Into the Shadows (26 page)

“Ma!” Jessica shouted. “Breakfast is ready!”

They began passing the plates and the pan of eggs
around, filling up their plates. Mrs. Santos joined them at the
table, already dressed for the day.

“So, they told me what happened,” said Jessica, as
she spread jelly on her toast. “I hear you’re leaving today?”

“Yeah, at four, I guess.” Paivi picked up a forkful
of eggs and took a dainty bite.

“I was thinking about it…since you are trying to
travel ‘incognito,’ shall we say, that perhaps we should change
your look.”

“That’s a great idea!” Torsten looked excited.

“What do we need to do?” asked Paivi.

“I’m thinking of giving you both a haircut and a
different color. I’ll run to the store after breakfast. I need a
few supplies.” Jessica took a bite of her toast. “Oh, we should
make a list, too. You will probably need some things for your trip.
I am going to guess you didn’t have time to pack properly.”

“You’re right,” Paivi said thoughtfully. She looked
around the table. She didn’t want to leave. The Santos’ were so
friendly — they made her feel almost normal. She just had to keep
reminding herself that it wasn’t possible. It wasn’t safe.

After Jessica returned from the store with the
necessary supplies, they got right to work. Torsten was up first.
He suggested shaving off his dark, curly hair. Jason grabbed some
clippers and Paivi and Jessica followed them down to the basement,
where the laundry room became a makeshift hair salon. Jason
finished clipping off the giant curls rather quickly. Jessica then
stepped in, applying bleach to what was left of Torsten’s hair,
which wasn’t much. He had to sit and wait for his hair to finish
while they started on Paivi’s new look. Jessica spritzed her hair
with water and began snipping.

Paivi was glad there wasn’t a mirror in the room.
She knew the hair had to go, but she had quite liked her long,
blond hair.

Oh well, she thought, it’s not like I can’t have it
that way again someday.

Snip. Snip. Snip. Locks of blond hair were flying
all over the place. Jason was attempting to keep it under control
with a broom and dustpan, but was quickly losing the battle.

Paivi squeezed her eyes shut. She trusted Jessica
not to make her ugly.

“Okay, done.” Jessica stepped back from her
masterpiece. “Do you want to see?”

“Nope. I want to see the whole package, so show me
after it’s all finished,” Paivi answered.

“Suit yourself!” Jessica began applying the hair
dye. It was thick and cold. She massaged it through Paivi’s hair
like shampoo and piled what was left of her hair on top of her
head. Jessica then led Torsten to the sink where she rinsed the dye
out of his hair. The stubble on his head was light blond, almost
white. He could’ve passed for Christian’s brother.

Torsten ran down to the bathroom to inspect his new
look in the mirror.

“Nice! I look tough!” Torsten stood up straight and
folded his arms over his chest as he entered the laundry room.

“Sure you do!” laughed Jason. “And so does
Beast!”

“Let’s go Paivi, your turn to rinse.” Jessica
dragged her by the arm to the sink. “It’s going to look great!”

Paivi leaned back in the chair, hanging her head
into the laundry sink as Jessica rinsed the dye out. A quick
shampoo and she was done. Jessica roughly dried her head with a
towel and then quickly combed her hair. Out came the blow dryer and
five minutes later, the masterpiece was complete.

Jason and Torsten admired the finished product while
the hairdresser beamed at her handiwork.

“Wow, Jessica, it’s amazing! I didn’t know you were
such a talented hairdresser! Maybe you should think about dropping
out of college and going to beauty school!” Jason said.

“Very funny. I can’t help that I’m multi-talented.
Don’t be jealous!”

“Paivi, you look totally different. It’s pretty
cool!” Torsten added.

“That’s it, I’m going to look!” Paivi jumped out of
her chair and ran down to the bathroom. They were right — it was
amazing. Her hair was cut into a short bob, falling just below her
chin. A sweep of bangs fell across her forehead, nearly covering
her left eye. The newly-dyed black hair accented her coloring,
leaving her face looking like fine porcelain, with the exception of
her battle scars from the previous night. Her eyes sparkled such a
bright green that they looked unnatural. This was definitely not
the old Paivi. No one would recognize her, which was exactly what
she needed. For the first time in awhile, she smiled confidently at
herself in the mirror.

