Tina started on her second plate of pizza. “Wasn’t she supposed to be here with her new gadget?”
“Are you actually surprised? She has her own agenda. We need to update ours.”
“The nurse keeps late hours,” Soren said. When everyone looked at him, waiting for him to continue, he stared down at his pizza.
“How do you know?” Tina asked.
“I’ve gone to see her when my stomach hurts. She’s always in right up until curfew.”
“So that’s ten p.m.” Brendan said. “Which means we just need to know when Charlotte’s someplace else.”
Tina thought about it. “Well, we’ve seen her at the electronics lab, at the Bean, and presumably she sleeps at the headmaster’s house even though she doesn’t spend her time there.”
“And if she walks, once we spot her someplace we’ll know we have time to investigate.”
Vlad looked up from his phone. “Sorry, guys. Are we talking about sneaking to someone’s house and jumping into a pool?”
“Basically,” Brendan said. “If Tina and I just missed her somehow while she was swimming like she says, then we can check it off our list of things to worry about. But I have the video. She vanished inside the pool, and it was fifteen minutes later that we ran into her. We both looked in the pool. She wasn’t underwater holding her breath.”
“And you’re sure she didn’t slip out when the drone wasn’t looking? Maybe she went around the house to turn the pool equipment on. Who knows?”
“That’s a possibility, I guess.”
“What about any signs that there’s actually a gate that’s opened? Cold air? Shimmering distortion?”
“We didn’t notice any of that. But the temperature effect was only with the headmaster’s machine and not Charlotte’s.”
“Sounds like this is a wild goose chase.”
Brendan tore away at a leftover piece of crust. “I know you’ve got things going on. I just wanted to let you know what I think we should investigate.”
Vlad nodded. “I’m not dismissing your ideas. I just have to admit that since I never went through any gate, it’s still all so fantastic. But let me know what you want me to do.” A text came in on his phone and he read it and started to reply.
“Can you stay here at the restaurant for a while?” Brendan asked. “If Charlotte shows up, let us know. Soren, you go and watch the nurse’s office. If she’s in, Tina and I will head back to her house. I’m going to sneak into that pool. It’s a crazy idea, but we have to know what she’s up to.”
Soren’s eyes went wide and he began to stutter. Brendan turned to see what he was looking at. Lucille Bowman was approaching their table with a spring in her step. Her blonde hair was wrapped around her in a fishtail braid. Her blue eyes locked on Brendan. She was alone.
“Lucille’s here,” Soren managed.
“Indeed,” Vlad said.
“Hi Lucille,” said Brendan. “It’s been a while.”
It had been a couple of weeks since they had last spoken. It was unusual to see her without any of her escorts. Brendan had heard Henry had changed schools, his parents pulling him after hearing about the campus attack by the mystery men with tranquilizer guns. The Paul from Not-Earth had fallen in with her, much as the old one had, and her newest flunky Tyler was never far behind either.
“I thought I should check in with you,” Lucille said. “I’ve heard your group has kept busy.”
“Saving the world from evil,” Vlad said. He put his phone away. Lucille shot him with a warm smile and sat down next to him.
“We were planning on eating alone,” Tina said.
“Looks like you’re done,” Lucille said without looking at her.
“Where are your boys?” Brendan asked.
“Gave them the night off. How was the pizza?”
“Good,” Soren said.
“Can you get me a small slice? Cheese, no toppings.”
Soren got up and went to the buffet line.
“You’re amazing,” Tina said.
Lucille watched Soren go. “And you’re jealous.”
“Hardly.”
“How goes spying on the admin building? I heard there was some excitement.”
Tina frowned. “Blackmail another security guard to get your information?”
“I spoke with the headmaster this afternoon. Another false alarm.”
“We’re trying,” Brendan said. “You’re more than welcome to join us keeping watch. Loan us your boys, and we might all get more sleep.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Soren returned with a piece of cheese pizza.
“Napkin?” Lucille asked.
Soren departed.
“Really?” Tina asked. “Soren, will you let her get it herself?”
But Soren grabbed a few napkins and returned, handing them over to Lucille. She examined the pizza before her and looked up at Soren.
“Some parmesan cheese would be nice.”
Soren went back to the buffet.
“What is happening?” Vlad asked. “Soren, man, come here.”
“Lucille, what are you doing?” Brendan asked.
Lucille gestured at the pizza. “It needs more cheese.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Soren came back with a cheese shaker. He placed it on the table.
“Iced tea,” Lucille said. “Extra lemon.”
Soren left. Tina got up and grabbed Soren and shook him. He tried to shrug her off.
“Stop it,” Soren said. “Let me go.” He pulled free and went to the beverage bar.
“How are you doing this?” Brendan asked.
“I have no idea what you mean,” Lucille said. She put her hand down on Brendan’s. He jerked it away. Tina watched Soren with disbelief as he returned with an iced tea with a straw and three lemon wedges on the lip of the glass.
Brendan got up and looked Soren in the eyes. “Are you awake?”
Soren made a confused face. “Yeah. What’s wrong?”
“Why did you just bring her iced tea?”
