Cloak (YA Fantasy) (5 page)

“Thank you. I think I can manage now. Wait here, I’ll get you a towel.” She disappeared behind the door.

Wet and shivering, Will stood in the middle of the lobby. Dark rings of moisture formed as his shoes drained onto the rug. He caught his reflection in a large mirror across the room. With his curtain of jet-black hair, gray eyes, and colorless complexion, the image in the glass could have been a black and white photo.

His face and coat were spattered with mud. With gloved knuckles, Will rubbed his red-rimmed eyes. The chase had exhausted him. His knees were rubber. His lungs throbbed. Looking toward the window, he tried not to think about what could have happened if his attackers had caught up with him. He’d been mugged and chased by hallucinations, but at least he was safe.

“Here you go,” a female voice purred, making Will jump.

When he looked back to the reception window, Will’s stomach did a complete flip, and his tongue went dry. An indescribably gorgeous woman stood behind the nurse’s desk, holding out a towel. Without her scarf, she was simply the most goddess-like woman Will had ever seen. Even in a loose-fitting nurse’s smock, she could have given every supermodel an inferiority complex. Large, emerald eyes flecked with gold and surrounded by thick lashes dominated her sculpted face. Her bronzed skin was flawless. It glowed with white highlights that accentuated her exotic features. Below her long, regal nose, full, wide lips curled up slightly at the corners. She had silky, copper hair streaked with black that cascaded down the sides of her neck and over her shoulders.

The woman looked even taller now, her movie-star posture and lean, muscular physique making her larger than life. It was hard to guess her age. She was timeless. When she spoke again, Will noticed a subtle accent he couldn’t place. India, maybe?

“You can take it.” She flashed a sparkling set of teeth and shook the towel she’d been holding out. “I won’t bite.”

Will stammered something unintelligible as he took the towel.

“Thank you again for helping me,” said the nurse with a sultry tone, as she dabbed her neck with a towel. “What is your name?”

Will blushed. “Um…Will.”

“Well, Um Will, do you have a last name?” she teased.

“Will Tuttle.”

“Will? Short for Wilhelm?”

“Yeah.” Will blanched, hearing his real name. “How’d you know?”

“Lucky guess. I’m Kaya.” The nurse smiled. “So, Will-short-for-Wilhelm Tuttle, why were you in such a hurry?”

“Um.” Will thought about how crazy the truth would sound. “The rain. I was just trying to…uh…get to a doctor’s appointment.”

“Oh?” Kaya’s emerald eyes widened. “Nothing serious, I hope.”

“Um, no.” Will shrugged and swallowed. “Just some allergies.”

“What a coincidence. I work for an allergist here. Dr. Noctua. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?”

Will shook his head.

Kaya flipped her copper hair and batted her lashes. “Are you sure? He’s very well known in some circles.”

Will’s mouth went dry. He’d never been flirted with before, but he wasn’t going to complain. “Nope. Sorry, never heard of him.”

The nurse leaned forward. “He’ll be here soon. Maybe you should let him examine you. You know a fall like you took on the sidewalk can produce hidden injuries.”

Will was fine. His wrist was a little sore and his knees were scraped up, but the more time he could hide from whatever or whoever was following him the better. “Yeah. Maybe I should see a doctor.”

“Well, then, let’s take down some information, shall we?”

Will nodded.

Kaya picked up a clipboard. “We’ll need to check with your parents or guardian.”

“Um, my parents are in the Mediterranean. I…uh…take care of myself.” Will tried to speak as confidently as he could. “I’m pretty independent.”

“Yes. I can see that, Wilhelm.”

“Will.” His voice cracked. “Call me Will.”

“Alright,
Will
,” she purred. “I have a few questions for you.”

“Okay.” He stepped closer to the counter.

Kaya gripped a pencil with her long painted nails. “You have allergies?”

Will held back a smile. “Yeah. Some.”

“I see.” Kaya flipped to another page of the clipboard. “And, have you ever had a severe reaction?”

He almost laughed. “A few.”

“Do you take any medication?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Any special needs?”

“A couple.” This was fun.

“Have you ever had any hallucinations, delusions, or visions?”

He tensed. “What?”

“It’s a simple question. Have you ever had unexplained hallucinations?” She studied his reaction.

“No,” Will gulped, trying to shrug. “Nothing like that.”

“I see.” The nurse seemed unconvinced. “I just have one more question for you. Have you seen a giant yak lately?”

“What?”

Kaya’s green eyes glowed against her bronzy skin. “Or maybe a ram? Have you seen anything like that today?”

Something was very wrong. Kaya watched him, still smiling. Only now the smile seemed more dangerous. As she leaned forward, Will glanced down at the nametag pinned to her uniform.
Roxanne.
But she said her name was Kaya. Will’s eyes dropped to the list of doctors on the desk.
Dr. Noctua
wasn’t one of them. He peeked at his watch—6:27 a.m. Kaya had said she was late for work, but the office didn’t open until nine.

“You know what? I just remembered I forgot something,” Will backed away toward the door on the other side of the lobby. “I’ll be right back.” As he turned to grab the door handle, somehow Kaya was already there.

“I’m afraid I’m going to insist that you see the doctor before you leave.” She was blocking the exit, the flirtatious purr gone from her voice. As she crouched in front of the door, something behind the nurse moved.

Will’s eyes widened in disbelief. From Kaya’s back curled a long striped tail, flicking at the tip.

