by Jerry Hart
All she could tell him was that he and Michael were two halves of a whole, something Michael himself confirmed during Owen’s last encounter with him.
None of it made any sense to Owen and it was maddening. Up until a few days ago, everything was going great for him and his friends. He, Chris, Daniel and Alyssa had been fighting monsters and having fun. Now everything was wrong.
“I wish I could tell you more about this thing,” Nikki said as she set the orb down on a table, “but when I look at it, I see nothing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean literally nothing. My mind goes blank whenever I even try to look deeper into it.”
“What should we do?” he asked.
“I may not be able to see into it, but perhaps I’ll have a better chance by looking into the one who made it.”
Owen looked directly into her eyes.
“You mean me?” he asked.
“Well, you did say you had dreams of building it, right?”
“I already told you I don’t know anything.”
“You said you built it.”
“I said I had a dream I was building it, but how could I have actually done it? I’m only sixteen and I can remember everything I’ve done for the past ten years. I think I’d remember this.”
He pointed to the orb. Nikki sighed.
“You came to me for help. I’m trying to help,” she said irritably.
“I know. I’m sorry. I just…”
Owen paused. A metallic figure with a clear, white shell stepped into the room to join him and Nikki.
“I just don’t understand why this is happening. Daniel and Alyssa are dead, Chris is missing—all I have left is D,” Owen said, indicating the robot in the doorway.
In a single night, Michael had destroyed Owen’s life, taking away everything he held dear. Owen couldn’t go home since the police had discovered Daniel’s body there.
“I’m sorry about your friends,” Nikki said kindly. “Although I don’t know where Chris is, I know he’s not dead.”
“How do you know that?” Owen asked as he wiped away a single tear that managed to roll down his cheek.
“I just do.”
Owen stared at D. The robot stared back with its piercing blue eyes.
“We shouldn’t focus on Chris now,” he said. “I think we need to talk about Michael and his brother.”
Nikki smiled. “I agree.”
* * *
It was pretty clear to Owen that Nikki enjoyed, to a certain extent, talking about Michael. Owen figured it was because Michael was a mystery, and Nikki, who was used to reading regular people’s boring fortunes, enjoyed trying to unravel it.
She and Owen were in a different room now, one that looked like a small warehouse. It was the very same room where they first met. The only difference now was that Chris wasn’t there with them. The two of them sat across from each other at a round table covered with a purple tablecloth. Owen knew that Nikki could see the truth in things if presented with a little information about a given situation. And that she liked purple.
She had known that Owen and Michael were connected somehow, that they both possessed the same superhuman strength, from as little information as Michael’s name and physical description. But when it came to Michael and Jason, all she could tell was that the two of them were blood-related, nothing more. She claimed she could tell Owen everything if she could meet them, but chances of that being arranged were slim to none.
“What can you tell me?” Owen asked, looking Nikki straight in the eyes.
“Depends on what you can tell me.”
“I’ve already told you everything I know.”
She sat back in her chair, looking like she was thinking deeply. “You know, something struck me when you mentioned knowing everything you’ve done in the past ten years.”
“What?”
“I don’t know,” she said bitterly, as if on the cusp of something she couldn’t quite grasp. “Tell me about your past.”
“Like what, exactly?”
“Did anything significant happen?”
“My dad died two years ago.”
“How?” Nikki was anxious now.
“You can’t see?” he asked nervously.
Nikki chewed on her lip as she shook her head. “I should be able to, but I can’t, and that worries me.”
“He was killed in a meteor shower.” Owen had told this story a few times to his closest friends; the event was how he wound up meeting Chris and the others in the first place. Though he couldn’t remember most of what had happened directly after his father died, he did remember walking all the way from his hometown to San Sebastian. That was over thirty miles.
Nikki narrowed her eyes at Owen and said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s true.”
His eyes widened. Out of all things he was expecting Nikki to say, that wasn’t one of them. “What do you mean?” he asked. “That is what happened. I saw it.”
“I’m just not seeing it. If it were true, I would be able to see it.”
Owen sat in silence for a moment, not sure how to react or what to say.
“Have you ever been wrong before?” he finally asked.
“No,” Nikki whispered instantly, still squinting, as if she was trying to see something far away.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he said. “It’s freaking me out.”
“I’m sorry,” Nikki said as she opened her eyes. “Your past is horribly blurry.”
“Why would that be?”
“I guess one really good reason would be because you don’t have one.”
“A past? That’s impossible. I remember a lot of things from when I was a kid.”
“Give me an example,” she said, narrowing her eyes slightly, but not as much as before.
“I remember my best friend Cullen Matthews. I remember always beating him in foot races.”
Nikki’s eyes shot open suddenly. “I see that!” she screamed excitedly. “Except, I see it as the other way around—him beating you.”
“Whatever,” Owen said with a smile. “I also remember my dad being a great cook; he made the best steaks in the world.”
Nikki sat for a moment in silence, then smiled slyly. “Boys are all the same. You all think your dads are the best at everything.”
