Erasing: Shadows (The Erasing Series) (8 page)

Stu took his self-determined responsibility to protect his friends seriously, and he couldn’t do that if he was in the dark about part of the picture. The incident with Brandon and Mrs. Ross had scared him. He hadn’t known that was going to happen and didn’t feel anything until Brandon was already there, when he, masked as Ed, had accidentally let loose with his ‘uh oh.’

He knew what most of the rest of the High Five Gang knew. Mrs. Ross and Brandon had been in their real bodies last night. They weren’t traveling with just their consciousness like the rest of the group. No, Mrs. Ross and Brandon had brought their full selves there. Whether on purpose on by accident, he didn’t know, but he needed to find out why. Either way, he had to come up with a new plan, now that contingencies had been introduced. He hoped Mrs. Ross, who would be back to her older, more sarcastic self, would see it the same way he did. If not, there could be problems.

Stu reminded himself that Mrs. Ross, just like the rest of them, loved Mira and Brandon very much and wanted them safe. More at ease , he knocked softly on the door.

Mrs. Ross opened the door quickly and ushered him in. “Hurry,” she said, “before anyone else sees you.”

Stu looked at her wide-eyed.
Who was this new clandestine grandmother?
He backed away.

Mrs. Ross looked at the expression on Stu’s face and laughed. “I suppose we have some catching up to do.”

Stu started to reply, but she interrupted. “First, come in the kitchen, I have a whole breakfast waiting for you. You must be famished after all that activity. I know I was.”

That was the first Stu had heard of something like an admission that Mrs. Ross knew exactly what she was doing. The question was—well what was the question anyway? What was going on? He was thankful for the breakfast though. At nineteen, he was younger than everyone, at least here in the real world, and although he lived on his own, he didn’t have much income to speak of. His studies took up most of his time. He thought for a second.
They would be surprised, really surprised, if they saw how old he was intellectually. Maybe he would show them sometime. But only if absolutely necessary.

“Won’t Michael or Jonathan—”

“Oh don’t worry about them, sweetie,” said Mrs. Ross, with a trace of the same gentleness from the night before. “They would sleep through a bulldozer after last night. It’s just you and me. Now Madison and Morgan on the other hand—just keep your voice to a whisper.”

Stu eagerly wolfed down the breakfast. Mrs. Ross let him finish most of it in silence. She could see how hungry he was. Not that it took him long.

“Yep, that kind of work really takes it out of you, doesn’t it,” she whispered finally.

“Yeah, it really does,” whispered Stu back. “Thank you for this.”

“Don’t mention it. Don’t think I don’t know it was you who was keeping Mira and Brandon safe before I caught on. We owe you a lot.”

Stu was left with his mouth agape. His face turned red.
I’ve been found out by a grandmother?

“Close your mouth, honey, and have some coffee,” said Mrs. Ross. “You’re going to need it. And by the way, I apologize for Michael. He isn’t used to traveling, and you know his feelings for Mira.”

“No, I understand, really,” said Stu. “However, it’s nice to have someone else that understands.”

“Well, you and I, we need to talk, but not here. The girls will be up soon, and I don’t want them to know anything. By the way, I don’t want the boys to know everything either, not yet.”

Stu raised his eyebrows. Things were getting more mysterious by the minute. “You were expecting me?”

“Yes, I knew you’d be by. But quick, we need to move. I hear stirring. Madison already knows I have an early morning market run, so she will be here for Brandon when he gets up. Let’s get on the move.”

“But where?” asked Stu.

Mrs. Ross grabbed his arm. “I have a place,” she said. “I know you can witness, but can you follow?

Stu’s mouth was wide open again. She was using words he believed only he knew, from ancient, dusty books, and from experiments he thought only he had done—at least in the present day. “Um, yeah…” he said hesitating.

However, they were too late. Madison came bounding down the stairs in shorts and a T-shirt with Morgan skipping behind her.

Madison and Stu stared at one another. Madison gave an impish grin. Mrs. Ross gave them a shrewd look. “Stu, this is Madison and Morgan. Girls, this is a friend of your dad and uncle.”

