“Look Harrison I’m really sorry!” He apologized. “But Jane saw me! And if I hadn’t explained everything people would probably come and experiment on me!” He sounded really worried and scared. “Then they would use lie detectors to find out about you guys!”
I thought carefully about what he said.
Darryl was usually the thinker, but unfortunately it was just the two of us.
“Does Jane know about Darryl, Carly and I?” I asked him.
“I might’ve mentioned it,” He said uncertainly. “But then again what difference would it of made?” he asked. “She would’ve figured it out eventually!”
I knew he was right.
“Well...if you’re sure we can trust her….then I guess it’s alright.” I admitted.
He nodded furtively.
“I trust her with my life!” He said over exaggerating again.
That was a good sign that he was over the whole anxiety thing.
“Well...I hope you placed your life in the right hands!” I told him. “Because otherwise we’ll all end up as lab rats in some dank laboratory in Antarctica or like some other really secluded place.”
Jake looked confused.
“Quiz time!” He said. “Define the definition of ‘secluded’!”
“It means...” I said, thinking of a fake definition that would fit into my sentence. “...It means laboratory!”
“Correct!” He exclaimed. “And your winner is….” Like a TV. host he did a drum roll. “...HARRISON WHITE!!”
I choked back a laugh as Jake looked at me with a smug look of satisfaction.
He was so dumb.
But then I remembered what I was there for.
“Jake,” I asked, as least suspiciously as possible. “What time did you go to bed last night?”
“Oh man!” He informed me. “I was so tired last night! I went to bed at like...eight o’clock!”
Carly would’ve been on Mt. Baker at midnight, so there was no way Jake could’ve rescued her.
“Oh...Okay,” I told him.
“Why’d you ask?” He asked me.
“No reason.” I replied.
I left his house ten minutes later, still no closer to figuring out this mystery.
Carly obviously hadn’t saved herself, nor had Jake or I.
The last person would be Darryl, but somehow I didn’t imagine him getting up at midnight to swing to the top of a mountain.
So the mystery continued.
I went over and over my theories in my head until I got to my room.
I sat down on my bed.
My phone rang and I picked it up.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Hey Harrison! It’s Carly!” She sounded nervous, as if someone was watching her. “I remembered something else from last night.”
“What was it?” I asked, wondering where the conversation was going.
“Just before I lost consciousness, I felt a presence. Something that seemed to suck the light and warmth out of everything.”
“WHAT!” I said loudly, shocked to my core.
“It couldn’t be you,” She informed me. “You radiate light and heat. But this person was devoid of it.”
I couldn’t respond. My dry throat made it hard to talk.
I had an idea who this mysterious person might be.
“Do you have any clue as to who this person might be?” Carly asked.
“Nope! Not a clue!”
“Alright I’ll keep looking!”
“Oh and it wasn’t Jake either!” I remembered. “He went to bed at the same time as me.”
“That’s weird.” Carly said.
“Um. If you say so!” I told her.
“Bye.” She cut the call.
“Bye.” I spoke into the echoes of our conversation.
Talk about weird!
There was only one person in the town who was so completely devoid of light and warmth.
But what would he gain by saving Carly?
Perhaps he likes her?
What was his ulterior move in rescuing Carly?
I wish I knew what he wanted.
Why the Shadow wanted to save Carly’s life.
Jake
XVIII
Why would Harrison want to know about my sleeping habits?
I wonder if he had considered the uselessness and weirdness of his questions.
I could expect that from Darryl, because Darryl tells me multiple times that the amount of sleep you get is crucial to how awake and focused your brain is and all that useless information.
But useless information from Harrison? What happened to all the basketball scores and fights over whether Michael Jordan was better than LeBron James?
What happened to that?
I walked upstairs to Jane’s room.
But just as I was placing my hand on the doorknob, I heard some giggling coming from inside.
“I’m so happy I made it to the swimming finals!” It wasn’t the voice of Rachel. It wasn’t squeaky enough. So who was it?