They spent the remainder of the afternoon preparing
to leave. Paivi and Torsten repacked their bags, adding in a few
necessities that Jessica had picked up for them at the store. Mrs.
Santos added a bag full of sandwiches and chips for the ride, as
well as some bottles of water.

Promptly at four, a black SUV pulled up into the
Santos’ driveway. Jason went out to meet Christian, and had him
pull the SUV into the garage. They had decided that it would be too
dangerous to drive to Minnesota with Christian’s original license
plates. The Santos’ had an old set of plates in the garage and Mrs.
Santos felt it was best if they used them instead. Jason switched
them quickly and they joined everyone in the warm kitchen.

Christian stood in the doorway, looking very
uncomfortable. His face was more pale than usual, almost blending
in with his white-blond hair. There were large dark rings under his
eyes — he clearly had a rough night as well. He was fidgety,
continually looking out the back door.

“Alright, we should get going. I’ve got maps in the
car. I don’t want to use any electronics, because everything can be
traced these days. I understand we’re heading north?” Christian
nodded towards Paivi. “I got the message in my Cheerios.”

“Yeah, Duluth. Hope you brought a heavy coat.” Paivi
began to put on her own coat, pulling up the zipper.

“Christian, you do have a license, don’t you?” asked
Mrs. Santos, her brow furrowed.

“Not quite. I was supposed to get it this month, but
because of certain EOS policies, I was no longer allowed to get
it,” Christian answered. “But if it makes you feel better, I was
the best driver in my class.”

“Ma, seriously, his license doesn’t matter anyways,
right now he’s not just driving illegally, he’s pretty much living
illegally. I’m thinking if he gets caught, the ATC won’t be so
concerned with the fact that he’s driving without a license.”

“Did they get your parents too, Christian?” Torsten
asked.

“Yep, they came storming in around nine or so, right
before my parents went to bed. Dragged them out of the house in
their pajamas, wouldn’t even let them get their coat or shoes.”
Christian’s eyes narrowed in anger, his hand gripped the chair in
front of him, knuckles white.

“Oh, you poor kids! I just can’t handle this. These
ATC people are animals! How can they go around treating people like
this! It’s just not right. Are you sure you don’t want us to go
with you? I feel like we’re abandoning you!” Mrs. Santos began to
cry, tears sliding down her cheeks, and dropped into the nearest
chair.

Paivi tried to fight back tears, but lost the
battle. She looked around the room at the people who had showed so
much love for her in such a short amount of time. She sniffed,
wiping her eyes. It was time to go, before it got any more
difficult.

“We should go. Thank you so much for everything. You
really don’t know how much this meant to us,” Paivi said, trying to
get the words out between tears. “We’ll really miss you guys and we
wish it was easier, and that we could just stay.”

Mrs. Santos rose from her chair and walked around
the table, holding first Paivi and then Torsten in a tight hug.

“Please call us if you need anything. And let us
know you are okay, if you can,” said Mrs. Santos between hugs.
Christian even found himself on the receiving end of a hug, which
he awkwardly accepted. Jessica made the rounds next, beginning to
cry as well. Jason shook Torsten and Christian’s hands, and Paivi
and Torsten grabbed their bags as the group moved towards the back
door to head to the car.

“Paivi, hold on a second.” Jason pulled her back as
everyone exited through the door. He gathered her into a big hug,
holding her close. “I just want you to know that I love you, and I
will miss you so much. I, uh, I …”

He broke off, pressing his forehead to hers as tears
sprang from his eyes. She cried harder and threw her arms around
his neck. Seeing him cry made it all the worse. Through the tears,
he pressed his lips to hers, a salty, bittersweet kiss.

“It’s so unfair,” he whispered through his
tears.

“I have to go.” Paivi pulled back from his embrace,
but caught his hand, and led him out the back door. They ran across
the yard to the garage, where Christian and Torsten had already
claimed their spots in the car.

“Hey, who said you get shotgun?” Paivi punched
Torsten in the arm as she climbed in the back seat.

“Ya snooze, ya lose, big sis. I called it, and you
weren’t out here,” Torsten answered smugly.

