by MJ Fletcher
“I want to go home,” I whispered to Jess as she held onto me.
“I know, sweetie, and I’m going to take you home.”
“It’s a dead spot around here only the portal can be used for a few miles in every direction.” Slade’s voice drifted down to me but I didn’t care about anything he had to say.
“I have my cell phone,” Val chimed in.
“Give it to me,” Jess called out and stood. I heard her catch the phone Val tossed to her.
“Let me call my dad.” Slade offered.
“Slade, shut the hell up.” Jess’ voice sliced like a sharp blade. I heard her dialing and then she walked as she waited for someone to answer.
“Hi, Uncle Eli, you need to come get us right away.”
Chapter 29
Status: I hate everything and everybody.
I had the covers over my head to block out all light. I didn’t want to see sunshine; I didn’t want anything at the moment. It had been three weeks since we had escaped the battle. Dad and Mr. Miller came to get us. It turns out we had ended up in France. Slade and Mr. Miller argued over giving the Artifact to the Impossible Engineers but in the end it wound up in the Reliquary. I hadn’t talked to Slade since that day. From what dad told me Faith had her own team now since I wasn’t willing to return to Doorknob Society Manor just yet.
Jess and Val had been visiting me regularly and they also visited with Edgar who was still in the hospital. He had internal injuries while mine turned out to be broken ribs, which nothing could be done for, so I got to hurt while I healed. Val and Edgar were an official couple, though it took some convincing from Jess for my dad not to use a Forget-Me-Not on Val. I had lost mine so I was glad I didn’t have to worry about lying to her anymore.
It was officially summer and school was over so I had nothing to do. I’d been offered my job back at the Arrowhead but all I had been doing was sleeping and listening to crappy sad music.
“Knock, knock, Cuz.” Jess entered my room. She had unofficially moved in after what happened, refusing to leave me alone. Gran was here almost every night making dinner and Dad didn’t seem to mind and even though I was loathe to admit it, it did help keep my mind off Nightshade for a little while.
Jess grabbed the edges of my covers and yanked them, pulling them off me and walked around opening up my shades and letting sunlight pour into my room.
“Stop it.” I shoved my fists into my eyes.
“No, Val and I are going to the beach and want you to come with us.” She went to my dresser and opened it and started pillaging for clothes.
“I don’t want to go to the beach.”
“You don’t want to do anything, and did it sound like I was giving you a choice?”
“Jess, just let me be, please.”
“No, you’ve been stuck in this room for three weeks. It’s time to get out. Aha!” She pulled my bathing suit out of the drawer and threw it on the bed.
I sat upright and grabbed the bikini and looked at it as if it was a contraption I did not feel like working on.
“Ugh,” I sighed.
“Chloe, I promised Val I would get you to the beach with us.” She tilted her head. “If not for yourself do this for her.”
“Low blow, Jess.”
“Whatever it takes.”
“I need to shower first.” I rolled my eyes.
“I’ll walk down with Val and get us a prime spot just text us when you’re coming. And don’t get any ideas about changing your mind. Gran is downstairs and I’ll sick her on you if you don’t show up.” Jess laughed, leaned over and kissed my cheek, and headed out of my room.
“No problem, I’ll be there.” I pushed myself off the bed and went downstairs grabbing a towel and heading into the shower. I let the water wash over me and tried not to think about the images that ran through my head almost every moment of every day. I leaned my hands against the tiles and bent my head letting the shower spray rush down on my hair.
I took a deep breath and shook when I thought I caught a whiff of Nightshade’s familiar scent. I dreamed of him almost every night. It always started out the same with the greatest kiss I had ever experienced and ended with me crying and begging to let me help him. I was never able to save him, not even in my dreams. I washed my hair and scrubbed up taking my time as I was in no rush to go to a crowded beach and sit with all the rude tourists.
I stepped out and dried myself off and tied the towel around me and walked back up the stairs to my room. I sat down on my bed and started brushing out my hair.
“Chloe?”
“In my room, Gran,” I yelled down and heard her climbing the stairs.
“Meeting Jess?” She smiled as she entered the room. She had something in her hand but it was behind her back and I couldn’t make out what it was.
“Yes, did she sick you on me because I am taking to long?” I laughed as I brushed my wet hair.
“No, nothing like that, I wanted to talk with you. We haven’t really had a chance to talk alone since all this happened.” She crossed over and sat on the edge of my bed.
“You know everything that happened.” I shrugged.
“Yes, I know how very upset you are over losing your friend.” She seemed as if she expected a response.
I really didn’t have one and so I nodded my head after I stopped brushing my hair.
“I don’t want to upset you, but I finally got my pictures from the night of the dance and I thought you might want this one.” Gran brought her hand around and held out a picture to me.
It was Nightshade and I on the front porch. I was in my black dress and he in his suit, but the thing that I noticed most was that his arm was around me and he wasn’t looking at the camera. He was staring down at me as if... how did I not see that he loved me? I bit my lip.
“It’s obvious he cared about you.” Gran tapped the picture. “Maybe he didn’t say it but you can see it clearly in the way he looked at you.”
