Into the Shadows (23 page)

They exited the gym and could hear the music begin.
Jason led her over to the group, trying to figure out how to get
home. Jessica wasn’t due to pick them up for another forty-five
minutes and they didn’t feel comfortable waiting until then. Devon
and another girl, Sophie, had a car, and the groups agreed to go
with whoever lived closest to the driver. Paivi and Jason were to
ride home with Devon, Elena, and a girl named Stephanie, while
Stephanie’s date and the others would go with Sophie.

Paivi felt a strong tap on her shoulder.

She turned to find herself face to face with
Michaela, whose face ran with dark streaks of mascara. Her fists
were clenched, her body tense.

“Oh my god, Michaela! Are you okay?” Paivi stepped
forward, her arms out to embrace her.

“Don’t touch me.” Michaela’s voice was as sharp as a
knife. Paivi noticed three YATC boys standing behind her.

“I have to ask you something Paivi.”

“Uh, okay,” Paivi tried to keep eye contact with
her, but Michaela’s gaze was piercing.

“Teddy told me something and I want to know if it’s
true.”

A boy in black, Teddy she presumed, smiled smugly
and nodded.

“He said his Dad had to interview your parents
yesterday.”

Michaela took a deep breath, closing her eyes tight
and then opening them again. They appeared a little softer and
sad.

“He said your parents knew my Mom was going to die;
that she was going to have an accident. Is that true, Paivi? Did
your parents know?”

Paivi was horrified and speechless. Her brain was so
foggy after the events of the evening that she couldn’t think of a
defense fast enough.

Michaela gasped — taking her silence as an
admittance of guilt — and stepped back towards the YATC boys.

“Murderers! Your parents are murderers!” she
screamed, her voice cracking.

“Michaela, please, I…,” Paivi trailed off, not
knowing what to say.

Michaela lunged at her with her whole body, like a
cougar pouncing on its’ prey. Jason was quicker, having anticipated
Michaela’s attack, and caught her around the waist. She struck him
a few times with her fists, only hitting his chest. Devon stepped
forward and helped Jason carry her to the three boys in black and
set her down on the floor.

She immediately collapsed into a heap screeching
like a wounded animal. The sound was piercing, causing everyone
around them to cringe. Tears streamed freshly down her face,
spreading the mascara like war paint.

Paivi felt sick, she wanted to throw up. This was
her fault, completely her fault. She had destroyed her own best
friend, who had been so fiercely loyal through this horrible,
horrible year.

Michaela was on her knees, tearing at her hair. Her
eyes bored into Paivi and she shivered. If looks could kill, she
surely would have been dead twice over.

Michaela screamed out again.

“I hate you Paivi Anderson. I HATE you! You’re dead
to me, DEAD!”

A few teachers came rushing through the door from
the gymnasium, headed towards the commotion.

Paivi stumbled backwards, only to find Jason right
behind her. He grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the door
where the rest of the group was waiting.

Michaela’s screams continued to echo through the
building and followed them out into the cold, starry night.

Paivi didn’t remember much about the ride home. She
spent the entire time sobbing into Jason’s shoulder. He walked her
up the steps to her front door. On the porch, they stopped for a
moment. Both of them were at a loss for words.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Jason whispered into
Paivi’s ear as he pulled her into his arms. She nodded. He kissed
her on the cheek and gave her a squeeze, then walked down the steps
back to Devon’s waiting car.

Paivi didn’t want to remain on the porch, alone in
the cold, but she also didn’t want to go in. How could she even
begin to explain the events of the night? She still felt nauseous
and her head hurt from crying so much. She knew she must look a hot
mess. She decided it would be best to edit her story. She would
have to tell them about Michaela, so they would understand why they
weren’t friends anymore. And at least that would explain the tears
and being home early. But maybe she would leave out the YATC and
the incident on the dance floor.

She took a deep breath and opened the front door. At
least she was home. And for the first time, she thought about
having to go back to school after two weeks off. Maybe if she told
her parents more of the story, maybe she could just be home
schooled. She didn’t think she could ever face Michaela again.

She walked slowly down the hall into the family
room, where Mr. and Mrs. Anderson and Torsten were watching the
news on television. She didn’t really know how to start. She hoped
they would notice her and say something.

