Muse Song, #1

by Sarah Biglow

  I quirked a half smile. "But you're not."

  "No.” The teacher shook his head and motioned for me to move closer. “I understand this is frustrating."

  "Yeah. It is.” Closing the distance between us, I didn’t sit down. Instead, I leaned in and pointed an accusatory finger at him. “You know where she is. Why won't you tell me?"

  "Because there's nothing you can do." Mr. McManus held his hands up.

  I tossed my backpack on the chair and started to pace. "Yes, there is. Please, just tell me where I can find her.” The teacher didn’t respond right away so I tried a different approach. “Do you know what they want with her and the other girls?"

  The teacher glanced at his phone and sighed. "I have a guess about what they are being used for but it’s only a theory. As to where, even if I told you, it wouldn't do any good. It's protected."

  I snorted. "Well, you got in. How protected can it be?"

  Mr. McManus crossed his arms over his chest. "You know what I am. The wards are against humans."

  I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes. "So you're saying I need to turn into an animal so I can get in?"

  "No, Liam. I'm saying you need to leave this to the adults."

  I stopped pacing and faced Mr. McManus. Heat prickled over my scalp. I was getting nowhere. "I don't see you all rushing to save them. From what I heard, Abbie and the other girls don't even know what they are. Is finding out the truth more important than getting them out of that situation?"

  "Of course their safety is important." Mr. McManus vacated his spot on the sofa.

  "I'm going to find them without your help if I have to." Grabbing my backpack I turned to the door. Mr. McManus reached out a hand to stop me. "Liam, are you doing this because you feel responsible?"

  I turned away from the door. "I care about Abbie. I like her more than as a friend and I don't want anything bad to happen to her."

  The teacher pulled his hand away and took a step back. "That doesn't answer my question."

  I shrugged. "You didn't answer mine."

  Mr. McManus exhaled a long breath through his nose. "We think your stepmother is keeping them somewhere in her office.” He held up his hands in a placating gesture. “That's all I know."

  It was a place to start. I forced a smile. "Thanks."

  "See you in class." Mr. McManus waved me toward the door and went back to the couch to retrieve his phone.

  My attention strayed during morning classes while I tried to figure out how to search my stepmother’s office without getting caught. If she saw me there, it would set off red flags and punishment would be swift and harsh. By the time my study period came, I was ready to jump out of my skin. Sequestering myself in the computer lab, I managed to log into my father’s Google calendar after three failed attempts. Luckily, my father and stepmother shared an account. She had three appointments that ended by 5 o’clock. If I showed up while she was with a client, I could sneak around unnoticed. I need to leave school right at the final bell to make sure I got in and out while she was occupied.

  Sprinting out of the library with the final bell, I bypassed my locker and slammed through the outer doors to the bike rack. The anticipation of making real progress spurred me on at a breakneck pace. I stuck to the main roads to get to the office building. I’d only been there a handful of times and wanted to be sure I didn't miss it and waste precious time getting lost. Spotting my stepmother’s car in the lot, I skidded to a halt and sucked in a few breaths to calm my hammering heart. I paused outside the office bearing her name and listened. All seemed quiet inside but that meant very little. I eased open the door and stepped into the small waiting area. It was empty except for the front desk receptionist. She looked up. "Are you here for an appointment?"

  I stopped with my hand still on the doorknob. I hadn’t thought about the receptionist. She stared at me with one eyebrow raised and when she didn’t get an immediate answer she frowned.

  I closed the door and cleared my throat. “No. Um, I’m Dr. Phillips’s stepson. She knows I’m coming by.”

  The receptionist propped her elbows on the desk. “She’s in with a patient right now.”

  “Oh, I know that.” I stepped up to the counter and leaned forward with a smile. “She said it was okay if I came by now even though she’s busy. I just needed to look for some books I left here over the weekend. You know … sometimes studying in different places makes stuff stick.”

