Chasing Power

by Sarah Beth Durst

  “You’re a terrible friend.”

  “I know.”

  “You’re supposed to be all sympathetic. Instead you’re just pissing me off.”

  “Good! Get pissed off! It’s better than scared, right?” Selena said. “Who is he to make you feel scared? I ask again: Was he a multiarmed monster with drool? No. He’s a man. A very, very evil man who did a very, very bad thing and will probably do more. But not here. And not to you. You are not helpless. You are not weak.”

  Kayla shook her head. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. My sister—”

  “—is not you! Look, Kayla, remember the time we snuck into that club and that guy cornered me outside the bathroom? What did you do?”

  “Launched his cigarette ash into his eye and then set his shirt on fire.”

  “They were hosing him down with a fire extinguisher, and you kept dancing. Kayla, that’s who you are. Not this. Snap out of it, girl. You’re my strong, smart Kayla—far stronger than me. You were caught off guard this time. It won’t happen again. If you ever see him again … which is a major ‘if,’ remember Peru equals far … you’ll kick his ass. He’s just a man with eyes, a throat, and other vulnerable spots. You’re you.”

  Turning toward the window again, Kayla looked out at Moonbeam. She was digging with purpose, jabbing the soil with her trowel. Kayla noticed that the outer bushes were draped in ribbons and bells and charms made of roots and bones. Moonbeam wasn’t gardening; she was placing more charms. Kayla swallowed. She didn’t want to be like that. Living her life in defensive mode. Selena was right. That wasn’t her. Kayla straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I’m not going to live my life in fear,” she declared.

  “Good girl,” Selena said. “One of us needs to be brave.”

  “I’m going to stop him, catch him, and see him behind bars.”

  “Whoa, wait, what?” Selena said.

  Kayla marched toward her futon. She changed into fresh clothes; stuffed her phone, lighter, and razor blade into her new shorts; and pulled her favorite hoodie out of her backpack as she said, “I can take him. And I should. Once he’s in jail, we won’t have to hide anymore. Moonbeam won’t have to be afraid. She’ll be free. Finally. She’ll be able to move on. She can’t right now. Look at her. Fear of him rules her life. It dictates everything she does. It’s transformed who she is. She wasn’t always like this. I remember her before, when Amanda was alive. She was happy. She was fun.”

  “You can’t go after him,” Selena said. “Are you crazy? I just meant for you to stop moping. By all means, stay away from him. Tell Danny-boy to stuff his stupid quest and trust the police to find his mom, and you get on with your life!”

  “If I let Dad get that last stone, if he does that invincibility spell, then she won’t be safe, then I won’t be safe, ever. It won’t ever end. I have to end it.”

  “You don’t even know what this so-called invincibility spell does! Maybe he casts it, and you don’t ever hear from him. No harm, no foul.”

  “Sorry, Selena. I have to do this.” Kayla marched out of the house.

  Selena scurried after her. “You’re right, I’m a bad friend. Can we start this conversation over? Something went wrong here.”

  Moonbeam looked up at the sound of the door. She had dirt smeared on her nose. “Kayla! You’re awake.”

  Kneeling in the dirt, Kayla put her arms around Moonbeam. “I’m so sorry I scared you.” She kissed her mother on the cheek. “Really, I’m fine, and I’ll be all better soon. Everything will be better. I promise.”

  Moonbeam pulled back and studied Kayla’s face as if trying to read her mind. “What happened? Where have you been? Are you sure you’re all right? You can tell me.”

  “Someday, I’ll explain it all, but I can’t right now. There are some things I have to do first. I’ll be back soon.” Kayla stood. She felt stronger already. This felt right!

  “Oh, no, that’s not okay,” Moonbeam said. “You can’t leave again. You were gone all yesterday, all last night, and then when you came home—”

  “Please, Moonbeam, trust me. Everything is going to be okay!”

  Standing too, Moonbeam squeezed her hand. “Were you with that boy? Did he hurt you? Selena said—”

  “I didn’t sleep with him,” Kayla said quickly.

