Steeling herself, Jade moved forward at an even pace, putting one foot in front of the other. Looking around the bend, she watched the small eye floater expand and morph into a detached shadow of a man. Her chest rose and fell as the shadow passed into an empty office.
Jade felt frozen to the spot. If she went inside the office, there was no turning back. She still had time to run or hide. She weighed her options. Taking one deep breath, she slipped inside the office. What did she have to lose? She had already hit rock bottom.
A young man lounged in a dark leather office chair with his ratty sneakers resting on the desk. He ran his fingers through thick brown hair before lacing them behind his head, revealing muscular arms inked with a purple flower wilting under the weight of a silvery substance. He gave Jade a cocky grin. “Sounds like you're having a bad day,” he said.
“Who are you?” Jade braced herself in the doorway. Was she staring at the manifestation of the shadow? Was this smug, handsome man one of the monsters congregating in Department L?
“Who are you?” he countered.
“I asked you first.”
The young man gave a humorless laugh. “My name is Arsenic, but my friends call me Nic.” Nic pulled his feet off the desk, and the sudden motion made Jade jump. “And you are?”
His eyes were so blue she felt like they lit up the room. “Jade.”
Nic rose from the chair, causing Jade's back to stiffen. Nic smiled, like Jade's discomfort was entertaining. “Well, Jade. You followed me into this abandoned office. What now?”
Nic rounded the corner of the desk that served as a barrier between them and perched on the edge. Jade had one more opportunity to run, but she stayed put. “You don't work here.” She felt embarrassed by the crack in her voice.
Nic’s colorful tattoos were a stark contrast to his white T-shirt and jeans. He shook his head. “No.”
Jade cleared her throat. “Why are you here?”
Nic shrugged his shoulders. “Waiting for a friend.”
“In Department L?”
Nic looked dumbfounded. “If that’s what you call that dump in the back. Yes, it’s a secret crossing point,” he said. Jade stared at him.
Nic’s smug grin disappeared. “What did you really want to ask?”
She swallowed hard as Nic rose to his feet and took a step toward her. If she wanted answers, she had to ask the questions. “Are you the shadow that I followed in here?”
Nic barely moved, considering her question carefully. It was in his best interest to lie, but he decided not to. “Yes.”
Jade’s heart pounded in her chest. “You're not from here?”
“No, and neither are you.”
Jade looked shocked for a moment, then to Nic's surprise, she grabbed his wrist and said, “Come with me.”
She tugged Nic’s arm. He wasn’t sure why he went with her. Maybe it was because she was pretty, and he had a soft spot for pretty things. She didn’t look like the girls from the Isle of the Lost. When people were nourished and cared for, it was reflected in their appearance. That’s what he learned when he crossed to the Land of the Free.
Perhaps he went with her out of curiosity, but he knew that wasn’t the only reason. If he was being honest, he was bored. He had spent the last year keeping a low profile, trying not to raise alarms with the PMI. He had come to the Land of the Free for a better life and forgotten how to live. Jade provided an opportunity to do something different, and he was going to take it.
Jade dragged him to her car and told him to get in. She was acting on adrenaline. She had no idea if this guy was dangerous. All she knew was that he had answers.
Nic lowered himself into the car and glanced at Jade. He had a gleam in his eye. “I like a girl with a sense of adventure. Where are we going, Blondie?”
Jade threw the car into reverse and backed out of the spot. Without answering Nic, she sped out of the parking lot. Once she was on highway, she asked, “How do you know I'm not from here?”
She didn't look at Nic. She kept her eyes on the road, but her foot pressed harder on the gas. As the car increased speed, Nic's smile got wider.
He shrugged his shoulders. “I can just tell.”
“That's not an answer.” Jade felt desperate and the increased speed was showing it.
Nic laughed. “It’s only a hunch. Most people from here block out the things that are not easily explainable. You didn't.”
Jade was satisfied with that answer. “If you aren't from here, where are you from?”
