. “I really need to find him!”
She turned to leave, but Vero stepped in front of Davina and blocked her exit.
From Clover’s vantage point, it looked like Davina was trying to get around him. Something is seriously up, she thought.
“Please, Davina, don’t go out there!” Vero pleaded. He grabbed her hand and tried to hold her back.
“I have to go, Vero,” Davina said, trying to pull free.
The next thing Vero knew, Mr. Atwood’s field hockey stick jabbed him hard in the back.
“Let’s keep our hands to ourselves, eh, Vero?” Mr. Atwood said.
Seizing the moment, Davina escaped and scurried across the crowded dance floor.
Vero chased after her. “Davina, wait!”
Clover watched as Mr. Atwood dropped his field hockey stick and grabbed Vero from behind, locking his arm across Vero’s chest. Vero struggled to get free as a group of onlookers formed.
Angus walked over to help his dad restrain Vero, but Mr. Atwood waved him off. Vero heard Angus say to one of the onlookers, “We live next door to him. He pulls this kind of
stuff all the time.”
“Let go of me, Mr. Atwood!” Vero yelled.
“You’re going home! Now!”
“Davina!” Vero fought to free himself, but he gave up as soon as Davina had disappeared from view.
As soon as Vero stopped fighting him, Mr. Atwood let him go. “We’re calling your parents, Vero,” he said. “This party is over for you.”
Vero’s mind raced frantically. He had to stop Davina! He’d seen what would happen if he didn’t.
Clover sensed her brother’s panic. She had no idea why he was so desperate to stop Davina from leaving the dance, but she instinctively knew he would never hurt the girl. He must have a good reason. The next thing Clover knew, she was pulling the fire alarm. With the same conditioning as Pavlov’s dogs, kids ran to the exits in droves. And in all of the chaos, Vero disappeared into the crowd and escaped through a side door.
Vero searched the school grounds for Davina, but she was long gone. He closed his eyes and calmed his mind. Then he recalled the events in his daydream: the shattered window, the house under construction, Danny with his slingshot, and Davina dead on the porch.
Vero’s eyes shot open. He knew where to go! And he had to get there before Davina did. Vero looked around for some sort of transportation and saw the bike rack by the school’s front doors. He ran over and frantically started checking the bikes. Luckily, he found a red mountain bike that had been left unlocked. Vero pulled the bike out of the rack.
“Taking that bike would be stealing,” Blake hissed.
The sound of his voice sent a wave of chills down Vero’s spine. Vero whipped his head around and saw Blake and Duff perched on the bench near the front door. “Mind your own business!” Vero said sharply. His strong voice disguised the fear he felt rising in his gut.
“But this is our business,” Duff replied. He stood and walked toward Vero with a maniacal smirk.
Vero froze, mesmerized by Duff’s unnaturally blue eyes. Duff peered down at him before grabbing Vero’s wrist and squeezing it. Vero screamed as an excruciating pain shot through his body.
Behind Duff, Blake pulled a black iron chain from under the bench.
“You’re going to leave Danny alone, once and for all,” Blake sneered. “He’s ours.”
“You’re coming with us,” said Duff.
Duff held Vero’s wrist in an agonizing grip, while Blake bent down and tried to wrap the chains around Vero’s feet.
Vero had his hands on the bike’s handlebars, but he remained frozen, hypnotized by Duff’s eyes. He felt helpless as Blake approached him with the chain.
“Soon, you’ll be ours as well,” Duff said, and his eyes flashed from brilliant blue to red.
Vero blinked. Duff’s hold on him was momentarily broken, and as he looked straight into the depths of Duff’s eyes, Vero understood that Blake and Duff were maltures! They’d been plaguing Danny this whole time. No wonder Tack couldn’t see them!
Duff leaped on top of Vero and attempted to pin him down, but Vero thrashed wildly. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Blake pulled out a metal wrist cuff to use with the chains and attempted to fasten it around Vero’s arm.
Vero fought with all his might, but the maltures were stronger than Vero.
“Uriel! Help!” he screamed.
But Uriel did not come.
Vero then realized that as long as he was on earth, he would remain a powerless guardian angel. Somehow he had to get to the Ether and fight them there — that was the only way to defeat the maltures and make them release their hold on Danny.
Suddenly, a girl’s voice cut through the darkness. “Get off my brother!”
Vero turned his head and saw Clover charging toward them, swinging Mr. Atwood’s field hockey stick like a sword. Her outfit might have said peace and love, but her face said warrior.
Wait. Clover could see them? Surprised, Blake and Duff hesitated, and that was all Vero needed. He rolled out from under Duff’s grasp and scrambled to his feet.
Clover continued to charge, more fearsome than Vero had ever seen her.
“You’re dead meat!” she shouted.
Suddenly, sirens wailed, and the flashing lights of a fire truck appeared from around the corner of the building. Vero paused for a moment and looked at Clover. He wanted to explain, but there was no time. Grabbing Duff and Blake by the backs of their shirts, he stepped right into the path of the speeding fire truck.
