by Cady Vance
“No church today for Audrey. She’s home watching her little brother who has a bit of a cold,” she said. “She said to have you go on over to her house. She’d be happy to talk to you.”
I nodded my thanks, and Nathan murmured polite words of goodbye. Neither of us could get out of there fast enough.
“Oh, and kids?” she called out as we pushed through the screen door. “Thank you for returning my son’s wallet to me.”
“No problem,” I said, and then hurried to Nathan’s car, fighting back tears.
***
Audrey’s house was only a few minutes away from Tyler’s. The whole way I gripped my backpack and leaned forward in the leather seat, like tensing my body could make things okay.
Everything was not okay.
“Why are we even going to Audrey’s house?” I asked Nathan, even though I was certain he didn’t have an answer to that question any more than I did. She wouldn’t know anything, and her parents probably wouldn’t either.
“Because we’ll do whatever we have to do. Explore every option.” He made a left into a typical suburban neighborhood dotted with basketball hoops, box houses and discarded bicycles. “Follow every lead. Maybe she knows something.”
“Not likely,” I mumbled.
“Hey,” he said in a soft voice. “Remember in Astonishing X-Men, Issue 24, when it seemed like it was all over for Kitty Pryde and that she wasn’t going to make it? Everyone lost hope. But you know what? That wasn’t the end of her.”
I turned sideways and leaned my cheek against the seat, looking at Nathan’s profile. It was funny how the smallest thing like that could make me feel better. I knew it was fiction and that the X-Men story didn’t change a thing for me and my mom, but just hearing it, I got a little bit of hope back. Nathan’s eyes met mine, and I saw a burning in them when he looked at me, a reflection of the burning I felt, too. But with everything going on, I couldn’t give into the feeling that all I wanted was to kiss him again, to feel his lips on my skin.
I cleared my throat. “Thanks, Robin.”
He tilted back his head and laughed, his deep voice echoing in the car. A moment later, the car slowed and he pointed out a one-story brick house, yard littered with an odd assortment of jumbo-sized dinosaurs. They all stood in a row like some sort of plastic T-Rex battle line.
Nathan angled the truck into driveway just as my phone beeped with a text message from Laura.
Dad let me out of the house. Checked on ur mom. Will stay here 4 a few hours.
I closed my eyes and sighed. Laura rocked. I sucked for getting her into trouble with her dad, but I was really glad she was there to be with my mom. It made me feel a little better about leaving Mom there by herself, during her last hours while I ran through the state searching for answers.
Audrey stepped outside just as I slammed the passenger-side door. I recognized her as the girl from the picture. Her reddish hair glistened in a flash of rare sunshine from the sky, and her lanky frame shifted nervously in a loose-fitting t-shirt and jeans.
Nathan and I waved and walked closer. She cocked her head and stared at me, like she wasn’t sure what to think. Her eyes moved to Nathan; she scanned him from head to toe. We must have passed some sort of test because she motioned us over and walked back inside, holding the front door open.
Once inside the house, she led us to a back room. Toys were scattered across the floor and mounds of DVDs were stacked next to a large-screen TV. She pointed to a spot on the couch next to an XBox controller. Nathan and I settled in, sinking into the microfiber that looked like it had survived a slew of food spills and pet stains. I placed my elbows on my knees and cleared my throat. I had no idea what to say.
“So, why are you guys really here?” She lifted her eyebrows and sunk into the fluffy cushions of a recliner.
I quirked my mouth. “You’re a lot less believing than Tyler’s mom.”
Her eyes narrowed, eyes flitting back and forth between me and Nathan.
“Okay, we’re here because my mom was attacked by a shaman a year ago, and I’m looking for him. I don’t know anyone in the shaman community, but I found a guy who gave me some information, and it’s taken us on this trail. It led to Tyler. Apparently, he ran off to join a weird cult or something, and his mom gave us your name.”
Nathan gave me a reassuring smile and placed his arm around my back to give me a quick squeeze. I was glad when he didn’t pull away after.