Owen laughed. For the first time in twenty-four hours, he felt good. He thought talking about his dad would be depressing, but it was having the opposite effect.
“All right,” Nikki said, “I guess you do have a past, but it’s foggier than any I’ve ever seen on a person. You’re a mystery, Owen Walters.”
“More mysterious than Michael?”
“I’d say equally mysterious, but he has an excuse: He isn’t here before me and you are.”
“What about you?” Owen asked. “What’s your story?”
Nikki shook her head. “You don’t want to know my past. It’s boring.”
“Try me.”
Nikki sighed. “Let’s just say things didn’t work out at home. My dad left when I told him my mom was having an affair.”
“An affair?”
“Yep. All I had to do was hear her voice to know it. I was only a little girl. If I had been a little older, I wouldn’t have said anything at all.”
Owen nodded. “Nikki, about that thing you said to Chris, about our monster-hunting group not being a good idea.”
“Yes.” She raised her eyebrows.
“What made you say that?”
Owen suddenly remembered how she had reminded Chris of something she’d told him long ago, before the group was officially formed: that doing so would be a terrible idea. Ever since Chris, Owen and Alyssa joined Daniel’s softball team, the Unstoppable Titans, they’d lost every game.
And now Daniel and Alyssa were dead.
“I just saw it. It’s something I like to call the Quartet’s Curse. When four people with certain abilities get together for a common goal, they are doomed to fail at it. And their failu
re always proved lethal.”
“The Quartet’s Curse?” Owen grinned.
“When you meet and help as many people as I have,” Nikki said, adjusting herself in her seat, “you see a lot of things. Links to here and there. It took me a while to see the pattern, but yes, I have met a lot of people who have fallen into this curse.”
“Wait, what do you mean by ‘abilities’?”
“You should know by now, Owen.” Nikki said nothing else after that.
* * *
It was 8 p.m. and there were at least a dozen people in the “waiting room” of the gift shop. Owen made his way through the crowd and outside onto the fairgrounds. He was standing in the middle of the old abandoned amusement park, where Nikki had made her home and read fortunes. There was an old Ferris wheel on his right and a carousel on his left. A few more people were making their way through the entrance of the park, having paid the way at the box office. At first Owen wasn’t sure why he’d come outside in the first place. Then he remembered.
He wanted to speak to Darlington.
Owen walked across the relatively dark grounds and knocked on the door to the box office. He waited for over a minute, but there was no answer. He walked around to the front and tried looking through the window, but the inside was too dark to make out much: All he could see was a brief image of a ghostly white figure staring back at him.
“Hey,” Owen said to the figure as more people approached the box office behind him. “Can we talk?”
The figure didn’t respond. Owen stepped aside to let two girls and a guy pay admission. A long, pale hand reached out through a slot in the window to collect their money. After the kids left, Owen jumped back to the box office.
“It’s just, I don’t really know you and I wanted to fix that,” he said kindly. “It must get lonely out here. Have you ever had anyone try to sneak in?”
No response.
Owen was getting nowhere with this guy. He wasn’t even sure why he felt the need to try to connect with him. He gave up, waved goodbye and walked back into the park.
“He doesn’t talk at all,” Nikki told Owen after he told her about his attempt to speak with Darlington. “Why did you try talking to him anyway?”
“I don’t know. Something just told me to go out there. How did you two meet?”
Nikki smiled, as if remembering something pleasant.
“I met him a few years ago. He saved me; I was being attacked by some weird dog. He was my knight in shining armor, I guess you could say.”
“How did you guys end up here?”
“Oh, this park has a history. I’m guessing Chris told you about that rich kid who built the place a long time ago. Then he just abandoned it and everyone forgot about it. I got tired of living on the streets, though I wasn’t out there for very long. I decided to check the place out. I couldn’t believe it hadn’t been demolished. Just forgotten, I guess.”
“And that’s where you met Chris? On the streets?”
Nikki nodded. “You know,” she said, “it bugs me that your past is so mysterious, that I can’t see into your memories.”
“Me, too,” Owen said.
“I think I might know a way around that.”
“How?”
* * *
Owen was lying flat on a mattress that he assumed was Darlington’s. Nikki had finished readings for the day. Darlington himself was kneeling next to him and Nikki was standing to the side, watching. Darlington was wearing gray sweatpants and a dirty white T-shirt.
“I’ve never been hypnotized before,” Owen said anxiously.
“It won’t hurt,” Nikki said. “I mean, I don’t think it will. I’ve only seen Darlington do this once.”
Darlington started placing his hands on either side of Owen’s head, causing him to jump up.
“What is he doing?” he demanded.
“That’s how it works,” Nikki said, alarmed. “What’s wrong?”
“Michael did the same thing to me. It’s how he found out how to use the orb. Plus, it hurts, like, a lot.”
Nikki looked from Darlington to Owen, not knowing what to say.
“Well, I doubt it’s exactly the same,” she said. “And, besides, he’s hypnotizing you. He’s not extracting thoughts out of your head.”
