The Doorknob Society (The Doorknob Society Saga) (17 page)

I watched him leave yet remained where I was continuing to sense the other one’s presence. I still couldn’t see him, though I caught Caleb’s movement in the shadows. He walked in circles and I tried my best to imagine what he looked like but nothing came to mind. I drew a complete blank.

Then he stopped much to near to me.

“Whoever you are, she knows you’ve been watching and she will find you.”

I jumped off the bed and nearly cracked my head on the wall in the nurse’s office. I plopped back down a bit dizzy, the voice still echoing in my head. I don’t know how but I knew that voice had been talking to me.

“So finally awake are we?” DI Emory sat across from me on a stool reading the newspaper. He folded it and placed it on the table beside him next to my stack of library books.

“What happened?” I asked rubbing my temples and realizing I had a massive headache.

“‘You battled an older and more experienced student and did quite well I must say.”

“Jessica?”

“Jessica, member in good standing of the Skeleton Key Guild. She passed out fighting you for control of the energy you both exerted. And she was not very happy about it.”

“She passed out too?” I wanted to make sure I heard him right.

“Yes, she did. She also said you picked a fight with her and bad-mouthed the Guild.”

“That’s not true, she started it,” I said hopping off the bed and wishing I hadn’t since it made my head hurt even worse.

“Regardless of who started it, you both had reprimands sent home and have detention.”

“Just great.” I sat back down slowly squeezing my eyes closed, trying to stop the pain.

“Here drink this.”

Emory handed me a soda bottle, I grabbed it and took a generous sip and my head started to feel better.

“It’s the caffeine. It helps after using that much power. Odd though, I’ve never seen someone undeclared attain that level of ability. But we can discuss that another time. Your friends are waiting for you and schools out so you better head home. I’ll see you Monday.”

I’d been so busy I had forgotten it was Friday and for the first time in a few weeks I had the weekend off at the Arrowhead.

Emory got up grabbing his paper and left. I took another swig of the soda and felt better. So I grabbed my books and shoved them in my bag and was happy to see Edgar and Slade waiting outside the nurse’s office for me.

“Are you okay?” Slade wrapped his arm around me and I did my best not to flinch. I still wasn’t comfortable with public displays of affection but I was warming to them from him.

“I’m fine.” I smiled as we walked. “Just some crazy Guilder with a grudge.”

“Did she hear about what you did in class, is that why she attacked you?” Edgar was adjusting his goggles as he asked and I was glad he didn’t get to see the frown the question brought to my face. I had almost forgotten about that damn skeleton key hole.

“I don’t know maybe, it was just luck that’s all. I don’t even know how I did that.”

“Well, it’s the talk of the school. So what happened anyway?” Edgar asked.

Most of the walk home consisted of me recounting what had happened and the two of them listening quietly.

“Jessica who?” Slade asked scratching the back of his neck.

“I don’t know I didn’t catch her last name.”

Slade appeared as if he had something on his mind but before I could ask what we reached my house.

“You should be careful, Chloe, Guilders tend not to forget easily.” Edgar said as we walked up the porch stairs.

“Great, that’s just what I needed to hear.” I rolled my eyes as I opened the door and we all piled into the kitchen. Edgar made a straight line for the coffee maker and Slade opened the fridge and rummaged through our leftover Chinese and pizza.

“Guilders are all bad news,” Slade said between mouthfuls of cold pizza. “Take Nightshade, he’s as dangerous as they come.”

I stopped myself when I realized I was about to say he wasn’t so bad. Why would I defend Nightshade when all he did was cause me grief?

“James isn’t all bad.” Edgar said as he searched for coffee mugs.

“Tell that to his last girlfriend.” Slade huffed.

“Those are just rumors and you know it,” Edgar argued.

“Regardless, I don’t trust him, he’s bad news,” Slade insisted.

Edgar poured coffee into each of our cups. “He’s helped me when I needed it.”

“Probably so he could get something from you.”