I smiled at Gran and for the first time in three weeks was able to hold back the tears. “He kissed me Gran.”
She smiled. “How was it?”
“It was the best kiss I ever had.”
She reached over and patted my hand holding the picture. “That’s what you need to remember.”
“I’ll never forget it, Gran, and thank you.”
“No problem, sweetie, I am always here if you want to talk.” She got up and walked from the room.
I looked down at the picture and traced my fingers over Nightshade trying to memorize every line of his face. We both looked so happy.
I got up and tucked the picture into the edge of the mirror where I would always be able to see it. I grabbed my bathing suit and slid into it quickly, put my sandals on, snatched up my towel and wrapped it around my waist and headed for the stairs.
I was halfway down when I realized I had forgotten my sunglasses and turned running back up and over to my dresser. I snatched my glasses and looked at the picture one last time, noticing something that I hadn’t before. I grabbed the picture and took a closer look at Nightshade and noticed he was wearing a necklace. It was hanging out from under his tie ever so slightly. It was a silver symbol that I was sure I had seen before.
Maybe I just remembered Nightshade wearing it, I reasoned though it didn’t seem right. It felt as if I had seen it more recently then that. Something or someone else wore a similar one, and then it clicked.
“Damn it.” I raced over grabbing my bag, slinging it over my shoulder and pulling out my doorknob. I activated a portal and stepped through slamming it closed behind me.
I recognized that symbol and I was going to get some answers no matter what.
Chapter 30
Status: I learn something new.
I stepped out of the portal into the industrial complex. A cool breeze was blowing and I wasn’t exactly dressed for it but I didn’t care. I walked between the buildings until I found the familiar metal stairs and took them two at a time. I reached the top a
nd banged on the door as hard and loud as I could.
I heard the lock turn and the door swung open and Gavin stepped back scratching his head. He stepped to the side and waved me into the loft.
“What the hell is going on?” I spun on him demanding answers.
“What are you talking about?”
“This!” I stepped forward and shoved the picture of Nightshade and me into his face. He leaned back and took it from me examining the picture. He walked to the kitchen and laid the photo on the countertop as he opened the fridge and took out a beer and twisted off the cap.
“A nice picture of you two. What’s the problem?” He took a swig from the bottle.
“His necklace.” I pointed to it in the picture.
“What about it?”
“I’ve seen that symbol before. It was on the Forget-Me-Not you gave me.” I stared at him daring him to challenge me.
“Loaned you.”
“What?”
“I loaned you the Forget-Me-Not. I didn’t give it to you. You were supposed to return it.” He took another drink.
“Regardless, you’re changing the subject. What the hell is going on?” I slammed my hand down on the counter.
“Okay, you’re right I’m changing the subject. That symbol is a Polymorph mark so that we can easily identify one another.” His eyes narrowed as he spoke.
“Wait, what are you saying?”
“What do you think I’m saying?”
“Nightshade wasn’t a Polymorph.” He chuckled at me and took yet another drink as I fumed. “I would have known.”
“When it came to Nightshade you had a tendency to ignore what you felt for him.” Gavin walked to the living room area and slumped down on the couch.
“Don’t remind me,” I snapped still annoyed at my stubborn foolishness.
“Sorry.” Gavin raised his hands in a mea culpa. “There is a lot more going on here then you know, Chloe.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nightshade was working with me to try and figure out who the traitors were in the Societies. He has been ever since Lauren died.”
I shook my head in shock. How could I not know that was going on? “How? What was he doing?”
“He was gathering information and if he found one of their targets we would help hide the person, hence some of the disappearances over the past year.”
I dropped onto the couch opposite Gavin. “He was rescuing people? How do I know you’re even telling me the truth about any of this?” I threw my hands up not sure what the hell to believe anymore.
“That’s easy. Babe, you can come out now.” The bedroom door opened and Henna walked out wearing one of Gavin’s shirts. She slid onto the couch next to him.
“Hi, Chloe.” She smiled at me.
“Henna?” My mind was spinning, could Nightshade have really been a Polymorph? I thought about Rome when he had talked with Henna alone and how mad he had been about me not calling him before I went to find her. “Nightshade was protecting you?”
“Once he realized Charles was the traitor he knew it was only a matter of time before they came after me,” Henna said. “That’s why he was so mad when you went looking for me without him. He needed to find me to get me to a safe place as quickly as possible. He saved my life. The next night my apartment in Rome had a gas leak and exploded.”
My mind was in turmoil. Not only was Nightshade the man I was in love with, it turns out that he was trying to help people all along. And all I ever did was give him hell.
“Now what?” I wasn’t sure if I asked it of myself or Gavin.
“With Nightshade’s death I need someone new on the inside.” Gavin leaned forward and smiled at me. I looked at him and thought of how Nightshade and he planned these things together probably here in this very loft. It made me feel closer to him. And it made it easy for me to answer.
“What do you need me to do?”
