Deathless (20 page)

A sudden, terrifying thought struck her. What if she was not just seeing things in her dreams that were coming to pass, but somehow was
causing
these events to occur? She immediately tried to banish the thought from her brain. No way could she be making these things happen. The idea was ridiculous, impossible—wasn’t it? But was it any more unbelievable and impossible than seeing into the future, or visualizing events she had no knowledge of? It was all crazy. There was only one thing she was sure of—something incomprehensible was happening with her dreams.

If this kept up, she would soon be afraid to close her eyes at night.

26. AN IMPORTANT CLUE

U
nbeknownst to Leesa, the one person who could have answered some of her questions was still almost three thousand miles away, growing more frustrated by the day in San Diego.

Dominic had finally decided he needed help, so he had hired an investigator, paying cash and contacting the man once a day via a different public phone each time. After four days, the man had provided Dominic an address in the North Park section of San Diego.

The place turned out to be a small, run-down apartment complex. Dominic had been stealthily watching apartment five for two days now, but had not seen a single person come out of the apartment. A check of the mailboxes showed a name he did not recognize, but it was possible Leesa’s mother had remarried over the years and now had a different name. He had walked casually past the window a few times and was able to see that the place was furnished, so at least he was not wasting his time watching an empty apartment. But whether Leesa, or even her mother, still lived here, he was becoming increasingly doubtful.

If he had anywhere else to look, he would be there, but he did not. Still, he decided he needed to become a bit more proactive, despite his desire for discretion and secrecy. He crossed over to apartment six and knocked on the door. He waited a few moments and then knocked again. There was no response. The apartment’s occupants were probably at work.

He walked past apartment five and knocked on the door to number four. He was about to knock a second time when a smiling, gray-haired lady opened the door.

“
Yes?” she said.

“
Hello,” Dominic said in as friendly a voice as he could muster. “My name is Fred.” He plucked the name out of the air, continuing his practice of using a different name every time he inquired about Leesa or her family.

“
I’m a friend of the Nylands,” he said. “I know they used to live next door in apartment five, but I’ve been gone for awhile. Are they still around?”

The woman shook her head. “I’m sorry, no. They moved out a few months ago.”

Dominic cursed silently to himself. He had reached another dead end.

“
Did you know them at all?” he asked, hoping to get at least some useful information from this friendly woman.

“
Not very,” she said. “Especially considering how long we were neighbors. The mother never seemed to come out of the house—I’d see her standing at the window looking outside sometimes. The kids seemed sweet enough, although Leesa was kind of shy.”

This was news to Dominic. He remembered Judy Nyland as a friendly, outgoing woman and wondered what had happened to turn her into someone who never left her apartment. He hoped it did not have anything to do with Leesa.

“
Do you have any idea where they might have gone?” he asked, hoping against hope for some kind of lead.

“
No, I don’t. I’m sorry.”

Dominic could see on her wrinkled face that she was genuinely sorry. Unfortunately, her being sorry did not do him any good.

“
Well, thanks for your help,” he said.

As he was preparing to turn away, the woman laid her hand on his forearm.

“
Leesa was going to college somewhere in Connecticut, I think. Maybe her mom moved back there to be near her.”

Dominic smiled. This was something, at least.

“
Do you happen to know which school?”

“
I’m sorry, I don’t. But Connecticut isn’t very big. How many colleges could there be there?”

Dominic had no idea, but he was going to find out as quickly as he could.

“
Is there a public library nearby?” he asked.

The woman gave him directions to a local branch only four blocks away. He thanked her for her help and headed for the library, covering the sidewalk with long, quick strides.

The answer to the question “how many colleges could there be in Connecticut?” turned out to be “quite a few.” Dominic stared at the list he had pulled up on one of the library’s computers. He counted more than thirty—even more if he included all the branches of the state university. The number was disappointing—he had expected fewer. Still, it was something to go on, a starting point at least.

He printed out the list, then folded it carefully and put it in his pocket. It was time to get back on the train. Destination: Connecticut.

27. A NIGHT OUT

L
eesa poked through the clothes in her closet, trying to decide what to wear. She was going to some place called The Joint that hosted open microphone nights on Fridays. Andy had been there once with some guys from his fraternity and said it was really fun. Cali knew how stressed she had been lately—Leesa had shared her most recent dream with her—and had insisted Leesa come along, saying a night out having some mindless fun would be good for her. Caitlin was also going, so Leesa wouldn’t feel like a “third wheel” on Cali and Andy’s date.

Cali had said to dress casual and “funky,” and Leesa was not exactly certain what that meant. She was pretty sure none of her stuff was very funky, though. She settled on a purple and black striped sweater and black jeans. She hoped her dark brown Ugg boots might add a bit of funk to her look. Checking herself in the mirror, she thought she looked fine, but fine was probably a long way from funky. Oh, well, she thought, it’s the best I can do.

She stuffed her leather gloves and favorite ski cap into the pockets of her parka and headed down the stairs to Cali’s room. Maybe she would leave the cap on inside the place—perhaps that would be funky enough.

