The Pendants and the Mystery of the Wozniak Five Part I

by Stephanie Steele

  “So...because you did that, you lost some of your memory?” Valie asked, still trying to wholly understand.

  “Correct. Obviously, I don't know what, which is hard, but it was worth it. This time, it was worth it. For Trent.”

  Chapter 24

  After Maddy's confession, they continued to sit there and talk. Each asked her questions, and for the first time, Maddy was open about everything.

  Even Carson asked her a couple of questions, although he still gave off the impression that he was just generally annoyed with her.

  Maddy's gift was a bizarre twist, it was one that couldn't be explained by science. As Valie thought more and more about it, the less it seemed believable and that was why she trusted it.

  That night, they made a pact, Carson was insistent upon it. They couldn't tell anyone, not a single soul what they'd been through. They each promised they wouldn't. The only people they'd hurt would be themselves if they ever talked about who they were and what happened. It was their anonymity that protected them all of these years and it was their anonymity that would continue to protect them.

  They were going step back into their normal lives and carry on the best they could.

  Phaedra instructed them to report their parents missing once everyone was back home.

  “Just say they went out for groceries and never came home,” she said sadly. It was the only way. They couldn't tell the truth. They couldn't tell the police what happened, it would be too risky.

  After they made their pact Valie went into her room to unwind a little. She breathed in the smell of her room, often smelling like peaches from her air freshener. She loved it and had never been happier to see her room. Finally taking off her hoodie with the bullet hole in the shoulder, she slipped on a white t-shirt and then pulled a photo album from under her bed and began sliding the pictures from Vincent into it. As she did that, she started to think about the picture in her pocket--the picture of her and her mother. Valie took it out and looked at it. It was her mother's amazing smile that seemed to attract the camera to her face. Valie put the picture from her pocket into the photo album with the rest. She wouldn't need it anymore...she would remember.

  Phaedra knocked softly on her bedroom door before coming in.

  “It's nice in here,” she said, looking around. “It reminds me a little of my room in high school.”

  “How?”

  Phaedra shrugged, “Like someone happy lives in here.”

  “I'm not happy.”

  Phaedra sat down next to Valie with a sigh, “I know you're not.”

  “I've been thinking about a lot of things, one thing that I can't seem to get out of my mind, is something that my guidance counselor said to me the day before all of this happened.”

  “What'd he say?”

  “He told me to talk to my uncle about college. About going out of state for college because he didn't want me to go far away from home.”

  Phaedra narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side, “Okay...”

  “Don't you see? That was my biggest worry, how I was going to tell my uncle that I wanted to apply to Penn State. I didn't know how to tell him and that was all I was worried about. Just the day before all this happened. How is that possible, Phaedra? Things changed so fast and not like, kinda changed. Like my entire life has been flipped upside down several times over and there was no warning.”

  “I'm sorry, Valie. I am truly sorry,” she grabbed Valie's hand, “you will be happy again.”

  “I hope so.”

  Phaedra gave her hand a squeeze and started towards the door. “Don't forget.”

  “Forget what?”

  Phaedra looked around her room once more, “Don't forget to be kids.”

  Phaedra said her goodbyes. A hug and a kiss on the cheek for each. To Valie, she looked exhausted and was. Phaedra's part in the journey was now over. She could go home and continue on with her life.

  Carson said his goodbyes too, although he was not nearly as sincere as Phaedra. He gave a wave of his hand and said “Its been real,” and headed towards the door to leave with Phaedra.

  Valie didn't accept it, she stopped him before he could leave. It wasn't supposed to end that way between them. It wasn't right.

  “Carson,” she pulled at his arm, “can I talk to you for a moment?”

  He reluctantly followed her away from the others and into the kitchen.

  “Yeah, what's up?” he said, sounding disinterested.

  “I just...wanted to talk to you before you left. Are you going to be okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I just want to make sure because--”

  “Can we not do this? You're going to be fine, I'm going to be fine, but this is where our story ends. It was an adventure, that's for sure, but we don't ever need to see each other again.”

  Valie felt her face getting red, but not with embarrassment. This time, it was anger.

  “I know you have feelings for me, Carson Fontaine. Don't be such a jerk. I don't want us to part ways on bad terms.”

  “Look, we're okay.” Carson looked behind him, as if he desperately wanted to be out of the situation. He patted Valie on the arm, “Take care of yourself, kid.”

  And he was gone.

  Not long after Phaedra and Carson left, Jackson announced that he was going to be leaving too. Valie asked him to stay, but he said he needed to go home. There were things he needed to do, things he needed to finish and she understood. As much as she didn't want him to go, she understood.

  “Please stay in touch,” Valie said sadly.

  He nodded and smiled, said his goodbyes to Maddy and Trent, and opened the front door. He turned to Valie once more. “You're going to be okay, I promise.” Jackson smiled his little smile and used one arm to pull Valie in for a hug.

  “Can I ask you something?” She whispered.

  “Anything.”

  “Promise that you won't forget us.”

  He pulled away, “I'll never forget you. It's just not possible.”