  The receptionist rolled her eyes and waved me away. Walking around the far end of the desk, I spied her scrolling through a clothing website. Apparently my snooping paled in comparison to online shopping. I walked out of the waiting area like I knew where I was going and was supposed to be there. The door to my stepmother’s office was firmly closed, keeping the conversation confidential. I passed by an open bathroom door on the way to the study at the end of the hallway. If she was hiding anything this would be the place to check.

  Slipping inside, I looked around at the book-lined shelves. I sidestepped around the two plush chairs facing each other in the far left corner to get a closer look at the reading material. Most of it was old psychology textbooks or studies on child development. All things one would expect to find in a psychologist’s study. I stopped near the far right corner of the back shelf and ran my fingers over the spines. A door opened somewhere in the hall and my heart jumped into my throat. Creeping to the doorway, I watched a boy no older than me walk out of my stepmother’s office and head toward the bathroom. I was running out of time. I took one last look at the back bookshelf and stopped when I caught a slender volume about Greek mythology. Definitely out of place here. I snapped a photo of the spine on my phone. I could swing by the public library and check out a copy if they had it. Given my father’s true identity and who I suspected Abbie to be, this book probably contained a lot of juicy information.

  Phone back in my pocket, I made my way back toward the front of the office. The toilet flushed and I darted past the bathroom just in time to avoid being caught. As leisurely as I could, I walked the rest of the way to the reception area and gave the receptionist a silent nod on the way out. I only exhaled once I was safely out of the building. Firing off a quick text to my father that I would be studying late, I mounted my bike and headed off to the library.

  Half an hour later, with reference number in hand, I stalked between shelves in the folklore section. Stooping down to check the numbers on the bottom shelf, I finally found what I was looking for. I tugged the dusty book off the shelf and carried it to a nearby desk. A quick perusal of the table of contents signaled some very interesting things. Besides an alphabetical listing of every major deity and hero, there was a section near the back of the book mysteriously labeled “The Pantheon through History.” Just as I flipped to the start of the section, someone cast a shadow over the right hand page. Turning, I found a short, pudgy man with greying hair in a three piece suit hovering behind my chair.

  “Uh … hi.” I slid my hand over the text on the page to conceal what I was reading.

  “Don’t see too many kids your age actually come to the library to look at books.” The man pointed at the book. “Especially ones like that.”

  I spun in the chair to face the man straight on. “Oh, well, I really like Greek mythology. I’m doing a paper on it for school.”

  The man pulled out the chair next to me and sat down. As he straightened his suit jacket I caught sight of his footwear: custom Converse sneakers with wings on the outside edge. This guy was not going to win any fashion awards. He leaned in close. “No, you’re not, son.”

  I blinked. “Excuse me?”

  “You aren’t writing a report for school.” The man pulled the book from under my hands.

  “Are you calling me a liar?” I reached for the book. “And even if I’m not, what’s it to you? It’s not like it’s a reference only book.”

  The man smiled but kept the book just out of reach. “Well, for your information, young man, I’m the librarian. So I make i
t my business to know what books people are using in my library.”

  My body went cold with embarrassment. “Oh. Sorry.”

  The librarian smiled a toothy grin and out of nowhere a vibrant blue aura blazed around his head and shoulders. Lifting my hand to shield my eyes, I peered between my fingers enough to see him stand and take a step back. The librarian set down the book within my reach.

  “Look, young man, I know why you’re after that book. If it helps, I’ll give you an extended checkout time for it.” The aura started to fade.

  “You will?”

  The librarian nodded. “I know who you are too.”

  I lowered my hand. “You do?”

  “I know you’re one of us. At least related by blood, I’d say.”

  Pulling the book toward me, I looked away from the man until I no longer saw the hazy afterglow of his aura. “Yeah … you probably don’t want to know whose blood.”

  “We can’t choose our family, son.” The librarian let out a soft chuckle.

