“I don’t know. Not much different over the last few months. I mean, he started out as Kurt’s friend before he became my mom’s.”
“I find it interesting that he upped and moved his residence from New Orleans to Cary, North Carolina just because of your family.”
“I find it interesting that you don’t want to question him about his relationship with my mom instead of me.”
Pausing, Yoffee drummed his pen on his second-hand, scratched up desk. “You don‘t like him much, do you?”
“Would you like a new guy in your life who was boinking your mother?”
“Phaedra!” A nervous chuckle slipped out of Bree as she touched my forearm. “I’m sure Detective Yoffee gets it.”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. “Then maybe you should ask Nadia how she feels about him. He adores him more than I do because she never knew what it was like to have a father.”
“Which also reminds me.” Again, he flipped through his notes. “Your mother spent a good part of the last few years not leaving the house. There’s hardly any trail of her having a job, so how did she support you and your sister?”
“What does any of this have to do with the fire?” I asked, unwilling to hide my annoyance. “My mother is lost out there. What are you people doing to find her? More importantly, if you want answers to those questions, then I suggest you call child services. They have a truckload of records on us. Or is there some interagency politics at play that prevents the right hand from talking to the left?”
He smirked as though he either knew he had hit a nerve or I had slapped one of his. Either way, he shifted in his chair, hardly taking his focus off me.
“Detective, Phaedra is right.” Bree leaned slightly forward. “If there’s something you specifically want to ask her about the fire, then you should get to it.”
He didn’t answer right away. “You both have a right to be suspicious. After all, your mother has gone missing and you and your sister were nearly killed in a fire. I’m just trying to figure out if the real person responsible isn‘t closer than you think.”
“You think Mason had something to do with this?”
“Well, things haven’t exactly been the same since he came into your guys’ lives.”
As much as I wanted to believe that, I didn’t. Mason didn’t need us as much as we needed him. My mom and Kurt were easy access to him when it came to calming his cravings. Plus, we were a lot safer and more respectable than any whore he could’ve picked up in the streets.
“You’re right,” I replied, crossing my arms and fighting to keep my temper tapped down. “They’ve been quite abnormal. Nadia is pulling A’s and B’s. Kurt has a job working as a mechanic and pulling in some money to help with expenses around the house. I’ve been granted early acceptance into Cornerstone University, which I happen to be attending as a part-time student right now. Nothing could be more frustrating than that.”
“Okay then.” He flipped his pad closed. “If you have nothing against Mason, then neither do I. But have you or your brother had a chance to talk to the insurance agency, yet? I heard there were a few offers on your house, even though it wasn’t officially on the market.”
“Stupid people must visit you a lot.”
“Phaedra!” Bree shook her head, her deadpan stare warning me to get off my haughty throne.
“I’m just saying why would we set our house on fire if the offers yielded more money than the insurance? And given how strapped we are for cash I’m betting we only took out a bare essentials policy. But you’ll have plenty of opportunities to ask my mom about that...when you people find her.”
“Detective,” Bree said, standing. “Unless you have any more questions, I’d like to get Phaedra and her sister home. This kiddo is still suffering from a concussion and we already had a scare yesterday, I’d prefer not to repeat.”
“Yes, of course.” Detective Yoffee stood and offered me my crutches, but I reached them before he did and started for the door. He reached for a business card in a holder on his desk. “If you come across any new information or have any questions, please don't hesitate to call. I’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you.” Bree caught up to me as I was about to turn into the hallway. “You okay?” she said in a low voice.
“I’m fine,” I snarled.
“Really? I hadn’t noticed. But Detective Yoffee would have if we had stayed any longer.”
“What do you mean?” I continued down the hall to the room where Nadia played.
“You didn’t notice the printer spewing out paper on the floor behind him?” She waited for me to answer before realizing I had nothing. “The larger photocopier and two fax machines were doing the same. Several cup holders fell over on desks and one of the pencils rolled up on the back of a monitor. I thought it was best we leave before you accidentally fired off someone’s gun in their holster.”
“Oh.” My temper slacked off when I opened the door of the kiddie room. “Good catch.”
“You’re welcome.”
Chapter Eight
By the time we got home, fatigue and a headache had torn me apart. I hated the need to take a nap so early in the afternoon, but it was what it was. Plus, Bree threatened to lock me in my room and take away the internet if I didn’t get some rest. More than anything, I wanted to get out of this house and find my mother. Even though it was the best of ideas, both Nadia and I knew how to find our mom. Not only would I need a good ankle for running, but a way to trap her and somehow bring her home. What home, I didn’t know. Everything was so messed up and I had no idea how to fix it. Perhaps taking a nap was the best thing to do. For now.
Giggling cracked through the surfaces of my deep slumber. I peeled open my eyelids and focused until my vision cleared. Nobody was in the room. The sounds came from somewhere beyond the door.
Dragging my exhausted body off the bed, I staggered to the door and opened it. The voice came from the other end of the hall where the bonus room was. One of those voices sounded like Nadia’s. I continued down the hall until I came to the partially opened door and nudged it.
Nadia played a board game on the floor with Jayden, who grinned as if she was glad she finally had someone who appreciated old-fashioned fun.
