The Rising

by Temple Mathews

  She looked at him with those piercing eyes and slowly moved her lips. There was no mistaking what she was saying. Go away. But the more blatantly she rejected him, the stronger he was drawn to her. He knew that, one way or another, he had to get to know this mysterious girl. His gut told him it wasn’t an option, it was a necessity, maybe even for his very survival. He had to know why she had been able to sketch his dream. What was her connection to him? His mind twisted in upon itself as he thought about it.

  Out in the quad, Natalie, Emily, and Rudy were hanging out, waiting for Will to do his time. The four of them had come to school together, and they’d all leave together. Will had ordered Rudy to stay with the girls, and he more or less did, though he chatted up whoever would listen to him, and made frequent trips to the junk food and soda vending machines, wolfing down corn nuts like a ravenous beast and washing them down with root beer. When a Latino kid dropped his calculator and bent over to pick it up, Rudy gave in to temptation and lifted the guy’s wallet. He couldn’t help himself. Even though Will had given them all enough cash for whatever they wanted, he still liked the feeling of stealing it. Okay, so he wasn’t perfect. He discreetly slipped the cash out of the guy’s wallet, dropped it on the ground, and then, acting surprised, picked it up.

  “Hey, you dropped this,” he said. Mr. Polite.

  The kid’s hand went instinctively to his butt and he felt his wallet gone.

  “Thanks,” he said, taking it from Rudy.

  He waited a moment before checking the contents. Ripped off. He stared at Rudy, and Rudy kind of hoped the kid would challenge him about it. But something in Rudy’s demeanor made him decide to just get up and walk off. He left half a bag of Mini MoonPies on the table when he did, and Rudy proceeded to gobble them up. Emily was doing her best to study, but Rudy’s mere presence riled her so much that she kept reading the same page over and over. Natalie was on edge, too, ever since she’d learned that Will had been sent to detention because he’d been caught in the hallway during class with some mystery girl. Who was she? Natalie had to know, and she wasn’t keen on just sitting around and waiting to find out. Detention was in room 101, which was right around the corner. She told herself it wouldn’t hurt to do a little recon.

  “I’m gonna stretch my legs,” she said as she got up.

  She meandered over to the vending machines and pretended to be terribly interested in a Twix bar, then sauntered around the corner. She was able to lurk just behind a boxwood shrub and had a clear view of the detention room. There was Will, and his eyes were glued to a girl sitting across the room. Natalie’s blood quickened in her veins. Crap! Why did the girl have to be so absolutely stunning? And why was Will staring at her like she was the last female in the universe? Natalie wanted to scream, to burst right into the room and confront him.

  No wonder Will had been so distant all day. He must have seen this girl earlier and now had his eye on her. Even from a distance Natalie could tell her body was amazing, and her hair was gorgeous. Her lips, too, were sheer perfection. And the lip-gloss she was wearing was some amazing color Natalie had never seen before, a powerful, alluring shade of scarlet with a hint of orange. Natalie licked her own lips, at once envious and angry. She wanted to drag the girl out and kick her ass—even though she wasn’t even looking Will’s way.

  Natalie told herself to stop, to back up or duck down before Will caught her snooping, but she couldn’t tear herself away. And then Rudy came dancing up behind her holding a root beer, and Will’s eyes flashed to the window, and their eyes locked. Natalie could tell immediately that he was angry—and why shouldn’t he be? She was spying on him like a junior high dweeb.

  “Thanks a lot, Rudy,” she said, backing up and heading for the quad.

  “What’d I do?” Rudy waved at Will, and then dug some bills out of his pocket to hit the vending machines again.

  Loreli was released from detention first, and when Will got up and tried to follow, the coach held up a hand and read Will’s detention slip.

  “Not just yet, cowboy. Sit down. From what I read here, you were . . . ‘clashing’ with this young lady. So you can sit tight until she’s good and gone.”

  Will sat down. The barefoot kid was writing something on a piece of paper. Then he crumpled it up and tossed it at Will, who caught it. It was a note. I can help you hook up with her, it read.