Audrey blinked. I guessed she hadn’t been expecting me to be as honest as I was. I hadn’t even expected me to be that honest.
“A shaman attacked your mom?” she asked, folding her legs underneath her.
“Yeah, and I think he’s somehow connected to Tyler,” I said. “Since following that shaman’s trail led me to your friend.”
“Wow.” She drummed her fingers against the arm of the recliner in a hectic beat. “I knew that cult had a bad vibe.” She glanced at me, and then at Nathan again. “He okay?”
“Yeah, I’ve told him all about shamans.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “I’ve come into my Intuition lately.”
I stared hard at her, at her skinny frame and youthful face. She had to be younger than me. “Already?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m only fifteen, but I’ve already got it. And I’ve barely touched shaman magic.” She lowered her voice and glanced behind her at the empty hallway. “My parents don’t want me touching it at all, but I experimented, you know?”
“I totally understand,” I said with a sad smile. “Same thing. And I’ve got it, too.”
“Isn’t it weird?” she asked. “It’s like spiders are crawling all over me when it happens. And the headache sucks.”
“Yeah,” I said, hating to change the subject back to Tyler, but I needed to find out what I could. “So, can you tell me anything?”
She sighed and nibbled on her bottom lip for a moment. Her eyes darted up to the ceiling, and then back to my face.
She drummed her fingers again and jiggled her foot. “I didn’t tell his mom about anything because he asked me not to, but if you think he’s in real trouble…”
“We think he’s gotten into something dangerous,” Nathan said.
“He’s right,” I said, trying not to picture Tyler’s dead eyes. “There’s something really bad about that cult.”
“Are you going to do something about it?” Audrey asked. “No offense, but what’s a regular guy going to do against a psycho shaman?”
“I’m no regular guy,” Nathan said in a half-serious tone.
Audrey raised her eyebrows and looked hard at him again, like she was reading his soul. When she finally pulled her eyes away, she nodded and leaned back into the chair. “No, a regular guy wouldn’t be dumb enough to get involved in this, even if he was lovestruck.”
My entire face turned the color of Nathan’s red polo. “Anyway, we’re going to find the guy responsible for all of this and stop him. Or try to anyway. We don’t have a solid plan yet.”
Or any plan.
“I don’t know much about shamanism.” She picked up a guitar pick and flicked it against the couch like it was the most natural action in the world. “My parents don’t practice and neither do my grandparents. None of them know anyone either. They’re real weird about it. I think they're scared of spirits.”
All my hopeful breath whooshed out of me. Another dead end. I tried not to let Audrey see how disappointed her words made me, but I didn’t think there was any way to hide the pain I felt. I needed something. Anything. Mom needed it.
“But I know where Tyler went when he joined the cult,” she said. I looked up sharply, sucking back in the hope. “He told me where the headquarters were. I tried going by there several times to talk to him, but they wouldn’t let me in to see him. It was like…a dorm or something. They were really weird about security.”
I leaned forward, finding my second wind, ignoring the hunger pains in my stomach and the spots dancing in my eyes.
I was so close. I could feel it. Something inside of me knew that if I went to this cult place, I’d find the shaman who attacked my mom.
CHAPTER 29
Where is it?” Nathan asked when I didn’t respond. I was too busy clutching his hand with such raw hope, I couldn’t force my brain to form words.
“I’ll tell you guys where the building is if you promise you’ll let me know if you find anything. I’ve gotta warn you though. They probably won't let you in to talk to anyone.”
“I know a spell. It’ll get me in,” I managed to say over the roar in my ears and the jackhammer of a heart in my ribcage. We were another step closer. Maybe this step would actually be the one to save Mom.
“A spell?” Her eyes lit up. “Nevermind. I don’t want to know. But before you go, do either of you want a sandwich or something while I print out directions? Someone’s stomach sounds like a tow truck.” That would definitely be mine.
“That’d be awesome,” Nathan said. I agreed when another hunger pang lurched inside my belly, although a part of me just wanted to run, run, run.