“I know right!” Came Jane’s voice, “It’s going to be so awesome Miranda!”
I bit back a gasp of shock.
Miranda Boxer was a snobby fourteen-year-old, who had repeated. I hated her so much because of what she did to Jane and me.
Before she repeated she had bullied me consistently.
After she repeated she took to 22ing Jane, claiming that this was her revenge at me for making her repeat.
She had serious anger issues.
But, all of a sudden, she was currently sitting on my sister’s bed talking about swimming finals.
Not even a mention at her boxing trophies or recent matches! No talk of fighting at all.
I was amazed!
“Hold on Miranda!” I heard Jane say. “Let me get us some drinks!”
I processed her words a few seconds too late. She opened the door as soon as I turned around.
“What are you doing Jake?”
“Um…” I said, my mind blank. “I was coming up to check if you were in here.”
“Well,” She said. “I’m here. You can run along now. Shoo!”
“Wait.” I said as she closed the door. “Who’s in there with you?”
“Miranda Boxer.” She admitted, sighing. “Why?”
“No reason.” I said. “Oh and Jane.” I added. “Don’t forget to get your guest a drink. You don’t want to be rude!”
“Urgh!” She growled, her face bunched up into a fierce scowl.
I giggled, unable to contain my laughter, her face was hilarious! And because I caused her face to be so bunched up, it was even better!
“I’ll kill you!” She said loudly, forgetting all about Boxer girl.
“Jane?” Boxer girl’s voice came from inside the room. “What’s happening?”
Before Jane could reply, Miranda came marching out the room.
“Oh.” She said, shocked. “Hi Jake! How’s it going?”
“Boxer girl.” I nodded at her, hoping to retain my cool, unbothered look.
“Hahaha!” She fake laughed. “Ha! You are so funny Jake!” She said smiling at me, and flipping her auburn hair at me. “‘Boxer girl’! I would’ve never thought of anything as hilarious as that!”
“Yeah…” I spoke with a great deal of uncertainty in my voice. A nice Miranda seemed impossible. “I’m hilarious!”
“Oh yes you are, Patterson!” She spoke with a lack of sarcasm.
I was now amazed more than ever!
“Well…” I said, once again shocked speechless. “I’ll be in my room.”
“Whatever.” Muttered my sister.
“See you later, cutie!” Miranda said, spooking me out.
“Uhh..Bye?” I said, confused and conflicted.
All of a sudden Miranda was looking a lot prettier than back in her bullying days.
She was simply dressed in a white blouse with blue jeans and sandals. Her hair was let loose and hung limply around her shoulders it was sli
ghtly curled at the bottom, light brown and golden highlights streaked her hair. Her hazel eyes shone with bright intelligence. She was almost as pretty as Carly.
Almost.
I felt her eyes burning into my back. A rise of heat rushed to my face. I shook my head, feeling strange.
The kind of strange I felt whenever Carly was near.
I shuddered. Imagine having feelings for a bully!
Now I realized why Darryl had shuddered on the day of the science fair.
It was weird that both our enemies suddenly became appealing to us.
Really weird.
I shook my head on my way down from Jane’s room. I stopped by the kitchen for a snack.
I opened the fridge to look for a chocolate bar, but there was only some stale cookies. I took it anyway.
I was starving, despite having eaten a huge breakfast only an hour ago.
Along with the cookie I also took a glass of milk.
I settled down into a comfortable position on my sofa, and opened my language arts textbook.
Idioms are a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.
In a few short minutes I knew everything there was to know about idioms. I knew what they were used for, I knew how they were used and I had a list of idioms as examples. I was well prepared for the quiz on Monday.
After I had Language Arts in the bag, I quickly moved onto Science.
Two hours later I had studied LA, Science and Math.
I took a break and went upstairs to the living room.
Jane and Miranda were sitting on a sofa still talking about swimming.
