Kai said, “The universe is chaos, Shade. It’s in a constant state of entropy. Things are always falling apart. Everything’s born, tries to thrive, withers away and dies. It’s during the battle to thrive that everything is possible.”
I suppose that was profound. My mind blocked out the pep talk. My mouth just said, “Hunh?”
Kai said, “Never mind. I just wanted to tell you that I think maybe I’m meant to become a shaman, the same way you’re probably meant to become something important. If I am, it’s overwhelming right now. A shaman’s a really important person in my culture, the Navajo culture. It’s their job to take responsibility for some pretty scary stuff.”
My mind was whirling around as fast as one of those pinwheels we’d seen back in the trailer park. My mouth went on autopilot, asking questions based on the last thing Kai had said, without really thinking about it. My mouth asked, “What kind of scary stuff?”
Kai cleared her throat. She said, “Like dealing with skinwalkers.”
OK, that got the full attention of my brain. I visualized it as people wearing other people’s skin. That was totally horrifying. I said, “Like what now?”
Kai said, “They’re basically evil shapeshifters. People who can shift into animal forms, but for evil purposes. Skinwalkers develop their magical powers by crossing boundaries and doing unspeakable acts.”
Ghosts. Aliens from outer space. Healing by touch. Now, shapeshifters and evil shapeshifters called skinwalkers? I’m sorry. My brain was going to blow a fuse, explode and stop working if I dropped one more outrageous idea into it and insist that idea be categorized as reality. Nuh-uh. That was not happening.
I just said, “Hmmm. That does sound scary.” Truth: it did sound scary. It also sounded completely nuts.
Kai said, “Yeah, well, we’ll see what happens. I don’t know where our destinies are taking us.”
Now, that we could agree on. I said, “Ain’t that the truth?”
Visions flashed through my mind. Part memory, part hallucination. I saw the caged animals in the UFO tent. They had human faces and human hands. That guy out in the desert with the mountain lion. The lion had a human head and human neck and the guy put a collar around its Adam’s apple. As they walked over to the carnival truck, the wild cats and bears and snakes painted on it leaped away and escaped into the desert. The mountain lion turned its head and spoke in some ancient human language to the man guiding it by its leash. The words turned into ravens, flapping their dark wings to follow the fleeing animals.
My head pounded with the worst headache I’d ever experienced in my entire life.
When we reached Kai’s truck, I asked if she had Tylenol or anything else for headaches. She placed her hands on my forehead. Warmth spread out across my forehead and seeped into my temples. The pain disappeared. Jeez. I’d just wanted Tylenol, not more proof that the world wasn’t how I’d always thought it to be.
We drove home in silence. We were so lost in thought, I didn’t realize how much time we’d spent in absolute quiet until we arrived back at the parking lot of our trailer park. My thoughts had been loud and demanding and had gone a mile a minute. Time had flown by.
A split second after Kai parked the truck and pulled the key out of the ignition, she grabbed my arm. In a desperate, hoarse whisper, she said, “Get down! Get down and stay down until I tell you to get up! Be quiet! There’s someone out there...” She grabbed my head and pushed it down hard until it rested against the seat. The ragged metal edge of the glove compartment dug into my back. Pain pierced my skin like a hot knife, traveling up my body to my neck. My heart pounded like a drum. I hyperventilated, breathing way too fast.
Through the blood pulsing in my ears, I heard steps. Loose gravel crunched right next to our truck. The footsteps sounded big and heavy. Someone wearing large boots. Keys jingled and made metal-against-metal sounds as they were forced into a lock. The lock popped. A door squealed open, screaming against rust. A guy grunted. I pictured him heaving his fat body up onto the seat. The door shrieked again and slammed shut. The engine started. Music blared from speakers. Foul music. Nasty words. The vehicle pulled out of the parking lot. It sped up, tires screeching against the road.
Kai waited until the sound faded into oblivion. Then she screamed at me, “Let’s go! We have to hurry! Let’s go!”
Seriously? Don’t go, don’t move, don’t make any noise? But now that my body’s bent like a pretzel and racked with pain, I’m supposed to hop out of the truck and run? God, I hated my life more with every passing minute.
