Awakening (17 page)

T
WENTY MINUTES LATER, WE were a mile from the truck stop, trudging through a field. Ahead was a road that ran alongside the highway.

“You don’t think we did the right thing,” Derek said.

I shrugged.

“I didn’t tie him too tight. He’ll get out in an hour, probably less, and I left his cell phone right there, in case there’s any problem.”

I nodded. We walked another fifty feet.

“What would you have done?” he asked.

“You know my plan. It’s the one you pretended not to hear.”

We reached the roadside before he answered. “Yeah, okay. I heard. But it didn’t look to me like he was going to give you a chance to escape. I knew I could take him down safely, without hurting him, before things got worse. And if I can do that, then that’s the choice I’m going to make. It’s how our dad taught us to handle situations like that.”

I considered it, then nodded. “You’re right.”

He looked surprised.

“I don’t have experience with this stuff, these kinds of decisions,” I said. “With the girl in the alley or the Edison Group, the answer was easy. If someone’s trying to hurt us, we have every right to strike back. It’s just…”

“That guy was trying to help a couple of runaways. He didn’t deserve to end up bound and gagged.”

I nodded.

“Even someone like that is a threat, Chloe. Whether he means to be or not. We had to get away or his ‘help’ would have landed us back with the Edison Group.”

“I know.”

We moved to the side of the road for a passing car, tensing as it went by, making sure the brake lights didn’t flash, the car didn’t slow. It wouldn’t matter if the driver was a psycho trying to abduct us or a grandmother offering us a lift. We had to react the same way. Run. And if we couldn’t run, fight.

The car continued, speed unchecked.

“We can’t trust anyone now,” I murmured, “even the good guys.”

“Yeah. Sucks, doesn’t it?”

It did.

We continued down back roads running roughly parallel to the highway. Judging by how long we’d been in the van, Derek figured we had to be close to the next town with a bus stop, but the truth was that we had no idea. However far it was, we had to walk it—we weren’t about to hitch another ride.

One problem with our quiet country stroll was the dogs. Those tied up launched into a barking frenzy when they caught a whiff of Derek. No one seemed concerned, though—out here, I guess there were so few passersby that dogs did tend to bark at them, and owners ignored it.

However, being in the country also meant that a lot of those dogs
weren’t
chained. More than one came charging down a driveway. Eventually, our reaction became automatic. At the first note of a bark, we’d stop walking. I’d move behind Derek. He’d stand his ground and wait. Once the dog got within eye contact range, it would take one good look at Derek and run, yelping, for safety.

“Do they always back down like that?” I asked as we watched a yellow Lab race back home, tail between its legs.

“Depends on the dog. Big country dogs like these? Yeah. It’s the fancy city ones that give me trouble. Overbred, Dad says. Makes them skittish and screws up their wiring. I had a Chihuahua attack me last year.” He showed me a faint scar on his hand. “Took a good chunk out.”

I sputtered a laugh. “A Chihuahua?”

“Hey, that thing was more vicious than a pit bull. I was at a park with Simon, kicking around a ball. All of a sudden, this little rat dog comes tearing out of nowhere, jumps up, and clamps down on my hand. Wouldn’t let go. I’m shaking it, and the owner’s yelling at me not to hurt little Tito. I finally get the dog off. I’m bleeding all over the place and the guy never even apologizes.”

“He didn’t think it was strange? His dog attacking you like that?”

“Nah. He said the soccer ball must have provoked it, and we needed to be more careful. When strange stuff happens, people come up with their own explanations.”

I told him about the girl in the alley, accusing Tori of tasering her.

“Yeah,” he said. “We have to be careful, but they’ll usually explain it away themselves.”

We moved aside as a pickup passed, the driver lifting a hand in greeting. I waved back, then watched until I was sure he wasn’t going to stop.

“So do all animals react that way to you? I know you said rats steer clear.”

“Most do. They see a human, but they smell something else. It confuses them. Canines are the worst, though.” He paused. “No, cats are the worst. I really don’t like cats.”

I laughed. As the shadows lengthened, Derek moved us across the road to the sunny side.

“I went to the zoo once,” he continued. “Fifth grade field trip. Dad said I couldn’t because of the werewolf thing. I was pissed. Really pissed. Back then, I didn’t freak animals out. I just made them nervous. So I decided Dad was being unfair and went anyway.”

“How?”

“Forged his name and saved my allowance.”

“So what happened?”

“Pretty much what Dad figured. I made the predators nervous and totally freaked out the prey animals. My classmates thought it was cool, though. They got to see an elephant charge.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I felt bad. So I stayed back from the pens after that. They weren’t what I wanted to see anyway.”

“Which was? Wait. The wolves, right?”

He nodded.

“You wanted to see if they’d recognize you as one of them.”

“Nah. Nothing silly like that.” He walked in silence for a moment. “Okay. Exactly like that. I had this…” He struggled for a word.

“Fantasy?”

A glower said that wasn’t the word he’d have chosen. “This
idea
that they’d smell me and…” He shrugged. “I don’t know what. Just that they’d do something. That something cool would happen.”