“Goodbye and be safe!” pleaded Mrs. Santos one last
time before the doors were shut.

The garage door opened and Christian pulled out,
carefully making his way down the driveway. The Santos’ waved a
final farewell.

Christian maneuvered the car out onto the street and
they made their way through St. Andrew as the early winter evening
fell. They occasionally saw an ATC vehicle but they didn’t have
much to worry about — the streets were crowded with rush hour
traffic. After about twenty minutes, they found themselves safely
out of town without any problems and on the open road. They decided
it was best to keep to the local roads, and stay off the
interstate. Christian was concerned that there would be more ATC
agents patrolling on the main roads. This route would take them
longer, but they would come across less traffic and smaller towns,
where the ATC weren’t so concentrated.

They drove all night, passing through one farm town
after the next, stopping at the occasional gas station to fill up
or take a break. As they drove further north, the landscape grew in
around them. Thick forests of birch trees closed in on the road on
each side and it sometimes seemed like they were driving through a
tunnel. Sometime after midnight, Paivi dozed off, the warmth of the
car and the lull of the drive rocking her gently to sleep. She
dreamed of Jason, they were holding hands and sitting close
together on a beach. Palm trees swayed in the breeze. The sun shone
brightly overhead and the sea lapped gently at their feet. She
looked out over the scene in sadness — she knew this must be a
dream, because it was near impossible that it was a vision of the
future.

She awoke, finding herself in the SUV as it bumped
over an uneven road. The sky was still dark, the stars and moon
covered with clouds. There was no sun, no sea, no sand, no Jason.
She sat back in the seat and sighed, looking out at the dark, snow
covered forests that seemed to stretch on to infinity.

In the early light of dawn, Paivi could see the
bridges across Lake Superior that would take them from Wisconsin to
Minnesota. The clouds had cleared and it looked to be a sunny day.
This was quite deceiving, as the air here was far colder than it
had been in St. Andrew. Paivi wished she had a blanket, as the SUV
had become increasingly cold, despite the fact that the heater was
turned all the way up.

Paivi was surprised that she remembered where Tim
and Alissa lived. She had only been to their house once, about two
years ago. Tim was her dad’s cousin, and he and his wife and
daughter, Monika, had come to visit them in St. Andrew many times
throughout her childhood. They wound their way through the hilly
streets. Little San Francisco, as Duluth was sometimes called; it
was not far from the truth. Turning right on Seventh Street,
Christian slowed down.

“I don’t want to just drive up to this house. What
if it’s not safe? I think we should drive past and see what we have
going on here. Maybe we should even park the car one block over and
walk up, just in case we have to run for it,” Christian
suggested.

“That’s fine. There it is. 680 Seventh Street.”
Paivi pointed to a small, white, one-story house to their left.

Christian slowed down, allowing them to have a look.
The house and lawn were covered with a foot of white snow. There
were two trucks in the driveway. Steam billowed from the furnace
vent in the roof. Somebody was living there, at least. As they
passed, they could hardly help but notice as the Christmas lights
in the widows rearranged themselves to read one word.

SAFE

“Whoa, did you see that?” Torsten was bewildered.
“Did those lights seriously just move or am I going crazy?”

“They moved. Remember, it’s like mom and dad said,
special people will sometimes mark their houses, so others like
them will know that they are there. I am guessing they didn’t
generally use the words ‘safe’ before,” Paivi said.

“Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised, right?
In the past two days I’ve seen my sister blow the windows out of
every house in the neighborhood and listened to a necklace that is
sending us messages in some kind of crazy alphabet soup.”

Christian turned right, and pulled a little further
up the street before parking the SUV.

“Let’s just leave our things here for right now. If
we bring bags, it may look suspicious,” Christian suggested.

They opened the doors and were hit with the bitingly
cold air as it slapped them in the face. If Paivi had been cold in
the car, she was freezing to near death now. The snow was deep and
the sidewalks were not plowed, so they chose to walk along the side
of the street. They kept their eyes peeled the entire way. They
hadn’t seen any ATC agents since entering Duluth, but they knew
they had to be here somewhere. Maybe it was just too early and the
ATC knew no one would dare be out at such an hour in the cold.