Adrenalin and my autonomic nervous system took over. The rational part of my brain was useless. I could no longer process what was going on. My autonomic system said: Run-run-run-run-run! Run for your freaking life! Hopped up on adrenalin, I followed orders like a crack addict follows the smoke of a burning spoon.
Kai explained briefly as we ran through the parking lot. “That was my mom’s boyfriend! His T-shirt was covered in blood! Let’s go! Go ... Go ... Go! Hurry up, Shade!”
That’s all she said. Her skinny legs went flying, as though she were a marathon runner about to break a world record.
I tried my best to keep up. I couldn’t. The metallic taste of blood rose up from my throat. It spread across my tongue. I coughed. I kept running, but I fell farther and farther behind.
When I finally reached Kai’s house, I tried the door. Unlocked. I pushed it open.
Oh. My. God. My brain had whiplash. Or a concussion. I’d just gone completely nuts. I had to be hallucinating. The searing headache came back, right behind my eyeballs, like something terrible was trying to tear them out.
Kai sat on the floor, her arms wrapped around a wolf. A wolf covered in blood, its face disfigured by lacerations. Blood dripping from its ear. Bullets had ripped through its front paw, shredding fur and skin. The animal’s head lay in a pool of blood, bullets scattered nearby.
Kai was chanting, rhythmic and hypnotic. The wolf howled in pain.
When I came in, Kai broke down. Tears streamed down her face. She said, “My mother’s dying! I’m not sure I can heal her, Shade!”
If her mother was dying, what was she doing with that wolf? Then two and two came together for me. I said, “Oh my God, Kai, did that wolf attack your mother?”
I tried to figure out if Kai had had time to shoot it. I hadn’t heard a gun.
Kai sobbed. She said, “No, Shade, this is my mother!”
Images of animals with human features flashed once again through my mind. The snakes on the carnival truck spoke to me with forked tongues and human lips. “Sssssstaaay away from usssss! Do not sssstep foot into the Navajo world! Or you and Kai will die like the wolf!”
I grabbed my head. The pain was so severe, it felt like I’d been stabbed.
Kai said, “Shade, pull it together. Calm me down. Tell me I can do this. Remind me what I did for Annie.”
Numb, I just did what she asked. I had lost touch with reality. I told her she could do something that I didn’t even want her to do. I did not want her to heal a wolf that was only inches away from me. I wanted that sucker dead. I did not believe it was her mom. But I stroked Kai’s sweaty hair and pulled it away from her face. I told her she could do what she was meant to do. I told her to call upon the shaman inside herself.
About half an hour into this, the wolf’s injuries healed. It stood up and stretched its limbs. It howled, long and mournful, with that sad sound wolves make.
Kai wiped her tears, smearing the wolf’s blood that was all over her hands across her cheeks. She started laughing, her face suddenly lit with relief and happiness.
The wolf bounded off into the hallway that led to the bedrooms.
About half an hour later, Kai’s mom walked out of that exact same hallway. Her tattoos came alive as she yawned and stretched her arms. Roses bloomed along her left arm. Snakes slithered across her right arm where wolves flexed their muscles. Ravens flapped their wings above her eyes, while the butterflies on her cheeks f
olded their wings and scrunched together. Her eyes were bloodshot. She looked exhausted.
She yawned again. Noticing me, she said, “Oh, hi, Shade. Do you want something to eat?” Before I could answer, she shuffled over to the refrigerator and opened the door. Staring into its cool interior, she said, “I’m famished!”
There was blood all over the carpet. I expected her to turn around and freak out at any moment.
Kai had been standing there with eyes as wide as an anime character. She snapped out of it. Rushing over to me and grabbing me by the arm, she pushed me toward the front door, saying, “Shade was just going. She has a ton of homework to do.”
At the door, I turned around to say goodbye to Kai’s mom. At that exact moment, she turned around, too. But instead of noticing me, she saw the blood on the carpet. She forgot that I was there or that I even existed or that there was anything in the world but that carpet stain. That blood. Her hand went slowly up to her mouth and covered it. Trying to silence the words forming in her mind.