“Did it?”

“Sure, if you consider it cool to watch a wolf batter itself bloody against the fence.”

“Oh.”

“It was…” His gaze went distant, staring off down the road, expression unreadable. “Bad. I got out of there as fast as I could, but he didn’t stop. The next day a kid at school said they put the wolf to sleep.”

I looked up at Derek.

He continued, gaze still fixed on the road. “I went home and grabbed the paper. The city section was missing. Dad had gotten to it first. He’d figured out what had happened, but he wasn’t going to say anything. He knew I’d been upset about something that night, and I guess he thought that was punishment enough. So I went to the store and bought a paper myself. It was true.”

I nodded, not sure what to say.

“‘Sudden, unprovoked aggression toward humans,’” he recited, as if he’d never forgotten the words. “Wolves don’t normally act like that. All those stories about the big, bad wolf are crap. Yeah, they’re predators, and they’re dangerous. But they don’t want to have anything to do with humans if they can avoid it. The only time they do is if they’re sick, starving, or defending their territory. I was a lone wolf invading a pack’s turf. He was the alpha. It was his duty to protect his pack. And he got killed for it.”

“You didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“That’s no excuse. Dad taught me about wolves. I knew how they behaved. I’d seen it with the other boys, the other subjects…”

“Do you remember them? Simon wasn’t sure you did.”

“Yeah. I do.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he walked, then looked at me. “You getting tired?”

“A little.”

“It shouldn’t be far now. So, uh…” He seemed to be searching for something to say. I hoped it was more about himself or about the other werewolves, but when he finally spoke, he said, “That special school you go to. You take theater?”

“I’m in the theater arts stream. We still take all the regular classes, like math, English, science….”

And so we shifted to simpler subjects for the rest of the walk.

W
E REACHED THE NEXT town and found the bus stop—a flower shop, actually, with tickets sold at the till. We tried again for youth prices and, as in Buffalo, got them without question. Figures.

That meant we had extra cash and a little more than two hours before departure. As for what we’d do with that time and money? Our grumbling stomachs answered that question.

It was getting dark now, still early evening though, so no one paid any attention to a couple of teens walking around. We went a few blocks looking for a place that sold hot, cheap food. Derek’s nose led us to a fast-food Chinese restaurant. A popular destination, unfortunately, with a huge line. I saved us a table while he went up to the counter.

The line barely seemed to be moving, and the restaurant was stifling hot. Before long, my eyelids were flagging.

“Tired, dear?”

I straightened to see an elderly woman in a yellow coat standing beside my table. She smiled at me. I returned it.

“Mind if I sit for a moment?” She waved at the empty chair across from me.

My gaze shot to Derek, still five people from the front of the line.

“I’ll leave when your young man comes back,” she said. “It’s terribly busy in here, isn’t it?”

I nodded and waved for her to take the seat. She did.

“I have a great-granddaughter your age,” she said. “About fourteen, I’m guessing.”

“That’s right,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound too nervous. I shouldn’t be answering questions, even incorrectly, but I didn’t know what else to do. I glanced at Derek, hoping for rescue, but he was studying the menu board.

“Ninth grade?”

“Yes.”

“And what’s your favorite subject, dear?”

“Drama.”

She laughed. “I haven’t heard that one. Is it like acting?”

I explained and as we talked, I relaxed. Once we got beyond age and grade, she didn’t ask anything too personal—not even my name. She was just an old lady who wanted to talk, which was nice for a change.

We chatted until Derek was second in line. Then laughter erupted at a table behind me. I turned to see two couples, a year or two older than me. The girls were sneering in disgust. One guy was red-faced with stifled laughter. The other wasn’t bothering to hold his in, laughing so hard he was doubled over.

All four were looking at me.

The entire restaurant was looking at me.

It was like a nightmare where kids are laughing at you, and you keep walking through the halls, not knowing why until you realize you aren’t wearing any pants. I knew I was wearing pants. The only thing I could think of was my black hair. It wasn’t
that
bad, was it?

“Oh, dear,” whispered the old woman.

“Wh-what’s wrong? Wh-what did I do?”

She leaned over, her eyes glistening. Tears? Why would she be—?

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I only…” She gave a sad twist of a smile. “I only wanted to speak to you. You seemed like such a nice girl.”

I caught a glimpse of Derek, out of line now, striding over, glowering at the snickering boys. The woman got to her feet and leaned across the table again.

“It was very nice talking to you, dear.” She put her hand on mine…and it passed through.

I leaped to my feet.

“I’m sorry,” she said again.

The look on her face was so sad that I wanted to say it was okay, it was my fault. But before I could get a word out, she faded away, and then all I could hear was the laughter around me, the mutters of “crazy” and “schizo,” and I stood there, rooted to the floor, until Derek took my arm, his grip so soft I could barely feel it.

“Come on,” he said.

“Yeah,” the laughing guy called. “I think your girlfriend’s day pass has expired.”