“You’re just in time,” she said, waving for me to come in. “I’m about to knock your little sister’s piece off the game.”
“Not unless I roll an eight or higher.” Nadia flung the dice. The cubes rolled to double threes. She lifted her hands in the air. “I won!”
“No, you didn’t.” Jayden grabbed the die.
Laughing, Nadia snatched them from her. “You’re cheating! Doubles mean I get another roll, which means I just about won.”
“Not when you have a big sister who can move things with her mind.”
“It doesn’t work like that.” I leaned against the door, somewhat wasted from just that short venture a few feet away.
“Forget it. You win, kiddo.” Jayden stood and stretched. “Your head’s better, I think. Ribs, too. I guess my mom was right. That nap did you some good.”
“I take it that’s the healer part of you talking.”
“Yup.” Jayden sat back on the floor where the board game was and helped Naida pack it away.
“You don’t like talking about your powers, do you?”
“Nope.”
I sucked in a deep breath and glared. I wasn’t one for making friends either, but we were at a crossroads. We were living in this girl’s house and probably taking up space in her big sister’s room. She didn’t like us—me more so than anyone. How she and Nadia seemed to strike it up was beyond me. Perhaps she didn’t see my little sister as much of a threat.
“Does your sister have powers?”
“Yes.” Jayden stopped and stared straight ahead. “Vanessa, my sister, is a much better healer than I am. Like really good because she can take in more energy than I can. When she was in middle school, she healed her best friend who had cancer. Her parents got so
suspicious of what had happened that they brought one of their grandparents to our place to heal him of his dementia. My parents had to turn them away. It was long after that, we packed up and moved from our home in Detroit. We’ve been here ever since.”
“Were your parents helped by the community here?”
She snorted. “Please. We didn’t even know there were supernaturals here and they certainly had no reason to seek us out. We found a roundabout way when the only job my dad could get was as a drug rehab counselor. One of the teenage kids came into his office and asked why his kids weren’t going to a hub school.”
“How did he know about you and your sister?” I found it hard to believe their father would let his kids go to work with him.
“That’s the thing—he didn’t. That guy was a medium and the picture on his desk sort of gave him some insight into us. Anyway, my dad looked into what he had told him and that’s how we ended up at a hub school. Of course, dad eventually got out of that rehab place and found a job more in line with his field.”
“Does it run in your family like it does ours?” Pressing my back against the wall, I slid down until my butt met up with the floor. Everything inside me immediately relaxed.
“Nope. It's just me and my sister.” Jayden picked up the board game and placed it back on the shelf with several others that seemed to have accumulated over the years. “I hear it runs like weeds in your family. Well…” A slight giggle tumbled out of her as she thumbed at Nadia. “Everyone, but your little card shark here.”
Nadia snickered. “What’s a card shark?”
“Don’t worry about it.” I waved her off. “I have it and so does my mom. Kurt, our older brother, has it. But...his powers are nowhere near the level of mine and my mom’s. He inherited her schizophrenia. From what I understand, my grandmother didn’t get schizophrenia, but her powers are more like Kurt’s where they can almost be explained why as a strange coincidence. Of my two uncles, who I’ve never met, I don’t know what their situation is. I think one of them might be more powerful, but still not like my mom and me. Our great grandfather had some serious power though. I don’t even know if he’s alive.”
“What about Aunt Shelley?” Nadia turned to Jayden. “We don’t like her much because she’s a mean alcoholic. Thank God she doesn’t have any powers. Mom says she can do crazy all by herself.”
Jayden laughed. “I never thought I’d say it, but I’m sure glad I’m not a part of your family.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“It’s rare for anyone to have more than one ability like I do.” She slouched on the edge of a desk and folded her arms. “My parents think precognition is the best way to describe my other power, but it’s more than that. It's like my brain does some sort of metaphysical calculations on its own to figure out the next sequence of events. I then picture it in my brain and at some point those events unfold. Weird, huh?”
“Not when you’ve lived my life.” I half-smiled.
“Jayden,” Bree yelled upstairs. “Louisa’s trying to get you on video chat and she’s blowing up my inbox. Talk to her, please.”
“I got it.” Chuckling, she grabbed a laptop from the corner of the desk and opened it. “Lou had her cell phone taken away because she’s a hair short of flunking Theoretical Medieval Folklore.”
“Oh my god.” I wanted to spit-up in my mouth. “No prejudging here. That class sucks.” Everyone hated that class. It was specifically meant to bore everyone to death, thus making it one of the hardest classes to pass in the hub. I barely got through it. I took my D+ with pride and ran away screaming. If Lou was smart, she would do the same.
“Speaking of which, I thought you were accepted at Cornerstone. How is it that I remember seeing you at the hub, too?”
“I go to both, but I attend Cornerstone remotely from the hub. Except for the weeks where I’m required to be on-site at the university. I’m an RWE.”
“Real World Exposure curriculum. Yeah, we’ve heard about it. Those of you who have trouble containing your powers have to do a half a year back and forth between hub high and Cornerstone or volunteering in the real world where you’re mentored by another supernatural. But since you’re going to a preternatural college, you don’t need the mentoring. You just need the exposure.”