  Fifteen minutes later in the hallway, barefoot faux-hawk boy was holding out his hand to Will.

  “Twenty bucks. And you know she’s worth it.”

  The guy was sniffling and running his hands over his stupid faux-hawk. It seemed like his snot was what was making it stick up. Will took out a twenty. The kid snatched it and stuffed it in his pocket, then got all conspiratorial, looking around as if the Feds were closing in on them.

  “My name’s Hawk. You’re one of the new kids, right?”

  “Your note said you could help me with Loreli?”

  Hawk looked around again for enemies. The coast was clear. He smiled as if he was sharing the world’s biggest secret.

  “Straight up, dude, this is gold.”

  “I’m waiting.”

  “She’s all over Rocco.”

  “Rocco?”

  Hawk looked like someone had just slapped him with a fish.

  “Man, what solar system do you call home? I know it’s your first day, but you should have scoped out the pecking order, dude. Rocco Manelli is this school’s über-Alpha male, and Loreli’s got him in her sights. Whenever he has one of his secret rage parties, she tries to hook up with him. So far she’s struck out. But she’s the Energizer Bunny—boom boom boom—she just keeps on trying.”

  “And this helps me because . . .?” asked Will.

  “Because Rocco’s having one of his super-secret ragers tonight, and the Hawk Man just happens to know where it’s going down.”

  Hawk rubbed his thumb and middle finger together: money. Will took out a fifty.

  “Rock and roll! I like you,” said Hawk. “You speak my language. Tonight at the J & M. This is premium intel, bro.”

  “You got an address?”

  “It’s in Pioneer Square. Helen Keller couldn’t miss it. Good luck.” Hawk started walking away, then stopped and turned around.

  “Oh, you don’t know me and we never had this conversation.”

  Will stared at the kid until he got over himself and left.

  Waiting out front, Natalie was nervous. Will came out and he nodded to her, but the way he didn’t really look at her said it all. He clearly didn’t appreciate being spied on. They zoomed home in the Beemer in silence, save for Rudy’s off-key singing as he listened to tunes on the iPod he’d borrowed from Will, bobbing his head and alternately popping Red Hots and potato chips into his mouth. Emily stared out the window watching the world whiz by, attuned to the feelings of jealousy that were running rampant through her sister’s brain. Natalie had told her about the girl with the green eyes, and how Will had been staring at her with such intensity. When the mystery girl had left detention and walked by them to the parking lot, they’d checked her out, sizing her up, looking for flaws. But she was exquisite, exuding a potent vibe—in the way she walked, even the way her hair bounced—that was a perfect mixture of purity and naughtiness. She was fire and ice, heaven and hell, angel and devil. This chick totally knows what she’s doing, they thought. Ouch. Emily now looked over at Will, who seemed to be off in his own world. He was driving hard and fast, the tires squealing.

  After a few minutes, Natalie couldn’t take the silence any longer.

  “How was detention?” she asked

  Will just kept driving, looking straight ahead.

  “Hello?” she tried again. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Sure. Just got a lot on my mind,” said Will.

  I’ll bet, thought Natalie, but she bit her tongue. She wanted to tell him she was sorry for spying. If they could just talk, she thought, everything would be okay. But Will’s body language was clear. He was in
no mood to talk to anyone just now, even her. Maybe especially her.

  Pulling the car into the mansion’s garage, Will got out and went immediately into his lab. The surveillance cameras showed that everything with April was status quo: no better, but no worse. He spent the next hour assembling weaponry.

  At dinnertime a McComb’s BBQ truck pulled up and delivered chicken, fries, slaw, and apple pie. They all sat at the big table in the dining room and chowed down. Emily was studying Rudy as he demolished a chicken wing.

  “Eeewww. Was that a crunch? Are you eating the bones?” she exclaimed.

  “Not all of them,” said Rudy.

  “Well, don’t let me stop you. Eat it. Crunch the bones. Tell me, this chicken, does it taste like human?”

  Rudy acted like he was thinking about it.

