Finding Jade

by Mary Jennifer Payne

  I stop. “Lola? Are you telling me she knows all about this Seer stuff?”

  There’s a loud creaking sound as the heavy wooden doors to the church open like a dark mouth. I stifle the urge to scream at Cassandra, Lily, and Jade to stop. Suddenly the church seems like a bad idea. But then what would we do to get back to modern-day Toronto?

  “You need to tell me how Lola is involved in all of this,” I say, sweeping my arms in front of me. “This nightmare.”

  “We lost contact with her shortly after Jade’s abduction. Lola told us she was certain Jade was dead, that she felt she’d failed her, and wanted to relinquish her role as a Protector.”

  “Well, she did think Jade was dead,” I say. “We all did. Lola was part of the search parties that looked for my sister for nearly a month.”

  We’ve reached the entrance of the church. Lily is waiting for us, propping the door open with her body.

  “This place is really creepy,” she says. Cassandra stands behind her with Jade. They both look like they haven’t slept in days.

  “You look exhausted, Jasmine,” Cassandra says, bringing the lantern closer to my face. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I was going to say the same thing about you,” I retort.

  Raphael frowns. “You all look tired because you’re not supposed to be down here this long. The Place-in-Between is for the dead, not the living. We need to get you home soon.”

  “How is being in here going to help us get back?” Lily asks. Panic edges her words. “There are dead people all over the place. We’re in death central.”

  And that’s when we hear it: the sound of something dragging against the stone floor.

  We fall silent. I want to tell Cassandra to blow out the candle in her lantern, so that if anything is in here with us, we’re not visible. The problem being, if we do that, we’ll be in complete darkness with whatever is moving around in here.

  Then we hear footsteps. Not heavy, clunking zombie footsteps, but scurrying, light footsteps. The sound a bunch of mice running along a cement floor might make. Except these would have to be giant, mutant mice.

  “Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God,” Lily says. She gulps at the air like a goldfish that’s jumped out of its bowl. I’m afraid she’s going to hyperventilate.

  “Calm down,” Raphael says. “You’ll make it worse by being this afraid.”

  “He’s right,” I whisper, grabbing her arm. “They become stronger from our negative emotions, remember? Anyway, we’ve got strength in numbers.” I say this, even though I don’t believe we can fight a bunch of demons right now. I feel completely drained.

  But Lily doesn’t even seem to notice me. “I want to go home. Now,” she whimpers, her voice rising. She’s staring into the darkness, her eyes wild with panic and fear. “I want to be in Toronto. I want to be at home in my bed. I don’t believe all of this.” She’s practically shouting now, and despite me trying to keep my own emotions down, I find myself growing more scared by the second.

  “This has got to be a bad dream!” she screeches, grabbing her head in her hands.

  And that’s when Jade begins to scream.

  “Something’s got me!” she shrieks. The terror in her voice makes my entire body go cold.

  I rush to help her, but am seconds too late. Jade is pulled face down to the floor of the church by a figure cloaked in a hooded garment. This demon is fast. Jade’s arms pinwheel in the air as she drops. One of her hands knocks the lantern Cassandra’s holding, and it falls to the ground with a crashing thud. The candle flickers inside the smashed glass for a moment before going out.

  We’re in pitch darkness. Lily begins to scream in unison with Jade.

  “I hate this! This is a place for dead people. I want to be home in Toronto!”

  I’m on the floor as she shrieks, desperately trying to locate Jade. I can hear her, but when I reach for out in the direction of her voice, my fingers just keep finding the hard, stone floor of the church. I move forward as quickly as I can. Whatever grabbed her, it’s dragging her away from us, toward the front of the church. Toward where Raphael said the entrance to the crypt is located.

  I rush forward on my hands, scrabbling along the floor like a crab, praying nothing grabs me as well. Jade is not going to be taken away from me again. I’m not going to let this happen.

