by Lynne Ewing
“About the manuscript,” he yelled in frustration. “You said something about the manuscript.”
“No.” She shook her head.
“In dreams, thoughts are expressed aloud,” he warned. “You said ‘at least the manuscript hasn’t been destroyed.’ ”
Toby’s monstrous eyes flared and she watched in bewilderment as a jagged hole tore the dreamscape apart.
Suddenly she was back in the tunnel, clasping hands with Jimena and Serena. Jimena was holding Vanessa tightly against her.
“What happened?” Jimena asked.
“He took me into a dream,” Catty answered, and before she could say more, they tumbled from the tunnel back into time.
Toby was in a rage. He quickly reworked his features, changing nose, eyes, and hair until he resembled the schoolboy Toby.
“Where are we?” Jimena stared at the land around them.
“It looks normal enough,” Catty examined the nearby eucalyptus trees. “Maybe we’re back in Griffith Park.” But the feel of the air was too heavy and the silence surrounding them too complete.
“Are we in another dream?” Serena asked and pointed up.
Giant sparks of heat lightning split across the night sky. Terrible thunder followed, shaking the ground beneath them.
Catty shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Then she saw Vanessa, lying on the ground. She got up and went to her. She knelt beside her, cradled her, and held her tightly. In the flashing glow from the lightning, Vanessa’s face looked pallid and sickly. Her eyes no longer focused and her heartbeat felt weak and slow.
Catty stared back at Toby as he paced angrily around them. Nothing was taking Vanessa from her. Not death. Not Toby. But even as she made the promise to herself, she felt Vanessa weaken and slip away. Tenderly she stroked Vanessa’s hair and kissed the top of her head.
Toby walked slowly toward her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CATTY STARED AT Toby as he paced silently around her.
“I understand your trickery now,” he said.
Catty remained motionless, paralyzed with intense fear, not for herself, but for Vanessa.
His voice was deadly when he spoke again. “You didn’t destroy the Secret Scroll.”
“I did,” Catty lied.
“That was a forgery you destroyed.” His hand whipped out and he yanked Vanessa from her arms. Catty threw herself at Toby and tried to pry her from him. Sparks of electricity stung her, but still her fingers worked to free Vanessa.
“Confess,” he ordered.
“Let Vanessa go with Jimena and Serena and I’ll tell you,” she answered.
He smiled mockingly, as if her bravery amused him. He dropped Vanessa, and she crumpled to the ground. Jimena and Serena pulled her away.
“I took another old manuscript and painted it to make it look like the Secret Scroll,” Catty admitted. “I didn’t think you’d look at it closely.”
His eyes narrowed into slits but not before she caught a flicker of uneasiness. “Take me to the real manuscript,” he spoke more calmly now.
Catty looked around her. “How? I don’t even know where we are.”
“Where is the manuscript?” he demanded.
“My house,” she said quietly and hoped that Kendra was sleeping. She didn’t need to add her into the mix.
He touched her shoulder and her body began to shiver. “Take the hands of your friends,” he ordered.
As soon as she did, lightning flared around them. They were lifted into a vortex of white light and soon they were standing in Catty’s backyard.
“Get the manuscript,” Toby ordered. “The correct one. No trickery.” He pressed one menacing hand around Vanessa’s neck in warning.
“I understand.” Catty hurried toward her house. But as she walked across the patio and opened the sliding glass door, she remembered what Maggie had told them. Regulators were afraid of the Secret Scroll. There had to be a reason. Something more than the curse. If the Path of the manuscript described the way to vanquish the Atrox, then surely it must also tell how to destroy the Regulators.
She dashed across the kitchen, her heart beating with renewed hope, and climbed the stairs. Maybe the manuscript could protect them!
She walked into her bedroom and started to grab the manuscript from her desk. Her hand stopped in midair.
The manuscript was gone.
She glanced at the hallway. Had Kendra come into her room and taken it? What if she had tried to destroy the manuscript herself ? That would be so like Kendra.
Catty rushed down the hallway and paused at the door to Kendra’s room. A dim night-light cast an orange glow across the room. Catty entered silently, the thick oriental carpet absorbing her footsteps, and sat on the edge of the bed. Kendra’s breathing was thick and heavy. Her eyes opened and she smiled thinly. Catty knew without asking that she was feeling worse.
“I need the manuscript, Kendra,” Catty spoke softly. “Where is it?”
“The kitchen.” Her breath hitched and broke the words apart. “I was double-checking my translations. I wanted to find some clue.”
Catty suddenly remembered the incantation that Kendra had yelled at her the night before. That had to be the answer. She started to ask, but Kendra had fallen back into a deep sleep.
She bolted from the room and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. She searched quickly through the scribbled pages scattered about the table. Finally she found what she was looking for. The words were underlined in bold red slashes. That was exactly what she needed.
She read it quickly, then grabbed the manuscript and went back outside to face Toby.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CATTY STEPPED FORWARD, holding the Secret Scroll high in the air as Kendra had done the night before.
Toby glanced at her, a smile of triumph on his face. Then Catty spoke and his smile vanished.