Soren tried to answer, but got hung up on an “L.” “She asked,” he said after a moment.
Lucille stirred the tea with a straw. She took each lemon wedge and squeezed it out, placing the remains on the table. With an arching eyebrow, she looked up at Soren.
“Sweetener.”
“Whatever you’re doing, stop it!” Brendan said.
Tina went for her. Brendan stepped in to block her, but she sidestepped him. She launched herself into Lucille and with a fist struck the blond girl in the mouth. They both went crashing to the floor, knocking chairs aside. Vlad and Brendan tried to pull them apart, Lucille flailing wildly, Tina aiming knees, feet, and fists at any part of Lucille she could reach. The entire restaurant went silent.
“You bitch!” Lucille screamed. “I’ll kill you!”
Blood ran from a corner of her mouth. Her hair was a crumpled mess and her lipstick was smudged at an angle, giving her a crooked leer. The tea had spilled and soaked the front of her blouse. She swatted Vlad away.
Brendan was barely able to hold Tina back. He knew she was trying out for basketball and field hockey with the school teams and had been training with weights. She was about to pull free of him.
“You got your shot in,” Brendan said softly. “It’s over.”
He got himself between the two girls and let Tina go.
“It’s over,” Brendan repeated.
“Like hell it is,” Lucille said.
But he kept his eyes on Tina. Besides looking disheveled, she didn’t have a mark on her. Her hands were still packed into tight fists. She licked her bottom lip.
“Leave Soren alone,” Tina said.
Lucille offered a short laugh. Then she grabbed her purse and walked away. A couple of staff members were approaching. Vlad straightened their chairs.
“Let’s get some air,” Brendan said.
He tried to guide Tina towards the door. S
he twisted away and looked at Soren. The skinny boy was standing there as if in shock. He held a small ceramic container with sugar and sweetener packets.
“What did she do to you?” Tina asked.
He appeared confused by the question. “She wanted sweetener, and I got it for her.”
7. Saturday Night Swim
None of the school staff had seen any of the violence between Lucille and Tina, and neither girl told any of them about what had happened. It had all been so fast. Even the other students in the restaurant couldn’t provide much information, as the tussle had ended as quickly as it had started.
The A.V. Club stood outside the restaurant in a huddle. Soren appeared nervous even after Tina and Vlad reminded him that they weren’t mad at him, just concerned.
Brendan kept an eye on the surrounding campus. They had speculated about Lucille, had joked about her ability to charm, but even as he struggled to believe what he had seen with his own eyes he worried about what she could really do. Now he wondered where her two escorts were, and if she had others she might be manipulating. Or was it all nothing, just her uncanny ability to persuade?
“Soren, did you feel anything?” he asked.
“I just got her what she asked for. I thought I was being nice.”
“She’s not a cripple,” Tina said. “At least not yet. Let her serve herself.” She was rubbing her right hand. The knuckles were swollen.
“Tina…” Brendan said. He returned his attention to Soren. “Did it seem weird to you when she kept asking you for things?”
Soren shook his head. Glanced at Tina. He worked through his opening syllables under his breath. “Lucille’s always been nice to me. Most girls aren’t. I wanted to be nice to her.”
“By being her waiter,” Tina said.
Brendan gave her a look. She crossed her arms and turned away from them.
“You can like whoever you want to like,” Brendan said. “We just want to make sure she’s not taking advantage of you somehow.”
“Or using some sort of mind control,” Vlad added. “It’s silly, but you were acting weird, buddy.”
“I’m not stupid,” Soren said. “I know we were worried she could influence her boys. Maybe even that security guard Officer Glenn. But I got her what she asked for because I wanted to.”
Soren had always been nervous. Now he trembled. Brendan didn’t want to overload him and backed off a step. “All right, then. I’m sorry that it seems that we’re overreacting.”
Tina was shaking her head with disgust.
“What do we want to do?” Brendan asked. “Is that it for the night?”
No one said anything. Soren was the first to speak. “I’ll check on the nurse like I said I would.”
“You sure you’re up for it?”
Soren nodded.
“Good. Vlad, keep an eye out here for Charlotte in case she shows. Tina and I will head to the Bean. If we see Lucille or any of her crew, we’ll avoid them. Then we’ll check the pool.”
***
“Did you remember swim trunks, or will you be going skinny-dipping?” Tina asked as they walked off campus.
A light mist was falling from the sky. This was only the second time Brendan had seen anything remotely close to rain since coming to school. The air was warm enough that the precipitation felt good.
“I don’t have trunks. I’ll wear my shorts.”
“You mean your dirty underwear.”
“I do my laundry. How’s the hand?”
Tina held her puffy red hand out in front of her. “Hurts. Wish it hurt more. She so deserves to have her face smashed.”
“You got a good shot in.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
“But it was stupid. We don’t know what’s going on with her. Let’s not jump to conclusions that she has some sort of superpower or anything that crazy just yet.”
“You saw what she did to Soren.”
“We both did. But him acting weird with her doesn’t establish anything except that he’s a bit smitten. You getting expelled for fighting would just complicate things.”
