Five: Out of the Dark

by Anderson, Holli

  Find a way to practice soul-gazing

  More info needed on method

  Who can I ask???? Madame LaForte? Demon? Faerie?

  When is best time?

  I fell asleep at the table again. I was startled awake by Johnathan stomping down the stairs. I slammed closed the white book and my notebook. I didn’t want him to see what I was thinking about doing. There was no way he would let me soul-gaze him—one, because it would be dangerous for me, and two, because there was something about his past he didn’t want any of us to know.

  Johnathan stumbled over to the table and sat across from me. He had to be utterly exhausted; he’d had little sleep in the last few days. I frowned at his bruised and battered face. These were new injuries, not the self-inflicted scratches from … the day before yesterday? I was having trouble remembering how many days or hours had passed since that awful night in the woods. He had crusted blood beneath his nose and smeared down the right side of his face from a cut somewhere around his eyebrow.

  “Johnathan,” I said, trying to sound gentle but allowing some of my anger and anxiety to break through, “You look like you’ve been in a fight. What happened to you?”

  He grunted and laid his face in his hands, elbows propped on the table. I thought he was going to ignore my question. Worry, guilt and anger all fought for the top ranking position in my head. Worry won out. I touched his arm lightly. “Johnathan, look at me.”

  He drew a deep breath and then did as I’d asked.

  “What happened?” I repeated.

  He turned his head, but didn’t hide his face again. “I got in a tangle with a … something.”

  Hmm. Evasiveness. I didn’t like that one bit. “What kind of something?” I asked, working hard to keep my voice soft.

  Johnathan glanced at my eyes then away again, down at the table. “A Devil-hound. It tried to attack a group of teenagers who were out partying.”

  “A Devil-hound?” I no longer tried to keep my voice down. “Are you crazy?”

  That exclamation woke the others up. “What about a Devil-hound?” Alec asked, sitting up on his sleeping bag.

  “Well, I couldn’t just let it eat those kids! I was too far away for you guys to help, anyway.” Johnathan insisted.

  “Wait … you took on a Devil-hound … by yourself?” Seth chimed in.

  The others joined us at the table. “Well, what’re you waiting for? Tell us what happened,” Seth said. Alec nodded in agreement.

  Johnathan put his face in his hands again. “Fine. I’ll tell you. But then I’m going to bed.”

  He raised his head, laid his hands on the table, and glanced at me. He bit at the corner of his mouth as he looked back down at his hands. “I was just wandering around … trying to get my head straight. It was after midnight and I ended up over by Edwards High School … I guess that’s where my thoughts were taking me.

  “The football field borders a small wooded area, and there was a group of kids in there, drinking and talking—maybe six of them. Anyway, I skirted around them, they didn’t even know I was there, and I heard a rustling noise coming toward them from the side opposite me. I assumed it was just another kid joining them, but then the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I felt the presence of danger.”

  “Wait … what do you mean you felt danger?” Alec asked.

  “I don’t know,” Johnathan answered, somewhat irritably. “I just felt it, my senses all intensified and my heart beat faster. I … I swear I could smell the thing.”

  He was silent for a moment as we all contemplated what that could mean. I’m not sure what the others were thinking, but my mind went immediately back to the creature Johnathan had morphed into, with the large muzzle and wolf-like features. I had no doubts he’d been able to smell the Devil-hound.

  “Anyway, I snuck around to the side where the noise was coming from. The kids were all oblivious to the sound and the danger. As I crept closer, I could hear its heavy breathing. It was working hard not to let out a growl, but an occasional low one escaped its throat anyway. I saw it just as it came within sight of the group of kids. It saw them, but they hadn’t seen it yet.

  “The hound crouched to spring at the nearest one, a blonde girl. I could see the saliva dripping from its mouth. I was still too far away to get between it and the girl in time, so I distracted it by yelling ‘Hey!’ The hound turned its head toward me, still in a pounce-ready crouch. My attention was on it, not the kids, but the girl must have turned and seen it in the trees because she screamed.