Owen still remained upright, staring into the pale, expressionless skeletal face of Darlington. The light from the candles danced off his bald, shiny head. His hands were still held in place, as if cupping an invisible head.
It was difficult to forget the sensation Owen had felt when Michael had done the same thing to him the night before. It was as if Owen’s head had touched a live high-tension wire, only a million times worse.
Slowly he lay back down. Darlington gently grasped the sides of Owen’s head and leaned in closer to his face.
Owen and Darlington looked into each other’s eyes. And now Darlington spoke (his lips weren’t moving), but the words didn’t make any sense. Owen continued to stare into those dark, blank eyes, though. He didn’t care what Darlington was saying. He didn’t really care about anything at that moment. He just let his mind go. He felt like sleeping, but kept his eyes open just the same.
And now Darlington was sitting upright. Owen blinked and looked around. Nikki’s jaw was dropped, her eyes wide.
“What’s wrong?” Owen asked.
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head.
Owen looked back at Darlington, who was still expressionless.
“I thought he was going to hypnotize me.”
“He just did. You said a lot of things just now.”
Owen was shocked. He didn’t remember saying anything. He had just laid down for a few seconds.
“What did I say?” he asked.
“You said that you didn’t make the orb, but that you know who did.”
He gave her a curious look. “Did I say who it was?”
Nikki nodded.
“Who?”
She took a deep breath and said, “Your father made it.”
* * *
Nikki paced back and forth in the room, having told Owen what he had just revealed in his hypnotic state. And he was not taking it well.
“There’s no way he made it. I remember doing it myself.”
“Well, I’m just telling you what you told me,” she replied.
“Did I say anything else?”
She shook her head, but she was lying. Owen had said plenty of things while hypnotized for nearly ten minutes—something about taking the orb and escaping from “the twins.”
“I can’t believe it,” Owen said as he cupped his face in his hands. He was clearly exhausted. Nikki grabbed a sheet of paper, pretending to study it.
“I don’t believe it,” Owen said, more determined this time.
“Darlington, this admission sheet doesn’t match the amount of money we’ve taken in,” Nikki said. “We’re forty dollars short.”
Darlington didn’t respond or even acknowledge that he heard her.
“You probably dropped some of the money before you came in here. I’ll check the box office.” She left Darlington and Owen in the room and quickly made her way outside. It was nearly eleven o’clock and the air was pretty warm.
Unlocking the door, she quickly stepped into the box office and sat down on the stool Darlington used during his shifts. She couldn’t get out of her mind what Owen had said during his trance.
Since the register count had actually been correct, Nikki made no attempt to search for the forty dollars she claimed were missing. She’d just needed an excuse to get away for a moment. She looked up at the moon, which was partially obscured by the scattered clouds. She knew she couldn’t keep the truth from Owen for very long.
Thinking about what was likely to come depressed her, so she decided to think of something happier. Like she told Owen, she had met Darlington two years ago in Birch (she’d left the town out, even though Owen was from there), but she had been on her way to downtown San Sebastian, running away
from her family, of all things.
While hitchhiking down a lonely highway, she had been picked up by a kind-looking truck driver. Nikki had been very grateful.
Things had gone south shortly after when they’d hit an animal in the road. The driver told her to stay in the truck while he checked it out.
Nikki never forgot what she saw after that. She watched from the cab as the thing they’d hit lunged onto the kind, old truck driver and ripped his face off. It then turned its attention to Nikki, jumping onto the front of the truck, attempting to smash its way through the windshield.
At that moment, a pale, skeletal figure emerged from the dark field and tackled the creature, killing it with a swift jerk of its furry neck.
Nikki had been hesitant to leave the truck for her rescuer had been strange-looking. Also most off-putting was that he had been wearing a silver suit that was almost entirely ripped, making him appear naked, his body covered in burns and scratches.
Having heard about the meteor shower that had struck nearby the night before, Nikki thought maybe this poor stranger had been caught up in it.
Her beloved Darlington. She’d named him after her favorite flower, the Bishop Darlington, because he hadn’t been able to talk and didn’t seem to remember his actual name. Nikki couldn’t imagine living without her best friend.
Something in the distance drew her attention away from the sky. A lone figure emerged from the woods and approached the box office. It was a young African-American man around Nikki’s age of twenty-three. He looked exhausted. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and jeans, and crazily enough, flip-flops.
“Is it too late to speak with Nikki?” he asked her.
Clearly this was his first time here if he didn’t realize he was already speaking to the one he came to see.
“It is after hours,” Nikki said through the slot in the window, “but, considering you walked all this way, I guess I can give you a quick read.”
The young man gave her a quizzical look. “Are you Nikki?”
“Yes, sir. And who might you be?”
“My name,” he said with a smile, “is Curtis Merriman.”
CHAPTER 3
It didn’t take much time for Curtis to figure out that something bad happened to Marco Garcia. For one, all calls he made to Marco went unanswered and unreturned. The two of them were supposed to get together and hang out.
