Nobody was going to shoot things at him and get away with it.
Luke wound and pushed his way through the trees and undergrowth. Leaves rustled ahead of him. He was close.
Luke’s blood raced with adrenaline. His eyes scanned the woods intently. There! Another weird shimmer. As if he could actually see the air being displaced, rather than the thing displacing it.
Squinting, Luke focused hard on the fluttering tree leaves. He caught an outline, the motion of an arm, the lift of a running foot. But still the person—or thing—evaded his sight.
How could that be?
A trickle of cold fear ran with the sweat down his spine. But Luke kept his focus on the thing ahead of him.
It flitted between the trees and made a lot less noise than he did. But Luke was gaining on it. And his eyes were getting more practiced at seeing it.
His skin began to crawl. His sweat turned cold. He’d seen this creature before.
In his head.
The thing faltered. Luke thought he might have seen it stumble. It was tiring. Luke was catching up.
Part of his brain screamed at him to catch it. Nothing else mattered. Another part of his brain shrieked at him to turn around and run as fast as he could out of there.
Before it was too late.
If Luke had turned back he would have seen another creature step out of the trees behind him.
But Luke kept going, intent on his quarry.
The second creature’s arm blurred as it was raised. Leveled, it settled into solidity again. Extended from the arm was a long silver instrument.
It was pointed deliberately and with care at the back of Luke’s bobbing head. The silver point homed in precisely.
It flashed fire.
With a soft grunt, Luke fell.
Chapter Twelve
Everything was such a tremendous effort. Mandy forked up a bite of spinach lasagna that seemed to weigh a ton.
Her attempts to learn something from her father’s technical manuals had been a bust. It was all gobbledygook to her.
She hadn’t found anything that even suggested power surges could affect humans. But you couldn’t expect a power company to actually admit something like that, could you?
If she hadn’t fought with Luke, at least she’d have someone to share her failure with. She regretted the fight.
Or did she? He was obviously a flake. The last thing she needed was to get mixed up with a flake.
Still, she felt completely alone now. She hadn’t had any more nightmare episodes, but she still felt encased in a glass shell.
When her parents asked about her day, it took all her will just to find the meaningless words to answer them.
It was a relief when her dad started talking about work. “I’ll have to go back to the plant again tonight,” he said to her mother, sighing as he cut up the sausage her mom cooked just for him. Apparently the power surges were growing more troublesome.
“Happens almost every night between ten and eleven,” her father said, frowning. “But we can’t seem to figure out what’s causing them or where they’re originating. Last night’s surge was especially powerful. Almost blew out the transformer.”
Suddenly Mandy sat up straight. Her dad’s words had sparked a brain flash. A rush of shivery energy made her stomach flutter. She had an idea how to find out exactly what happened during a power surge.
She could hardly wait for the meal to be over. But once their plates were empty, her mother started talking—some amazing case at the hospital where she worked as a nurse.
“It’s like a miracle,” her mom said, her blue eyes alive with wonder. “This kid broke his arm two days ago and today he comes in demanding his cast off. Arrogant little jerk with one of those silly shaved heads. Starts spouting off, telling the doctors they don’t know beans about medicine. Only his language was more crude, if you know what I mean.”
Mandy’s mom shook her head. “But the strange part is, his arm really was healed. Completely. As if it had never been broken at all. Strangest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Mandy couldn’t contain her curiosity. “What was his name, Mom?”
“Oh, honey, I don’t know. He wasn’t my patient originally,” Mrs. Durgin said, beginning to stack dishes. “Nobody you’d know, anyway. He was one of those grungy-looking kids with all the leather.”
Mandy’s heart began to thud. Surely there couldn’t be any connection. Could there? She pictured Quentin’s hangers-on.
Was one of them wearing a cast? She hadn’t noticed, but then Quentin had taken most of her attention. She suppressed a shiver at the memory.
Mandy stacked the dishwasher and then went to her dad’s study. He was looking over some of the manuals that had been so meaningless to her.
“Dad,” Mandy said, “there’s a meteor shower tonight and I told the kids from the astronomy club that I’d ask if I could borrow your video camera to record it.”
“I guess,” he said, just as she had hoped. “Just don’t let anyone else use it. The battery should be fully charged, but you better check it.”
Elated at her success, Mandy gave her dad a kiss on the forehead. “I should be home by midnight,” she said cheerfully. “Though it might run a little late.”
Up in her room, she stared at the phone, biting her lip. After she’d carefully rehearsed what she was going to say, she called Luke.
He wasn’t home. His machine answered. This, in a way, made things easier. “Sorry about earlier,” Mandy said breezily, as if it meant nothing to her. “I’ve got an idea—a theory. We can test it tonight. Please call me as soon as you get in.”
She put on a sweatshirt and her old running shoes, checked the camera battery, and collected the tripod. Then there was nothing to do but wait for Luke to call.
And think. An hour passed and Luke didn’t call. Was he still mad?
Mandy was getting frantic. Her idea was beginning to seem more dangerous than smart. Her stomach was in knots. She couldn’t go alone.