  Maddy appeared and, stepping in between them, she began shoving things into Jackson's backpack.

  “Valie, I hope you don't mind, I cleaned out the cabinets. I wanted to make sure Jackson had enough food.”

  “Thanks, Maddy,” Jackson said appreciatively.

  “How are you going to get home?” Valie asked.

  He smirked and adjusted the straps on his backpack, “I'll find my way.”

  Then, he left, waving as walked away from the house.

  Valie and Maddy watched from the front door. “He's such a nice person,” Maddy said.

  “He is,” Valie agreed. “He really is.”

  Chapter 25

  Valie and Trent invited Maddy to stay with them and enroll in their school. She gladly accepted, there was nowhere else for her to go. Her mother, Rory, had been her only family.

  Valie and Trent decided they would introduce her as their cousin from England, which seemed like a close enough truth.

  The day after returning home, their 18th birthdays, Valie went to the police station to file a missing persons report on her uncle. While she was there, she cleared up the mystery of where she and Trent had been the last few days, explaining to the police that she and Trent had gone to visit family. They weren't missing and she apologized profusely for any confusion. She concocted a story about how her uncle walked to the grocery store to buy some ice cream and never came home. She had an answer for everything, but the entire time had to resist the urge to break down because of the lies. Her uncle wasn't missing. He was gone forever and no one could know.

  The police accepted her story and the disappearance of her uncle went into the system.

  As the next week went on, they returned to school. Valie began to work more at the grocery store to help with their bills, Trent got a job at the video store in their town, most likely the last one in existence, and Maddy worked on being Maddy.

  Their first day back at school had proved to be an interesti
ng one. Valie woke up, went to the kitchen for breakfast, and pulled a bowl and spoon out for cereal. As she reached into the cabinet, she pulled out an empty box of cereal and suddenly felt enraged.

  “Trent!” Valie stomped down the hallway to Trent's room and burst in. “Trent!” she yelled. He was still sleeping, rolled in a mass of blankets on his bed. Valie threw the empty cereal box at him. “Trent, you idiot! You ate all of my Fruity Pebbles!” Valie yelled and began to cry hysterically.

  Trent sat up, rubbing his eyes, trying to comprehend what was happening. He sleepily got out of bed and went to the kitchen.

  Valie stood at the counter crying, then knocked her bowl and spoon off the counter.

  Trent walked in, yawning loudly. “Hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?”

  “You ate all my cereal!” she cried.

  He tried not to laugh at his cousin, “Hey, we can buy more cereal, Valie. Don't cry,” he patted her back.

  "It's not just that...the smell is gone, Trent," she looked up at him and sniffled.

  "What smell?"

  "It doesn't smell like apples and cinnamon anymore."

  The scent that her uncle always loved and worked so hard to maintain had slowly started to fade away. Valie thought about lighting some candles, but the smell caused a reaction in her that physically hurt. All she could think about was how he wasn't there to appreciate the smell anymore.

  Trent pulled her in for a hug, “I miss him too.”

  That day at school, they walked in with Maddy, who had an extra bounce in her step. Valie figured it was because Maddy felt like she finally had friends, but Valie didn't really consider her a friend. She considered her family, because you know, you don't get to pick your family.

  Valie tried to dodge her friends. No matter what explanation she gave to the school, her friends would want the truth, a truth that she couldn't give, but at lunch Valie and Trent didn't have a choice. They were pelted with questions. They told their friends the same thing they told the office. They had an unexpected family emergency and they had to go out of town. Maddy's presence helped confirm that fabrication. It wasn't a very convincing story, but it was all they could think of. Casey and Charlie seemed to believe them, but Emma's eyes fell on Valie. Valie couldn't read her expression. She hadn't said anything to Valie about the phone call, Emma let the others ask the questions. Valie felt a little resentful about Emma breaking the promise she made to her about calling the police, only because it almost got Valie and Carson into serious trouble. Valie glanced away from Emma and asked Casey and Charlie if anything exciting happened while they had been gone. Casey started to fill them in, her mouth going about a million miles a minute. Valie knew that once the others heard that their uncle went missing, more questions would mount, but today...there had been enough.

  They were different. Valie was, Trent was, Maddy was. Their lives had been changed and not knowing what actually happened to their parents made it hard to move on, but they were alive and together, and that was going to make the hard days a little easier.

  Valie missed Carson, more than she would ever admit to anyone. She thought about him most often at night, when she was trying to sleep. When she closed her eyes, she would replay some of their conversations. She replayed what Phaedra had told her about his brother. Valie knew Carson cared about her, but couldn't understand why he left the way he did.

  Valie shared her room with Maddy, even though there was barely an age difference, Valie thought of her as a sometimes-annoying little sister. There were nights, though, that Maddy would wake up screaming. Valie would have to embrace her to calm her down, to assure her that everything was okay. Valie did not envy Maddy's “gift,” though they didn't talk about it after the day Maddy admitted it to them, Valie knew Maddy had nightmares because of the visions her gift provided.

