Mystify (4 page)

“My mom said he was only invited so we could get some free publicity. He was at my house a couple nights ago talking to my dad about this research project he’s working on. I was supposed to be studying in the den but I could hear them through the walls. Mr. Bryant’s working on some type of research project, something about really strange weather events and the impact on the environment.”

Unknowingly, Alyssa answers my question and piques my curiosity. I wonder if Krystal knows about this project. Maybe she’s already started pumping Franklin for information about it.

Alyssa keeps right on talking like she’s having this conversation all by herself. “Plus I think Mr. Bryant’s father was connected with the government or something like that. He might really be kind of famous in an off sort of way. You know, useful but not really belonging.”

My neck hurts when I turn to stare at her quickly. Her last remark reminds me why I don’t really like hanging with her or this crowd of people my parents want so desperately to be
around. So I quickly excuse myself from her presence and wander away wondering if I can just slip back upstairs into my room.

Being alone with my thoughts would beat being in this room full of phonies and wannabes.

Being dipped in a fiery pit headfirst would probably beat being down here.

I’m
near the steps, my getaway almost perfected when I hear my name being whispered.

“Over here,” the voice says after I’ve twisted and turned, trying to find out who’s calling me.

I see his head then, peeking from behind the sliding doors that lead into the small coatroom a few feet from the front door.

Antoine? What the hell? Is this the night for surprise visitors?

Crossing the floor quickly, I look around, hoping nobody sees me stepping into the coatroom, pushing Antoine back inside at the same time.

“So what happened the other night?”

His voice is still barely above a whisper, but it’s just the way I remember it.

“What are you doing here?” I join him in whispering be cause the last thing I want is to have to try and explain why he’s here on this night. Antoine is definitely not a member of Lincoln’s elite and therefore not invited to this little party. Not that I think for one moment he’d be invited to anything else at this house, either—which is probably the biggest reason I don’t want to like him.

There isn’t a lot of room in the coatroom. Still, I try to
back up, to put some space between us. Antoine only closes that space, his eyes trained on mine as he does.

“Stop running, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

His voice is a little lower, a tad sexier, and my heart does like a backward somersault in response. He’s real close. I back up more, falling through some coats before my back hits the wall. He’s right there, in my face, his hands flattening on the wall on both sides of my face.

I lick my lips. I do that a lot when I’m nervous. Either lick my lips or bite on the bottom one depending how edgy I’m feeling. Right now I probably could have bitten right through my lip, began bleeding to death and still not be able to move a muscle to get away from him.

“I’m…ah…I’m not running,” I stammer. No way am I going to let him catch me speechless.

“You look real pretty in skirts, Sasha.”

“Thank you, but you didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m here because you ran from me in the club the other night. And you run from me every day at school. I figured if I came to your house you wouldn’t have anyplace else to run.”

Logical, I think, but not wise. “Well, you picked a really bad time. My parents have company.”

He nods. “So let’s leave.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not? You said your parents have company, not you.”

He’s got a pretty good point there. Besides, I’ve already had my fill of being nice, smiling and making small talk. Seeing Franklin’s father was a shock, not to mention my mind’s still trying to figure out what his research project is about. That I would discuss with Jake and Krystal at the library tomorrow. And the thought of having dinner with Alyssa sitting beside
me complaining about Krystal and just about waging an all-out war against her is more than I want to deal with.

So why am I turning Antoine down this time?

Why can’t I just slip out with him? He’s already proven it’s possible to sneak into this fortress my parents call a home. I should easily be able to slink out unnoticed.

“I can’t,” I say regardless.

“Can’t or won’t? What are you so afraid of, pretty girl?”

I’m not afraid of him. Or at least I don’t think I am.

“I’m not afraid of anything.”

“Then come on, let’s go.”

Before I can say another word, Antoine grabs my hand, opens the door and is leading us out into the foyer. I can hear the light music and conversation coming from the dining room. The only thing down this end is the front door and the coat closet. If anybody were to leave early they’d see us. Dinner hasn’t even started yet so that’s probably not an issue. Still, I walk a little faster.

We reach the door without a problem and slip out into the night air. It feels great against my skin. It was stuffy and crowded in the house with all those people. Antoine is still holding my hand. He’s like a couple inches taller than me. I like that.

“I just wanted to see you.” He starts talking the moment we clear the front steps and the stone path that lead down to the sidewalk in one direction then around to the back of the house in the other.