Derek slowly raised his head, lip curling in that too-familiar look. I grabbed his arm. He blinked and nodded. As we turned to go, the other guy at the table chimed in.

“Trolling for chicks at the psych ward?” He shook his head. “Now
that’s
desperate.”

As we passed the front window, I swore every eye inside followed us. I caught a few looks: sympathy, pity, distaste, disgust. Derek moved between me and the window, blocking my view as we walked.

“They didn’t need to do that,” he said. “Those kids, sure. They’re idiots. But the grown-ups should know better. What if you
were
mentally ill?”

He led me around to the parking lot, then stopped at the back, under the shadow of the building overhang.

“You’ll never see them again,” he said. “And if they’d treat a real mentally ill person like that, then you shouldn’t care what they think. Bunch of morons.”

I said nothing, just stared out at the parking lot, shivering. He shifted in front of me, trying to block the wind.

“W-we should go,” I said. “You need to eat. I’m sorry.”

“For what? Talking to yourself? So what? People do it all the time. They should have ignored it.”

“Would you?”

“Sure. None of my business. I—”

“—wouldn’t laugh or stare. I know. But you couldn’t ignore it. Maybe you’d pretend not to notice, but you’d still think about it, about the person doing it, what was wrong with her, whether she was going to freak out and pull a gun or…” I wrapped my arms around myself. “I’m babbling. But you know what I mean. I was sitting in a restaurant, carrying on a conversation with someone and I never even guessed she was a ghost.”

“You’ll figure it out.”

“How? They
look
like people. They
sound
like people. Unless they walk through the furniture, there’s no clue. Do I have to stop talking to strangers? Ignore every person who walks up to me?
That’ll
look normal.” I gave my head a sharp shake. “Babbling again. I’m sorry. And I’m sorry you got caught up in that.”

“You think I care?” He put one hand on the wall and leaned down to me. “You’ll work it out. Other necromancers do. You just need to figure out the tricks of the trade.”

“Before I get locked up?”

“Much more of this on-the-run stuff, and you might be going into restaurants, talking to yourself on purpose, trying to get locked up someplace with a bed and a hot shower.”

I managed a smile. “Right now, I’d settle for hot food.”

“How about hot chocolate?”

“What?”

“On the way here I saw one of those fancy coffee places, some Starbucks knockoff. Big armchairs, a fireplace…Didn’t look too busy. This isn’t exactly a five-dollar-coffee town.”

I pictured curling up in a chair, in front of a fire, sipping a huge, steaming hot chocolate. I smiled.

“It’s settled then,” he said. “We’ll get brownies or cookies to eat. A real nutritious dinner. Now I think it was this way…”

We set out.

The coffee shop had been on the street with the bus stop. We tried to get there—and out of the freezing cold—as quickly as possible. After cutting through a couple of parking lots, we saw our next potential shortcut: a playground. When I started to cross the street, Derek stopped me.

“That’s not always the kind of place you want to be at night.”

He was right, of course. It looked innocent enough—a narrow strip of park with a line of swings and slides, a big plastic play center at the end—but between the equipment and the trees were a lot of shadows. After dark, when the kiddies had gone home, it made the perfect place for bigger, more dangerous kids to hang out.

Derek scanned the park as he sampled the breeze.

“Empty,” he said finally. “Let’s go.”

We jogged across the road. Out in the open now, the wind got even worse, swirling around us, bitter cold. The swings twisted and creaked. As we passed, a sudden gust sent one slamming into my shoulder. I stumbled back with a yelp and caught a mouthful of sand, whirling up from the ground. As I sputtered, Derek’s head shot up. I spit out the sand and turned to him. He’d gone still, face lifted.

“What do you smell?” I asked.

“I’m not sure…I thought I—” The wind changed and his nostrils flared. His eyes went wide. “Run!”

He gave me a shove and I broke into a sprint. In the last few days, I’d done this “running from danger” stuff often enough that my brain kicked my legs into high gear automatically, my aching feet forgotten.

Derek stayed behind me, footsteps pounding.

“Chloe!” he yelled as a figure stepped into my path.

Derek grabbed me by my shoulders, my feet flying off the ground before I’d even stopped running. He backed us up against the plastic play set. A man was sauntering our way. Another walked from the other direction. Two escape routes, both blocked. Derek glanced up at the play set, but we were against a solid wall of plastic, a crow’s nest ten feet overhead. There was a fireman’s pole ten feet away, but that wouldn’t take us anywhere useful.

The men looked like they were in their twenties. One was tall and lean with blond hair to his collar. He wore a plaid jacket and boots, and looked like he hadn’t bothered with a razor in days. His companion was shorter and beefier, swarthy with dark hair. He wore a leather jacket and sneakers.

Neither looked like the kind of guy you’d expect to hang out in a park, hassling kids for cigarettes and pocket money. Hanging out at the monster truck races, maybe, hassling girls for their names and phone numbers.

They didn’t seem drunk either. They were walking straight and their eyes looked clear, glittering in the dark like…

I shrank back.

Derek’s hands tightened on my shoulders and he leaned down, whispering, “Werewolves.”