  One of her first nights sharing a room with Valie, Maddy got hit with one of her headaches. She was laying in the bed that was set up at the foot of Valie's bed and Valie could see Maddy slowly bring her hands to her head. She then went completely still. Valie leaned over and saw Maddy's beautiful blue eyes flicker to black. Her whole face went blank –she looked dead. A few moment later, Maddy blinked and her eyes went normal. She sat up and explained to Valie what she saw. Valie had never asked before because she figured that if it had been something worth sharing, then she would share it, but that time, Valie asked. Maddy explained that she saw an elderly couple lying in bed together. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but they seemed to be laughing, then the man started to look troubled and brought his hand to his heart, while the woman went for the phone.

  “It's just like a movie,” Maddy said quietly, “I don't know the purpose of that vision, or what it means. Sometimes they're just like that, they don't make sense, they're just little glimpses into people's lives. Sometimes they're happy, but most of the time...they are quite sad.”

  Chapter 26

  Two weeks went by since their return home. It was a Friday night, the night before Homecoming, and Valie couldn't sleep. A sleepless night was not unusual for Valie, she had not had a peaceful night since coming home, but this night was different, her heart was beating fast, and she was restless. Tossing and turning in her bed, she couldn't get comfortable. Valie had gotten off of work a few hours before hand, and when she got home, Trent and Maddy were already in bed. Something was keeping her awake, she stared at her alarm clock, knowing that she needed sleep for tomorrow. Casey and Emma would be at her house at noon so they could start getting ready for the dance together.

  Maddy's soft breathing only made Valie feel jealous that she was in a peaceful sleep and she wasn't. Valie dragged herself out of bed to make herself some chamomile tea to help her fall asleep. She made the tea, walked into the dark living room, and sat on the couch. Everything was quiet, except for the ticking of the grandfather clock above the fireplace. It was almost 2AM.

  Valie took a few sips of her tea, admiring the pictures on the walls. There was a new one that Valie had put up, the picture of her mother and Vincent. She had it enlarged and put in a silver frame. Valie liked the picture so much because they looked genuinely happy and that happiness contradicted all of the solemnness that seemed to come from all of the memories that they knew of their time on the team. Valie wished that she knew the story behind her mother and Vincent, but then again, maybe she didn't. The way it was, she could imagine the past the way she wanted. She felt grateful for her mother, by being the kind person she was, it was almost like she guaranteed something good for Valie's future. It was her kindness that drove Vincent to help her.

  Valie's thoughts on her mother and Vincent were interrupted by a light tapping on the front door.

  Valie shot up from the couch, spilling her tea on the floor. She looked around and grabbed for the cordless phone, ready to dial 9-1-1. Valie grabbed a fire poker from the stand next to the fireplace. She walked to the door slowly.

  The light tapping came again and it made her jump. Valie looked behind her, considering walking up Trent and Maddy, but she didn't want to scare them. She tiptoed to the door and looked through the peephole.

  There on the doorstep was Hunter. Valie gasped and backed away quickly.

  “What the...” she said to herself and thought for a second about her next move.

  “I know you're in there, Revels,” Hunter said tauntingly from the other side. “Open the door, I come in peace...sort of.”

  Valie considered her options. If he came to hurt her, would he really have knocked? She wondered and, carefully, with the fire-poker still in her hand, she pulled opened the door. She stuck the fire-poker out in front of her.

  “What do you want?! I'll call the police!” she hissed, trying to sound forceful, but quiet at the same time.

  “Can you talk?”

  Valie looked around, he was alone. He took a step back off the porch and waited for Valie to answer. She thought about it, came outside, and gently closed the door behind her, keeping the phone and fire-poker
close.

  “What do you want?”

  “Magnus sent me here tonight for the little one.”

  A surge of adrenaline ran through her body. “You'll never get her!”

  Hunter looked down. He looked so much different than the first night she saw him in the grocery store. Everything about him was the same--his hair, his clothes, but now he looked...defeated. He didn't scare her so much anymore.

  He sat down on the step. Valie just looked at the back of him for a second, then sat next to him. “Why did you kill our parents?”

  He scoffed. “Wrong generation. All we did was capture them and bring them to Magnus. He did what he wanted.”

  “I don't know why I asked. You lack...” she looked for the right words, “you just lack.”

  He didn't respond.

  “You're not getting Maddy.”

  “I don't want her,” he said back harshly.

  “Then why are you here?” Valie shot back.

  Hunter stared unseeingly ahead and she waited. Finally he said, “I don't know. Maybe part of me wants to tell you to appreciate that you had people who cared about you...part of me still wants you dead.”

  He slowly turned his head towards her and Valie's body tensed. She grasped the fire-poker even tighter, prepared to jab it right into his...shoulder, probably. It was the most she could stomach.

  “It's not fair. You get to live, we die. Not fair.” There was a sudden tenderness in his voice. One that made her feel such sadness for him. He was right, it wasn't fair.

  “Maybe there's another way,” Valie offered lamely.

  “Maybe,” He almost sounded hopeful, “We still have a year...but I've accepted my fate.”