We’re heading around back. There’s a gazebo there just before you get to the swimming pool. I didn’t think Antoine knew this because he’s never been to my house before. Yet that’s exactly where we go.

“Why do you keep saying I’m running from you?” I ask the minute we arrive at the gazebo. Antoine sits down on one
of the two steps that lead you to the large center. I just keep standing in front of him.

“Because you are. Or at least you have been since the dance.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is,” he says seriously. “Look, you came to me asking all these questions about my brother who’s been dead for months. Then when I try to talk to you about normal stuff you disappear. I kinda thought you might be feelin’ me so I asked you out. You turned me down.
Running.
Then you show up at the club that I invited you to and disappear after the first dance.
Running
again.”

“Wait a minute, I was at the club? At Trends?” He’d said that before, in the house, that I’d left him at the club.

I can’t believe I actually just said that out loud. I mean, I’m thinking it of course. That night was a dream, that’s what I decided. But he’s saying it’s true. I have to know if that’s what he’s saying for sure.

“Yeah.”

“When?”

He looks like he thinks I might be losing my mind. Still, he shrugs and answers, “Friday night.”

“Oh my god,” I sigh. It was true. But how could I have been in my bed sleeping, with Mom and Casietta trying to wake me up, and at the club dancing with Antoine at the same time?

He reaches out, takes both my hands in his, pulling me until I’m standing between his outstretched legs.

“So I still think you’re feelin’ me but I don’t know why you keep running from me. You’re gonna have to just come right out and tell me. Do you like me or not?”

Oh please don’t ask me that question. Please don’t look at
me with those really dark brown eyes and wait for me to give you an answer. Please, please, please.

“Answer me, pretty girl.”

“That’s not my name,” I say as a way to dodge his first question.

“But that’s what you are.”

Okay, my heart’s not supposed to beat this fast. I’m almost positive it’s not.

“It’s not that I don’t like you, Antoine.” I figure this is the best answer I can give. Surely he’s going to accept it.

“So if that’s true, just say you
do
like me.”

I should have known he’d be difficult. “Why?” I ask instead.

“Why do I want to hear you say it?”

“No.” I shake my head. “Why do you like me?”

“That’s easy,” he says with a smile. “I like the way you look. The way you walk through the halls at school like you really want to be there. And I like that you’re different from the other Richies.”

“Different? How?” Because I really don’t want to be like the rest of them. I just want to be me.

“You don’t think you’re better than anybody else,” he answers simply.

Hmph, after tonight I’m not so sure that’s true. I mean, hadn’t I just stood in the room with a bunch of Richies talking about opening an exclusive club? If that doesn’t say we’re better than everybody else, I don’t know what else does. But I don’t tell Antoine that. He doesn’t need to know.

Because I’m feeling comfortable with Antoine and the spring air is finally seasonal, with just a light breeze and temps over about sixty degrees, I sit quietly on the step just below him. He startles me by putting his fingers into my hair. I left it out
tonight because that’s what my mom instructed. Two crystal clips hold it back from my face.

“Your hair is soft,” he says.

“Thanks.”

It’s quiet, but I want to say something. I want to keep talking to Antoine, to find out more about him. It’s crazy, these weird feelings I have for him. One minute I don’t want to see him and the next I can’t see him soon enough.

Luckily, he seems to have all the answers. He’s so sure about what he wants and who he wants it with, as if there are no obstacles or conflicts. I want to ask him about this but then I hear them.

The birds.

They’re back.

Swarming around the top point of the gazebo they seem to just drop from the sky. The screeching is super loud and there are lots of them. More than I’d ever seen before. They swoop down first, yelling with some type of battle cry.

Antoine immediately bows over so that the top of his body is covering me. I feel the breeze of each bird whooshing by and know the only way I can escape them is to teleport as I have before when they attack. But I can’t do that in front of Antoine. He’d think I’m some kind of freak, not a pretty girl.

The birds are flying lower, circling us, when Antoine yells, “Run to the house!”

Well, I’m not about to leave him out here with these birds that are out for something I’m sure he can’t give them. They’re connected to the Darkness. We all know they are. All of us except Antoine, of course. “No, you run. Get to your car.”

I saw the old Hyundai looking sorely out of place amongst the BMWs, Mercedes and other expensive cars lined in our driveway when we came outside.

“C’mon, let’s go!” he yells back, grabbing my hand.