But what else could she do? Call it off? Go another night? She’d already told her father she was going and she had the video camera. She could hardly tell him the meteor shower had been postponed.
Mandy called Luke again. Maybe he hadn’t checked his answering machine.
“Hi, this is Luke. I’m not home …”
Mandy began to put the phone down. Where could he be?
She gritted her teeth in frustration and put the receiver back to her ear just as the beep sounded.
“It’s Mandy. Again. I’ve got a video camera to record astronomical anomalies for the astronomy club. Meet me on Old High Street—you know where—if you’re still interested. The, uh, phenomenon is supposed to start at ten, so I’m leaving now. It’s nine-thirty.”
She hung up without saying good-bye. She was too angry. He was probably hanging out with his so-called buds while she was risking her life.
Though she probably couldn’t blame Luke for not being a mind reader. Maybe she should leave a clearer message. But what if his parents heard it? Or his obnoxious brother?
Mandy went downstairs with her gear. Her father was just leaving to go to the power plant. “Do you want a ride?” he asked.
“Uh, no. Some kids are coming for me,” she said. She couldn’t let him drive her up there and see that no one else was around.
Mandy waited for his car to turn the corner before she headed out. As she started up the deserted street, a feeling of dread weighed her down. Would Luke understand her message? Would he come?
The night got darker when she turned onto Old High Street. The moon was obscured by clouds, and the only streetlight was on the pole where the high-tension wires crossed.
The streetlight shone brighter for an instant. As if welcoming her with its cold glow.
Mandy forced herself to keep going. The muscles across her shoulders were tight.
She kept to the side of the road where the shadows were deepest, but still she felt exposed, like eye
s dogged her every step. The gravel and sand crunching under her feet sounded as loud as explosives.
As she neared the rise, the crackle of the wires buzzed along her nerves. She felt like an unseen electrical force was settling over her.
Trembling slightly, she skirted the circle of illumination from the streetlight as if the light itself might snare her.
Her breath rapid, Mandy paused, peering down the dark road in hopes of seeing Luke. But she knew by now he wasn’t coming.
It was getting late. She didn’t have much time. Turning her back on the road, Mandy switched on her flashlight and waded into the tall weeds, wincing as stickers caught on her jeans.
She wanted to set up well off the road, where the camera would have the widest view. If only she could shake off the sensation that someone was watching.
It was so dark she couldn’t see what she was tripping over. Surely this was far enough. Mandy stopped and looked back. With sinking heart she realized she hadn’t come far at all.
Mandy wasn’t sure exactly where to point the camera. So she wanted to be certain the lens would take in a wide area around the high-tension wires and the spot where Luke had blacked out.
At last she found a likely location. She tramped down the weeds as best she could and set up the tripod. Her fingers fumbled attaching the camera and she nearly dropped it. She had to wait for her fingers to stop shaking so she could try again.
Finally she got the camera secured. But the ground was uneven and the tripod kept threatening to fall over.
Mandy’s heart tripped faster as the seconds ticked by. She scraped and kicked at the ground in a furious effort to even it out.
The crackle and sputter of the wires plucked at her skin. Was the noise getting more intense? She kept looking around nervously, jumping at shadows.
At last the tripod seemed shakily balanced. Mandy wished more than anything she could leave. But she didn’t dare leave her dad’s camera. He’d kill her if anything happened to it.
She hunkered down among the weeds, as hidden as she could get, hardly even conscious of the gnats and mosquitoes.
Suddenly an arc, like miniature lightning, bridged the wires. Mandy stared, mesmerized, too frightened to move.
The sputtering increased. It sounded like a billion angry bees popping in hot fat.
And then there was a new sound.
A rustling behind her in the woods.
The noise stopped.
Mandy strained her ears. Every nerve in her skin was tingling.
There was a snap, like a twig breaking. The crunch of footsteps on layers of dead leaves. Something—no—someone was coming.
Or was it her imagination? With the buzzing, sparking wires jangling her nerves, Mandy couldn’t tell what she was hearing.
She felt wrung out with fright.
She didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t.
From the road, the wires crackled louder. Sparks rose like bright stars in the darkness.
Behind her, leaves crunched in the woods. A foot shuffled. A twig snapped.
Mandy clamped a hand to her mouth to stifle cry.
A shower of sparks lit up the night.
Something groaned.
Mandy swung her head and saw a strange figure lurch out of the woods. No more than twenty feet away.
It was headed right for her. As the sparks faded, the night went dark again and she couldn’t see anything.
Desperate to escape, Mandy tripped across the weedy ground, toward the road. Her heart pounded in her ears. Had she been spotted?
The lurching footsteps seemed to be getting closer.
The wires sparked again. In the flash of light Mandy saw a shaggy head and long arms reaching for her.
The air split with a sound like a shot.
Mandy screamed.
A huge weight slammed her into the ground.
Chapter Thirteen
Luke’s eyes snapped open. It was dark. There was a dry, tickly taste in his mouth. His hand throbbed. Something was crawling over his ear. The back of his head ached.