A moment later, Audrey strolled into the room balancing a couple of Cokes and two paper plates that held the biggest turkey sandwiches I’d ever seen.
“Wow.” I took the plate from her and handed the next to Nathan. “Did you make this?”
“No.” She grabbed a monster-sized laptop from the corner desk while I sunk my teeth into the food. The bread and meat were so soft, the cheese and mayonnaise adding the perfect amount of extra flavor. It was all I could do not to moan in pure, delicious bliss. “My mom makes a bunch and then sticks them in the fridge. She and Dad work late, so my brothers and I have to fend for ourselves after school.”
“That sucks,” Nathan said around a mouth full of food.
“Nah, it’s not so bad,” Audrey said, clicking the mouse button. “It only sucks when my brothers decide to act like morons. Which is kind of often actually.”
We sat in silence while Audrey tapped on the keyboard. Once I was done inhaling the sandwich, I washed it down with a long gulp of Coke. Outside, I heard the patter of rain on the roof and the crackle of thunder overhead.
“So, this building is in Charleston, the next town over,” she said over the hum of the printer. She grabbed the paper from the tray and handed it over.
I glanced down at the map and smiled. This could be it. This could be where the shaman was.
Nathan and I stood while I pocketed the map. “Thanks again.”
“No, thank you guys for looking into this,” Audrey said. “I wish I could go with you, but my youngest brother will eat Tylex if he’s left alone. He claimed he’s sick to get out of church, but I know better.”
“Well, it’s probably better to go into this with as few people as possible,” I said. “I’ll call you as soon as we know something?”
“Sure.” She nodded, looking relieved.
Audrey walked me and Nathan to the door and waved us out. “Good luck with your mom. I hope she ends up okay.”
I stood under the cover of the porch roof and looked up at the dark sky. “Me too.”
***
It was a fifteen minute drive to the building. Nathan zoomed down the street as I recited the detailed directions Audrey had printed. The cult headquarters was located in a very residential area, sandwiched between a Bed & Breakfast and a house with a sunny wrap-around porch. I peered at the building as we passed by, straining to see through Nathan’s streaked windows. The rain had started coming down in windy gusts, big droplets pounding the roof, large puddles pooling on the pavement.
It was clean and unmarked—a red-brick, four-story building that looked kind of like the dorms on Harvard campus. The windows were shaded, but I could see yellow light shining through the cracks. The placed looked alive and occupied, quite the contrast to the abandoned building in downtown Boston.
Nathan did another loop past the building so we could get a better feel for the place. I hoped my Intuition would kick in and let me know how dangerous it was to go inside.
Nothing.
Nathan parked the truck at a closed pizza parlor down the street and shut off the engine.
The roar of the rain surrounded us as I counted to ten and pictured the single sage leaf to center myself. After what we’d found in the last building connected to all this, I was a little bit wary of what we'd find inside this one. Especially since this was where Tyler had gone before he’d ended up dead and under someone’s floorboards.
“So, what’s the plan?” Nathan watched me pull the blue candle from my backpack.
I ripped a piece of parchment from my notebook. “We need to get in there and look around, so I figure being Shadowed is the only way that’s going to happen.”
Nathan placed a hand on my parchment to slow down my hurried preparation. “Shadowed might work for looking around, but I don’t think it’ll help you get inside. Audrey said this place has high security. So, the deadbolts are going to be pretty complicated, right? Can you pick that kind of lock?”
“No, probably not.” My hair fell into my face as I shook my head. “Do you have a better idea?”
“Maybe.” I looked up to see his grin. “Superhero Technique number four. The Distraction.” He tapped the parchment with his forefinger. “So, you could Shadow by yourself, and I’ll do the distracting. You do the sneaking.”
“Not a bad plan. Let’s try it.”
After performing the Shadow incantation alone, I stepped out of the truck, invisible to the world. Rain washed over me, soaking me almost immediately. Big droplets pounded my head, and the sky flashed white with lightening.