Nic debated giving her another flippant answer, but her sanity seemed to be hinging on his answers, and he wanted to survive the car ride. “It's a parallel universe on top of this one called the Isle of the Lost.”
“You float between universes?” Jade asked.
“You make it sound like a walk in the park. It’s more dangerous than that. Last year, I shadow traveled through tears in the barrier without getting caught by the PMI authorities.”
“PMI?”
“Parallel Military Intelligence.”
Jade whipped the car around a corner in a suburb with manicured houses. Nic threw his hands against the dashboard to stop himself from sliding out of his seat. She slammed on the brakes in front of a tidy house and ordered him to, “Get out.”
Nic laughed at her demand. He liked a girl with spice. She was halfway to the front door when he stepped out of the car. He figured he had already come this far. Why shouldn’t he see where she was taking him?
“Mom!” Jade shouted as she stepped into the foyer. “Mom, come here!” Nic’s eyebrows rose. This was an interesting turn of events.
“For heaven's sake, why are you shouting?” Jade's mother asked as she entered the foyer from the kitchen. Her eyes went wide when she saw the tattooed man that Jade had brought in.
Jade felt a rush of confirmation when she saw her mother's reaction. “This man's name is Arsenic.” Her mother's face went white as she watched the man with the odd name stand in her foyer. “He says I'm from the Isle of the Lost.”
Jade's mother's head snapped to Jade's. “Is it true?” Jade asked.
The color came back to Jade's mother's face but this time it was a deep purple as she pointed at Nic. “Get out!”
Nic folded his arms across his chest with a bemused look on his face.
“Is this the secret you have been keeping from me? All these years of feeling different, and it’s because I don't belong here?”
“Get out, Rogue!” her mother shouted again, stepping closer to Nic. She looked furious and panicked at the same time.
Her pointer finger jabbed him in the chest, but he glowered back. In a low voice that could cut through ice he said to Ms. Miller, “You’re a Rogue, just like me.”
After a flight that felt like a lifetime, Zander walked into his parent’s house and ran upstairs to his bedroom without saying hello to anyone. He threw his bag in the corner and dropped onto his bed. His head hung low, and he wrapped his arms around the back of his neck.
He was miserable and in shock. Jade said their relationship was over. How was that possible? The last year had been one of the best of his life. What could have gone wrong?
Had he worn rose-colored glasses? He felt the push and pull of their relationship was even keeled. They were meant for each other. Maybe calling them soul mates went too far, but he believed every pot had its cover, and Jade was his match.
He thought back to her last visit a month ago. They were lying naked on his twin bed in his cramped studio apartment. The sunlight came through the half-closed blinds in stripes, crossing over Jade’s bare back and causing strands of her hair to shine. She was asleep with her head resting on his chest.
He took a deep breath in and inhaled the clean lemony scent of her. He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair, brushing his fingers against her smooth skin as he trailed them down her arm.
Jade let out a guttural sound of pleasure. She lifted her head and tipped up her chin so that her lips m
et Zander’s.
“Good morning,” he said, smiling at the perfection of the moment.
“Yes, it is,” she replied and re-positioned herself in the crook of his arm. She wrapped one leg around his. “Can we stay here forever?”
Zander chuckled and wrapped an arm around her tiny waist. “Sure.”
“No, I mean it. Can I stay here with you?”
Jade craned her neck to look up at Zander. He raised one eyebrow. “You don’t mean that,” he said.
“Why not? I love being with you in this pocket-size apartment.” Her smile was gone, and she looked serious. Zander realized she really meant it.
“What about your job and our families?”
Jade shrugged. “I can get a new job.”
“We have a connection to Woodpine. Wouldn’t you miss your brother and local spots like Lorenzo’s Pizzeria?”
Jade snuggled her head against his neck. “I guess.”
Zander relaxed his cheek against the top of her head. “If you wait a few months, I’ll be home in Woodpine. Then, we can find another pocket-sized apartment to live in. Doesn’t that sound better?”