Stu stammered a hello and felt himself blush. I never do that.
What on earth is happening to me?

Mrs. Ross took notice. “Madison will be going to college this fall. Morgan is in the 7
th
grade. Stu lives here in town, girls.”

“Cat got your tongue much?” teased Madison, enjoying her effect on Stu.

Stu just grinned like the teenager he actually was.

“Girls, Stu is taking me to the market now. You girls watch out for Brandon. Let your dad and uncle sleep.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Madison. She and Morgan went into the T.V. room.

“As I was saying, you know how to travel and follow, right?” repeated Mrs. Ross to Stu in a whisper.

“Yes.” said Stu, firm this time.

“Good, just try to keep up, dear.” And with that, Mrs. Ross disappeared.

Stu was left alone for a second, but his training instantly kicked in, and he was off. Where, he didn’t know, but he had to put his trust in this woman. There was no other choice.

Chapter Nine

Tagger’s Nightmare

Feeling foolish with the spray can, Lu loped along. Here they were in their early thirties, well, Trina was just thirty, but they were still running around tagging like in their teens. Trina had been insistent. After all, it was protocol. If Mira showed up at one of the real world places, the initials might jog her memory. Lu had taken care of the old homestead where Mira used to live. Mira’s real farm was still in the family, and Lu put quick initials on one of the bales of hay. Should Mira come here, that would be exactly the place she’d show. Then she might remember.

Trina, on the other hand, had to go into the city for the real-world McArthur house. Lu was hesitant to tag private property—they weren’t kids anymore. But this was for Mira, and Trina promised to put only small initials on the fence around the property—in the corner where they met in the astral.

Lu wrapped hers up without incident, although guilt reared up, and she headed home to wait for Trina. She started water for coffee. They were going to need some fortification for whatever came next. Lu wished she had the old High Five Gang Book that was the record of their adventures, but it was over at Michael’s. She tried to remember tricks they had learned. It was all so long ago. Lu sat down on the couch and turned on the news.

***

Trina was having a problem with her spray can and had to fish for the other one she kept in her backpack. With a baseball cap on and short hair, she looked like a boy. She had not aged much, despite having just turned thirty last month. The extra time it was taking worried her as she was in town and not under cover of darkness. She found a working can and started to spray the initials. If Mira showed up, Trina hoped it would help her remember.

Trina had just finished the initials when she saw movement in the corner of her eye and heard a blaring “STOP!” from that direction.

Damn
.
I really am too old for this.

Her stomach seized. After a split second’s thought, she took off.
She should still be able to outrun cops. If she didn’t, Lu would be so upset,
she thought. Even though it was only a misdemeanor, she and Lu were upstanding citizens now and didn’t do anything that might violate custom or law.
Well, until this
.

She ducked behind a tree on the next street and turned down the alley. She could hear the policemen following her, running. It sounded like several
. Just for her?
Just for tagging?
She tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and kept going. Past the local market. Past the residential houses. She cut down another alleyway.

If I can get to the car before they get a look at it, I’ll be home free
. She was panting.
Surely by now they’d have to be blocks behind me
. She went around more corners and curves, winding her way through the streets in a round-about way toward her small Cabriolet.

Running….running….she didn’t pause to look around. She was judging from the sound of their footsteps behind her. The sound was getting softer, the police were losing ground. Trina hopped over a fence through a yard that she knew.
Ha—let the police do some climbing.
For a moment she felt like her teenage self from years ago.

She hopped back over onto the pavement and caught a look at herself in another store’s glass. She really did look like a seventeen-year-old boy.

Jesus
. Her feet struggled for larger strides.
I need to get my act together.
She turned another corner and accidentally brushed against the brick with her shoulder. Painful.

She could see a few people looking at her . Pedestrians, standing on the side of the street. They must have seen the cops.

Crap.
She needed to get out of this.

Her car was two more blocks over and to the right. She was still zigzagging to throw off the policemen. In the old days, she would have had a compatriot with her to help. Those days were gone. She was thirty, playing a younger person’s game.

She jammed herself through an old gate they used to play around when they were children. It led to the back of a deserted house, then another alley, then up a street to her car. She was almost home free.