Her mother’s head popped up fro the couch first,
glancing at the clock above the fireplace. She jumped from the
couch, trying to take in everything in the dim light of the family
room.

“Oh Paivi, you’re home early.” Mrs. Anderson gasped
as she caught sight of Paivi’s face. “Oh no sweetie, what happened?
You’re a mess!”

Mr. Anderson and Torsten opened their mouths, ready
to make a joke, but chose otherwise after seeing Paivi’s red, puffy
eyes. Mrs. Anderson unhooked Paivi’s badge and returned it to the
monitoring device. She then led Paivi to the couch.

“Here, let’s sit down honey, that’s it.” Mrs.
Anderson fluffed the pillow behind her. “Now, please tell us what
happened?”

She glared at Mr. Anderson and Torsten.

“I promise they won’t say a word.”

The boys sat back sheepishly.

Paivi took a deep breath.

“Okay, but don’t say anything until I’m done.”

They nodded in agreement.

“Here goes…” Paivi leaned back into the couch and
looked down at the corsage on the wrist that Jason had given her.
She fiddled with the deep crimson ribbon that held the white and
red roses together.

Paivi began relaying the events of the evening. She
decided to tell it all — she just couldn’t hold it all in. After
fifteen minutes it was over. She had finished the story, but she
didn’t feel any better. She looked up, taking in the horrified
looks of her family and felt worse.

“Paivi, I am so sorry honey!” Fat little tears
rolled down her mother’s cheeks. She threw her arms around her
daughter.

Mr. Anderson’s face went from horrified to
livid.

“That’s it,” he grumbled, “you two are not returning
to school after break.”

“What!” Torsten squawked.

Paivi felt relieved. The only people she would miss
were Jason, and maybe Christian. There was nothing there for her
anymore.

“It’s not safe for you kids. Those YATC kids are all
over the place now. And we already know the school can’t protect
you, as we saw after what happened to that nice Dr. Hasenpfeffer.”
Mr. Anderson leaned back into the couch. “You’ll be home schooled
for now. But I will go to the ATC office and inquire if we can move
you out of St. Andrew.”

Mr. and Mrs. Anderson appeared to shudder at the
mere mention of the ATC office.

“What?!”

Now it was Paivi’s turn. She didn’t want to go back
to school, but leave St. Andrew? She’d lived here her whole
life.

“Maria,” Mr. Anderson turned to his wife, grasping
her small hands in his large ones. “St. Andrew isn’t safe for them
anymore. It’s too close to Chicago, look how strong the ATC has
gotten in this area in little more than a month.”

Mrs. Anderson continued to cry, but nodded.

“We can see if they can go to Tim and Alissa’s.
Duluth might be safer because it’s much less populated. I’ll call
them tomorrow.”

Duluth! Paivi thought. It was so far from here, and
so cold.

”Can’t we just stay here, Dad?” Torsten pleaded.
“You don’t want to go to Minnesota, it’s freezing there! It’s like
the middle of nowhere.”

Mr. Anderson thought for a moment.

“As much as we would love to join you in Duluth, the
ATC won’t let us leave St. Andrew. Their rules appear to be a
little more lenient in regards to children. You two would have to
go without us.”

“But it will only be temporary. It’s for your
safety,” Mrs. Anderson added, trying to sound convincing, but
unable to mask her misery. “We’ll talk everyday.”

“Mom, we don’t want to go without you, we don’t want
to leave our house!” Paivi cried.

“This is the only option right now Paivi, I’m
sorry,” Mr. Anderson said firmly.

“Paivi, would you please lock the front door for
me?” Mrs. Anderson cleared two cups and a dish from the coffee
table. “I’m beat — I think we should all get some rest. We can
discuss this further in the morning.”

Torsten got up from the couch and straightened out
the pillows as Paivi walked slowly down the dark hallway to the
front door. As she reached out to turn the deadbolt she heard a
loud crunch as the wooden frame shattered and the door flew open.
The force of the door hitting her in the face and shoulder knocked
her to the ground. She could hear the sound of glass breaking in
the family room. Her mother and brother screamed at the same
time.

