Shadow Hills (16 page)

“And who is this lovely young lady?” I could tell from his smile that he thought he was charming, but there was something calculating in his gaze. Maybe it was Zach’s attitude toward him influencing me, but I already had a feeling that I wouldn’t like this guy.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us, Zach?”

“Phe, this is my uncle, Trent Redford III,” Zach said with some reluctance. “Uncle Tripp, this is Persephone Archer; she’s a student at Devenish.”

Oh
. When Trent and I had locked up the library after our little break in, this was the man who had come up to us. What if he said something about that now, in front of Zach? At the very least, it would sound like I had some interest in the cousin Zach obviously hated. I crossed my fingers that it had been dark enough that he wouldn’t recognize me on sight. And hopefully Trent hadn’t told his dad my name after I’d bolted.

“That uniform makes it pretty easy to identify you kids.” He smiled as he said it, but that didn’t make my worries recede. So he hadn’t given me away yet, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t in a minute.

I fiddled with the zipper on the front pocket of my purse.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Persephone.” He reached out his hand, and I shook it as quickly as possible. The shock was so strong that I cringed in pain even though I’d been sure it was coming. I recovered quickly, though, pasting on a tight smile.

“Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Redford.” I went back to playing with the zipper. Open, then closed, and back again.

“Please, call me Tripp,” he told me.

“Okay.” I let go of the zipper pull, realizing the repetitive noise I was making with my purse was probably annoying as hell. I clasped my hands in front of my skirt.

“As beautiful as you are, I’m sure that my son Trent has introduced himself.”

“Yes, I know Trent.” I forced myself to smile again. Maybe Tripp really didn’t have a clue who I was.

“That’s wonderful to hear.” Tripp acted as if I’d said I adored Trent. He turned once more to Zach. “Coming to visit your grandfather? I think you’ll find him in excellent spirits today.”

“Really?” Zach’s tone was doubtful.

“Good days and bad days, you know,” Tripp added, somewhat cryptically.

“Yeah. Well, we should go in.” Zach glanced at the hefty black watch he wore. “I’ve got to get back to Devenish soon so I can pick up Corinne on time.”

“You’d better get to it.” Tripp raised his eyebrows. “These Redford women can be quite the spitfires when they’re irritated.”

“Say hello to your parents for me. And Corinne, too, of course.”

“Sure,” Zach said in a clipped tone. “You ready?” He looked sideways at me, and I nodded.

I wondered if he realized how stony he looked walking away from his uncle without a backward glance.
What was up with this family?

“Sorry about that. I’m sure you didn’t bargain on having to see my whole family when I offered you a ride into town.”

“It’s okay.” I was itching to ask him why the Redford men seemed so distant, even antagonistic, but I couldn’t think of any remotely polite way of doing so.

“Uncle Tripp’s not as bad as Trent,” Zach went on. “I guess that’s not saying much, though.”

Zach started to speak again, then stopped and finally said, “Has Trent—I mean, have you hung out with him any?”

I shrugged. “Once or twice. I don’t think we have much in common.”

“So you’re not like into …” He let the question hang there unfinished.

“Not at all,” I answered emphatically.

Zach nodded, looking pleased. A delicious warmth filled me. While jealousy isn’t exactly an admirable trait, I couldn’t deny that I was happy that Zach didn’t want me interested in Trent.

When we stepped inside the elegant lobby, the receptionist greeted Zach by name and directed us toward the rear of the building. “Mr. Redford’s in the garden.”

“Thanks.” Zach led the way to the French doors.

A man shuffled past us, with a nurse at his side. His arms and head shuddered erratically. Outside on the patio, a woman sat in a wheelchair, a sheet bound around her and the chair to keep her upright. She was facing a beautiful rosebush, but she stared past it vacantly, her mouth working as though she was talking. I had volunteered at an advanced care facility for the community service requirement at my old school, and all of it was pretty normal behavior.

What was odd, though, was the fact that none of the patients here were white haired or wrinkled. In fact, just looking at them, I would have been surprised if they were sixty years old.

