In the Shadows (6 page)

              “No, you know what? You should come over. If she’d just spend some time with you, I bet she wouldn’t be able to resist your charms.”

              “I don’t know,” he says reluctantly before smiling slyly. “I mean, obviously I could put on the charm if I wanted to but I’m not sure you could handle the competition when your mother falls in love with me.”

              “Ew.”

              “Come on, Lark, you know it’s true,” he winks.

              “Mia, clinics start in ten minutes,” Adele reminds me. “We better get there if we're going to keep an eye on Hannah.”

              “Oh gosh, okay.” I return my attention to my cocky boyfriend. “I have to get to clinics. I’ll see you later. That is if you can fit your oversized head through the front door.”

              “Lucky for me, if that happened to become an issue I could just transport myself out there.”

              “Show-off.”

              “I won't be gone long, okay?” he says seriously.

              “Okay.”

              “Don't let my girl out of your sight, Adele.”

              “Naturally.” Adele smiles sweetly and she looks so delicate that it’s hard to imagine someone so small being powerful enough to protect anyone.

              I kiss his cheek as I tell him good-bye.

              “So are you just going to watch from the sidelines?” I ask Adele as we walk towards the gym.

              “I don’t know. I think I’ll give it a go and see what this whole cheerleading thing is all about.”

              “You’re going to try to learn the material?” The thought of Adele as a cheerleader makes me laugh even though I was on the verge of tears just moments ago.

              “Think I have what it takes?” she teases, as she links her arms with mine and it reminds me of Hannah.

              “You’d probably be better than me to tell the truth.”

              “How did you end up on the cheerleading squad anyway?”

              “I was sorta recruited I guess. The varsity coach, Mrs. Dawson, was my freshman Botany teacher. She told me that I would be the perfect size for a flyer and asked me to try out that spring. I figured it’d look good on my college applications, you know extracurricular activities and all. And it turned out that she was right, I’m kind of a natural flyer. I was the only sophomore on the varsity squad, so I technically have the most experience which had a lot to do with the decision to make me captain this year,” I explain to Adele as we walk to the gym.

              It’s kind of funny that the whole reason I became a cheerleader was because I thought it would help me get into college, and now I’m thinking about not even going. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that with everything else going on in my life, it seems that a higher education is going to have to take a backseat.

Chapter Seven

             
C
linics went about as good as can be expected considering my best friend is still not talking to me. But having Adele there made it a little more bearable. My suspicions were correct and she really is better than me. The girl was born to be a cheerleader. It seems kind of sad that she’ll never get to be one. She seemed to really like it. I’m happy that she is able to experience this, but at the same time a selfish part of me is a little jealous. Is there anything this girl can’t do?

              Most of the other girls who are actually trying out know the material pretty well already and we still have Friday’s clinic to review everything. It’s going to be more difficult than I thought to single out the best of the bunch on Saturday so I’m glad I don’t have to be a judge. I just have to show up and support all the new girls.

              It’s still light out when clinics are over. That’s probably one of the best things about summer approaching—the longer days. The parking lot is pretty deserted as we make our way to my old blue car.

              “Okay, our plan is just to follow her in my car?” I ask incredulously. “Don't you think she'll notice it?”

              “Of course not,”Adele says.

              “What are we doing then?”

              “Acting naturally. Just follow my lead.”

              The weather’s perfect, not too hot yet but not chilly either which is why it surprises me when goosebumps appear on my arms and a shiver runs down my spine. I stop in my tracks at the same time Adele reaches out and shoves me behind her delicate little frame.

              Ethan steps out from behind one of the trees lining the east side of the parking lot and leans casually against the trunk. He’s wearing black skinny jeans and a black t-shirt with a giant yellow smiley face with a bullet hole through the forehead.               His lanky frame is hardly intimidating, but it’s not exactly comforting to be in this practically empty parking lot with him because I’m quite certain he isn’t alone.  