  “The hound decided pretty quickly that it wanted the girl and not me. It pounced for her just as she stood to run and it knocked her down just inches from the fire. I leapt at it and knocked it off of her. The hound and I rolled away from the fire—and the girl—and fought it out. The kids up and ran—all but one of them, who grabbed a branch and tried to help me. It’s a good thing he did, because the hound ended up on top when we finished rolling and it took all of my strength to keep its jaws from clamping down on my face.”

  “Oh, Johnathan,” was all I could say.

  “The kid swung the branch like a baseball bat and hit the hound in the ribs,” he continued. “It didn’t knock it off me, but it weakened it enough briefly that I was able to push it off me and stand up. I yelled for the kid to go. He was reluctant to leave me alone with the hound, but I could tell he was scared spitless. He finally gave in to his fear and dropped the branch and ran.” He stopped there and rubbed his face with both hands.

  “So, what happened? How did you beat it?” Alec asked. His patience was next to nothing at this point; he wanted to hear the details of the fight. Boys!

  Johnathan drew in a breath. “We fought; I won … that’s about it.”

  “Johnathan! Give us the details, man! No one takes on a Devil-hound alone and beats it. Come on! Tell us how you did it,” Alec practically yelled.

  A Devil-hound was about twice as big as any breed of dog known to humans. Twice as big as a Bull Mastiff or a Great Dane. And they were all muscle, teeth, and claws. They were practically hairless and ugly as a baboon’s butt. Their jaws were big enough to completely clamp around a person’s head—and with one shake of its massive jowls it could easily decapitate a human from there. They could leap about fifteen yards in one jump. Yeah, formidable opponent.

  “Okay, fine,” Johnathan muttered. “The hound started to go after the boy that stayed to help. That gave me enough time to pull out my channeling rod. I blasted it with a fireball that basically just knocked it off its feet and rolling into the trees. That ticked the stupid beast off enough, though, that pursuit of the boy was forgotten. The hound jumped back to its feet and snarled loudly enough to shake the trees. I looked around, desperate for something to stop it with. As it crouched to leap at me I spotted the pile of wood the kids had been using for firewood. There were a bunch of old two-by-fours full of nails.”

  “Oh, yeah!” Seth yelled, pumping a fist, realizing that Devil-hounds came from the Fae … and the one thing the Fae could not tolerate was metal. Iron was the worst, burning their skin with just a touch.

  Johnathan nodded at Seth. “I couldn’t pull the nails alone, without the wood, so I just hoped enough of them were poking through the other side with their sharp points. I concentrated on the metal and levitated it. To my surprise, a bunch of nails came up from the fire where they’d burned free from the boards. So those nails, along with the boards and nails from the pile, whipped up into the air, and I sent them flying at the hound just as it made its leap. I must’ve had a butt-load of adrenaline rushing through me because some of the nails flew so hard they went straight through the hound.

  “I wasn’t fast enough to avoid the collision with the leaping monster, but I did start to tuck and roll. It hit me almost full force and knocked the wind out of me. I hit my head on a rock when I landed. The thing was thrashing around like crazy. I could smell its flesh burning where the nails were still embedded, boards and all in some places. They’d all hit
on its right side and there was a board stuck to its head. It rolled off me and continued to thrash. I think I must have been a little dazed, because it didn’t occur to me to move away from it until I’d been smacked in the face with the board/head combination a couple of times.”

  He touched his bruised face and shook his head. “I finally rolled away to a safe distance, but didn’t dare stand up just yet. I was afraid I would black out if I did.

  “The hound howled and yelped and even thrashed around in the fire. Sparks and ashes flew everywhere … I’m surprised the trees didn’t go up in flames. Skin singed and smoldering, the whimpering hound finally crawled away in the direction it’d come. I was worried that the wounds weren’t mortal, so I stood up slowly—and, yes, I was dizzy—and followed the beast. It was headed toward a large plastic culvert pipe sticking out of the ground at the edge of the trees. I was too weak to throw any big magic, so I concentrated on weakening the ground around the roots of a huge pine tree—I gave the tree a magical push until it toppled over on the wounded and slow-moving hound. It was crushed quite beautifully. All that was left was a big pile of smoldering ichor.”