“Demere personam tuam atque ad dominum tuum se referre.” Catty recited the incantation clearly. The words empowered her and the Scroll seemed to come to life, its force throbbing through her.
Toby hesitated, then backed up slowly. Blue sparks fluttered around his body.
Catty started to repeat the incantation but before she could, white clouds pushed into her vision. Was he taking her into another dream? She shuddered. He controlled her in the dreamland. Once there, he could force her to destroy the Scroll.
Desperately, she lifted the manuscript and tried to say the words but her voice had become useless. She struggled to speak and now her lips refused to move.
Her vision cleared suddenly and she was back in the same nightmare. The jagged mountains from her dream came into clear focus. Toby stepped through the churning mists.
“You’ll never be able to use the incantation in my world,” he said with a terrible smile. “Destroy the Secret Scroll.”
She forced her lips to move. “I won’t destroy it.” She was resolute, but already her free hand was reaching for her amulet. As her hand started to yank the amulet from its chain, a searing pain stabbed her back. She looked at Toby to see why he had hurt her, but his eyes looked as confused as she felt.
Another spike of pain dug into her and as it did, the dream broke apart like a thousand birds scattering into flight.
She shook her head. She was standing back in her yard, clutching the manuscript. Jimena and Serena held her arms.
“Sorry.” Jimena smiled deviously. “I had to hit you.” She rubbed Catty’s back.
“We figured pain would jar you out of the dream-trance,” Serena explained, massaging Catty’s shoulder.
Toby glared at them and took a step forward.
“Thanks, I guess.” Catty grinned in spite of the pain twisting through her.
Toby took another trudging step toward them.
“Here,” Catty whispered and pointed to the lines in the manuscript. “Maybe we’ll have more power if we say the incantation together.”
They grasped the manuscript and repeated the
incantation after Catty. “Demere personam tuam atque ad dominum tuum se referre.”
A brilliant white flash stung their eyes and filled the yard with a strange light. Then another flare as bright as lightning roared around Toby.
“We did it!” Serena squealed and let go of the manuscript.
“Wait,” Catty cautioned. “Something feels wrong.” And then she knew. They hadn’t destroyed Toby. He was escaping into the tunnel.
Before they could react, Toby grabbed Vanessa and took her with him.
“No!” Catty screamed.
“Follow him,” Jimena yelled.
“Hold on to me,” Catty ordered.
Jimena and Serena grabbed onto Catty’s arms, then she opened the tunnel and they fell in after Toby and Vanessa. Catty was going dangerously fast but she needed to catch up to them. She wouldn’t be able to go as far back in time as Toby could go, so her only chance to save Vanessa was now.
“Say the words together,” Catty urged and held up the manuscript.
Jimena and Serena each put one hand on the manuscript while their other hand clasped Catty tightly. Then they repeated the incantation.
Finally, Jimena stopped. “Mira.” She pointed.
Toby’s appearance began to change. His features twisted and melted. His mouth stretched into a brutal slash of scar tissue. Cartilage curled irregularly around two holes where his nose had been. He crouched over, his breathing labored. Air rattled from his throat. What remained of him seemed to fall into a deep sleep. Toby began to tumble away from them, carrying Vanessa with him.
“We have to save Vanessa!” Jimena shouted. “Catch up to him.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Catty answered, straining her power.
“Try,” Serena yelled.
Vanessa stirred.
“Vanessa!” Catty yelled.
Vanessa glanced at her weakly, then a baffled look crossed her face. She seemed to become aware of her surroundings again. She gasped when she saw the monstrous creature who was holding her. She struggled to free herself from the clawlike hands but they held her tightly. She reached toward Catty.
Catty grabbed Vanessa and wrenched her free. As she did, the manuscript fell from her hands.
Jimena started to go after it.
“Don’t,” Catty warned. “If you let go of me, you’ll fall back into time, and who knows where you’ll land.”
“I wish you’d mentioned that earlier.” Serena held more tightly to Catty’s arm.
They watched the Secret Scroll fall into the void and disappear. Then they landed back in time.
“Where are we?” Serena asked and looked around. “I hope this is real life and not someone’s dream.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CATTY LOOKED UP at the hills and saw the Hollywood sign. “We’re in L.A.,” she answered with a surge of happiness.
“When?” Jimena asked urgently and looked around her.
“Yeah,” Serena wondered. “What day is it?”
Catty glanced down at her watch and looked at the date display. “It’s the same night we left.”
“Great, let’s go get the car,” Serena suggested.
“Yeah,” Jimena said. “Then let’s get something to eat. Tengo hambre.”
“Isn’t anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” Vanessa asked. “What was that monster?”
“You tell her,” Serena told Catty.
“It’s a long story,” Catty began as they started walking toward a bus stop.
An hour later, they were in Jimena’s car, driving through the park. Cool air smelling of pine and eucalyptus rushed through the windows. The fires had been put out and the winds from the ocean had driven the smoke away.
Catty rested her head on the backseat and looked out at the night.