She didn’t hear the policemen’s hard footfalls clamping on the pavement anymore. She hoped that meant they had fallen far back.

Trina turned down the last alley, just in time to see three policemen heading toward her. She thought she recognized one of them from school.
Just my luck
.
Someone else who knows the alleys
.

She tried to climb over a fence, but they beat her to it. One of the policemen grabbed her by the pants, and she was down on the ground.

Then Trina was thrown against the back of the fence so hard that one of the old, dilapidated boards broke. Two of the cops tackled her again to the ground.

“Yeah!” said one. “Not going anywhere now!”

Another of the policemen whipped her baseball cap off. “Look!” he exclaimed, “It’s a girl!”

The other nodded but said nothing. He was bent over panting.

She struggled against the arms of the first policeman. The three policemen high-fived one another.

She had lost
. Then,
Oh sh—!

S
he saw the Taser coming toward her, then stiffened from the jolt of 50,000 volts spread throughout her body.

Her last thought before unconsciousness was,
but it’s the amps that kill you.

Chapter Ten

The Empty Room

When Stu arrived, about one minute behind Mrs. Ross, he found her sitting on a somewhat uncomfortable looking modern couch, if one could call it that. All the furniture in the room was modern décor with ultra-exclusive art, vases focusing on negative space, pictures that looked half-tactile, and seats that appeared very unfriendly.

“Little slower than I thought you’d be, dear,” said Mrs. Ross.

At least she sounds fond of me.
“A lot faster than I thought you’d be!” said Stu, impressed. This gal was all surprises. “But modern furniture? It just doesn’t seem like you.”

“It’s not,” said Mrs. Ross. “It’s you.”

“What? I don’t like modern furniture,” said Stu. “If you saw my place you’d see I barely have any furniture at all.”

“That’s because you are nineteen and poor right now,” chuckled Mrs. Ross. “But if you were somewhat older and had some income, apparently you would have modern tastes. And a flair for style.” She chuckled again.

Stu looked at himself.
Holy cow
. He was dressed to the nines
.
He thought back to some of his art books.
Okay, maybe the furniture but a suit?
“How is this possible?”

“You are sitting,” for Stu had taken a seat on one of the avant-garde pieces, “in a completely empty, white room,” said Mrs. Ross. She waved her hand, and everything in the room disappeared except the couch Mrs. Ross was sitting on. Stu immediately fell to the floor. He looked surprised.

Mrs. Ross laughed. “Please forgive an old lady her tricks. I so rarely get to come here.”

“I can see why!” said Stu, but his good nature got the best of him. Besides, he was starting to understand. Mrs. Ross waved the furniture back into existence and with it Stu’s seat.

“You use this room to make the other person comfortable. Whatever their core self feels is ‘right’ is what the decorations turn out to be. Am I correct?” posed Stu. He was used to being correct.

“Eighty percent,” said Mrs. Ross and stayed silent. He could tell she was watching him carefully.

“Aha!” said Stu after a few seconds. He liked this challenge. “You also use this as a way to assess another person. The trappings chosen by their inner self gives insight into them. Just like someone’s age in the astral gives me insight into them.”

“Bingo!” Mrs. Ross clapped her hands with pleasure. “It’s also a place that is separated and cannot be disturbed, so it’s good for meetings like this.”

“Makes sense,” said Stu. None of this was new in concept to Stu, but seeing it for real was different than reading about it in dusty books. Stu hadn’t tried any of this yet. “But if I may ask, what kind of meeting exactly is this?”

Mrs. Ross leaned forward, close to Stu. “It’s a meeting of the Watchers, dear.” She leaned back again.

Stu was flabbergasted. He grew solemn. He had read about Watchers but thought they were a myth. So many people didn’t believe in anything anymore. He had spent half his life just trying to figure out what was real, what was made up, and what was myth. He had always figured the Watchers could be real, but he never believed in anything beyond tentative hypotheses until he could either do it or see it for himself. He had an open yet discerning mind, hence, his rapid advancement with skill sets beyond the reach of the real world.