I slammed the book on the table. “And because she told you, my secret identity is not secret, which means that my family is in danger, and we’ll all be murdered in our sleep. Happy? And Spider-Man does not wear a cape! Who else knows?”
“The whole school will if you don’t yell at me a little quieter,” Bobby said. “Jeez, I thought superheroes were discreet.”
My throat tightened. I wondered how upset Kathryn would be if I murdered her boyfriend. “Who. Knows?”
“Nobody. What do you think, your best friend is a moron? She never said a word. I brought it up. Don’t forget, Rinnie, I was there. I saw what you did.”
“You knew about the Memory Lash before that day in the park. I suppose you found that on the Internet?”
Bobby blushed. “Well, to tell the truth, Kitty talks in her sleep.”
“WHAT?”
“No, nothing like that. She always falls asleep during Math Club. I was going to wake her to leave, and she mumbled something about a Memory Lash changing hearts. I thought she was dreaming until I saw what you did to Mason. After you saved me in the park, I asked her about it, and she totally flipped out on me. Believe me, you do not want to be on the wrong side of Kitty. She swore she’d cut off body parts that I’d really prefer to keep if I ever spoke a word to anyone. She is extremely protective of you, and made it painfully clear that I will be, too, if I want to remain alive and unharmed. We did everything we could to cover up what happened that afternoon. You’re just lucky Rubric was so whacked out on drugs he doesn’t remember anything. He doesn’t even know he was there. You knocked Chuckie out, so he didn’t see anything. It’s Mason I’m worried about.”
So Kathryn didn’t give away my secret after all. She was totally trustworthy. I sighed silently. “I’m not worried about Mason anymore. I want Angel.”
“Rinnie, I have an idea.”
“Put all my secrets on Facebook? You mean you haven’t already?”
“I brought you an army. Train them.”
“Your army can’t help me. It’s too dangerous. This is something I have to do alone. In case Kathryn left out any other details about my personal life, I fight very ruthless people. My birth parents were murdered. I’m going after their killer as soon as I stop this kidnapper.”
“They…” Bobby’s mouth hung open. “You’re adopted? That part must’ve slipped her mind.”
“They kidnapped me and used me as bait. If it weren’t for me, my parents would still be alive. I want Angel. She’s one of them.”
Bobby looked down at the floor, then back at me. “Are you telling me that Tammy Angel is the Walpurgis Knight called Scallion? So…she is the kidnapper. She attacked Kitty. Makes perfect sense.” Bobby touched my shoulder. “The Knights do all these nasty things to lure you out, right? They beat people up, they run drugs, just to get you to try to stop them. Just to find out who you are.”
I mentally smashed my head repeatedly against the tabletop.
“Is there anything Kathryn didn’t tell you?” I mumbled. On the plus side, she had obviously instilled a healthy fear of giving away my secret. I had no doubt Bobby would keep his mouth shut. “Look, I’m positive Tammy is Scallion, but I lost her Amplifier, so I can’t prove it. I have to get her to come out of hiding.”
“Let’s give them a taste of their own medicine.” Bobby leaned toward me and slammed his fist into his palm. “Let’s kick Angel’s butt right here. We’ll stop the Psychedone 10 production. We’ll put her and her goons in jail. If that doesn’t make her show herself, I don’t know what will. Leave it to the Dweeb League. We’ll give the school its dignity back.”
I smiled, struggling only a little with the idea of restoring dignity to someone with a Three Stooges hairdo. “That might actually work.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Psychedone 10
I went to the hospital the next day after school. I’ve never seen a corpse up close, but if I ever do, I can’t imagine how it could look more frightening than Kathryn.
Her room in the Greensburg Hospital ICU smelled very septic, like they had embalmed her, but waited a little too long. It seemed like her body was already decomposing. Her eyes were sunken into deep pits. The dark purple surrounding them was the only color on her face, except for her dry, cracked lips. They were the same bluish hue as her fingernails. Her shallow, forced breathing terrified me.
Suddenly, Kathryn inhaled sharply and sat up. Her pupils were so tiny, it was like they weren’t even there. Sweat poured down her forehead. She shivered uncontrollably.