We both stand and take off running, only to be stopped by Mouse’s big body. By simply stretching out his arms, Mouse halts our escape. He’s my bodyguard I guess because he’s so big and so mean looking. How he got the name Mouse I have no idea. But my dad thought I needed somebody with me at all times, something about an important man like him having enemies. Maybe he owed somebody money, I don’t know. But Mouse came with the great car, so I accepted him. Now I’m not convinced that was a wise decision.

Mouse looks at Antoine, then at me, and I don’t know what scares me more at this moment—the birds or the look on Mouse’s face. And just when I think he’s going to grab us both by our collars and usher us into the house where we’d have to stand in front of the firing squad, i.e., my parents, Mouse does something totally confusing.

He grabs Antoine and starts walking him toward his car. Over his shoulder he shouts to me. “Disappear.”

I’m standing there watching Mouse and Antoine’s back when it dawns on me that the birds have vanished. I’m alone in the night.

Tossing Antoine into the driver’s seat and slamming the door, Mouse turns to me one more time and gives me a curt nod.

I don’t know why I did it. It’s crazy and it’s against the agreement I’d made with Krystal and with Jake. But somehow I know this is what Mouse means. He’s telling me to disappear. And so I do.

The
message comes a little after midnight. I should be asleep, but my heart’s still racing from the encounter at the gazebo. I half expect Mouse to come knocking on my door to question me. But he doesn’t. As far as I know, Mouse never enters the house. He stays in a smaller house behind the pool. In the morning, he’s at the car waiting for me. In the afternoon, he’s at the school, at the car, waiting for me. Outside of that, I have no idea what he does with his time or where he goes when he’s not with me. And up until a couple hours ago, I didn’t really care. Funny how time changes things.

So Fatima wants to meet me. She says I’m one of them. One of who? I’d sent her the confusing message we found printed within the letter from Mary Burroughs and her response was that we meet. I want so badly to call Krystal and Jake, we need a powwow. I don’t know how to respond to this woman. There are a few issues involved: 1) I only know this Fatima character from the internet; she could be some kind of psychopathic killer or something, for all I know; 2) what if she is legit and she’s telling me that I’m one of them? Do I
really want to know who “them” are? and 3) “them” could be a group of psychopathic killers who start out with freaky powers.

Okay, that’s way more melodramatic than I intended. Anyway, I’m still trying to decide how to respond to Fatima when my cell phone rings. It’s late, and I shouldn’t be on the phone. But my parents are most likely passed out in their bedroom which is on the floor above mine, and Casietta is down the opposite end of the hall where her room is located. Odds are nobody hears the phone ringing but me, so I reach over to my nightstand and answer it.

“Who was that big guy? Your bodyguard?”

It’s Antoine and I’m smiling already.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Man, dude is big. And he means business.”

I can’t believe he’s calling me after what we’d just been through. I don’t know that I’d be fast to call someone who was with me when we were attacked by birds. Then again, he has no clue that I’m probably what those birds were after.

“He’s harmless. Never even raises his voice.”

Antoine chuckles. “Yeah, I bet. So you’re okay, right? I mean you didn’t get into any trouble or anything for being out there with me?”

“No,” I answer quickly. “Hey, wait a minute. How did you get my number?”

“Girl, you know I’ve got connections.”

At his words, I wonder what those connections are. Friends at the cell phone store or friends who could not only dig up information on other people, but who could bury or literally dig up other people? Again with the melodramatics, I think I need a sedative or something. I don’t know why I’m thinking of Antoine this way. Yeah, I do, because those are the types of unsavory things Antoine and his crew are known for.

“Well, you could have just asked me for it.”

“I did and you said no.”

“Then obviously, I didn’t want you to have it.”

“You did, you were just playing hard to get.”

“And maybe I still am.”

“Maybe you are. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. See you in school tomorrow?”

He asks like he’s not sure if I’m coming, which is weird because I rarely ever miss a day from school. There’s absolutely nothing to do in this house all day long. School is usually the better option.

“I’ll be in school.”

“And you’re not going to run from me again.”

I’m starting to get a little irritated at his continued implication that I’m afraid of him. “I haven’t been—”

“I know, you haven’t been running,” he says like he’s getting tired of hearing me make that claim. Which we both know is a big fat lie. “So when I speak to you, you’re gonna speak back?”

“It would be rude not to and I’m not rude.”

Antoine laughs. “What if I want to sit with you at lunch?”

“I already have people to sit with.”