Cali was studying herself in the mirror when Leesa walked in. She was wearing an outfit Leesa remembered well—how could she forget it?—from one of the first parties they had gone to together. Her button shirt was plaid with a Peter Pan collar and rows of skulls and hearts leading diagonally down the front to a frayed edge. She had paired it with a short black skirt that sat low on her hips and red fishnets ripped in several places. Her black platform shoes made her nearly as tall as Leesa. Leesa wasn’t sure she would have been able to stand in those shoes, much less walk in them.

“
Is that what you meant by funky?” Leesa asked as she limped into Cali’s room.

Cali grinned. “Yeah… I’d call it hip and funky.”

Cali stepped away from the mirror and gave Leesa’s outfit a quick once-over. Her frown told Leesa all she needed to know about Cali’s opinion of her outfit.

“
Don’t you have anything with skulls on it?” Cali asked. “Or polka-dots?” Her face lit up like she had just had a great idea. “Polka-dots are funky. Big ones, anyhow.”

“
Ha! Sorry. No polka-dots. And definitely no skulls.” Leesa smiled sweetly. “I guess you’ll just have to deal with the embarrassment of being seen with me.”

Cali bent in front of her dresser and rummaged through one of the drawers. She pulled out an orange bandana adorned with big purple polka-dots and folded it into a two-inch wide band.

“
Tie this around your head,” she said, offering the bandana to Leesa. “It’ll give your outfit some edge, at least.”

Leesa took the bandana and studied it briefly. The purple circles almost matched the stripes in her sweater. What the heck, she thought, and tied it around her head.

Andy arrived a moment later. His outfit showed why he and Cali made such a good pair.

He was wearing a tight black T-shirt over a gray long-sleeve shirt. The T-shirt had a big gray screaming skull on the front. His black jeans were pretty normal, but they were held up by a wide black leather belt with a giant silver buckle shaped like a winged demon. He was sporting a cloth fedora hat, the kind Justin Timberlake and Jason Mraz often wore. The pale pink and dark brown plaid pattern was eye catching, but the hat was sedate compared to his shoes—bright pink and white checkered canvas sneakers.

“
Wow. Cali wasn’t kidding when she said dress funky,” Leesa said, smiling.

Andy grinned and doffed his hat. “You like?”

Leesa laughed. “I’m not sure,” she said. “But I bet Cali does, and that’s what counts.”

“
You look great, Andy,” Cali said.

“
And you look hot, babe,” Andy replied.

The two of them exchanged a hug and a quick kiss.

“
Caitlin should be ready by now,” Cali said. “We can pick her up on the way out.”

They headed down the hallway and found Caitlin waiting in her doorway. She was wearing a plain white shirt and short black skirt over black leggings. A pair of wide, dark blue and black elastic suspenders stretched over her shoulders. Looking at her three companions, Leesa almost felt like
she
was the one who was dressed weirdly. She could not believe everyone at The Joint was going to look like her friends. At least, she sure hoped they wouldn’t, or she was going to stand out like a sore thumb.

The Joint was a small restaurant and bar located just off campus. It wasn’t too far a walk, but the night was cold, so they piled into Andy’s car for the short drive. He parked in a lot behind the building and they circled around to the front, where they paid a three dollar cover charge and went in. Cali led the way, with Leesa following close behind her.

Leesa was surprised by how small the place was, but the owners had crowded enough tables inside to hold nearly a hundred people. The room was already three-quarters full. The chattering conversations were a bit louder than she would have expected, and she guessed that at least some of the kids already had a few drinks in them.

Leesa recognized the hostess from her English class last semester, and the two of them exchanged quick hellos before the girl guided them to a small round table on the far side of the room. They were closer to the back of the room than the front, but still not all that far from the makeshift stage, which was nothing more than a raised square platform covered with black felt. An old acoustic guitar leaned against the wall at the rear of the stage and there was a beat up piano just to the right.

Leesa studied the people seated near them. Most were college kids, but there were a few older folks sprinkled in the crowd. She spotted a couple of fedoras, some pink and green streaked hair, and a one guy in a bright green, blue and yellow plaid sports jacket he had to be wearing as a joke. She figured he must be a comedian—if not, she felt really sorry for the girl sitting next to him, who seemed pretty normal. She saw a fair number of other people dressed relatively conservatively, for which she was very grateful.

A tall waiter with short blond hair threaded his way to their table. He was wearing a loose white button shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black pants. The dark edges of an intricate tattoo peeked out from beneath the sleeve on his right forearm, but not far enough for Leesa to identify the design.

“
What can I get you guys?” he asked.

Andy asked for a beer and the girls all ordered diet sodas. Leesa was surprised but pleased that Cali did not try to use her fake ID to order a drink.

“
Have you been here before?” Caitlin asked Andy when the waiter was gone.

“
Once. Last semester with some friends. It was pretty fun.”

“
Cool,” Caitlin said. She looked at Leesa and Cali. “Any of you Guitar Hero stars thinking about getting up on stage tonight?”

Leesa laughed. “Not a chance. Not in a million years.”

“
I might,” Andy said. “You never know. It could be fun.”

“
What?” Leesa exclaimed, totally surprised. “You’re kidding, right?”