              “You’re kind of small for a bodyguard,” he sneers. “Where’s Pretty Boy and the Traitor?”

              “What do you want Ethan?” Adele asks, sounding irritated, still standing between me and him. I feel the air pressure shift and I know that Adele is preparing for an attack.

              “Her obviously. Dugan wants her,” he answers her before looking over her to me. “If you come willingly, nobody else will be hurt. But if you refuse, things are just going to get worse.”

              “What does he still want with me? He knows I don’t know how to break the curse. And even if I did, I’d never do something like that.”

              Ethan shrugs and I see his trademark cloud of dandruff float from his shoulders. “You’ve been warned. If you don’t come with me, everything that happens from here on out is entirely your fault and trust me, it’s nothing compared to what has already been happening.”

              “What are you talking about?”

              “I think you know exactly what I mean.” He says.

              “What do you want with Hannah?” I demand.

              “Oh, I have big plans for Hannah,” he sneers, before adding, “Speaking of which.”

              He motions behind us and when I look back to see what he is looking at, I find Hannah approaching, a hopeful expression on her face.

              “Hi,” she says uncharacteristically nervous. “You said you had a message for me? From Seth?”

              I can tell she is purposefully not looking at me and it kills me because she has no idea what she's getting into.

              “Hannah,” I say trying to force her to acknowledge me. “You can't trust him. He isn't who you think he is,” I explain lamely. But what can I tell her? She doesn't have any clue about Dark Elves. She doesn't remember that night Ethan attacked us outside the movie theater and if I tried explaining that, she wouldn't believe me anyway. She'd just think I was crazy.

              “Seth trusts him so that's good enough for me.”

              “He's lying!”

              “Why should I believe you?” She spits out the words.

              “Because I'm your best friend--”

              “Yeah, well, you're never around anymore, are you? Some best friend,” she scoffs before saying to Ethan, “Come on, let's go.”

              “Hannah!” I try to stop her but she doesn't even turn around  but Ethan does, he turns around and smiles maliciously.

              “Remember what I said, Mia.”

              As soon as Hannah and Ethan are gone, Adele pulls me towards my car.

              “I’ve got to get you home then I’ll head to Álfheimr to fill Alberico in,” she says.

              I nod silently, engrossed in the thoughts swirling around my head like a high-speed tilt-a-whirl. My chest tightens painfully as the pieces are put into place and my worst fear is confirmed.

              “It’ll be okay, Mia.”

              “All those people…Hannah...” The words get choked in my throat.

              “It’s not your fault. Dugan and the Dökkálfar are evil beings. They’ve been pulling crap like this for hundreds of years.”

              “Yeah, but if I would just go with them—”

              “And what? Break the curse? What good would that do? They would only get worse because then they wouldn’t have to rely on their human spies to do their dirty work. They’d have free-range of the world. Trust me, we don’t want that.”

“I know, but—”

              “Mia, there isn’t anything you can do right now.  Let’s just get you home, okay?”

              Adele rides home with me and once she’s confirmed that Grey’s already stationed nearby she fills him in before transporting to Álfheimr. I barely acknowledge Grey’s worried expression before entering my house in a zombie-like state, hating how completely helpless I feel right now.

              Mom isn’t home yet so I just drag myself up the stairs. Once in my room I collapse on my lumpy twin bed wishing, not for the first time, that I wasn’t a Half-blood elf princess—and that the Dark Elves didn’t want me, that there wasn’t a prophecy or a curse or any of it. All I want to do is go back to being a perfectly ordinary teenage girl whose only worry is a pimple popping up the day before prom.

              A little while later I’m awoken by a loud squeal and realize that Mom and Maddie must be home now. I can’t believe I fell asleep but decide that I should definitely take naps more often. I don’t know why Maddie fights hers all the time.

              I hear the TV on in the living room so I head there first to talk to Mom about Jacoby coming over for dinner and to see my baby sister. Mom’s folding laundry while Maddie plays with her My Little Ponies. Her long golden curls now fall to her shoulders and she keeps pushing them out of her face while she plays.