  “I know. Still, I sometimes wish I could.” Standing up, I shouldered my backpack. “So do you know about what’s going on? About the missing girls?”

  The librarian nodded. “Between you and me, I say don’t give up. You’ll find her if you keep looking.” He tapped the back cover of the book. “You’re on the right track.”

  “Thanks.” I followed the librarian to the checkout desk.

  “You take care of that book now. It’s quite old.” The librarian stowed the card in the back pocket of the book jacket.

  I had twenty-one days to return the book. Abbie didn’t have three weeks. If I didn’t return it within a week then all of this was for nothing. “No problem.” I stowed the book in the front flap of my bag. “Oh, and one more thing.”

  The librarian leaned over the desk, a sly look on his face. “Yes?”

  “If anyone asks if you’ve seen me, tell them you haven’t, okay? There are people who can’t find out I’m looking for her.”

  The man slid his fingers over his lips, miming locking them and tossing away the key. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

  “Thanks.” I turned to leave but stopped mid step as the man’s true identity dawned on me. The wings on his sneakers gave it away. Smiling, I nodded my head.

  “Figured it out, did you?” The librarian stepped out from behind the checkout desk.

  I glanced around to make sure we weren’t overheard. “Maybe. Uh… Hermes.”

  Hermes winked at him. “I’ll keep your secret if you’ll keep mine.”

  I nodded and offered a hand to the librarian. It was nice to have another ally in the fight against my father, and this one might actually be useful. Now, if I could figure out what they needed Abbie and the other girls for, maybe I could find a way to stop them. No matter what Mr. McManus said, the cops needed to know where to start looking or at least who should be their prime suspect.

  21

  I holed up in the library on Tuesday during my afternoon study period. I was supposed to be studying for my science final but I couldn’t think about lab reports when Abbie was still missing. I flipped to the sticky note I’d used to mark the chapter I wanted at the back of the mythology book. The section I was most interested in turned out to be one of the shortest, almost like an afterthought. In essence it explained that there were some who believed the Greek gods were not just a bunch of myths and religious stories but that they existed and were real people. Every generation they were reborn into the world to carry out their destinies. If I didn't know what my father had already told me, it would have read like a bunch of crap but it fit perfectly. As the information sank in, questions began to bubble to the surface. Did my father know the author and, more importantly, how could it help Abbie?

  Jotting down some of my more pressing questions, I intended to take them to Mr. McManus. But maybe he wasn’t the right avenue to take anymore. There were other people involved who had to be willing to help and Hermes was my way in. Before I made another trip to the library, I needed to give what information I had to the police. Even though the search of my stepmother’s office had come up empty it didn’t mean there wasn’t something there that I’d missed. If the cops asked what made me so sure that Abbie was still in her custody, I would say she’d been talking about Abbie after the abduction and this had made me suspicious. Even though my curiosity about the wider mythological community was piqued, warning the police was a more pressing matter. I just prayed Captain Holden didn’t get in the way.

  My watch beeped at me, signaling the study period was almost over, and I started to pack up. Just as I stuffed the book back into my bag, I felt someone staring at me. Turning around, Peter Morgan and some of his friends approached through the bookshelves. Peter wasn’t a bad kid but I had a feeling I knew what was coming.

  “Where’s your freak girlfriend?” He stopped a couple inches from me wearing a smirk.

  “She’s not my girlfriend.” Mentally kicking myself for letting that slip, I stood and stepped up so we were nose to nose. “And I don’t know where she is. Even if I did, it’s not your business.”

  Peter leaned in. “You can’t deny she’s a freak.”

  Settling my bag over both shoulders gave me the distraction I needed to keep from punching Peter in the mouth. I pushed past them but they followed after me. I didn’t have time for this and I whirled around to face them. “Look, maybe you should just admit that you like Shelley and stop blaming things on other people.” I didn’t wait for Peter’s response. Before heading to Mr. McManus’s class, I stowed the library book in my locker—less chance of my father finding it. That way they couldn’t accuse me of stealing it from my stepmother’s office. They hadn’t said anything about my afternoon visit the other day but I had no doubt the receptionist had shared the information with them.