One woman looked up at me and smiled brilliantly. An instant later, her expression changed to one of confusion, and she sank back against her chair, her fingers picking at the crocheted throw across her lap. I did my best to hide my astonishment. None of these people looked anywhere near as old as my father’s parents, who lived in Palm Springs and spent the majority of their lives out on the golf course.

A man with salt-and-pepper hair sat in a wheelchair beside the fountain, basking in the sun, his eyes closed. Even seated, it was obvious that he was a tall man with shoulders that were still broad. I suspected that this was Zach’s grandfather, and the resemblance was more striking when he opened his eyes and smiled at us. His eyes were not the same color as Zach’s—no one’s were—but his smile was much the same.

“Zachary,” he said warmly, reaching out to him.

“Hello, Granddad.” Zach grinned and took his hand. “You look good. How are you feeling?”

“I’m great. Sit down, sit down.” He looked up at me, and his smile faltered. “I—I’m sorry. Have we met? I don’t remember your name.”

“It’s okay, Granddad, you don’t know Phe. She’s new here.”

“Ah.” He nodded, but his expression had lost a little of its glow, and I felt bad that I had inadvertently spoiled his mood. “It’s nice to see you, Phe. Grant should date more; I told him. Always got his nose in a book, that one.” He smiled at Zach.

“I’m Zach, Granddad,” Zach told him gently.

“Of course you are, who else would you be? How’s school? Must feel nice being a junior, only one more year and you’ll have the run of the place.”

Zach and his grandfather talked for a while, including me in their conversation when they could. For the most part, Mr. Redford was lucid and spoke eloquently, but now and then he seemed a bit vague, like he had forgotten what he was saying. His left hand, which lay in his lap, had a slight tremor. My chest ached, watching Zach’s grandfather. This had to be so hard on their whole family. But at this moment Zach seem elated, and he lingered even after they’d finished covering all the usual topics. I had a feeling this was a very good day for his grandfather.

I wondered what was wrong with him. With all of them. They were too young to be so feeble. And, if Toy was right, these were the lucky ones. The other residents of Shadow Hills had passed away before they reached this age.

I was more determined than ever to find out what was going on in this town.

A few minutes later, after we pulled out of the parking lot of Oakhaven, I turned to Zach and asked in a casual tone, “So … what’s a Brevis Vita?”

“What?” Zach whipped around to look at me, his hand jerked on the steering wheel, and the car swerved into the opposite lane. Hastily, he pulled it back. “Sorry. I—um, what did you say?”

“Smooth cover,” I told him sarcastically. “I said, what is a Brevis Vita?”

“I don’t know.
Where
did you hear that?”

“I overheard some students say it.” I wasn’t about to tell him about breaking into the library. I was majorly into Zach, but it seemed a little too soon to start confessing my illegal activities.

“Who said it?”

“I couldn’t see them, I just heard them talking. That’s not the point.”

“I don’t know what the point is,” he said, watching the road so intently you’d have thought he was afraid it might vanish around the next curve. “How should I know about Brevis Vita?”

“Because you’re one of them?” I countered.

“Phe … this is crazy. I don’t know what you think, but—”

“Okay. I’ll tell you what I think. I think that you have some
kind of strange energy deal that makes you able to attract metal objects and recharge my iPod with your bare hands.”

“Some people naturally have more of an electromagnetic charge in their bodies than others,” Zach said evasively. “Some people can’t even wear watches because of it.”

“And do these same people melt plastic with their fingers?”

He shot me a frustrated look. “I told you—”

“Nothing,” I supplied. “Or, at least, nothing that was true. Look, I know that you dreamed the same dream about the graveyard that I did. You as good as admitted it that day at the store.”

Zach’s fingers curled tightly around the steering wheel.

“And I know that it isn’t only you who can do strange things,” I pressed on. “Corinne and Trent practically give me electroshock therapy when they shake my hand. Trent also has a little habit of setting off the alarms on cars merely by walking by them, and—oh, yeah—he shoots sparks out of his fingers!”

“He what?” Zach turned to look at me. “In front of you?”

I nodded. “Yes. He grabbed hold of the table outside the SAC, and sparks went flying.”

“What a jackass.” Zach returned his attention to the road. “Why’d he do it? What happened?”