Zander thought back on the day and could have kicked himself. Why didn’t he give her what she wanted? Isn’t that what he wanted, too—to be anywhere with her? He felt different when he was around her. He felt whole and happy.
Instead, he had talked through it with her, coming up with positives and negatives for the decision. He thought they decided she should wait in Woodpine for him. Hadn’t she agreed? Or had he pushed her away?
He knew her relationship with her mother was rough, but he could solve it once he moved home. He would be the buffer between her and everything that pained her. He wanted to do that. All she had to do was wait for him. Why couldn't she do that?
There was a knock at his door. Rayley and Vicki opened the door a crack and found Zander folded into a ball on the end of his bed. “Zander? Is everything all right?” Rayley asked.
“She broke up with me,” Zander said. His voice hitched.
Vicki's hand flew up to her mouth in surprise. Rayley's heart broke for her brother. She squatted in front of him. “I'm sorry, Z. Did she say why?”
“She said she has things she needs to figure out.”
Rayley patted Zander's knee. She didn't know how to comfort him. Jade was his dream girl. She was perfection in his eyes. They seemed happy. Why did she end it?
“Forget her! Let's have our own Thanksgiving Eve party right here tonight,” Vicki suggested.
Zander lifted his head. His eyes were teary and bloodshot. “No, I have to see Jade. We have to go to McCallister's so I can speak to her. Maybe I can fix things.” He swung his feet to the floor and stood up. Rayley and Vicki exchanged a look, but said nothing.
Marcus pulled into the driveway beside Jade’s car. He was relieved to see that she was home. After his conversation with Bobby last Thanksgiving Eve, Bobby hadn’t stopped partying. Something about Thanksgiving Eve brought Bobby to his breaking point, and Marcus needed Jade’s immediate help to keep him in check.
Marcus had tried many times to talk sense into his cousin. He tried to convince him that they could face the strange occurrences together, but Bobby had dug in his heels. Bobby had his own method, and the best Marcus could do was tag along as chaperone.
Marcus wasn’t sure if Jade also saw the shadows. Once he saw how happy she was with Zander, he decided not to mention it. If she needed help, he was nearby. He had learned the importance of family and would never put space between them again.
He jumped out of the car and strode in the front door at the tail end of Jade's argument with her mother. He took note of the strange tattooed man, but chose to ignore him. There were more pressing issues at hand.
“Jade, you need to come with me,” he said.
Jade gave her mother one last withering look before she turned to her cousin. Panic stricken, Marcus’s lips were firmly pressed together. Only Bobby could cause the anguished look on Marcus’s face. Jade was torn between wanting to force her mother to admit the whole truth and going with her cousin.
Jade turned to her mother. “This is not over.”
Once the door was closed, Marcus said, “It's Bobby. He's off the rails. We need to go to McCallister's.”
“I’ll drive,” Jade said. “Let's go.”
Nic thought the day was getting more interesting by the minute. He was letting Blondie drag him around, which was not his usual personality. However, this was the most exciting his life had been since he traveled from the Isle of the Lost.
“Who's Bobby?” Nic asked as he closed the door to the passenger side.
“My brother.”
Nic didn't ask any other questions. He had known his fair share of people in trouble on the other side, including himself. That was why he joined the gang, Mercury.
“How come no one here talks about the Isle of the Lost?” Jade asked. Her driving was calmer. Either the adrenaline rush of calling out her mother's lies was over or the need to be focused for her brother was taking over.
“The Isle of the Lost?” Marcus asked.
“It’s a parallel universe on top of the one we live in.” Jade voice was to the point. “People travel as shadows or floaters between the two.”
“You see them, too?” Marcus asked.
“Everyone sees them,” Nic cut in. “Most people choose not to recognize them for what they are. They think the detached shadows, black floaters, and voices are a figment of their imagination.”
“I’ve known they were something strange for as long as I can remember.” Jade needed Marcus to keep up. She was finally learning about the secrets her mother kept. “Why is it a secret?”