Clover’s screams penetrated the night air.
Completely hysterical, Clover searched under the fire truck for her brother as a fireman shined a flashlight underneath.
“He’s under there!” she cried.
The fireman turned off the flashlight and stood up, pulling Clover up with him.
“There’s no one under the truck,” he said.
“No . . . my brother,” Clover insisted.
Spotting another fireman talking to the crowd that had gathered, Clover ran over to him. “Fireman Bob! You remember Vero. Please, did you see him step in front of the fire truck?”
“No, I didn’t see him,” he said. “And I know Vero well. Why don’t I call your parents and ask them to come take you home?”
Something shiny on the ground near the fire truck’s wheels caught her attention. Clover bent and picked up the sunglasses from Vero’s Elvis costume.
“Are those yours?” Fireman Bob asked.
Clover didn’t answer. As she held the glasses in her hand, Clover could no longer brush off all of the instances she knew to be true. Yes, she’d seen the man who twisted Vero’s ankle when they were little. Yes, she’d seen Vero grow a pair of massive wings when he was making a snow angel. Yes, she’d been having vivid dreams about angels and demons that seemed completely real. She knew Vero was different, and she could no longer deny the fact that she saw things beyond her earthly eyes.
Since Blake and Duff had disappeared into thin air with her brother, Clover now understood that they were more than just a couple of school bullies. And she knew Vero was in grave danger. Wherever the three of them had gone to, Clover wouldn’t be able to help her brother. She knelt on the ground and closed her eyes. “Please God. Please help my brother.”
Unbeknownst to Clover, five young hands shot up and caught streaking bursts of light in their palms. She had been heard.
26
FIVE ANSWERS TO A PRAYER
Vero landed in what appeared to be the Arctic. Everywhere he looked, he saw snow and ice. And mammoth glaciers surrounded him. He was standing on a frozen ocean. Blake and Duff were gone. Vero was alone and shivering violently. His sequined Elvis jumpsuit was definitely not the proper attire for Arctic conditions. Vero needed to get out of there, or he’d surely freeze to death.
As the winds whipped across the tundra and pelted him with icy snow, Vero regretted falling into the fire truck’s path — but especially now that Blake and Duff were nowhere to be seen. Tiny icicles formed on his eyelashes. He tried to walk, but there was nowhere to go — the floating icebergs seemed infinite against the horizon. He was a mere blemish in the white vastness. Even if Vero had tried to cry, he couldn’t — his tear ducts were frozen.
To think that he’d come this far and then failed completely! He’d allowed himself to die in front of Clover; he’d allowed Blake and Duff to get away. And after all that, Davina was still about to die.
Vero lifted his head and screamed at the frozen sky. He felt so angry that he needed the release. But then, in the midst of his rage, Vero remembered Uriel’s promise to him — that he would never be alone. Even in this barren, icy wasteland, someone was keeping watch over him. Vero forced himself to practice what he’d learned during his training in the Ether. He calmed his mind, closed his eyes, and placed his hand over his heart. Then he listened for God’s voice, his Vox Dei. Gradually, Vero became impervious to the harsh elements around him.
The voice directed him to dig away at the snow beneath his feet. Vero dropped to his knees and, despite his numb fingers, furiously swept the
snow out from under him. Within moments, he reached a sheet of clear ice. And through that thick ice, he clearly saw X, Kane, Pax, Ada, and Greer about fifteen feet below him. It felt like he was peering down at them through a glass-bottom boat. Vero saw his fellow fledglings standing in a passageway, looking up at him in astonishment.
Suddenly, the ice began to crack. The cracks quickly grew, and then the ice shattered like a mirror. Vero fell through and landed on top of the other angels.
“Ouch! Get off!” Greer yelled.
It took Vero a few moments to realize that he was no longer on the iceberg, but underneath it — sprawled on the floor of an icy hallway, a channel that ran through the glacier. The first thing that registered was that it was surprisingly warm and bright in there. And then he became aware of Greer’s elbow poking him in the chest.
“There’s nothing like dropping in on your friends,” Ada said, smiling warmly.
Suddenly, they heard thunder overhead, and the hole in the ice began shaking violently. They looked up to see the hole shrinking until it had completely closed over. The fledglings were now trapped under sheets of ice.
“I guess flying out of that hole is no longer an option,” X said. His brown skin glowed golden in the strange light of the tunnel.
“Trust me, you wouldn’t want to,” Vero said. “Boy, am I glad to see you guys!”
“Likewise,” Kane said. ”We thought we’d lost you.”
For the first time in a long time, Vero got a good look at his new friends. Ada slipped on the icy floor and grabbed onto X to steady herself. Pax adjusted his glasses. Kane stood with his arms crossed, smiling at Vero. And Greer gave him her customary smirk. Vero noticed that her leg was better. He pointed at it, and she said, “Uriel took care of it.”
Only a short time ago, Vero had felt like an outsider with this group, and yet now they all stood here, a true team. A fierce loyalty and love for these friends filled Vero’s chest.
The Ether Page 21