Kaya followed his gaze to her tail. Instantly, her green eyes flared and her pupils contracted, forming vertical slivers in the center of each iris.

Will recoiled, stumbling backwards across the room.

Kaya lunged, extending five painted claws, and caught him by the shoulder. “Who are you, and who do you work for?” she growled, her face inches from his. Up close, Will could see the highlights on Kaya’s face were actually white stripes of fur that ran around the edges of her cheeks and up to pointed feline ears that poked up through her hair. She snarled, flashing two sharp canine teeth. Kaya was a
cat?

“Tell me who trained you, Spy!” Kaya tightened her grip until her claws broke skin.

Will tried to yell for help but nothing came out. He tried to inhale—nothing. His throat was closed. Staring into the cat woman’s face, he wheezed pathetically, gasping for air.

After a moment, Kaya’s expression changed from rage to confusion, and then to concern. Will felt the cement filling his head. Kaya said something, but the thundering pulse buzzing in his ears drowned out her words. He reached for his backpack, a syringe. Then he remembered—stolen.

Little lights popped in front of Will’s eyes as he struggled for oxygen. Kaya laid him on the floor. She turned and leaped to the reception window, yelling something incomprehensible.

His skin tingled.

Kaya was back.

Will tried to move away. His body wouldn’t respond.

The cat woman motioned for someone else to come closer.

The first thing Will saw were two giant, yellow eyes with pupils like deep pools of ink. As the face came closer, a new explosion of horror smothered him. Blackness crept around the corners of his vision, then closed in, blocking out the room, the lights and Kaya, until all Will could see was the approaching face of an enormous gray owl. Will felt a mass of thick feathers wrap around his neck. The owl leaned closer and opened its beak. Darkness gathered around the huge yellow eyes.

Will’s pulse thundered and everything went black.

6

An Interrupted Meal

A
bitter wind stirred the leaves across Central Park’s Sheep Meadow, barely visible in the struggling moonlight. Against the skeletal trees a huge cloaked figure crept, moving smoothly through the darkness. His fluid motion halted for a moment, every muscle on a spring. He leapt, swiping the ground twice. Two plump rats wriggled from the ends of his claws before he gulped them down. He was still hungry.

Placing the tip of his nose to the ground, he inhaled deeply, searching for his next course. The chirping phone made him flinch and lose a fresh possum trail. A deep rumble of rage escaped his chest. He hated taking calls in the middle of a meal.

“What?” he growled.

“I have a new assignment for you,” a voice hissed through the phone.

“I thought New Jersey was the last,” grumbled the hunter as he followed a strong scent of rat through the brush.

“Plans change. This job is different from the others. More challenging.”

“I like a challenge.”

“I know. That’s why I chose you.”

“What do I have to do?” The rat’s trail got warmer, and the hunter sped up.

“I want you to bring me a boy.”

“A boy?” He thrust his hand into a rotted log and impaled another juicy rat on a single claw. “You said it was a challenge?”

“Oh, it will be. I promise. This one’s special.” The voice related the details as the hunter chewed.

“And one last thing. I want the boy alive.”

The hunter slurped down the last bit of tail. “What’s the fun in that?”

“Just control yourself. No more unscheduled fires,” the voice seethed. “If you succeed, your fee will be doubled, but if you fail me…”

“I never fail,” the hunter growled through sharp teeth, his milky white eyes flaring.

“Good. Do not let this be the first time.” The line went dead.

A sneer slid across the hunter’s face. He spat a tuft of rat fur on the ground and turned his ghastly eyes toward the lights of the city rising above the leafless trees.

Just a helpless boy.

The thought made his mouth water.

The hunt was on.

7

Answers

S
omewhere in the blackness an owl screeched. It was a high, haunting sound that sent goose bumps racing up Will’s spine. Will sensed he was in a vast space, maybe underground. The air was heavy and wet. Panic set in.

The owl screamed closer this time.

Something stirred to Will’s right, movement in the blackness. He heard breathing.

The owl screeched again, just above Will’s head. He couldn’t move. Fear had disconnected his body from his mind.

Someone growled his name.

The owl shrieked once more, but the sound melted into a high-pitched beep.

A voice called to him. This time he opened his eyes. The darkness disappeared and blurry shapes came into focus.

The heart monitor beeped again.

“Will? Can you hear me?”

“Mom?” Will’s voice sounded hoarse and scratchy. He tried to sit up, but the tubes and IVs held him to the bed.

“Where am I?”

“Mt. Sinai hospital. You’ve been unconscious for twenty-four hours.”

Will looked around. The lights were dim, but he recognized the bubble identical to the one at home. Outside its plastic, the familiar hallways of Mt. Sinai’s Tuttle Wing were empty except for the occasional nurse. He turned to find his mother, but no one was there. A speakerphone wrapped in plastic sat on the nightstand.

“Mom, where are you?”

“Your father and I are in the Persian Gulf.”

“Hey, Son, feel better soon,” called Mr. Tuttle in the background.

“We would have come, but there was just no way. You understand?”

“Yeah.” Will was used to speaking to his parents halfway around the world.

“Go…od. The connection… bad. I need to tell you something… We fired Nurse Grundel yesterday. We got an anonymous call… she was embezzling money.”

“Grundel is gone?” Will almost jumped out of bed.

“Yes. But don’t worry… We’ve made other plans.”

“What kind of plans?”

“Your… new doctor will ex…plain.”