  Suddenly, the floor drops away from underneath me, and I’m falling into what seems like a very deep hole. As the air rushes past me, I realize everything is silent. I can’t hear Lily or Jade or anybody anymore. I close my eyes (which is kind of funny because I can’t see anything in the inky blackness anyhow) and brace for a crash landing.

  Chapter 23

  There’s screaming all around me again. I’ve landed on a hard surface, but not nearly as hard as I’d expected, considering I must’ve fallen at least three storeys from the church floor.

  I open my eyes. Someone is shining a light in my face. I smell smoke mingled with some sort of sweet, coppery scent, and I can just make out the faint outline of twisted metal and seat cushions. The air is thick with smoke and dust from the debris.

  “Are you okay?” the person with the flashlight asks. I nod. She’s wearing a Toronto Police uniform. It seems I’m back. No more demons.

  “Where’s my sister?” I ask. “Her name is Jade. Have you seen her?” I sit up. Other than a dull, throbbing ache at my right hip, I feel fine.

  “I don’t think so. But we’re just getting to people now. Are you in any pain?”

  I shake my head. “What happened?”

  The officer’s lips tighten. “We’re not 100 percent sure, but it seems that some sort of explosion occurred in the subway car in front of this one.”

  My eyes widen. “You mean a bomb?”

  “It’s too soon to speculate,” she quickly says. “And it wouldn’t help anyone in here to think that right now. What’s your name?”

  “Jasmine,” I reply. “Jasmine Guzman.”

  “Okay, Jasmine,” the officer says. “We’re going to get you out of here as soon as we can. We just need to move some of the more seriously injured passengers that need immediate medical attention first. You’re sure you’re not in a lot of pain?”

  I nod. “I’m sure.”

  “Then I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she says. “I’m Officer Riley, by the way.”

  “Okay. I’ll be here,” I say, shooting her a wry smile.

  Officer Riley turns and begins to make her way farther down the carriage, the beam of her flashlight casting eerie shadows around the mangled wreckage of the subway train. I can hear faint moaning coming from different places, including the shattered car in front of us.

  “Jazz, is that you?” a voice whispers weakly from behind me.

  I look over my shoulder. Cassandra is lying within arm’s reach, near one of the subway doors.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” I say, moving toward her. I carefully crawl over bits of twisted metal and torn seat cushions, hoping there are no body parts in the debris.

  “I think I blacked out for a minute,” she says, propping herself up onto her elbows. Blood trickles down the side of her face from a gash on her left temple. It doesn’t look very deep, so I hope there’s nothing to worry about.

  “Are you okay?” I ask, kneeling beside her.

  She coughs a bit and sits up. “I think so. What happened?”

  “There’s been an accident. One of the police officers said it was an explosion or something.”

  Cassandra’s eyes widen. “We’re back in Toronto, right?”

  I nod. “As far as I can tell.”

  “Where are the others?” she asks, looking around. “Is Lily okay?”

  The beam from Officer Riley’s flashlight approaches. There’s a paramedic with her who introduces herself as Samantha and starts to examine Cassandra’s injuries.


  “Jasmine? We’ve found your sister,” she says, stopping and squatting beside Cassandra and me. “She’s going to be fine. She has no significant injuries, aside from a nasty ankle wound. We’re getting her out on a stretcher right now. There are emergency personnel at ground level that will be seeing to her and transporting her to the nearest hospital.”

  “My sister is on here, as well. I think,” Cassandra interjects. “Her name is Lily.”

  “We haven’t come across her yet,” Officer Riley says. “But I understand that about a half-dozen other passengers were already escorted out. They’re at ground level. As soon as Samantha’s cleaned out that wound on your head, you two can come with me, and we’ll have you join them.”

  A few minutes later, we follow Officer Riley out of the train and onto the tracks.

  “Can’t we get electrocuted doing this?” Cassandra asks.

  “The power’s been cut,” Officer Riley answers. “No subway cars are running until we find out exactly what’s happened here.”

  The tunnel is eerie and filled with the moaning cries of the injured passengers still trapped and being treated in the wreckage. I’m super glad when we finally reach the platform, and two firefighters pull us up into the station. I just want to be above ground, among the living. And I want to find Jade.