  Relief crossed her face. “Then where were you? And why didn’t you call? You scared me, Kayla.”

  “I’m sorry, and I promise I’ll be home soon.”

  Moonbeam was shaking her head. “No. Kayla, I want you to stay here. Rest. You need rest. Please, Kayla, I need to know you’re safe, at least for a little while. We’ll rent a movie. Make popcorn.” She patted Kayla’s shoulders and hair and cheek, as if reassuring herself that Kayla was still here and whole.

  “Rain check?” Kayla said.

  “I could ground you,” Moonbeam said. “Don’t make me ground you.”

  “This is important.”

  “What is? Where are you going?”

  Kayla opened her mouth and then hesitated. She absolutely could not tell her mother the truth. It would plunge Moonbeam into a spiral of panic, and she was already freaked out. “Selena’s going to take me shopping! She thinks the cure to a broken heart is retail therapy.”

  “Oh, it absolutely is.” Selena nodded so enthusiastically she looked like a bobblehead. “I’m buying Kayla an entire new outfit, top to toe. My treat. But the offer is only good today.”

  “And then I’ll be all better, and we’ll have our movie night and eat popcorn until we feel sick and I’ll tell you everything, I promise,” Kayla said. “But please, Moonbeam, I need this.”

  Moonbeam frowned, then took one of the evil eye amulets from around her own neck and draped it over Kayla’s. “Two hours. Any later, and that’s it.”

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “You’ll be back in two hours. You need to stay safe, Kayla. I need you safe.”

  Kayla couldn’t think of a response that wasn’t a lie, so she settled on kissing Moonbeam on the cheek again. She wouldn’t be back within two hours. She then strode out the garden gate with Selena. Glancing back once at Moonbeam, she hoped she was doing the right thing.

  Chapter 14

  “Park there.” Kayla pointed to an open spot near the café, and Selena yanked on the steering wheel. She pulled up beside the car in front of the parking spot. Behind them, another car headed toward the same space. But Selena was faster, slamming into reverse and spinning the steering wheel. She slid into the spot before the other car could do more than aim its front wheels.

  Selena hopped out and examined her parking job. She was mere inches from the curb. “Genius, if I do say so myself. You should really listen to me. I exude brilliance.” The driver of the car who lost the spot flipped her off as he zoomed by. Selena blew a kiss at him.

  Kayla headed for one of the benches. “Can you get us some smoothies, Genius Girl?”

  “Sure, if you tell me you’ve reconsidered your suicidal and completely ill-thought-out plan and let me take you shopping, which was the first sensible thought you’ve had all day.”

  “I’ve reconsidered about seven times, and I’m back to yes.”

  “Well, so long as you’re certain and have no doubts.” Muttering to herself, Selena headed for the café, and Kayla parked herself on a bench in front of the Santa Barbara First City Bank. She took out her phone and stared at Daniel’s number.

  Of course she had doubts. She was eaten up with doubts and fears … which was why she had to do it. They’d eat her alive if she didn’t.

  She texted Daniel. Ready to try again. Meet me on State Street. Staring at the phone a moment longer, she took a breath and then hit Send.

  Fear wasn’t going to stop her.

  Closing her eyes, Kayla tilted her head back as if to soak in the sun, and she let her mind roam inside the bank. She drifted over the people at the ATM and others in line for a teller. She ruffled the deposit slips on her way
to the counter. On the counter, she “felt” a vase with fake flowers and a bowl of lollipops. The teller was counting bills and then stuffing them into an envelope. Kayla felt underneath the desk—and she deliberately pressed the emergency button.

  Nothing happened.

  Kayla got up and sauntered across the street to the bait and tackle store. As she opened the door, she heard the sirens. Wails filled State Street. In seconds, the bank was quickly surrounded with police cars and armed policemen.

  As distractions went, this one was definite overkill, but satisfying nonetheless.

  The clerk at the bait store rushed to the window, and Kayla stuffed her hoodie pockets with fishing line and hooks. She wished she’d grabbed her backpack as well as her hoodie. Finishing, she joined the other gawkers on the sidewalk. Selena found her and handed her a smoothie. Kayla sipped it and watched the chaos at the bank unfold. See what you can do? You’re strong, Kayla told herself. You can face your father. No one can stop you.