“Exactly. Are you going to Cornerstone?”
Jayden shrugged. “Maybe. I applied just to be on the safe side, but I also applied at other non-hub colleges, too, like Duke, NC State, and UNC Chapel Hill. I have no idea what I want to be, but I like math and I’m good at it, too. Might as well see what it can do for me.”
“Ohmygod!” A voice came over her computer speakers.
“Calm down, Lou.” Jayden glanced at me and shook her head. “What’s wrong? You can’t email my mom like that. She gets pissed when you fill up her inbox.”
“Maybe you should check your own emails,” Lou replied.
I motioned for Nadia to leave with me as I moved onto all fours to stand again. I didn’t want to keep Jayden from talking to her real friends. Besides, we’ve been able to tolerate each other at best and I wanted to keep it that way.
“Is that girl still at your house?” Lou asked.
I rolled my eyes but tapped down my simmering temper. I had done enough damage to this house and I didn’t want my powers to focus on a new victim. I motioned for Nadia to lead the way down the hall as I went to close the door.
“Yeah, why?” Jayden asked.
“Call me crazy, but I think the ruins are trying to tell me something. Her name is Phaedra, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, so?” Jayden waved for me to come back into the room.
I didn’t want to. If she and her friend were going to compare rumors about me, then it was best that I wasn’t present for the onslaught. When she waved to me again, sucked it up and hobbled over to the laptop, but stayed just outside of the webcam.
From my perspective, I noticed Louisa, whose face was familiar with a blonde bob and a single barrette, holding her hair from swinging into her face. Her eyes shifted left and right somewhere in front of her while her head remained completely still. It was as though she were in some sort of trance. Jayden sat patiently waiting like she had been through this with her friend a million times before.
Lou’s eyeballs stopped shifting and she came out of her trance. “Does she know where her mother is?”
“Of course not,” Jayden replied. “Do you think she would be here if she did?”
“Probably not. But someone is sending out strong vibes and they’re all centered around both her and her mother.”
Another blip came onto the screen. Jayden sighed as she clicked on it.
Carson Shields’ face came up in a split-screen view with Lou’s face on the left and his on the right. I only knew about him because a lot of the girls at hub high seemed to melt whenever he was around. They always asked him about his next swim meet and promised they’d be there. Given his swimmer’s body, I didn’t blame them. He obviously liked all of the attention, too, because that’s when he pretty much left the competition in the waves. I guess it worked because our swim team was ranked number two in the country across hub schools.
“Whoa.” Carson sat back in his chair, somewhat perplexed. “Is Implode Girl there with you?”
“Implode?” I whispered and glanced at Jayden for answers.
“Really, Carson?” Jayden sighed as if a headache had broken her brain in half. She waved for me to come out of hiding. “It’s the name everyone at school gave you when you exploded all of the lockers on the first floor. Some of us thought it was cool that you’d be a student while others thought it was going to be hell on earth, so to speak.”
“What camp were you in?” I asked.
“The latter.”
One thing I liked about Jayden was her inability to sugarcoat. Perhaps we might get along after all. Not that I was holding out hope for it either.
“Oh wow!” Lous grinned and waved. “I was in the ‘heck yeah�
� camp.”
“Me, too,” Carson said with a smirk on his face that said he was more interested in trying to check me out. “I’m psychic, by the way.”
“And I’m bored” Jayden glared at both of them. “What’s going on that you guys need to tell her about? She’s right hers, so have at it.” She presented me like a game show prize before slouching back in her seat and folding her arms. “And you have about five minutes before my mom yells up the stairs that it’s time for dinner.”
Carson leaned into his arm and closed his eyes. “Your place is hot. Lots of wood crackling. Fire all around. But there are shadows just beyond them. I can’t make out the figures. There’s a lot of energy. Like old energy. Your house is old, but you have so much freaking energy.”
“What does that mean?” I glanced at Jayden, but she looked as dumbfounded as I felt.
“Everything is on fire. Spirits are all around. Everywhere. They try to talk to her, but it’s like she’s trying to focus on one. The strongest one of them all. It’s putting thoughts in her head and she’s going along with it, but...she’s scared. Like, really scared. She doesn’t trust it, so she runs. She’s hurt though. I don’t know if she gets away, but the spirits go with her.”
“Whenever there are that many around, it usually means there’s a cemetery nearby.” Lou began typing something on her laptop, but none of us could see it. “Maybe a place where a lot of death happens like a hospital or something.”
“My house is just a house,” I replied. “But there’s a cemetery a few miles away. Not like you can walk to it either. Do you think my mother might have wandered off with them? I mean—she can’t see ghosts.”
“No, but she hears voices.” Jayden turned her chair slightly toward me. “If those spirits can tune into her schizophrenic frequency, then it’s possible she might be more likely to them.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
Jayden shifted in her seat. “Back in the day, like centuries ago or something, people like her were said to be possessed. Of course, we know now that it’s a bunch of crap. But suppose there was little truth to it, too? We know so much more about the preternatural world now than we ever have.”
Silent Scream (Bittersweet Series, Book 2) Page 7