“I almost got us all destroyed,” Vanessa remarked. “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been trying to make Michael jealous.” She shook her body. “Yuck. Did you see what Toby really looked like?”
Catty nodded. “A putrid monster. I tried to tell you.”
“We all did,” Jimena put in.
Vanessa sighed and looked out the window. “Tell me I didn’t kiss him when he looked like that.”
“You kissed him,” Catty teased.
“No way.” Vanessa covered her face.
“Yes way,” Serena laughed.
“With tongue,” Jimena added with glee.
“I wonder what Michael is doing tonight?” Vanessa leaned back against the seat and laughed. “I hope I didn’t make him too jealous.”
They all laughed.
“I got my one and only,” Jimena remarked. “Collin es mi todo. Only two more days and he’ll be back from Hawaii.”
“I had my guy,” Catty sighed. “Too bad.”
Serena turned and looked at her. “You’re not going to break up with Chris, are you?”
“He’s so cool,” Jimena added. “You’ll be sorry.”
Vanessa smiled slyly. “Wait until you hear about Chris.”
“What’s with Chris now?” Serena asked.
“Well, he’s a few hundred years old for one thing,” Vanessa began.
Then Catty explained.
By the time Catty arrived home, Kendra was up, sitting at the kitchen table in her robe and big furry slippers.
“I must have been delirious,” she said. “I hope I didn’t frighten you.”
Catty shook her head.
Kendra’s hand sifted through the piles of papers on the table. “You’ll never believe the things I thought I read in that manuscript.” She paused, her eyes fearful, and looked at Catty. “It was all true, wasn’t it?”
Catty hesitated, wondering if she should tell Kendra the truth.
Then Kendra took her hand and Catty began to speak. There was a lot she still didn’t understand, but what she knew, she told her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
AFTER SCHOOL ON Monday, Catty sat alone in the kitchen. Memories from the days before weighed down on her. There was no awakening from what had happened but it felt more like a nightmare now than real. It had been difficult to sleep and she felt tired. She wondered how long the fear of dreaming would stay with her.
Shadows stretched and seemed to move and shift as if the setting sun were giving them life. Catty looked behind her, trying to reassure herself that there was nothing in the dark but her own imagination. Toby and the manuscript were gone. She was safe.
For a moment she imagined she heard someone walking slowly in the living room. She tensed and listened intently. Then she caught movement in the corner of her eye. She gasped.
When she turned, Chris stepped out of the doorway and into the fading light. His smile delighted her. He was beautiful, and yet there was a difference in his appearance, a confidence and strength that he no longer had to hide.
She felt surprised and happy to see him.
“I can’t stay long.” He sat beside her. “I have to find the manuscript.”
“Sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“Sorry?” He shook his head. “You protected the manuscript and saved Vanessa. You did the right thing.”
He stared at her, a look of longing in his eyes, and she knew intuitively that he liked her as much as she liked him. It was more than like, it was a deep friendship with mutual respect, but sadly she knew that they could never have a relationship.
But she did know she wanted one last kiss. She leaned forward, wondering if she dared kiss him.
He stood suddenly and she pulled back abruptly. “Sorry,” she whispered as a blush spread across her face.
“About what now?” he asked softly and then he took her hand and pulled her up against him. He looked down at her and smiled. It was a warm smile, but with an air of sadness.
She sighed. She would never meet anyone so perfect for her again. His hand brushed through her hair.
“We’ll be together again someday,” he assured her, and she knew it wasn’t a wish but a promise.
“Someday,” she whispered.
PROLOGUE
A.D. 1239
The boy’s eyes could not adjust to the dark. It was as if he had been blinded in his sleep. He called for the knight who had been charged with guarding him, but no one answered. Why had his guard allowed the hearth fire to go out? The boy listened. He could no longer hear the urgent voices of his father and the other knights in the banqueting hall. Had they left already on their crusade?
Then a strange presence filled the room, and the boy knew he was not alone. He had heard his father and the priests whispering about an ancient evil. He felt his thumb for the ring his father had given him for protection. It was gone. Had it fallen off while he slept? He smoothed his hands under the pillows and down the bedcovers, searching for the comforting stone and metal.
The door to his room slowly opened. He squinted against the sudden light from the lamp torches in the hallway. A girl stood in the doorframe. She looked more goddess than human, the way her skin seemed to glow.
Abruptly cold air made him turn from her and look up. Threatening shadows gathered above him, whirling into a monstrous form. Then, without warning, the darkness rushed over him. He screamed for his guardian knight, but it was the goddesslike girl who fought through the thickening blackness and rescued him. She held him tight against her and ran. The demon shadow raged after them with a force that shook the castle’s stone walls.
The girl fell, and the darkness kidnapped the boy.
CHAPTER ONE
STANTON HID IN the shadows as trick-or-treating children ran past him, their small feet crunching gravel and stone. He didn’t want vigilant parents to see him sneaking behind the houses and call the police. His problems were already complicated enough. He waited until he could no longer hear the happy squeals before he left his hiding place and continued down the alley, silent as a night predator.