  We were all silent for a moment. Johnathan eased his head down onto the table, resting it on his folded arms.

  “Wow. Quick thinking with the nails, Johnny.” Alec pounded him on the back.

  Johnathan must have been extremely tired because he didn’t retaliate when Alec called him Johnny. He just mumbled, or grunted, or something.

  “Come on, John. Let me clean up your wounds before you fall asleep,” I said. He grunted again.

  Alec and Seth wandered off to find something to eat, talking excitedly about Johnathan’s scuffle with the Devil-hound.

  “I’ll go get some water and cloths—and the first aid kit,” Halli said.

  “Thanks, Hal.” I scooted my chair around so I was right next to Johnathan. I put my mouth next to his ear. “John, I know you’re tired, but you need to let me clean you up a little. Now, sit up so I can see what new damage you’ve done to your gorgeous face.”

  That made him lift his head. I didn’t often express my attraction to him. He looked me in the eyes, a small but sad smile playing about the corners of his mouth.

  “Okay. But I’m going straight to bed as soon as you’re done.”

  Halli brought the supplies over. We both dipped a cloth into the soapy water. Halli started cleaning the scratches on his arms and hands and I gently wiped the dried blood from his face. His left eye was nearly swollen shut and he had some abrasions to his cheek on that side as well.

  The cut on his eyebrow started to bleed again as soon as the crusted blood was removed. I scrubbed the dirt out as best I could. Johnathan didn’t even wince; he just sat there staring at nothing. The cut was deep and gaping and should have had stitches, but I taped the edges together with three butterfly bandages then squeezed some antibiotic ointment over it. Halli applied ointment to the deeper scratches on his arms and hands.

  “Okay, John,” I said. “That’s good enough for now. Go get some sleep. But as soon as you wake up, you need to shower to get the rest of the dirt off you.”

  He gave me that sad smile again as he slowly stood up. He surprised me when he wrapped his arms around me in a fierce hug and whispered in my ear, “Thank you, Paige. I don’t deserve your worry for me.”

  I was too startled to respond—this was the first time since his changing that he’d shown any affection toward me at all. He quickly let go and headed for his sleeping area, and was asleep within minutes. I stayed close by him all day and checked on him frequently, worried that his injuries might be more severe than they looked.

  couple of weeks went by before the school records for Seth and his sister made their way to us, via Joe’s address. We didn’t patrol every night during that time. On those nights when we didn’t, it was usually because Johnathan would say, “I don’t feel like going out tonight. Let’s just get some sleep.” But he wasn’t sleeping much—if at all. I was worried about him—he seemed to be falling into a chasm of depression. And he refused to talk to any of us about it.

  The records finally arrived, and Joe introduced Seth and me to our ‘mom.’ Getting signed up for school wasn’t as easy as we hoped it would be for Johnathan and Alec. The admissions secretary at the school was surprisingly unaware of the loopholes regarding homeless students. It took her more than thirty minutes of phone calls to become educated on the subject. Finally, the district sent over a homeless liaison, and she had them signed up and ready to go in ten minutes. She left a copy of the McKinney-Vento Act for the clueless secretary to study, and gave Johnathan and Alec each a card with her contact information.

  Seth and I showed up a couple hours later, with the mom Joe had found for us. Seth’s records were missing the last six months or so, because that was when he’d left home, but the secretary didn’t seem too concerned with it. We were in and out as fast as our mom could fill out and sign the paperwork. We were told to report to school in the morning and pick up our class schedules.

  I was the only one in our group who couldn’t use my real first or last name; I had to use Seth’s sister’s name. At school I would be known as Sasha Spurlock.

  We left the office just as the bell to switch classes rang. A few students joked and laughed, but, overall, they appeared to be a downtrodden group. Another ten or fifteen had the dazed look of someone on a heavy dose of tranquilizers; one girl had silent, unnoticed tears streaming down both cheeks. She didn’t even bother to wipe them away; her cheeks were red and chafed as if the salty droplets had been flowing for some time.