  Officer Riley leaves us with the firefighters, who walk us up the escalators and outside.

  The bright sunshine hurts my eyes, forcing me to squint, as we emerge out of the station and onto the sidewalk. The heat hits me like a slap. I’m not used to it — the Place-in-Between was so much cooler.

  “Oh, my God,” Cassandra says.

  There are paramedics and emergency workers rushing all around us. Journalists buzz about the periphery of the area like bees, and the sound of helicopters and drones fills the air above our heads. The area is completely blocked off, but loads of people are gathering behind the police lines, trying to see what’s happening. Injured passengers from the subway are everywhere.

  One middle-aged woman is slumped up against the glass wall of a bus stop; the white bandage wrapped around her head is turning a deep crimson. A paramedic holds a water bottle to her lips. I notice she’s missing a shoe. Her other foot is bloody but still fastened inside an expensive-looking, black, high-heeled sandal.

  Cassandra sucks in her breath. “There’s Lily!” she says, pointing toward a line of stretchers near some ambulances. I look over and see Lily crouching beside one of the stretchers.

  We run over. Jade’s on the stretcher beside Lily. She’s propped up on her elbows, talking to Lily and the paramedic assisting her, so I know she can’t be too badly injured. I breathe a sigh of relief.

  Lily lets out an elated squeal as soon as she sees us and throws herself at Cassandra.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she says. “What happened back there?”

  “I don’t know,” I answer. “But if those guys are here, I’m guessing it’s something pretty bad.” I nod my head toward a group of heavily armed police officers in riot gear entering the subway station.

  “Climate-change terrorists strike again,” Cassandra says, her voice grim.

  I walk over to Jade, lean in, and kiss her on the cheek.

  “How does it feel to be back?” I whisper.

  “Painful,” she says. “My ankle is shredded. Whatever grabbed me down there in the church had some mean claws.”

  I straighten and glance over at the paramedic to see if she overheard. “It’s better if we talk about things like that at home,” I say. “And, speaking of home, Mom is going to die when she sees you.”

  “Sorry to interrupt, girls, but we’ve got to take her to the hospital now to get her leg looked at,” the paramedic says, fastening the straps of the stretcher around Jade’s midsection. “Do you want to come with us? You can give your mom a call from the ambulance.”

  I pause. How can I just call Mom up and announce that her missing, and presumed dead, daughter is suddenly back?

  “My mom usually turns off her phone in the afternoon because she works nights and, um, has to sleep,” I say. “So … I’ll have to run back home and come to the hospital with her. Since she’ll have to wake up and everything.”

  “We’ll go with Jade in the ambulance,” Cassandra says. She turns to the paramedic. “If that’s okay?”

  The paramedic nods. “You can sit up front.” As she climbs into the back, she turns to me, “Let your mom know we’re taking your sister to Sick Kids.”

  “Okay. See you soon,” I say as Jade’s stretcher is hoisted into the air. I turn, trying to figure out how to get out of here, and get home as quickly as possible.

  Just as I’m squeezing past the police barricades, I realize something. Raphael’s nowhere to be found. And the weirdest thing is, I didn’t even think about him until right now. It’s like I forgot he was ever with us.

  Chapter 24

  The front door of our apartment looms in front of me. I stand in the hall outside, listening to a lonely dog whimpering in another apartment and taking in the odour of fried onions and stale smoke.

  What am I going to say when I see Mom? How do I possibly explain Jade being back, or how I found her? Do I say I just bumped into her at the Eaton Centre?

  Suddenly, I realize I’ve been away all night without even calling. Mom must be worried sick.

  Bracing myself for her reaction, I open the door and walk straight to the living room.

  Bright beams of sunlight flood the room. The worn Persian rug is rolled into one corner, and the coffee table nearly trips me up. Mom’s doing yoga in a space she’s cleared in front of the video monitor. She shoots me an upside-down smile and slowly lifts herself out of downward dog.