The End
I hope you enjoyed Impossible Engineers, Book II in The Doorknob Society Saga. Please read on for an excerpt of The Doorknob Society, Book I. Visit The Doorknob Society Saga website: www.thedoorknobsociety.com and for news on future releases join our mailing list: [email protected]
The Doorknob Society
Book I
Chapter 1
Status: My so-called life.
“This is a dumb idea,” I said more for my own benefit than anyone else’s. It’s not as if someone could hear me from where I stood... on the ledge of a building in Paris at three o’clock in the morning.
I moved quickly along the edge, a stiff breeze suddenly whipping up and shoving me against the cool stone. My palms hit flat against the building while my fingers deftly searched for grooves in the stonework. It was a narrow hold but I held tight until the wind died down. I snuck a glance over the edge to the street five stories below. Tomorrow’s headlines flashed in my mind, Sixteen-Year-Old American Plunges To Her Death. I shook my head and cleared the image from my thoughts. I controlled my breathing and inhaled through my nose and exhaled slowly through my mouth like Dad had taught me. Focus on the next step Chloe not the end game, I told myself and edged along calmly. Most girls my age wouldn’t be used to standing on such a small space high in the air.
Then again most girls weren’t the daughter of the “Master Magician.”
My dad was one of the most in-demand magicians around the world, known best for his Disappearing-Man trick. He would walk through one door and appear instantaneously in another across the stage. It was the only illusion he hadn’t taught me. My parents had started training me in every trick in their act since I was able to walk. While most girls were playing with Barbie I was learning how to do the Drowned-Man trick in my kiddy pool. When mom had abandoned us ten years back, I had taken her place helping Dad prepare for shows. Not that it hadn’t been helpful, I mean, how else would I have been able to scale up the side of the building and across the ledge?
Once the wind no longer threatened, I continued along until I finally reached the office window I was looking for and carefully turned my back to it. I slid my hand into the bag slung over my shoulder and pulled out a device I had lifted from Dad’s work bag. I’d seen him use it a million times and knew I could handle it.
With a tight grip on the metal crossbar; I turned around, yanked it lengthwise, and pushed it against the glass. Two small suction cups popped against the window fitting the bar tightly to the glass. I tapped the control button twice. A thin line of what looked like fishing wire shot out and spun around in a circle cutting a hole in the window. The wire acted like a web and the glass slowly fell backward till it was lying on the office floor.
I ducked under the bar and hopped from the ledge into the office. Dad and I had been here just yesterday when a woman with the largest mole on her chin I had ever seen confiscated our passports. She refused to tell Dad what it was about and we’d been ushered out of the room quickly. Dad had told me not to worry, but the huskiness in his voice told me differently. He had spent the entire day and night on the phone trying to get an answer as to why we were unable to leave France.
This afternoon I was sitting in the hotel room playing with my smart phone when I heard Dad screaming. I snuck to his door and listened as he yelled at whoever was on the other end.
“They aren’t allowing us to leave. What the hell is going on?”
I could hear him pacing on the carpet as he listened to the response and whatever was said didn’t make him happy.
“What is that supposed to mean? I’m not going to risk Chloe, is that clear; you come here and get her if you have too. I don’t care what happens to me.”
I heard the phone slam down on the receiver and quickly made my way back to my room. That’s when I made the choice that tonight I was getting our passports back and getting us out of Paris, together.
I moved quickly to the large desk that dominated the room and yanked open drawers. Not finding the documents I needed, I moved on to the next drawer and ca
me up empty again.
I rushed through each drawer, my search turning frantic with each fruitless attempt. On the last one I pushed aside more useless papers and broke into a wide grin as I snatched up what I’d been searching for.
I kissed the two battered passports. “Home at last.” I slid them into my pocket, patting them for good measure. “Now maybe we can get out of here.”
I walked back to the window, gripped the bar and hoisted myself up when I heard shouts from below. I looked over the edge and saw a multitude of police cars surrounding the entrance to the building. Officers were jumping out and rushing toward the front doors. I caught a few words, glad I had a passable knowledge of French and what I heard chilled me. I’d tripped the silent alarm.
“Damn.” I pulled back from the window and grabbed the bar pushing the control lever and releasing it from the glass and slid it back into my bag.
I figured there would be an alarm though I didn’t count on a silent one. My plan had had me back out the window and across the ledge to the building next door before the cops ever arrived. Somehow it seemed my plans always went astray. Now what?
Run.
I followed my own warning and ran out of the office into a larger room with dozens of cubicles. I knew the layout of the building as well as most people who worked here. If my parents had taught me anything it was to be prepared. Before I came here tonight I’d studied the floor plans online. It didn’t hurt that since I had been little Dad had me play a game he called find the door. Any place we entered he would always make me memorize where every door was located. We’d done it so often it had become second nature. My research had been worth it because I knew there was a back stairwell that led to the alleyway behind the building. If I could get there I should be able to hop the fence and make my way back to the hotel. I poured on as much speed as I could, exited into the main hallway and at the far end were the elevator doors. The ding of the lift reaching the floor echoed loudly and I spun around not waiting to see who it was and ran in the opposite direction.