Nathan and I ran down the sidewalk, me following just behind. His polo clung to his back and shoulders. Wet hair plastered his neck. My sneakers splashed water and drenched my pant legs. Cars zoomed by on the road, shooting more water up around us. I felt like I was swimming through a pool of dirty city water.
Panting, I stopped in front of the building and gave Nathan’s arm a quick squeeze to let him know I was there. I eyed the solid door and watched Nathan twist the doorknob. It was locked, and the two deadbolts barring our entry was more than a match for my flimsy lockpicking tool. Nathan had been right.
He buzzed the doorbell and waited. A few moments later, a middle-aged woman in a nursing uniform opened the door and looked outside. I stood there, holding my breath, trying to be as silent as possible as she eyed Nathan with a frown.
“Can you help me?” he asked, running his fingers through his drenched hair.
“What is it, young man?” She half-closed the door like she was protecting herself from him. “This is a private care facility, and we don’t admit strangers from the street.
Private care facility? Interesting.
“No, no.” Nathan looked down at his shoes and clenched his jaw.
Oh no. We hadn’t gone over what to say to whoever answered the door, and I realized he had no idea how to get the nurse out of the way so I could slip inside unnoticed. I pinched his arm, and his head jerked up fast.
“Well?” she prodded.
“I just, um, well,” he said. “There was a kid I saw. Out in the road. Drenched, kind of like I am.” He laughed nervously. “He seemed to be coming from here, and he looked sick. I…thought he might need help?”
The nurse’s forehead wrinkled, and she stepped out into the rain, using her arm to shield her head from the downpour. She left the door open a crack, and I slid inside, hoping she wouldn’t notice the weird shadow sneaking past her.
Quickly, I slipped down the hallway, my wet shoes flicking water onto the tiled floor. I turned and glanced behind me and saw I'd left a trail of rainwater. I could hear Nathan mumbling more lies to the nurse as I snuck along, and I crossed my fingers that she wouldn’t figure out his stories were false until after I’d gotten out of here.
I moved underneath muted florescent lights down a long hall of closed unmarked doors. Light spilled from the cracks, and I wondered what or who was behind e
ach one. Shaman kids thinking they’d found the key to getting away from their parents and into the exciting world of shaman magic? Or was the guy who had done all this, the guy responsible, sitting behind a desk and looking for his next victim?
Was he somewhere in here plotting against me? Against Audrey? Against Laura?
I shook aside my thoughts and kept moving forward, glancing over my shoulder at the front door. The nurse had come back inside now and was locking the bolts with trembling fingers. She started hurrying down the hall toward me, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief when she didn’t notice the little puddles sprinkling the floor.
Had she found out Nathan was lying? Did she know I was inside? I froze at a fork in the hallway and pressed myself up against the cold concrete, forcing my body not to shiver. The air conditioning was on full blast even though the temperature outside was cool. With the wet material clinging to my skin, I felt a little hypothermic.
The nurse’s shoes clacked on the floor as she passed me. She turned once to look at the front door again. I hoped she wasn't going to report Nathan’s odd visit to anyone. Not that they would be able to find me even if they did suspect someone was inside. I was basically invisible. Even with the drip-drip-drip of the water from my shirt to the floor.
I followed her at what felt like a safe distance, stepping carefully so my shoes wouldn’t squeak. One slow step after another. The building might have seemed alive from outside, but inside, it seemed like an almost-empty cave. Tiny sounds echoed in the deserted halls, and I heard nothing other than the occasional muted voice.
What was this place?
There were obviously other people in this building. I just had no idea who or what they were, or what they were doing here.
Just then, a door a few feet in front of me swung open. I stopped mid-step and watched a skinny girl with matted brown hair, who was a couple of years younger than me, slip into the hall and close the door very gently behind her. She tiptoed across the hall and knocked on another door. For some reason, I’d been expecting only shamans here. The nurse wasn’t one, and neither was this girl.