“Fight it, fight it, fight it,” she whispered, drawing her knees up to her chest and squeezing her arms around them.
“Kathryn.” I touched her sweat-soaked hair.
She turned slowly, her gaze unfocused. A weak smile cracked her face. “This sucks.” Then her eyes squeezed shut in a horrible grimace, and her whole body tensed.
I threw my arms around her, ignoring the cold stickiness of her skin. Kathryn moaned quietly and leaned into me. I could tell she was in terrible pain. Suddenly she gasped and pulled away, straightening her legs. They quivered, and she began to massage them. “Oh, it hurts, it hurts.” She gagged and reached for the bedpan. She tried to vomit, heaving and retching, but nothing came out. “So cold.”
I covered her with a blanket, and she curled up in a ball, moaning and shaking.
“Do you want me to come back later?” I asked. My voice cracked, but I bit back the sobs as best I could. Kathryn didn’t need to know how this was killing me.
She reached out, took my hand, and tried unconvincingly to sound like nothing was wrong. “So, how have you been? How’s Egon? Did you have a good time at the dance?”
“Worried. We’re all worried.”
Kathryn seemed to relax. She pulled herself to a sitting position, never letting go of my hand. “Rin, Munificent was so wrong when he said the drugs were poison. I’d take poison over Psychedone 10 in a heartbeat. Poison only kills you. But this stuff…I fractured my skull, Rin…that’s a pinprick compared to this. I can’t even describe how terrible—it’s like my whole body is tearing itself apart. Like the worst flu I ever had, the aches and fever and nausea, and the nastiest cramps, but spread it everywhere, even my toes. Multiply that by a thousand and it still wouldn’t be as awful as this. But the pain isn’t the worst part. You know what I want more than anything?”
I patted her hand. “What? I’ll get it for you.”
Kathryn’s face became bright for an instant. “Out. I have to get out of this hospital.”
“You’re sick. You can’t leave.”
“That’s just it. All I can think about is escaping so I can get more. It’s all I think about. It’s awful. See that window? It’s calling to me. It’s saying, ‘Open me and you’re free.’ Rin, I know I’m on the seventeenth floor, but if I did what this stuff is trying to make me do, I’d go right through that window. I want that high again, that awful, wonderful high.”
I just stared at her, shaking my head, speechless.
“It spread like cancer. It’s trying to take over my mind. It’s making me stupid. It wants me to do things I would never do. I have to fight it. I have to beat it so I can come to my senses. It’s hard, Rinnie.” She broke down in tears and curled up in a ball. After a few minutes, her breathing steadied, and she fell asleep.
Seeing Kathryn confirmed my worst fears. She was suffering through the most horrible withdrawal imaginable. If she didn’t have such incredible self-control, she would have broken out of the hospital by now to find more of that murderous drug. What I didn’t understand was how she could become physically addicted after one use. According to The Book of Lore, Kathryn shouldn’t have been dependent at all yet. It was extended use that led to addiction and a changed personality.
Kathryn must have been a guinea pig, a test case for a new version of Psychedone 10, because nobody else had been affected the way she had. Rubric was a long-time user, and no doubt addicted. But Erica Jasmine quit after a few
weeks of use. And Mason. Even he had used it once. But poor Kathryn was physically addicted immediately after the attack. According to Bobby’s research, the base chemical—the chemical they made in the Class Project—would have had to be altered for that to happen. I suddenly wondered whether Miliron’s goof-nut act was a deception.
“She’s strong,” a familiar voice said. I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder, and turned to see Mason gazing at Kathryn as though he were viewing a body in a coffin, his face twisted with grief, his eyes wet and red. He reached out and caressed Kathryn’s hand.
“I didn’t know,” he whispered. “I would have stopped it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I should have listened to Bobby,” Mason said. “I thought I was doing the right thing. I even changed the formula. They lied to me, Rinnie. This is my fault.”
There it was. “Lied about what?”
“The Class Project. The formula. Everything. They turn it into Psychedone 10, just like Bobby said.”
“Who lied, Mason?” My fist clenched, but I forced myself to stay calm.