Memory flooded back. He’d been chasing some ghostlike creature. Only it wasn’t a ghost. Luke knew it wasn’t anything from this Earth.
He had almost caught it. And then—nothing. Blankness. For hours.
Sitting up, he was pretty sure he hadn’t been moved from the spot where he’d fallen. His leg was twisted under him and he was stiff everywhere.
He spit the leaf litter out of his mouth and felt the back of his head where it hurt. His skull felt smooth, not even a lump.
Luke hauled himself up and leaned against a tree, trying to get his bearings. There was no chance of following the creature’s trail. It was too dark. Trying would only spoil what trace there might be left.
Luke was determined to come back at first light. Somehow he would track these things down.
Meantime, he had to figure out where he was.
Holding his throbbing head, Luke tried to think. He had been running deeper into the woods when he had fallen—or had been knocked out.
So, reason had it, if he just turned around and started walking, he should come to the road.
Luke took a breath. His legs felt wobbly. He placed one foot in front of the other.
As soon as he took a step he felt it again. Eyes watching him.
It was a cold, detached gaze. It reminded him of the way a scientist might study a rat in a maze. Only he was the rat and the night was the maze.
Luke felt his anger rise. He’d show them.
Somehow.
Doubt tightened his chest as Luke tensed his shoulders and started through the woods.
It wasn’t long before he knew he was headed in the right direction. Even through the dense trees, he could see the sparking of the wires at the high-tension junction.
Luke’s heart leaped at the sound of something in the underbrush. Was it one of them? He tried to move faster and quieter. Maybe there was still a chance he could catch one.
The wires sparked and Luke got a shadowed glimpse of the creature.
He started to run, close enough now that the noise didn’t matter. Its dark outline was just ahead. Within reach.
Luke launched himself into the air in a full tackle.
Light sparked off the high-tension lines. There was a sharp crack, like a rifle report.
Then a scream.
Luke’s body slammed into something soft. Warm. Human. Sleek hair filled his mouth.
“Mandy?” Luke instantly rolled away, dumbfounded.
“Luke?”
He couldn’t see her face. But it was Mandy’s voice. She sounded shaky but relieved.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were—” He stopped, unsure what to say. “I didn’t know it was you.”
“You didn’t get my message?” Mandy asked, still a little breathless and confused.
“No. I—” Luke broke off. Suddenly he could see Mandy’s frightened face. There was a steady glow in the air.
The air had gone still and quiet. He could no longer hear the angry sputter of the wires.
His eyes flashed to the high-tension lines. His blood froze at what he saw there.
There was a shimmering glow edging the wires. The air began to thicken. It felt charged with electricity.
“Mandy, we’ve got to get out of here. Now!” His voice sounded hollow. Luke grabbed her hand and they both raced for the road.
Brambles grabbed at their clothes. Rocks seemed to leap up to trip them. Mandy stumbled and Luke yanked her up, never breaking stride.
Then the air around them seemed to shift and part. Sound returned. The crackle of the wires burst loud and menacing again, as if somehow alive.
And there was a new sound. A deep hum filled the night. Luke felt the hum reach into his heart and make it vibrate. His teeth chattered uncontrollably.
An unseen charge coalesced around them like a cage. It clung like poisonous static to his clothes and slipped nooselike around his neck. The hum fill
ed his ears and made his brain ache.
The air shimmered as the hum moved through it, homing in on them. He didn’t know which way to run.
Mandy screamed. “Luke! Look!”
Mandy’s terrified eyes were fixed on the sky. Luke already knew what he would see.
The stars were disappearing, winking out one by one.
Blackness spread rapidly across the sky, consuming the stars, the moon, everything in its path.
The blackness closed over them like a thick, invisible cloak. Luke tried to shout, but all he managed was a croak.
His sight narrowed as the charged darkness stole his eyes.
The edges of his vision crumpled. Mandy disappeared.
He felt his feet leave the ground.
He was suspended in nothingness. And then he was—nothing.
Chapter Fourteen
Mandy heard a groan.
The groan came again, and she realized she was the one making such an awful sound.
Awareness flooded back, slamming her like a tidal wave. Mandy sat up and looked around wildly, seeing nothing but darkness.
“Luke?” She was amazed that sound emerged. Fear had her throat in a choke hold. “Luke!”
Nothing. Then there was a furtive stirring nearby. Mandy hadn’t thought she could feel more scared, but she could. Her heart was pounding its way out of her chest. She didn’t dare breathe.
Something scraped at the ground and there was a grunt, like a large animal rooting around. “Luuuke!” she shrieked.
“Mandy?” Luke’s frightened voice came out of the dark, close to her. “Are you hurt? What’s wrong?”
“Luke!” She felt almost giddy with relief. “I thought I was alone. I can’t see anything. Do you know where we are? What happened? Do you remember?”
“I think we’re in the woods,” said Luke. “I feel leaves and twigs under me.”
He was right. Mandy began to make out the shapes of trees. She smelled damp earth. As her fear receded, she felt stones poking her and pine needles prickling her ankles.
And she was cold. Cold to the bone.
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