Kai pushed me harder. She said, “Bye, Shade! Email me or something. See you tomorrow!”
Sure. Tomorrow.
I staggered out of her trailer and went home to mine.
Thankfully, no one was there.
For the rest of the night, I tried to reclaim normalcy. I did my homework. I worked on Leotard Girl. I listened to music. I was glad that I had Algebra homework. I actually did extra problems, to keep my mind focused. Finally around 4:00 AM, I fell asleep.
It was a shock when my alarm went off at 6:00 AM. Time to get ready for school.
CHAPTER 8
I brushed my teeth. Took a chilly shower. Threw more cold water on my face. I stumbled out to the kitchen to scrounge up something for breakfast. There was bread. There was peanut butter. There was jelly. There were donuts covered in powdered sugar and blueberry muffins with more sugar than fruit. I slapped peanut butter and jelly on the bread and chowed down. Hopefully, the protein in the peanut butter would get me through the morning and the sugar in the jelly would give me enough spark to ignite my engines because, man oh man, was I exhausted.
I heard my mom roll over in bed, so I assumed she was sleeping in. I wondered if she’d ever get a job again. She’d have to, eventually, or we’d starve.
I headed out to the bus stop. I recognized a lot of the kids now. I said hi to a bunch.
I sat in an empty seat. This time, a girl I didn’t know by name sat down next to me. Her hair was cut short, but styled in spiky layers that gave her a really cool look. She was wearing jeans, a flowered shirt and flowered sneakers. She was Chinese, thin and wiry and had an awesome kind of frenetic energy.
As she hopped into the seat, she said, “Hey, how are you? OK if I sit here?”
I said, “Sure.” I was actually too exhausted for conversation.
Not to worry. She pulled out her cell phone and got lost inside it.
As the bus was pulling away from the curb, she looked at me with her large, dark eyes. She said, “Wow, someone else has been found murdered.”
My brain went crazy. What did she mean: someone else? I remembered Kai yelling about blood all over the T-shirt her mom’s boyfriend had been wearing. Had he gone on a rampage and killed someone? Was someone else killed by that monster out in the cave? Wait. That guy was in jail. Just how many murders had there been in this godforsaken town anyway? I just said, “Really? Where?”
She said, “Out where the UFO Festival was held. Did you go to it? I know you’re new here.”
I said, “Yeah, I was there.”
She said, “Well, a guy was killed right there.”
My heart trembled a bit, skipping beats or something. I had definitely felt dread at that festival, inside that creepy tent.
I said, “Do they say anything about who he was?”
She looked down at her cell phone. She said, “Ummm ... His name was Bobby Huffman. Oh, wait ... It says he was mentally ill. His uncle told reporters he suffered from Tourette Syndrome and psychosis. Police haven’t ruled out suicide.” She kept scanning the article for more details.
I thought I’d pass out.
I pictured myself running down the bus aisle, screaming. The bus driver yelling at me. That huge burly kid in the front seat trying to restrain me. Me kicking and flailing my arms, then grabbing that big metal handle that swings around and opening the door. Jumping out into the road. Running away. Far away.
I’d met Bobby Huffman at the festival. The police were so going to interview me and my friends if anyone found out.
Oh. My. God. Especially once I published my newspaper article with an entire section on him. I couldn’t hand that article in. I had another day to work on it. But how could I leave out that section? It was a big part of the story about how people around here believe so deeply in aliens from outer space.
I just needed to talk it over with Starshine, Violet, Wolf Song, Moonjava and Mr. Science Jack Carter—see what they wanted to do, since they were also contributing to the article. The police would probably find out we’d talked to that kid, anyway, especially if his uncle blabbed about it. Probably better to be open about our contact with him. Maybe that’d make us seem less suspicious.
The girl sitting next to me said, “You OK?”
I said, “Yeah, I’m fine. It just creeps me out that there’ve been so many murders around here. That guy who was collecting teeth and fingernails in a cave. Brrrrrr. And now this kid’s murdered.”