“I love it when you express your feelings like this.”
He stopped her and looked at her. “You know what I mean. If Lucille is up to something, we need to be smart. If she’s just being herself and trying to goad us into getting into trouble for kicks, we can’t play into her hands. Keep in mind she tried to start a fight with me because I wouldn’t help with her homework. She feeds off petty stuff like that. Now we’re on her radar again.”
“Maybe we never left. But I get it. I’ll behave, I promise.”
No one they knew was at the Bean that evening. They got coffees. The supers news on TV was highlighting an afternoon one-on-one fight in London between a large man in a pillowy suit covered with a thick, sticky white substance and a muscular woman who wore a bright red costume and knew gymnastics.
“Chewy Center vs. Red Jackie,” the story caption read.
Red Jackie ran circles around Chewy Center, throwing small objects at his feet. They exploded into puffs of thick smoke that soon obscured his vision. She then closed with him, delivering a vicious kick to his midsection…and then her foot became stuck on his suit. The action footage got muddy, much of it stitched together from a pair of phone cameras held by bystanders. As far as Brendan could tell through the smoke, Chewy Center had Red Jackie on the ground and was pummeling her. He couldn’t figure out who the good guy was and wondered if either of the combatants knew.
Tina was glued to the screen.
He texted Vlad and Soren for an update and Vlad replied, “Nothing happening.”
A string of replies came pouring back from Soren. “Nurse in office.” “She’s alone.” “Working.” “I’m going in to get an antacid from her.”
Brendan almost told him not to freak out, but instead just typed “Ok.”
“Nurse Dreyfus is accounted for,” Brendan said.
Tina nodded absently. On the screen, Red Jackie had somehow made it away from Chewy Center. She lifted a metal trash can and unceremoniously smashed it into her opponent’s face. The kids in the coffee shop applauded and hooted.
“We could stay and watch this for a while,” Brendan said.
“No, let’s go.”
***
More people were out walking that evening than had been earlier that day. On the plus side, no one paid them any mind and no one would notice them as standing out. They made it to the electrical transformer near the corner of Nurse Dreyfus’s street. A trio of kids were standing around vaping. A white puff of mist rose from one kid’s mouth as he exhaled into the air. Brendan guessed they were a couple of years younger than he was.
“Keep walking,” Brendan said.
“But this is the perfect spot.” Tina marched up to the kids. “Get lost.”
“Or?” one boy asked.
She pushed him and closed in with the other two. Brendan set his pack down and moved forward, not sure what would happen. But the kids left.
“That was oddly satisfying,” Tina said.
“You need to change your viewing habits. Find something a little more calming. Think they’ll call the cops?”
“Would you have done that at their age?”
“I would have come back with a bat. But I had therapy.”
“Well I didn’t. I had brothers. Maybe tangling with Lucille has me keyed up. If those kids come back with reinforcements, we might be in trouble. Get set up and let’s see if anyone’s home.”
Brendan had the drone up and flying in moments. He sent it directly to Nurse Dreyfus’s house. The house was dark with no one in the backyard. He checked all the rear windows and saw nothing. Then his screen went dark.
“What happened?” Tina asked.
Brendan fiddled with the controls. “Can’t tell. Maybe the camera got dislodged. A loose cable, maybe.” He didn’t have any sensors on his drones to give him information like altitude or speed. Those would come in future upgrades with GPS i
ntegration. “I’m flying blind. At least I can try to bring it back.”
He worked the controls in a pattern that should have made the drone fly straight up, then turn 110 degrees and go forward to Brendan’s location. This maneuver followed by a simple descent was easy enough to perform with the camera out. Things like this happened.
Even though his drone wasn’t loud, it should have made enough noise to be heard from where they were, especially in such a quiet place. But he heard nothing.
“It must be stuck somewhere.”
He tried flying it higher and told it to make a wide circle. It should be right over us by now.
“I don’t hear or see anything,” Tina said.
“Then it crashed or got caught on something.”
“What do we do?”
Brendan put his tablet and the controls away. “We go look.”
“It’s dead,” Brendan whispered.
They entered the yard of Nurse Dreyfus’s house via a side gate. There were still no signs of life through any of the windows. In the distance, a pair of dogs barked away. The neighbor’s television was so loud Brendan could hear most of the dialogue of a sitcom. He found the drone on the slab deck in the backyard. He turned on his phone’s light and inspected it. The drone appeared intact. Everything looked as it should as he checked each component and wiggled all the wire connections. But it had no power. He moved the power switch off and on.
“Battery?” Tina asked.
“It was charged up. But what else could it be?”
“We can figure it out later. We’re here. Let’s get on with it.”
He didn’t believe his drone had just failed. But Tina was right; they couldn’t remain in the backyard much longer.
The pool didn’t have any lights on inside it, making the water look black. Amber light from the nearby homes shined across its surface. Brendan walked around the water, looking down. He could see his reflection and Tina’s.
Then he noticed something moving above him.
It descended fast. He ducked, thinking he was being dive-bombed by some crazy bird. Then it stopped mid-dive and changed directions, heading straight for Tina.
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