  Seth walked our pseudo-mom outside; I told him I would meet him out there shortly. I wanted to observe my soon-to-be fellow students. Only one of the kids even looked my way. He was tall and thin, with neatly combed, short blond hair. His letterman’s jacket was well worn, leading me to believe he’d had it for at least a couple of years. I was a bit surprised when he approached me, seeing the way the other students seemed oblivious to my presence.

  He stopped a comfortable three feet away, smiled a smile that didn’t come near to touching his eyes, and said, “Hi. I’m Brendon. Are you new here?”

  I smiled back. “I am. I just signed up. I’ll be starting tomorrow.”

  He wrinkled his brow and leaned in closer to whisper, “I don’t want to scare you away or anything, but, if there’s any way you can get into a different school, you should. This place isn’t doing so good right now.”

  “Why? What’s going on?” I asked, also whispering.

  “I’m not really sure. I just know something’s not normal. I’m sure you’ve heard about all the suicides? Well, that’s just the beginning of the weirdness. Nobody’s acting like themselves. Anyway, I need to get to class. Maybe I’ll see ya tomorrow … but I kinda hope not, for your sake.” He smiled his sad smile again, waved, and walked away.

  Wow, the kids there really did need our help. I met up with Seth outside and told him what Brendon had said as we walked home.

  “That’s not a good sign, Paige,” Seth said, shaking his head. “I wonder if we should take some extra precautions while we’re here.”

  “Like what?” I asked, curious to hear his answer.

  “I don’t know exactly. How could the … bad guys, I guess … be getting to the students? That’s what we need to figure out or hypothesize about first, before we can decide what precautions to take. Do you have any ideas?”

  “Well,” I began, “I guess my first hypothesis”—I smiled at his use of the word; always the scientific one, our Seth was—“would be the food. The tanks John and I saw looked like they could have held some kind of liquid, so I suppose they could be adding whatever it is to the food. Maybe that would explain why some kids aren’t affected.”

  “Right. The food. That’s exactly where my thoughts went. I think we need to expand that train of thought to include fluids—like the drinking fountains and soda machines and stuff,” Seth added.

  “Okay. Bu
t if it was in the drinking fountains, you’d think all the kids would be susceptible to whatever it is. I don’t know of anyone that wouldn’t use the drinking fountains. And what about the teachers and other adults? Don’t they eat school lunch, too? Maybe we should focus on things that just the students do.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. I guess these are the things we’ll have to figure out while we’re there. Just to be safe, though, I think we should take our own lunches and drinks.”

  “I was afraid that was where this was headed … even though I was thinking the same thing. I was really looking forward to some good old deep-fried school burritos.” Seth kicked a rock on the sidewalk to emphasize his disappointment.

  “Well, maybe we’ll figure out it isn’t the food after all, and you can eat all the greasy burritos you want, ya big baby.” I punched him lightly in the arm.

  He grinned at me. Seth was always good for a grin.

  “Let’s go home so we can run this stuff by the rest of them,” I said.

  The others were somewhat anxiously awaiting our arrival.

  “Did you have any trouble registering?” Johnathan asked.

  “Not really, it actually went pretty smoothly,” I answered. “I did have an interesting conversation with one of the students, though.”

  When I explained what the boy, Brendon, had said to me, and the way the other students were acting, Johnathan leaned forward. “I think it’s time for a brainstorming session.”

  “Let me grab my notebook, I’ll take notes.” Halli ran to where her belongings lay and grabbed her notebook and a pen.

  Seth brought up our idea about the food possibly being contaminated. “So, no school food. We’ll have to pack our own lunches.”

  From the frown on his face, I could tell he was still thinking about those burritos.

  “That’s a good idea.” Halli looked up from her writing. “But, won’t it be a little weird for a couple of homeless boys to have food for sack lunches?”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it,” I said. “They won’t know Johnathan and Alec are supposed to be homeless. From the looks on most of their faces today, I don’t think they notice much of anything anyway.”