“No, because he’s my friend,” Edgar shot at Slade and he stepped back surprised.

“Sorry.” Slade shrugged and quickly focused on eating his pizza.

I was surprised Edgar had been so forceful and I’d never heard him defend Nightshade so vehemently. Maybe there was more to him than I realized.

We took our food and stuff and moved into the living room.

“So how was the HVO?” Edgar asked changing the subject.

“Good, Detective Inspector Emory has me looking into a case for him.”

“Really?” Edgar’s eyes grew big with interest.

He was always looking for information on the other societies; it was something of a hobby for him. I filled him in on the details about the theft and told him I had picked up some books from the library to research the stolen items.

“That’s so cool,” he said as he flipped through one of the books.

“Yup, a bunch of missing old junk is something you would think is cool, Edgar.” Slade slid onto the couch while eating his second slice of pizza and began hunting for the remote. He found it and clicked on the TV flipping through the channels looking for who knows what. “So where’s your dad?”

“On tour as usual.” Though I no longer believed it and I didn’t want to think about it right now. I’d have had enough happen today, I didn’t need to feel more miserable.

I grabbed the last of the pork fried rice and some chopsticks and sat down beside Slade who had settled on some old detective show. Soon the three of us sat engrossed in Magnum PI in all its eighties glory, Tom Selleck running around in Hawaiian shirts and racing in his Ferrari.

The sound of the door opening and slamming closed interrupted the show and I craned my neck to take a peek in the hall to see who had come in. Val—I should have known it.

She entered the room and stood staring at us with her hands on her hips. “And why wasn’t I invited?”

“It’s not a party, Val, we’re just watching TV,” I said.

“Do I at least get coffee?” she said eyeing Edgar.

He stared at Val bewildered and she stared back until he finally said, “What?”

“Just get her a coffee,” Slade said.

Edgar dutifully went to the kitchen to pour her a cup. Val squeezed onto the couch between me and Slade and immediately began peppering him with questions about the show. She didn’t shut up until Edgar returned with her drink and she quietly sipped at the coffee.

I could feel Slade watching me but I ignored him. I certainly didn’t have time to think about him or what might be happening between us.

We sat watching Magnum and joking with each other most of the night. It turned out to be a marathon and I tucked away some old detective tricks for future reference, like the fact that apparently women enjoy fast red cars and mustaches.

Slade was the first to leave. He had to get up early to finish some project he was working on so he excused himself and headed out, giving me a sideways glance as he left and me doing my best to pretend not to notice. Edgar was reading one of my library books when what passed for his watch began chirping (I’m calling it a watch because it’s the closet description I can give to something that is worn on the wrist but appears more like a cross between a computer, a phonograph and a calculator.) and he realized he’d completely forgotten he had to finish some map work before tomorrow.

Val and I sat there watching the show with her asking me questions about the Academy every few minutes and me giving her one or two word answers until she finally gave up.

Val looked at the clock and winced. “I better head home.”

“You can crash on the couch if you want,” I offered.

“You don’t mind?”

“No, with my dad gone I wouldn’t mind the company.”

“Cool, I’ll just call my mom and let her know.”

Val walked out of the room and for the first time I had a chance to think about my day. I thought about the incidents with the doorknob and in the library, plus the time I spent with DI Emory and how my dreams were getting increasingly weird and scary. I even considered that maybe they weren’t just dreams but something else entirely. I wanted to talk with Dad about them and see what he had to say, but he was off doing god knows what.

I dropped my head back on the couch cushion and my eyes wandered falling on the books I had gotten from the library. In all the commotion I had completely forgotten about them, but now... my eyes locked on the book with my father’s name in the title.

Did I have time to take a quick look before Val returned? I snuck a peek and saw Val still on the phone so I grabbed the book and flipped open to the first page.