              “Hey guys, when did you get home?” I pick up my little sister and ask her even though she can’t really answer me yet. I mean, she can but I usually can’t decipher what she’s saying. There are a few words she says clearly, (Mommy, Daddy, Mimi, No, Mine, and Cookie are her favorites) but for the most part it’s all still mumbo-jumbo to me.

              Mom doesn’t answer me because she is completely focused on the TV so I turn to see what has her so enthralled expecting it to be some lame soap opera or something, but instead I find myself staring at not one but three teenage faces—all missing in the last two weeks. Seth is now joined by two more students, Dylan and Scott.

              What if Hannah is next? How could she trust Ethan over me? What did he tell her to make her believe him?

              “Dylan Kiel was reported missing earlier today when his mom discovered that he wasn’t in his bed this morning and that the window in his room was wide open. Scott Hansen’s mother reported him missing a few hours later when the school called to report his unexcused absence. Jodi Hansen stated that she did not report it earlier because she had assumed he stayed at his father’s the night before. All three teens appear to have disappeared sometime between the hours of 10pm and 6am.” It’s the same female newscaster from before and it’s obvious that the growing number of missing people is taking a toll on her. 

              “They’re saying they don’t suspect foul play as of right now but I can’t imagine that this is some sort of coincidence, can you?” my mom asks, her eyes still glued to the news report.

              No, Mom, it’s not a coincidence, not at all
. But I can’t tell her that so instead I say, “If they have no evidence to make them think otherwise--”

              “I don’t know,” she says more to herself before finally looking at me with pleading eyes, “Lock your window tonight, okay?”

              “Okay, Mom,” I promise uneasily, knowing that this epidemic of missing people is just going to continue to get worse; more lives will be taken and there isn’t anything I can do about it.  I can’t stand to see the faces anymore but as I turn to leave the room I realize it’s after six and that Jacoby thinks he’s coming to dinner tonight so I better give my Mom a head’s up.

              “Hey Mom, is it okay if Jacoby comes for dinner tonight?”

              She purses her lips. “It’s a school night, Mia.”

              “His parents won’t mind.” It’s not technically a lie after all.

              “Fine, but he has to leave by nine.”

              “Thanks, Mom.”

              I head back upstairs and check my phone for any missed calls or messages from Hannah but of course there isn’t anything. How long can she possibly stay mad at me?

              I lay down on my bed and try to wrap my mind around the fact that three people have gone missing in just the last two weeks. And after the confrontation with Ethan and Hannah in the parking lot, I think it’s obvious that the Dark Elves are responsible for this. I can’t understand why they are targeting Manhattan? Unless I’m only noticing it here because I live here? Maybe it’s happening all over, in bigger cities than Manhattan where a few missing teens is nothing new? 

              I open up my laptop and begin a Google search but nothing out of the ordinary seems to be happening anywhere else. So it does seem to be isolated,  which reinforces what Ethan said earlier—this is all because of me.

              I decide it would be in my best interest to shower now because I'm pretty positive I stink from tumbling. Plus, a nice, hot shower always helps me relax and, to be honest, I'm kind of nervous about dinner tonight.

              I hope that my mom finally gives Jacoby a chance...

Chapter Eight

             
I
’m leaning out my bedroom window watching for him like a stalker, but since it’s my house he’s coming to and he does happen to be my boyfriend and not just some random crush, it makes it all seem a little less creepy.

              At least that’s what I tell myself.

              Jacoby arrives at 6 o’clock on the dot wearing a forest green dress shirt complete with matching green and blue striped tie and a silver-wrapped flat square which I assume is some sort of gift. I also assume it’s not for me.  He’s totally trying to suck up and it makes me smile. But then I worry immediately that my mom won’t be very nice to him and it makes me sad. He’s trying so hard to impress her.