Nic shrugged. “Scientists discovered the parallel universe over a hundred years ago. They used it as a prison for criminals. I doubt the United States government wants anyone to know about it.”
“How did they transport the criminals to the Isle of the Lost?
“Those in government at the time forced them to drink a cocktail of quicksilver and foxglove. It changed the makeup of their DNA, enabling them to travel as a shadow.”
Jade gasped. It was just like the nursery rhyme her mother sang to her when she was a child. “Why did my mother call you a Rogue?”
“The descendants of these so-called criminals from the Isle of the Lost are known as Rogues. I never had the pleasure of drinking the cocktail of poison, but their DNA is replicated in my genes. It’s in yours, too.”
Jade navigated the car into McCallister's parking lot. She pulled into a spot, took off her seatbelt and turned to Nic. “Why are there more shadows around Thanksgiving?”
Marcus was out the door, urging them to hurry up. He would need to digest this information later. Right now, his cousin needed him. He headed into McCallister’s.
“On the other side, Rogues call it All Shadows Eve. The government on both sides is distracted enough for people to escape one realm and slip into the other.”
Jade's eyebrows knit together. “You were waiting for someone to shadow travel to this world.”
Nic didn't confirm or deny her statement. He barely knew her. How did he know if he could trust her?
Jade set aside her jumbled thoughts and questions, and got out of her car. Bobby needed help.
Zander's body was tense. His fingers tapped against the bar, and his eyes were glued to McCallister’s front door. Each time it opened, Zander's feet pressed to the floor, ready to launch him forward.
Rayley and Vicki were sitting on the stools next to him. They huddled together, feeling Zander’s anxiety.
“Do you think she'll come tonight?” Rayley whispered.
“Yes, she’ll be here. Her brother is spiraling with the burnouts in the corner.” Vicki nodded her chin in the direction of Bobby. He had a sheen of sweat on his brow. Vicki was no longer worried to be in his presence. He probably didn’t realize she was there. “Jade's his protector. She wouldn't let anything happen to him.”
Zander had noticed Bobby, too. He fought the urge to check on him. He knew Jade would have been comforted by the fact that someone was looking out for her brother, but talking to Jade was his priority. He would keep an eye on Bobby from a distance.
The door opened, and Marcus stepped inside. Zander stood up, preparing to head toward the door. He assumed Jade wasn't far behind her cousin. Marcus caught Zander's eye and nodded his head once. It was a grim hello, and it made Zander's stomach flip. Was Marcus acting cold because he was worried about Bobby or had he heard about the break up?
Marcus scanned the bar for Bobby. He found him stumbling in the back corner. He had lost weight in the last few months, likely from the increased drug use. His face looked sunken and sallow. He needed help, but he wouldn’t listen to anyone.
Zander watched Marcus make his way to Bobby and then snapped his head back to the door as it opened once more. Jade entered the bar. She ran her fingers roughly through her hair as she searched the bar's occupants for her brother.
Nic slipped into McCallister’s beside Jade. Despite the bar’s heat, he shoved his hands in his pockets. He was never comfortable in public places in the Land of the Free. He was a fugitive, and he felt exposed.
Trip, McCallister’s bartender, glared at the newcomer. He recognized the purple and silver tattoo that climbed his neck and curved into his hairline. Members of Mercury were bad news for Woodpine. Most of them were from Zone Concrete, a large city with overcrowded tenements.
In Zone Concrete, Mercury ruled over the Rogues with an iron fist. Life was difficult, but Mercury got what they wanted through violence and bribes to the PMI. Few Rogues wanted to quit Zone Concrete. Living in the Land of the Free meant they were a fugitive from the PMI and defector from Mercury. Things on the other side must have deteriorated if members were leaving.
Nic caught the bartender’s scowl and brushed it aside. The guy was just another Rogue, not the PMI. Deciding not to engage, Nic forced himself to look away. He should have been welcomed just like everyone else.
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