“Okay, so do I. What if I wanted to walk you to your class?”

“Half my classes are GT, yours are on a different floor.” That sounds exactly like I’m classifying us, and I immediately want to take it back.

But Antoine just chuckles and brushes it off, I guess. “And you say you’re not playing hard to get. See you tomorrow, pretty girl.”

Today’s been weird. Everybody’s talking about the missing tour bus. Word was the group had gone to some little town in
New Haven for a retreat. New Haven’s not far from Lincoln. They’d come from Pennsylvania. A youth leader—I think somebody said his name was Minister Craig Hobbs—from this church where they actually have adults who pay attention to teenagers was in charge. Go figure. Along with Minister Hobbs were seven kids on the bus, three boys and four girls.

I wonder if their parents are worried. Lidia and Marvin probably wouldn’t even notice if I vanished. That’s a morbid thought, but I feel like it’s really true. I didn’t see either one of them this morning. Nor had they noticed that I ditched the party last night, ran out with a boy and was attacked by screeching birds. How could they not have noticed any of that? What kind of parents had a kid and then ignored them? The kind that, unfortunately, populate a good portion of the U.S.

So sad, but so true.

Anyway, it takes a lot of effort not to think about that missing bus of kids, especially since it’s on everybody’s mind. At lunch, Franklin joins us, so talking about what happened last night with Antoine and the birds is totally out of the question. He and Krystal cuddle most of the time. I eat my lunch, acting like their closeness isn’t bothering me. But now I keep thinking about me and Antoine. Cuddling.

After school I head straight to my car and see Mouse standing by the driver’s side door, waiting. He didn’t let me drive this morning, and I’m almost positive he’s not planning to let me drive now.

“I’m going to the library with a couple of friends. You know them—Jake and Krystal. They should be coming along soon.”

Mouse just nods, but he’s watching me in a weird way. Well, weirder than he normally does. I notice that he’s wearing all black. I think he always wears that color ensemble. Every day,
black pants, black shoes, black shirt, black jacket. He could be related to Faith Hughes, the Goth girl who sits by the soda machine in the cafeteria. Except Mouse doesn’t have all the piercings. What he does have is a lot of muscles, like I just really noticed that today. His arms are like cannons and his neck is thick and short like a football player’s. His face is kind of rugged, his skin the color of mud. But he doesn’t look mean or scary, just strange and maybe intimidating. I guess that’s his purpose as my bodyguard.

“You ready to go?” Jake approaches, but I barely hear him, I’m so busy staring at Mouse.

“Where’s Krystal?”

Jake shrugs, long locks of brown hair scraping over his forehead. His backpack is on his right shoulder, and his hands are stuffed into the pockets of his hoodie, just like always.

I’ve known Jake since I was a kid. Since we were both kids. We kind of hooked up because we had something in common. I could disappear, and he could lift things like cars or trucks or anything else no normal human should be able to lift. The moment we found out we were both freaks, we became instant friends.

Now there’s Krystal, her appearance in Lincoln invading our little twosome. Me, I was thrilled to see there was someone else with the mark Jake and I shared because that meant she must have powers like us, too. And she did.

Jake, I can’t really tell how he feels about Krystal moving to Lincoln. Sometimes I think he really likes her and wishes Krystal could see that. Then other times, like now, I don’t know. He looks like he’d rather eat one of those maniacal birds that keep following us than wait another second for Krystal.

“We have to wait,” I say and look away from him because I don’t want to see his reaction. It’s not going to change my mind either way. “I’ve got something to tell you two.”

“You can tell me,” he says and sounds irritated.

“We’re all in this together. I’m telling both of you.”

I do look at him then, but he just sighs and opens the car door. It’s a two-door, so I watch absently as he pushes the front seat up and climbs in the back. With Mouse driving, it probably makes sense for me to ride in the back today and let Krystal ride shotgun.

Fifteen minutes later, we climb out of the car and walk up the steps to the library. Jake is quiet, but Krystal’s talking about how she really enjoyed the Bible study she went to with her mother last night. I’m only half listening to her because there’s so much more on my mind.

We go all the way to the back of the library because there are a lot of other kids there, and we don’t want to be disturbed. But Jake stops in the mythology section first and picks up some books. Krystal changes her line of conversation the minute he’s out of earshot.

“So listen to this, Franklin asked me about doing it.”

I drop my bag down onto the table. It makes a loud thunking noise that has a couple of kids looking up from the table two rows over. Rolling my eyes at them, I return my gaze to Krystal and just stare.
“It?”