  “Kinda . . .”

  Emily made a face and nibbled at her apple pie.

  Natalie noticed that Will had changed clothes and was wearing new jeans, a fresh T-shirt, and a new leather jacket. She tried to act like she hadn’t noticed, but her eyes danced around nervously.

  No wonder Natalie’s freaking, Emily thought. Will looked hot. Any girl worth her Victoria’s Secrets would throw herself at him with all she had.

  Though she’d intended to play it cool and not pry, Natalie couldn’t stop herself from blurting out, “What’s with the new clothes?”

  Will looked down at his clothes as though he was seeing them for the first time. “They’re just clothes.”

  Emily nodded. Riiiiight.

  Natalie tried on a smile. It didn’t fit.

  Will stood up. “I’m going out.”

  Natalie couldn’t help but ask him, even though she already knew the answer, “Where to?”

  “It’s better if you don’t know.” He held up his cell phone. “Text me if anything comes up.”

  “Come on, man, tell us,” said Rudy. “What’s happening? Going someplace good?”

  “You wouldn’t like it. Stay in the house, Rudy, got it?”

  “Yeah, sure, I got it,” Rudy answered glumly. “I can while away the time playing Demon Hunter!” He laughed hysterically.

  Emily rolled her eyes. What a dork.

  Will jetted to his lab and armed himself. He was heading for the garage when he ran into Natalie. She was standing in the open garage doorway, waiting for him.

  “Time out, Will. Lay it out for me. What’s going on?”

  Will just looked at her.

  “It’s that girl, isn’t it?” said Natalie.

  “Yeah,” said Will. He glanced at his watch, impatient.

  “I thought so,” said Natalie, doing a lousy job of hiding her disappointment and anger.

  “Natalie, it’s not like that,” said Will. “There’s something about her. I’ve got to chase this down. I saw her the night I was tracking Rudy. And she drew something at school. I don’t have time to explain it to you, but I think she knows something. And even if she doesn’t, the place she’s supposed to be tonight, I’ve got to get out there and poke around, stir things up. That’s what I do. You know that.”

  Natalie was getting the idea that she just couldn’t play the jealousy card with Will, ever. She had to take the high road. Be secure. Be strong. Even if she didn’t feel that way. So she mustered a supportive smile. “Yeah, I know. No problem. Just . . . be safe.”

  He leaned toward her, then stopped himself. Instead of hugging or kissing her, he squeezed her hand. He turned to go.

  “Will?”

  He stopped.

  “You’ll text me, right? Let us know what’s going on?”

  “Sure. No problem.”

  She watched as he went into the garage and shut the door behind him. She stood and listened as he started up the Suzuki, heard the garage door opening, the powerful bike taking off down the driveway. She hated this, hated being the wimpy, jealous girlfriend. She knew she needed to back off. She had what she wanted for the time being: a text, a promised lifeline. But had she just gotten a handshake from the boy she loved more than life itself? Lifeline or no lifeline, suddenly she was confused and upset all over again. She worried that Will Hunter, the love of her life, was slipping away from her.

  Chapter Thirteen: Dirty Martinis

  Will pulled his Suzuki to the curb in front of the old Pioneer Building and parked. The rain was coming down in a fine mist, typical of Seattle. He got off the bike and glanced around. Though it was drizzling, the streets were still busy, people coming and going, the hoods on their REI parkas pulled up, hands dug into their pockets for warmth. Will walked down the sidewalk until he came to the J & M Hotel. It looked like any other brick building in Seattle, an old one built in 1889. The hotel was closed down now, as was the adjacent J & M Café. There were lights on in the café, but the front door was chain-locked and the neon signs were off.

  Will could hear music thumping, so he moved around the corner to the alley. A couple of guys well over six feet tall stood sentry by the back door, and Will knew he’d found the entry to Rocco’s party. He kept walking and then doubled back, watching as two groups of teens scooted into the alley and were granted entrance to the J & M by the goons. Will knew he could take the big fellas out in about two seconds, but he didn’t want to cause a scene just yet. So he walked to the adjacent building, scaled the fire escape, and climbed to the rooftop. Then he made the jump over the alley and landed on the roof of the J & M. He moved over to the lone skylight.