“He might have been kind of mad,” I admitted. “I’d just told him I would rather go to the dance alone than go with him.”

Zach let out a short burst of laughter. “I’d like to have seen that.” He contemplated this idea for a moment, his lips curved up in a little smile. Then his expression became serious again. “I guess it’s a family thing. We have too much electricity in our bodies or something.”

“Too much electricity in your bodies? Is that the scientific term for it?”

Zach stayed focused on the road.

“Look,” I continued, “I know it’s not only your family; it’s all the townies. I know about the epidemic. I know that only the settlers from Derbyshire, England, survived it. And you and your family—and several other families—are descended from those same survivors. What I haven’t figured out yet is exactly how your ancestors survived the epidemic. But my best guess is it was because they had some kind of gene mutation.” Of course, I’d only come up with that theory after seeing all the charts in the secret archives room, but Zach didn’t need to know that.

“Phe …” Zach let out a groan. “Where do you get this stuff?”

“Once I figured out about the epidemic and the gene mutation, it all started falling into place. How you townies are so smart and can read a book in two minutes flat. How you guys have this crazy electric energy thing happening. Oh, and there’s the fact that you have better hearing than a beagle.” Zach opened his mouth, but I kept barreling forward. I wasn’t going to let him start arguing his point before I’d made mine. “I started thinking—could it be the result of a gene mutation? And what if, over the course of the last two hundred fifty years, marrying other people with the same mutation, these traits got stronger and stronger, until now you townies have developed these superpowers? Like mind reading and walking through people’s dreams.”

“I don’t have superpowers!” Zach exclaimed. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m being ridiculous?” My voice rose involuntarily. “What about Corinne with her not-so-veiled threats, trying to make me stay away from you? What sister cares that much who her brother dates?” The moment the word passed my lips I wished I could take it back.
Can you say “getting ahead of yourself”?
Sharing a class and a car ride did
not
count as dating. I willed my cheeks not to catch fire. I couldn’t let myself be thrown off by some stupid slipup. “What the hell is going on in this town? And don’t lie to me—I’m not going to stop looking because you give me some lame excuse.”

“I wish you
would
stop, Phe. I think I can trust you, but what if I’m just letting my feelings get in the way? It seems like all logic leaves my head when you’re around. It’s not smart. For me or you.”

“I’m okay with that.” I leaned closer to Zach. I watched his Adam’s apple move beneath his skin as he swallowed.

“Well, I’m not okay with it,” he said, not making eye contact with me. “The people in Shadow Hills aren’t easily intimidated, and they’ve been hiding this stuff for hundreds of years. There are people here who believe we’re one nosy person away from being made into government lab rats.” Zach shook his head. “I don’t know how far some of them would go to protect themselves and their families. We have to be closed off; it’s the only way to make sure we stay safe.”

“Do you really think I would call the FBI down on you?” I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for an answer.

“You never can know with people.”

“Maybe not, but you
can
trust me. You were right about that.” Zach’s eyes met mine; the emotions behind them were so intense I had to look away.

“How can I trust you when you obviously don’t trust me? When you think I’m some kind of mutated freak?” Zach demanded. “You wouldn’t even believe me if I told you the truth—hell, you probably think I’m not human.”

“How can you say that?” I stared at him. “Do you think I would get in the car with someone I thought was dangerous? Do you really think I would be asking you all this if I thought you were some subhuman serial killer? God, how stupid do you think I am?”

“I don’t think you’re stupid.” The muscles of Zach’s jaw were working under his skin. He let off the accelerator, and the car slowed. “I think you’re … I don’t know what I think. You’re different from anyone I’ve ever met before. You seem incapable of being fake, of being anything other than what you are. You’re so free, so authentically … you.”

I wondered how he could see me so clearly when I felt like I was struggling every day to hold on to some scrap of my own identity.

“It’s like you’re not afraid of anything.” His voice was low, almost a whisper.

“Trust me, that isn’t true.” Sometimes I was surprised at how well my shell hid me. I felt sure everyone could see right through it to my soft squishy insides. “I’m just not afraid of
you
. I don’t believe you could ever hurt me.”