Then all of a sudden, Miranda’s eyes glazed over and the smile faded from her face. It was replaced by a scowl.
“What am I doing here with you losers?” She asked rudely, her faced fixed with a sneer of disgust.
“Uh…” Was all Jane could say.
“I’m out of here!” Miranda said, and waltzed out of the room.
Jane and I basked in the silence of her sudden leave.
“Well that was weird.” I said.
“Ya think?” She responded, still looking a little startled by Miranda’s sudden leave.
“I wonder what happened.”
“I don’t know!” She exclaimed. “One moment we were talking about swimming, and then some kinda, I dunno, something came over her and she was back to bullying.” Jane chewed on her lip, as she does when confused.
“Well,” I told her. “You should probably keep your distance for a while, but keep on the lookout for any sudden changes in her personality.”
Jane nodded.
I turned around and was walking away when Jane called my name.
“Hey Jake!”
“Yeah?”
“Umm…” She said twisting her body in embarrassment. “You don’t think this had anything to do with,” She looked around and whispered. “powers?”
“I don’t have a clue!” I announced. “But maybe.”
Carly
XIX
Complete and utter darkness. No light. No hope. No life.
Nothing.
Nothing but the empty desolate place, that the Dark One called home.
I shuddered. I didn’t even know who he was yet he still sent shivers of fear up my spine.
I had never met someone so devoid of light and warmth. He was the complete opposite of Harrison. He was colder than ice and darker than a shadow.
Obviously I didn’t see him. But I felt him. I felt his evil. I felt his soul.
So the reasons he would have to save me, well, I had no clue. I was waiting for Harrison’s call. Maybe he had discovered something. I hope so.
I hated doing this kind of work on my own. So I was kinda relying on Harrison’s detective skills. So not that much. But in fifth grade he found out who stole my lunch.
Though I don’t give him a whole load of credit for that, as he just went to the grade bully and saw her eating my cookie.
So it wasn’t exactly a Sherlock Holmes kind of mission.
But other than Darryl, he was the best I got. I didn’t want Darryl or Jake to be involved, because that would lead to more mess.
And with the final report card coming up Jake has enough work to catch up on. And the whole thing with Darryl and his mum, well that can’t be easy.
I felt another unexpected pang of sadness for Darryl. And with my sadness also came my hunger.
I went downstairs to look for a snack.
Hilde was sitting in the living room watching another modeling show.
But what interested me the most was her bowl of marshmallows and broken pieces of chocolate. A weird, yet delicious meal. And more importantly, just what I was looking for.
“Hey Hilde!” I said, while eyeing the bowl of chocolate and marshmallows. “What do you have there?”
“No, Anne!” She said, without looking up. “This is mine! Go get your own!”
“Urgh!” I groaned. I leaped on the sofa and snatched the bowl away from her. “Haha!”
Hilde snatched the other side of the bowl and tugged at it. Hard.
Soon the bowl was snatched away from me. I sat on the floor, in extreme sadness.
“Now go get your own snack!”
“Fine!” I said, realizing my defeat. It was such a shame, as it looked so good.
Sighing, I made my way into the kitchen. On the table lay an empty bag of marshmallows. Next to it laid seven empty chocolate wrappers. And next to that lay a note.
It read:
Next time go get your own snack! And you should be thanking me! I made you healthy! Go eat a banana or something! Hahahahaha!
-Lots of love,
Hilde
Urgh!!! “HILDE!!!!” I screamed. Sometimes I wanted to choke that girl!
“What’s up, Carly?” She said, a voice implying zero guilt or deception.
“I’m gonna KILL you!” I said, racing to the living room.
“You do that!”
“Gladly!” I heard the sound of giggling and the slamming of a door.
Just great! She probably ran outside in fits of laughter. Well I got a surprise up my sleeve!
I snuck out through the back door, and raced to Hilde’s best friend, Mary Ann.