  “Hola, baby girl,” she says, coming over and giving me a massive kiss on both cheeks. “How was your sleepover with your friends?”

  I look at her blankly. The last time she saw me, the sun was nearly setting.

  “Hello?” Mom laughs. “Anyone there? Cassandra’s mother is nice, no? We spoke for a bit when she called asking if you could stay there last night.”

  I have no idea what she’s talking about, but clearly she’s not upset about me being gone all night. And this isn’t the time to get into all of that anyhow. Right now I need to tell Mom about Jade being back without giving her a heart attack.

  “I … I need you to sit down,” I stammer. My hands are shaking, so I fold them behind my back. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

  Mom’s eyes narrow. “You in trouble, pobrecita?” She wipes away the beads of sweat on her forehead with a pink hand towel.

  I shake my head. “No. It’s good news. Great news, in fact. It’s just …”

  “Just what?” She’s getting impatient, making the words stick in my throat like peanut butter.

  “Jade’s alive,” I say.

  Mom stares hard at me, her eyes filling with tears. “What do you mean? Are you seeing things again, mija?” she asks.

  Well, yeah, I think. I have been seeing demons again, except now I know they’re real. And they’re capable of some very serious damage, like kidnapping little girls called Seers and holding them hostage in Limbo….

  “I can’t explain everything right now,” I say. “But she’s at Sick Kid’s waiting for you.”

  Mom blesses herself and begins crying openly. I haven’t seen her do this since Jade’s disappearance.

  “Are you lying to me, Jasmine Alejandra? Or have the angels finally answered my prayers?” she asks, coming over and placing her hands on both my shoulders. Tears are streaming down her cheeks. “Is this a dream?”

  “You’re not dreaming and I’m not lying,” I say. “Come on, we need to get over there. Cassandra and Lily are with her.”

  Mom rushes to her room and returns seconds later with a long, white button-down shirt thrown over her yoga ti
ghts. Her face is flushed, and she dabs at her eyes with a tissue.

  “I’ve become such an old woman since my baby was stolen,” she says wistfully. “What will she think of me? So much time has passed. Did you get to speak with her? Is she hurt? Why is she at the hospital? Where has she been?”

  The questions are making me dizzy. I need to be careful here, not only about what I say, but also to remember whatever stories I tell her in the next few minutes. If I can’t tell Mom the truth, the least I can do is keep my lies straight.

  “We really need to go,” I say again. “The streetcar is going to be packed. There was some sort of an accident on the subway.”

  Mom picks up her phone. “Then I’ll just call Lola to take us.”

  My heart skips a beat. Lola. She was our Protector. Except, for some reason, she wasn’t able to protect Jade from the demon that took her.

  But I believe Raphael thinks there’s more to it than that. I know he wanted to tell me more before we entered the church, but didn’t have the time. And I want to find out the rest of the story before Lola discovers that Jade’s back.

  “We shouldn’t bother her,” I say. “The streetcars won’t be that bad. I’m sure they’ve got things cleared up. The drones will be reporting back about traffic by the second.”

  Mom stares at me. “If there’s been an accident, it will be a nightmare, no matter what. You know that.”

  If I continue arguing, Mom will suspect something’s up.

  It doesn’t matter anyway. She’s already on the phone, and within fifteen minutes we’re crammed into Lola’s car, heading toward the hospital. Traffic is bumper-to-bumper; the cars ahead of us crawl along like ants heading to a picnic.

  Lola leans over the steering wheel, her face partially hidden by the biggest pair of sunglasses I’ve ever seen.

  “Tell me this again,” she says. “Jade is alive? Are you sure?”

  “Yep,” I reply. I glance out the window and watch a group of cyclists pass us, their noses and mouths covered with masks to filter out the pollution. Even though Lola’s car runs on electricity, I feel guilty being in it. After all, batteries aren’t exactly carbon neutral. We’ve never even owned a car, though that’s mostly because they cost too much money these days. I’ve never thought to ask how Lola affords hers.