  After the final bell, I fought through the crowd of students and outside to the bike rack. Clipping my phone to the handlebar, I started up the GPS to find the nearest police station. There were more than I realized and I selected the one closest to school. That way, if anyone asked, I could say I just got delayed because of traffic.

  Despite a couple wrong turns thanks to construction, I arrived just before three o’clock. Skidding to a halt outside the precinct, I guided my bike into an open slot on the rack. All I had to do was go in and share what I knew. It couldn’t be that hard. I wiped my palms on the front of my jeans before walking up the steps and into the front hall. A young woman in a uniform sat at the desk, her head bent over a clipboard.

  “Uh, excuse me.” I rested my elbows on the desk.

  She held up a finger for me to wait while she scribbled on the clipboard. I drummed my fingers on the desk until she looked up. Dark purple smudges under her eyes indicated a lack of sleep. I backed up a step so I wasn’t leaning over her.

  “What do you need?” She put the clipboard aside.

  “Uh, I think I have some information on a missing girl. Her name is Abigail Rollands.”

  The desk officer stood up and disappeared through a doorway that had a key card lock without saying a word. I stayed put. She returned a few minutes later and motioned for me to follow. She held the door open and I ducked around her into the main area of the precinct. Plainclothes officers sat at desks typing away at their computers. Some other officers in uniform had phones pressed to their ears. It was definitely not what I had expected. Too much Law & Order.

  The front desk officer pointed to a desk near the far left corner under an open window. Faint traffic noises filtered in from outside. I took off my backpack before sitting down across from a gruff looking officer. Unlike the desk officer, he wore dark pants, a faded grey shirt and windbreaker. A detective’s shield was clipped to the outside pocket of his jacket. The entire scenario was beginning to feel like a mistake. I couldn’t shake the feeling that my father was going to find out I’d come here.

  The detective picked up a pad and pen. “So, the desk officer said you have information on a miss
ing girl.”

  I nodded. “Maybe.”

  The detective leaned forward. “What’s your name, son?”

  I bit my lower lip. “Do I have to give you that?”

  The detective pursed his lips and pressed the tip of the pen to the pad of paper. “Well, can you tell me how you know about the missing girl?”

  “Her name’s Abbie.” I couldn’t stop myself. I pressed my back against the chair to put some distance between us. “We’re classmates.”

  “I see.” The man wrote down my answer.

  “Uh, anyway, my stepmother’s a psychologist and I heard her talking about Abbie recently.”

  The detective leaned back in his chair, and crossed his legs. “Well, it’s been on the news.”

  I shook my head. “Before she went missing I mean. She was seeing Abbie as a patient.”

  “I’m sure we’ve talked to your stepmother already then.” He made a show of flipping through a case file on his desk.

  There was no way of knowing if it was Abbie’s file or just for show. “But I think she took Abbie. I mean the last place anyone saw her was at my stepmother’s office, wasn’t it?”

  The detective straightened at my statement. Maybe I’d hit on something that they didn’t know or that the general public wasn’t privy to. Clasping my hands in my lap, I took a breath. “Look, she was talking about Abbie after she went missing too. Like she had some idea of where she was. You should just talk to her again, maybe check out her office.”

  A door opened and I caught a tall reflection in the window to my right. A tiny voice in the back of my head warned that I was in danger. I turned to look behind me and Captain Holden turned away, striding back into his office. Panic gnawed at my stomach. I was so screwed. Why didn’t I research which precinct the captain oversaw before I made this stupid trip? There was no way this wouldn’t blow up in my face.

  The detective cleared his throat to get my attention and set the pad of paper down. “Look, kid. Don’t waste our time, here. We can’t expend resources on frivolous tips. Go on home.”