  “Feel better?” Selena asked.

  “Much,” Kayla said.

  They strolled to the car. Daniel was waiting for them, leaning against the passenger door. His hands were in his pockets, and he watched them approach with a wary expression, as if he expected to have to bolt. “Kayla—”

  “Into the car,” Kayla ordered.

  Daniel obeyed, squeezing himself into the backseat. Selena jumped into the driver’s seat. Glancing back at the chaos in the street, Kayla climbed in as well.

  “Tell me you didn’t rob that bank,” he said.

  “I don’t need to tell you anything.” Kayla opened the glove compartment, found another pair of sunglasses, and put them on.

  “Even if she did,” Selena said, “you are in zero position to judge. Better to be a thief than a traitorous, lying sack of slime. That’s you, by the way, in case you’re too thick to catch the insult.”

  Twisting in her seat so she could look directly at him, Kayla lifted the glasses and said, “I have not forgiven you. I will not forgive you. But I am going to help you find the other stone.”

  Daniel exhaled noisily. “Thank—”

  Stopping him, Kayla held up a finger. “One condition. Instead of finding the last stone to trade for your mom, we catch my dad and then rescue your mom.”

  Selena started up the engine. Her music blared, drowning out any possible response. She wormed out of her parking spot and floored it down State Street, leaving behind the tangle of police cars and the knot of onlookers outside the bank. She turned at the pier and whipped along the coast, pulling into a half-vacant parking lot. The radio shut off. “You’re down to an hour and a half left,” Selena told Kayla. “Please don’t make me lie to your mom again. She gives me these puppy eyes that make me feel like the most horrible person in the world.”

  “It’ll be over soon,” Kayla promised. To Daniel, she said, “Let’s go to Tikal. The top of the Great Jaguar Temple, so we can avoid the irate archaeologists.”

  “Is that a thing?” Selena asked.

  “It’s totally a thing.” Kayla flashed a reassuring smile at Selena, even though her insides were churning as if she was making the worst mistake she’d ever made. She hoped she wasn’t.

  He took her hand, and the world flickered white, black, and gray.

  Rain pummeled them, hard, as if a bucket of water had been dumped on their heads. It poured down their faces and necks, instantly drenching their clothes.

  Kayla yanked him backward into the shrine. Outside, rain poured so thickly that it seemed as if a screen had been pulled over the doorway. She took off the useless sunglasses and stuffed them in her hoodie pocket. “Now what?”

  Daniel squeezed water out of his shirt. “It’ll pass fast. It’s only a thunderstorm. I’ve been in worse. Once, I jumped into a blizzard. Returned home with near frostbite.”

  “You know, we could jump back. Get a smoothie while we wait.” Or she could get a smoothie, and he could wait outside or someplace else, not near her.

  He shook his head. “You might change your mind.”

  “You don’t trust me?”

  “You hate me,” he pointed out.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Besides, the rain will stop soon. Storms like this don’t last. Once, I was in London and—”

  “I really don’t care.”

  He fell silent.

  Shifting from foot to foot, Kayla watched the rain beat the stones. She couldn’t see more than a few feet outside. It was shrouded in gray. On the plus side, at least no photographers or reporters would be out in this mess. On the negative side, she was stuck at the top of the temple with Daniel.

  She checked her watch. An hour and twenty minutes to change her mind and return home with zero repercussions. She could claim she was wet because she’d jumped off the pier in a moment of wild abandon. Moonbeam would believe her, maybe.

  Kayla studiously avoided looking at Daniel. Instead, she studied the murals on the walls. They were chipped and faded, damaged by time and weather, but she could make out a few glyphs, plus half a portrait of a long-ago king, the same one as on the parchment. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Daniel kneel next to the grate that used to cover the stairs. It was warped and dented. The entrance was filled with rocks. He peered around the rocks, as if looking for a way through. Even a snake would have difficulty slithering through. Of course, since Daniel was a snake, he should know that.