“Mom!” Paivi could barely get the word out.

Within seconds, men in black surrounded her. In the
dim light she could see one thing she recognized immediately — the
silver glow of their ATC badges. Two of them grabbed her arms,
hoisting her off the floor and dragging her down the hallway to the
family room.

She struggled to free herself from their grip.

“Let me go!” she screamed at them.

The agent in front of her spun around and slapped
her across the face.

“Shut up!” he screamed.

Paivi’s eyes welled up with tears and her face
stung. She could still feel his hand on her cheek, even though it
was no longer there. She could taste blood in her mouth. She
squeezed her eyes shut, willing the tears away. She didn’t want to
give the beast the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

In the family room, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were on
their knees, their faces pushed into the ground by the ATC agents
who were putting them in handcuffs. Two more agents had the muzzles
of very large guns pointed and the backs of their heads. It
appeared there were about ten agents in all — two were holding
Torsten in a corner, his face twisted in rage. Two other agents
walked around the room, one smashed a crystal vase, throwing it
into the fireplace, while his partner chuckled.

“Must be nice to have so many fancy things. I am
sure they were all illegally obtained, however, so they’ll all have
to be confiscated,” he ran his fingers across the top of the
television, “ATC orders.”

Paivi wasn’t even listening. She could have cared
less about anything in that house. The only thing that mattered was
her parents, and making it out of there in one piece.

“Check the badges, make sure we’ve got the right
ones,” one of the ATC agents ordered. The men were all quite large
— they could have been the defensive line on a pro-football
team.

Paivi was shaking, too scared to move.

“The badge numbers are correct.”

The ringleader pulled a small black notebook from
his breast pocket and flipped it open.

“John Anderson?”

Mr. Anderson didn’t answer.

The man with the notebook kicked Mr. Anderson in the
ribs. He cried out in pain but didn’t move.

“Please, stop!” Mrs. Anderson cried hysterically,
trying to rise from the floor.

The agent backhanded Mrs. Anderson across the face.
She lost her balance and tipped over.

Paivi seethed with anger. She could feel it coursing
through her veins and bit her tongue to try and take her mind off
it. But she knew if she said or did anything it would only get
worse. “Are you John Anderson?”

Mr. Anderson nodded and whispered, “Yes.”

“And you are Maria Anderson?”

Mrs. Anderson was back on her knees.

“Yes.”

“I am here to notify you that Mr. John Anderson, EOS
number 110838 and Mrs. Maria Anderson, EOS number 110837 are under
arrest for the death of Mrs. Luisa Brown, of 469 Oak Street, St.
Andrew, Illinois. As an Enemy of the State, you have no right to a
lawyer.” He nodded to the men standing behind Mr. and Mrs.
Anderson. “Take them away.”

“Wait!” Paivi cried out, still struggling against
the iron grip of her captors. “Please, listen! It was me! It’s my
fault Mrs. Brown died! Take me instead!”

“No Paivi,” Mrs. Anderson cried in horror.

The agent with the notebook laughed.

“Nice try, little girl. You aren’t gonna save your
parents,” he snorted. “No one can.”

He waved his hand.

“Let’s go.”

The two agents behind Mr. and Mrs. Anderson grabbed
them by their arms, pulling them to their feet. Mr. and Mrs.
Anderson’s eyes were glazed with defeat. With the muzzle of their
captors’ machine guns in their faces, they accepted the fight was
over. They were marched through the shattered front door and down
the front steps.

Paivi and Torsten were dropped on the floor as the
agents followed the group out into the night. They jumped to their
feet and followed them outside. In front of the house were five
black vans with the white letters ‘ATC’ painted on the side.

Mrs. Anderson collapsed in the yard, sobbing, unable
to move further. The agent that had been holding her arm gave her a
kick in the head. She screamed, and giving way to emotion, she
jumped up and tried to run towards Paivi and Torsten, who were
standing frozen in place on the front steps.

Paivi suddenly sprang to life, leaping off the front
steps and running towards her mother. She reached her just as the
two agents did, grabbing her mother by the arms. Paivi lunged,
grabbing onto her mother, holding on as if her life depended on it.
Rather, her life did depend on it. She couldn’t see life without
her parents.