  Peering down into the J & M, he saw a hundred or so teens hanging out, drinking, smoking, flirting, dancing, trying to be cool. He saw that one of the corners of the old café was dark. Finding the corresponding corner on the roof, he took out a Flareblade, powered it up to high, and cut a hole in the tarpaper roof. The diameter of the hole was just wide enough to allow him to slip through. He sank a line into an exposed beam and silently lowered himself into the café. Take that, Spider-Man.

  The music was a thumping death metal song by Correl Shames, the kind of stuff that made Will grind his teeth. He scanned the room and quickly zeroed in on his target: Loreli. She was wearing a short black leather skirt and black tights with some kick-ass steel-toed boots that looked like she’d got them off a telephone lineman. She was orbiting a table where a tall, muscular kid with spiked bleach-blonde hair and close-set eyes was holding court. The way everyone around him was deferring to him, Will knew this had to be Rocco Manelli. Girls would approach him and preen and strut. If he liked what he saw, he grabbed their wrists and stamped them. Loreli looked frustrated as, after she’d made her play, one of Rocco’s buffers shook his head and escorted her to the bar, where she sat, defeated, on a stool. Will saw that the girls who had been stamped made their way through a door to another room.

  Will looked again at Loreli and again he felt an incredible, magnetic pull unlike anything he’d ever felt before. It was like what he felt for Natalie, but it was somehow even more powerful, primal, and intense. He walked toward her and began to sweat. He didn’t get it; he was always, always cool under pressure. Why was this so different?

  He took the stool next to her. She swiveled and gave him a dirty look.

  “What are you doing here?” You, like a dirty word, like he was a piece of trash.

  “I want to talk.”

  “Talk all you want. Just don’t expect me to listen.” She started to slide off the stool, but Will grabbed her wrist. Her emerald eyes flashed angrily.

  “Leave me alone.”

  “Tell me about the drawing.”

  She yanked her wrist way. Again Will was surprised at how strong she was. She shook her head and continued to stare at him.

  “Are you always this freakin’ rude?” she asked.

  “Only when I need to be. How did you see it? What you drew?”

  She sighed, then went limp and hung her head, letting her hair fall over her face. Will touched her wrist, gently this time.

  “I’m sorry if I hurt you. I didn’t mean to.”

  After a beat, she slowl
y raised her head and looked up at him with cold hard eyes. “You couldn’t hurt me on your best day. Now do us both a favor and vamoose. Beat it. Scram.”

  “No way.”

  He could almost see the wheels turning in her head. How could she get rid of him? But what she said next was a surprise.

  “Okay then. Buy me a drink.” It wasn’t a request.

  Wary, Will signaled to the girl in black on roller skates behind the bar. She had aqua hair and a barbed-wire choker tattoo. Will set a Benjamin on the bar. The girl didn’t blanch at the bill, just looked at Loreli.

  “Two martinis, dirty,” Loreli said.

  While the roller-skate girl was building the martinis, Loreli swayed on her stool to the music. Will could smell her, and again he was drawn to her in a way that he didn’t yet understand but was doing his best to process. Sure she was awesome-looking and had eyes you could leap right into, and she was fit and sensual and all that. But it was something more, much more. Something deeper. A real and potent connection. He longed to know what the source of his attraction to this girl was, and he was determined to find out.

  The drinks came and Loreli reached over and grabbed one, lifting it to her lips and drinking it down in one long, protracted sip as she held Will’s gaze. When she finished, she ate the olive and kept the toothpick in her mouth. Then she reached for the other drink and picked it up too.

  “Oh, did you want one?” she asked.

  “Not particularly,” said Will.

  “I think you do,” she said, moving the glass to Will’s lips. “Come on, don’t make me drink alone. I’m not gonna tell you what you want to know if you’re so rude you won’t even drink with me.”