I rang the doorbell, while simultaneously hopping from one foot to the other.
Mary Ann opened the door. Her fuzzy black hair was all pinned up in a bun that complemented her hazelnut brown skin, which was darker than Harrison’s, but lighter than Darryl’s.
She studied me with ice blue eyes. “Hey Carly.”
“Hey Mary Ann!” I said. “Is Hilde here?”
“Um..no.” She said, still looking at me funny. “Why’d you ask?”
“No reason.”
“Isn’t she at your house?”
“No, I can’t find her!”
“Hang on, let me call her,” She whipped out her blackberry, pressed a couple buttons, and placed the phone on her ear. “Hello?...Hey Hilde!...Where are you?...At your house?...Okay...Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either!...He did not!...Seriously?...No way!...OH MY GOSH!...Oh no he-”
I had been bouncing up and down, but when Mary Ann mentioned that Hilde was at the house I froze. Literally. Oh no she didn’t!
I didn’t stay to hear the end of the conversation.
Instead I raced to the house. I rang the doorbell and waited impatiently for someone to answer.
Eirik opened the door. “Ah!” he said. “Salve Carly!”
I muttered a hello back.
I raced to the living room.
Hilde looked at me and said, “Bye Mary Ann! Gotta go.” She cut the call. “Hi Carly! Did you enjoy your daily exercise?”
“As a matter of fact, I did not!”
Hilde smiled devilishly at me. “What a shame!” She exclaimed in mock horror.
“Hilde.” I growled warningly at her. “I’ll give you to the count of three. Ette..To...Tre.”
I opened
my eyes. Hilde had vanished, in her place lay a note.
I opened it. It was a smiley face. Urgh!!! Sometimes! That girl can be absolutely impossible to manage! A smiley face, how could she?
“HILDE!!!” I screamed, sounding very much like a guy from a movie about chipmunks. I didn’t care. “I”M GONNA KILL YOU!”
Darryl
XX
“...Well Darryl, your recent tests and quizzes lead us to believe two things,” said Mrs. Kaminski, “The first is that you cheated, I know! Quite astonishing and you’re all ready in Honor’s Class, so there is no need for you to cheat. Or someone to cheat from!”
I nodded trying to look as if I cared.
“The next thing is that you have been hiding your true genius! You might skip ninth grade!”
Now she got my full attention. “I’m sorry Mrs. Kaminski, but did you just say that I might have to skip ninth grade!”
“I did.” Mrs. Kaminski beamed at me, as if it were the greatest thing in the world. A few months before it would be. But now I have friends and powers! My life couldn’t get any better! mum’s in jail! I no longer live in fear of going to a children’s home. FTK was the best place on Earth! I had friends! Well a friend. But Sanjit was the best friend I ever had! Sure there was Carly, Harrison and Jake. But they accepted me as a person not a friend, and besides they had their own drama without having to worry about me.
“But...Mrs. Kaminski, what about my friends?” I asked.
Mrs. Kaminski looked surprised. “Uhh...well you can still see them after school and during lunch, can’t you Darryl?”
“I...I guess so,” I told her, still not completely sure. “Can I see my grades?”
“Why of course!” Mrs. Kaminski guided me to the secretary’s desk. She clicked a few buttons, typed a few keys and then showed me my grades. My eyes skimmed down the screen. She was right. My grades were perfect. And since we’re now doing gymnastics in P.E….Well, I didn’t have much trouble in that.
“Um...Thanks for showing me, Mrs. Kaminski.” I said.
“You’re very welcome, Darryl.” She replied with a huge smile.
I exited the room as fast as I could without running. I don’t know why but tears flooded my eyes. My vision became blurry, but I didn’t stop until I got to a tree in the woods. I raised an arm and missed. I blinked furiously, trying to clear the tears from my eyes. The second time my arm hooked around the tree twice and stayed. I shortened my arm and reeled myself in.
The Super 4 : Dark Death Page 9