She nods with a smile that doesn’t quite look happy. “Yeah,
it.
”

“Like he wants to do it, with you?”

She nods again.

Wow. Sex. Hmm.

“So what did you tell him?”

“Nothing really, just kind of brushed it off.”

“Well, do you want to? With him, you know, do you want to have sex with him?”

She sits down and drums her fingers on the table. Krystal
doesn’t have nails, so the sound is dull, monotonous. “I don’t know.”

Krystal’s a pretty girl, with her creamy coffee-toned skin and high cheekbones. I guess this is why Franklin is cuddling so much with her. He obviously wants to go to the next step. I wonder what she’ll do and figure since I’m her friend, I should like offer some advice. Problem is I don’t really have any as I’m still holding tight to my virginity as well.

“You should think about it, don’t do anything you’re not totally comfortable with.”

She nods her head. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”

Jake returns.

“They’ve got a whole section on mythology—Roman, Indian, Celtic, Greek. I just grabbed a bunch. So let’s just look through them all and find any references to the River Styx.” Jake is talking and giving out books to me and Krystal like Mr. Emory, the science teacher.

We all sit down and I speak up first. “Before we look through the books, I have to tell you guys something.”

“Okay, shoot,” Jake says but opens up his book like he’s going to read while I talk.

Very rude, but I don’t bother to say anything since he’s obviously in a funk. Besides, once I start talking, I’m sure he’ll give me his undivided attention.

“I saw the birds last night,” I begin and wait for their reactions.

“Oh,” Krystal says. “We haven’t seen them since before the blizzard. What happened?”

After going over this back and forth and debating whether or not I should leave out the fact that I was with Antoine when the birds attacked, I decide to just tell it all. I have no idea if Antoine had told his clique about what happened, so it’s logical that I just tell mine the truth.

“I was out at the gazebo talking to Antoine and they just attacked.”

As predicted, Jake stops turning pages in the book and looks up at me. “Wait, last night? I thought you had some party to go to.”

“I did, but then Antoine showed up and—”

“Antoine, as in Antoine Watson?” Krystal’s raised brow means she has a lot more questions. “He was invited to the party and we weren’t?”

Now, that wasn’t exactly the line of questioning I thought she’d take. “No. Of course he wasn’t invited. He just sort of showed up.”

“At your house?”

That was Jake asking suspiciously. “Yeah, at my house.” Okay, why are they latching on to the Antoine thing more than the birds? “You guys, I said those birds are back and they attacked me. Don’t you think that’s cause for alarm?”

Krystal smiles. “I think what we really need to know is how Antoine found out where you lived and since when did he just start dropping by?”

I sigh because I guess I’m going to have to get this part over with. This part being the new boy interrogation. “Okay, abbreviated version—ever since I talked to him about Ricky he’s been trying to get with me. I’ve been ignoring him but obviously he hasn’t gotten the message. Now can we get back to the serious business?”

“Seems to me you don’t really want him to get a message if you’re talking to him at the gazebo.” This is Jake who looks back down at his book the minute his words are out.

Okay, let’s try another tactic. “I think I have a new power,” I blurt out and have the pleasure of watching both of them look at each other, then immediately at me, like I just grew a new head.

“What is it?”

I shrug. “Don’t really know. All I know is that one minute I was lying in my bed thinking about…” I hesitate before saying his name again. “I was thinking about stuff and then the next thing you know I’m across town at Trends dancing the night away.”

“You teleported all the way across town?” Jake talks slowly, like I was speaking another language.

I’m already shaking my head. “No. I don’t think it’s the same as teleporting. My body was still in my room and there was another me at the club.”

“Another you? How is that possible?” Krystal asks.

“Don’t know. Was hoping you guys could tell me.”

Krystal drums her fingers on the table again. This little action is going to get annoying. Quick.

She doesn’t seem to notice the way I look down at her hands then back up at her, mentally willing her to stop. Guess that’s because neither me nor her have mind-reading capabilities. “So your powers are manifesting, too. And the birds are back. The Darkness will follow.”

“And we still don’t know what it is or what it wants,” Jake adds.

“There’s more,” I say, pulling Mary Burroughs’s letter out of my bag in the envelope that I put it in last night so it wouldn’t tear. I give it to Jake. “I sent Fatima what was written on the letter. Her response was this—you are one of them. It’s time we meet.”