  She noticed she was clenching and unclenching her fists and forced herself to stop. If she wanted to do this, she had to play nice with him. She could deck him after it was all over. For now, civility. “Did you get in trouble?”

  “With who?”

  “Your mom. After the frostbite. What did she say?”

  “Oh, she wasn’t home. Plunged myself into a hot bath, and that fixed me. But still have some deadness to my fingertips here.” He stood up to show her. Turning his hand over, he took her hand to touch the tips of two of his fingers. The skin was rougher to the touch, though it looked the same. She suddenly realized she was stroking his hand, and she yanked away.

  He was looking at her as if he wanted to say something, maybe an apology or an explanation. She didn’t want to hear it. Instead, Kayla stared at the rain and tried to will it to stop. The longer she stayed here, the more she thought she shouldn’t be here at all. She should go home, apologize to Moonbeam, and forget about this idiocy. She didn’t owe Daniel anything. He’d tricked her into helping at all. But the opportunity to stop Dad …

  “Kayla—”

  “Do you think it’s going to stop soon?” she interrupted.

  “How much trouble were you in?” he asked softly.

  “A lot. She wanted to ground me. Only thanks to Selena she didn’t. Certainly will if I’m late today. Assuming my father doesn’t kill me first.”

  He was silent for a long moment.

  Side by side, they watched the rain.

  At last he said, “You know, you’re lucky your mother cares so much.”

  Kayla heaved a sigh. She felt like she was deflating. She was lucky, and she was lucky that it wasn’t her mother who’d been kidnapped by Dad. “I know. That’s why it’s impossible to be angry with her when she pulls her OCD overprotectiveness, which, given that my father nearly killed me, is beginning to seem much more reasonable.”

  Tentatively, he asked, “Do you … Are you sure that’s what he wants?”

  Kayla stirred the dust at her feet with her mind. She should be angry at Daniel for asking that. But instead the question only made her feel tired. She thought of Selena, asking if he was a monster, and she rubbed her damp arms. Rain battered the shrine, spraying inside. “I don’t remember him very well. He didn’t spend much time with me. I wasn’t very interesting, I guess. All I wanted to do was play tea party or basketball or superheroes or board games or whatever he’d be willing to play with me … but as it turned out, I wasn’t good at the games he wanted me to play.”

  “What did he want you to play?”
Daniel’s voice was hushed. He was treating her as if she were a wild animal that could turn vicious on him at any moment. She kind of liked that. She felt fierce.

  “In one of the games, he’d throw a ball at me, and I wasn’t allowed to move to catch it. It hit me in the face over and over. I didn’t know what he wanted me to do.”

  “Sounds like he was testing you. You know, for—” He made Selena’s gesture for telekinesis.

  “I didn’t have any power then. Certainly not enough to catch a ball. Anyway, I remember Mom saw once, when he was chucking a ball at me, and yelled at him for an hour. She was Mom then, not Moonbeam. After we moved to California, she became Moonbeam. Anyway, my dad played more with my sister, and I remember being jealous. Needless to say, all this negative emotion seriously messed me up after he killed her. I remember being convinced that if I’d been better at his games, she’d still be alive. Stupid, right? I was a kid. He was an adult. It’s not my fault. Blah-blah-blah.” She looked at Daniel, studying his profile. He was staring moodily out at the rain. “What’s your father like? You never mention him.”

  “He died when I was young,” Daniel said. “He was a good man, I think. At least that’s what everyone tells me. People like to say that.”

  “People like to say a lot of things. I think it comforts them to try to be comforting. You know she never even got a funeral? We fled, right after the police failed to do anything. It wasn’t safe to stay. And so we left. We left everything. I wasn’t even allowed to talk about her. No one could even know I had a sister; that might be one more clue for my father to find us.” She felt so much bitterness swirl up into her throat that she thought she might choke. Maybe Daniel wasn’t the only one she was angry at. Around her feet, the dust began to swirl in a miniature cyclone. She let it swirl faster and faster, whipping against her feet.