I read the page quickly and stopped myself from shaking my head. No, that can’t be I thought and I read the page again more slowly to be sure I hadn’t misread it. But there it was in black and white right before my eyes. I tried to keep calm but a million thoughts went racing through my head. How could this be possible and why hadn’t anyone told me? This was all wrong and I had no one I could talk to about it. I could hear Val finishing her conversation and I tried to fight back tears. But it was too much, after everything that happened today. How could this be true and how after everything that had been kept from me no one told me this?

Val walked into the room took one look at me, glanced around as if she must have missed something and then rushed over to me and threw her arms around me. She didn’t talk. She held me and rocked me back and forth kind of like my dad would do to make me feel better. And I actually found myself glad it was Val with me and not someone else. Not someone with abilities who would know just what that page had meant... and what it could mean for me.

Chapter 17

Status: The cold hard annoying truth and some coffee.

The next morning Val didn’t ask me why I’d been upset the night before she just chattered on about school and boys and I half listened. My mind kept drifting back to what I had read last night. I didn’t want to think about it but I couldn’t stop myself. Val finally had to head home and she smiled and gave me a quick hug and told me to call her if I needed her. I was thankful for that and found myself amused by the fact that Val had become such a big part of my life while I had spent the last few years trying to avoid her when on family vacations here in Cape May.

I took a quick shower, put my hair up and decided to go for a walk to clear my head. I shoved the book in my bag and grabbed my jacket and a scarf and headed out. The weather had turned cold in the last few days and it seemed like winter was trying to get an early start this year. I didn’t mind, I had always loved Cape May in the winter. Dad would bring me to beach and we’d have it all to ourselves. We’d walk along collecting shells and we’d enjoy watching the waves crash on the beach.

I found myself wandering around town recalling all those happy times I had spent with my dad. I was angry with him and I had a right to be. He should have told me. He shouldn’t have left me to discover it on my own.

I found myself at the Cape Beanery and went in for a drink. The place was nearly empty and I got a large cup of coffee and a seat by the window. The building was so old that you needed the coffee to keep you warm against the drafts, the reason I decided to keep my jacket on. I loosened my scarf and sipped at my steaming cup of French Vanilla as I glanced out on the quiet street.

It wasn’t long before I slid my hand down on my bag and felt the outline of the book. I didn’t hesitate; I reached in, grabbed it and pulled it out placing it on the table in front of me. The gold lettering of the title mocked me as I read it over and over. I traced it with my fingers and pulled at the edge of the cover with my fingertip. I opened it slowly and turned the pages until I found the one I had read last night. And, of course, I had to read it again.

Elijah Masters was one of the brightest and most promising graduates of the Paladin Academy in the last century. With his respected family name and already vaunted abilities great things were expected of him. Nothing was thought to be out of his reach and perhaps this is where he went wrong. While some still defend him and his actions that lead to his expulsion from the Doorknob Society, I have decided to delve deeper into the man himself.

Though his skill and acumen as a DS member are still highly regarded, I found a man whose questionable decisions dated back many years before the events that led to his disgraceful dismissal. I will detail how his biggest mistake and one which lead directly to his downfall, and was not a surprise to most, was his marriage to Talia Grimm, of the Skeleton Key Guild.

I slammed the cover closed and took a much needed sip of my coffee. Why would anyone write such a thing? As far as I knew students from the societies weren’t forbidden to fraternize. Of course it was obvious that some groups thought themselves better than others, but that was just about the same in any school.

My annoyance grew with my frustrated thoughts. What right did the author have to judge my dad? Or blame my mom? I desperately wanted to read more and yet I was afraid of what I would learn. In the end would I wind up hating my dad or my mom, who I was pretty much disliking since she left us?

The bell over the door of the Beanery rang and I wished people would stay away this morning, especially anyone I knew. I wasn’t in the mood to play nice, which is why my annoyance went up ten degrees when I felt someone standing beside me.

I turned in my seat and rolled my eyes. “What are you doing here, Nightshade?”

He grinned and shook the cup of coffee in his hand.

“Cute, coffee, now leave me alone.” A member of Skeleton Key Guild was the last thing I wanted to deal with right now.