Mason shook his head. “I saw Mrs. Bagley today. She told me to give you a message if I saw you here.”
I looked into his eyes. Sadness stared back at me.
“She said, ‘Events of the sort in which you are involved can be misleading, but you know right from wrong. Trust your heart.’” Mason chuckled softly.
“Was that all she said?”
Mason nodded. “I used to trust my heart, but I don’t know what’s right anymore. I have to go. There’s something I need to do.”
Mason touched my hair delicately. He looked at Kathryn out of the corner of his eye.
“Where do you have to go?” I asked.
“Back to the beginning.” His eyes snapped to mine. His lip quivered for just an instant. “Rinnie, what if she dies? How can you ever look at me again if I killed your best friend?”
Mason held my gaze, struggling for words. “If I could go back in time, things would be so different right now.”
Mason looked up at the ceiling and mouthed the words, Please, God. Then he turned and walked away. Just like at the dance. I reached for him, but pulled my hand back.
As I watched him disappear through the door, I struggled to stay quiet. I could see he was in the deep stages of remorse caused by the Memory Lash. The pain of his past would never go away. I wanted to tell him, but those details seemed irrelevant. Mason’s heart had changed. I was certain of it, and I felt sorry for him.
But I also wanted the information he had. Someone tricked him into changing the formula, and I had the distinct impression he wasn’t talking about Scallion. I needed to know if back to the beginning meant Dr. Miliron.
Mrs. Bagley’s message popped into my head. Events of the sort in which I was involved. I almost laughed at how formally she put things. I assumed she was trying to say that I was a teenager in a very dysfunctional high school, and that this sort of thing was just a normal part of growing up under those conditions.
So why did I have the feeling she meant something else, something much closer to the truth?
Soft footsteps caught my attention. Egon walked through the door and shouldered up to me.
“Hi,” he said, smiling. “How’s my mystery girl?”
I smiled back, leaning against him. “I’ve been better.”
Egon took my hand. “And how is your best friend holding up?”
“She’s been way better.”
“Rinnie, you know the rumors around school. You don’t believe them, do you?”
I pulled my hand away and glared. “Angel had better watch her back. I’m done with her.”
Egon slowly turned his gaze toward Kathryn, the smile still on his lips. “I wouldn’t want to be on your bad side.”
I elbowed his ribs gently. “I can’t believe you went out with her, even once.”
A dark, almost frightening laugh erupted from Egon’s throat. “Neither can I. Speaking of going out, do you want to do something tonight? You know, maybe just hang out?”
I shot him a look that said, Are you serious? “I’m not really up for anything, Egon. I want to be with Kathryn. I’m sorry.”
Egon turned to Kathryn and touched her hand. “I meant here. I could keep you two company. You never know when you might need a bodyguard.”
I touched Egon’s shoulder. “I’d like that.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Enough is Enough
“Time to cross over the border from Loserville,” Tammy Angel said.
The locker room was empty except for the Red Team, a ninth grader named Jessie, and my contingent of spies. Tammy held a small plastic bag. Jessie took it, her hand shaking. I pictured Kathryn’s face, and it took all my strength to keep from force-feeding the bag to Angel.
“You getting this?” Erica whispered.
“Uh huh.” I watched Tammy and her latest victim from behind the bank of lockers through Andy’s tiny high-tech video camera. It had a cool zoom microphone that was so sensitive it could record a person’s breath from across the room. “Make your move.”
Erica shuffled toward the Red Team and stopped beside Angel. “Hi, Tam.”
I zoomed on Tammy Angel’s face.
“Hey, hey, Erica! How’s Christie? Change your mind about quitting, did you? Gimme a sec, I have to take care of Jessie here.” Tammy turned toward the ninth grader. “Do one of those before gym class. These are the best supplements available. You’ll jump off the Loser Express and onto the Star Ship Angel, where the Cool Rule. You’ll be one of us. If you like it, bring a couple of your buds. I’ll fix them up, too. Remember, this one’s free. Next time there’s a nominal fee.”