She said, “Yeah. It can be a little rough out here sometimes.” She smiled. “My name’s Ellen Peng. Yours is Shade, right? What’s your last name?”
My hands started shaking. I tried to act casual. I laughed a little before asking, “How do you know my name?”
She said, “Small town, even smaller trailer park. Anything new, everyone takes notice. When the family who lived in your trailer before you and your mom moved out, everyone got curious about who was going to live there next. We checked you guys out as you were moving in.”
I said, “Oh. Who lived there before us?”
Ellen said, “A family with four kids.”
I said, “Jeez. Four kids? How did a family with that many kids ever live in that trailer? I can barely stand the lack of privacy with just my mom.”
She said, “They had little kids. They were all younger than kindergarten age. The older ones were twins—a boy and a girl. Everyone seemed happy. They had an awesome garden. It all died after they moved ’cause the trailer stood empty for months before you and your mom moved in. The summer heat was brutal and management doesn’t bother watering private gardens, no matter how amazing they are.” She rolled her eyes in disgust. “You had a vegetable garden on the side of your place, rose bushes and flowering cacti in the front. No grass. Except for the rose bushes right near your steps, the yard was desert scape, but gorgeous. My favorite was the Echinopsis flowers: brightly colored flowers that pop right out of the green cactus. They had orange and yellow and red ones.” Her eyes lit up. She said, “Hey, I probably have pictures of your place somewhere on my phone. I always loved their garden. I probably snapped a few pics here and there. You want to see them sometime if I can find them?”
I said, “Sure.”
She said, “OK, I’ll try finding some tonight.” Changing the subject, she asked, “How are your teachers?”
I said, “I like some of them. I have Bell for English Lit.”
Ellen said, “Oh, she’s really cool! Are you guys reading graphic novels in there?”
I said, “Yeah. I’m pretty excited about that.”
She said, “I can’t wait for her class next year!” Turns out Ellen was a junior.
I said, “I also have her for Newspaper Club.”
Ellen said, “Oh, yeah, right. She took over after Mr. Ashkii died.”
She got very quiet.
I asked, “How did he die?”
She said, “He was raising wild animals out at his home in the desert. No one at school knew about it. One morning
, they found him mauled to death in a lion cage. The door to the cage was wide open. He’d been dead for a few days. When he didn’t show up at school or call in sick, someone finally went out to his house and found him. They never did find the lion.” She shivered. “Everyone in the area was on lockdown for a couple of weeks. School and sports were canceled. Then the authorities just kind of figured the lion must have left the area. It was a scary time.”
The bus pulled up to our school just as I was pondering how many weird things seemed to happen between people and wild animals out here in the desert.
Ellen grabbed her things and said, “Bye! See you later!”
This was going to be a rough day. No doubt about it. I was exhausted and I hadn’t even gotten off the bus yet.
I managed to bump into a freshman on the way off, knocking her books all over the floor. I apologized profusely and helped pick them up. A bunch of kids got impatient, yelling things like, “C’mon! We’re gonna be late! Hurry up!” and then kicking me in the back when they decided to shove past me anyway.
I thought this day couldn’t possibly get any worse.
I was wrong.
Homeroom was OK. I had brought my laptop along. I got into the file with my newspaper article. I made a second copy and added Version 2 to the file name. This would be the version where I dealt with Bobby Huffman and acknowledged his death. I was so creeped out by this, I didn’t want to write about it, but I knew I had to. I wrote a new introduction to the section about him:
We had the opportunity to meet a young man named Bobby Huffman only one day after he claimed he had been taken up into a spaceship out in the desert. He said it had happened in the exact same location where locals had seen a UFO streaking across the sky on the exact same night.
I described how ill he looked. I suggested that maybe he had been hallucinating from fever. I also reported exactly what he’d told us about the scars on his head and stomach: that the aliens had placed a chip in his brain to track him and performed surgery on his stomach. Then I wrote that he had been diagnosed as suffering from Tourette Syndrome and psychosis.
Shade and the Skinwalkers Page 9