Jessie nodded quickly and then walked away. I zoomed in on Tammy’s backpack. Tammy pulled out a plastic bag and dangled it in front of Erica’s face, holding it between two fingers. “I knew you’d be back, Erica. This stuff always brings ’em back. And you can be among the first to sample our new, improved blend. Cash first, of course. House rules.”
“I didn’t come for your drugs,” Erica said.
“Supplements, Erica. Hugs, not drugs, as they say. I hope your little sister is being good.”
Erica’s expression turned to fear. “I gotta go.” She quickly left the locker room.
Tammy laughed. “Price just went up.”
Boot Milner sneered. “Maybe we’ll put some pressure on her.”
Tammy shook her head. “No, we’ll just take her out. It’s time to set an example.”
Boot’s eyes grew wide. “Take her out? Seriously?”
“That’s what he says is next for the nonbelievers,” Tammy said. “He’s the boss.”
Agatha Chew said nothing, but from the look on her face, I was pretty sure she didn’t like what she had just heard. The police would, though.
I turned off the camera and crept into the hall. When I reached the boiler room door, I opened it and slipped inside. Jessie and Erica waited beside Bobby.
“Nice work, Jess,” I said.
The ninth grader nodded. “Will this really stop them?”
Bobby held up the bag of Psychedone 10 Angel had given Jessie and scowled. “We’re just getting started.” For such a nice boy, I noticed that he had a real mean streak.
I was okay with that.
…
The next morning, I marched down the hall surrounded by Bobby, Tish, and Whatsisface.
“The Dweeb League on patrol,” Whatsisface said quietly.
“We stick together no matter what, got it?” Bobby punched his fist into his palm.
“Okay, but this one is mine.” Whatsisface had fire in his eyes. I prayed he wasn’t about to have it doused. We walked toward an oblivious Chuckie Cuff, who had a tenth-grader pinned against a locker.
“What’d your mom pack for me today, Dougie?” Chuckie held the boy’s lunch bag above his head.
“C-c-come on, Chuckie, n-n-not aga-in,” Dougie said. He reached up, trying to get at
his lunch bag, but Chuckie pulled it away.
“When you learn to t-t-t-talk right,” Chuckie said, “you can eat. This is for my own g-g-g-g-good.”
“My m-m-mom said you should get your own lunch. I’m not allowed to f-f-f-fuh-heed you anym-more.”
“Your mom’s not very nice.”
“Let him alone, Chuckie,” Whatsisface said. Tish and Bobby stood at his shoulder. I stood right behind them, hoping that once Chuckie noticed me, my services wouldn’t be needed.
Chuckie looked a little irritated at the interruption. “You come to dance again, babe?” He held his hand out to Tish.
“I did.” Whatsisface knocked Chuckie’s hand away. “On your face. Give him back his lunch.”
“You ladies gonna make me?”
“You think we can’t?” Whatsisface grinned. “Wouldn’t look good to have your butt kicked by a lady, huh?”
Chuckie stared at Whatsisface, then Bobby, then Tish.
Then he noticed me. “You promised not to tell,” he muttered.
“I didn’t say a word.” I shrugged.
Chuckie looked thoughtfully at Dougie. “Okay, no problemo, I wasn’t hungry today anyway.” He tossed Dougie his lunch, and poked him in the chest. “But tomorrow, bring me something good, got it?”
I tapped Chuckie on the shoulder and whispered, “You stop picking on him and everyone else, or I will tell. Got it?”
Chuckie’s face puckered. “Hey, Rinnie, I was teasin’. Dougie and me, we’re buds.”
“No more, Chuckie. Okay?”
“Hmmm…okay.” Chuckie turned and walked away. Then he stopped. “Hey, Rinnie.”
“Yeah?”
“I started brushing my teeth. I’m minty fresh!” He blew into the air in my direction.
“I’m so proud of you.” I smiled as Chuckie disappeared down the hall.
“Thanks,” Dougie said.
“Our pleasure.” Whatsisface put his hand on Dougie’s shoulder. “How ‘bout we do lunch and chat about membership in our exclusive club? I’ll have my people call your people.”
Psi Another Day (Psi Fighter Academy) Page 20