by ID Johnson
“Uh, actually, she’s not going back. For now.” My mom looked at my dad in confirmation, like she wanted to make sure it was okay with him for her to mention Cadence’s plans. “She’s going to get a job, for a little while, and then try to go back later, once she feels more like herself.”
I could tell that Jack’s parents thought this was odd but were too polite to say anything. “Well, I hope she can get back to her routine soon,” Steve said, running a hand through his dark hair. “These poor kids have been through the ringer.”
My dad clapped him on the shoulder. “Please send Jack our best,” he said.
Before Steve could respond, I interrupted. “Actually, I have something for him. Would it be okay if I brought it over in a little while? It won’t take long.” I didn’t really—but I would come up with something. I needed to see Jack. I wasn’t exactly sure why I needed to see him, but I definitely did.
My mother began to protest, but Alice’s voice won out. “Absolutely, Cassidy. I’m sure he would love to see you. Jack has always thought of you like a little sister.”
“Great,” I said with a wide smile. “I’m looking forward to seeing him.”
“Cassidy, you know your sister will be home.” Clearly, my mother didn’t think it was a good idea for me to go to the Cooks’ house. I didn’t know why, but then, I didn’t know why about a lot of things.
“I’ll be quick,” I assured her.
“We’ll see you in a bit, then,” Alice said and took a step back toward her car door. There were more people streaming into the parking lot now that they’d all had a chance to catch up with their friends and chat a little, and I was sure there wasn’t anyone else at church Alice and Steve wanted to talk to, other than my parents, who were the only people who could understand what their family was going through.
We headed over to the minivan, and I desperately tried to figure out what in the world I was going to take to Jack. There had to be something I could bring him that would be the perfect excuse to see him. I wished I could bake him something, but that would be too suspicious to my parents. I’d said I had something for him, and I didn’t have any baked goods on me.
“What do you have for Jack?” my mom asked as she put on her seatbelt.
“Oh, uh, just a… card,” I replied quietly.
My mother eyed me in the rearview mirror, as if she wasn’t sure she could trust me. I know the look because I know the sentiment. “That’s nice. Did you make it?”
“Yes,” I lied. I hadn’t made it—yet. “Lucy’s brother saw him the other day and said he didn’t look so good. I felt bad for him.”
That seemed to be enough of an explanation. Mom nodded and returned her stare to the window while my dad backed out of the parking spot. I hoped I could make a card and run it over to Jack’s house before my sister got home. I was sure my parents would want to come with me, which meant I wouldn’t get to ask Jack the questions I really wanted to, like was he hearing weird sounds on the roof, and had anyone dressed in black visited him, but talking to him in front of one of my parents would be better than nothing. If Jack had any idea what was going on, hopefully, he would say something to give me more clues.
Chapter 10
Jack’s house was in the same end of town as Lucy’s but not the exact same neighborhood, so my dad didn’t mind so much when he had to drive me over. The Cooks’ house is about the same as ours, which is pretty nice, regardless of how my dad feels when he sees the Burk Mansion.
Alice opened the door, and Jack was standing a few feet behind her. I couldn’t tell if Alice had been crying more since church, which was over about an hour earlier, or if she just looked exhausted. I felt bad for her. Clearly, she was much more distraught about Drew’s death, or Jack’s reaction, than my parents were.
“Hi, Cassidy. It’s so nice of you to come over,” she said, opening the door so I could step in.
“Hi,” I said quietly. I looked at Jack carefully—as if he were a painting and I would have to answer questions about him later on a quiz at school. He looked more haggard than usual. Perhaps he hadn’t shaved in a day or two. I’d never seen him with that much facial hair. He was wearing gray, baggy sweatpants and a white long-sleeved T-shirt that had a stain on it. His hair wasn’t long enough to be too disheveled, but it was sticking up in a few places. His eyes looked off to me, too. I couldn’t tell if they were just bloodshot or also a bit darker than normal. I found it very strange that he was such a mess since I’d only ever seen him completely put together.
“Hey, Cass.” His voice croaked a bit, as if he’d had a cold and was just getting over it. I wondered if maybe he’d been sleeping too much.
“Hey,” I said in return. He had always hugged me before, but this time he stood with his hands in his pockets, just looking at me. “I’m sorry to bother you. I just wanted to see you, make sure you’re okay, and give you this.” I extended the hastily put-together card. I had decided printing something off of the Internet was probably better than me trying to draw something, so it wasn’t horrible, but it was a little odd. They don’t exactly make cards that say, “Sorry your friend died. Are weird things happening at your house, too? Has my sister transformed into some sort of beast?”
“Thank you,” he said, taking it. His fingertips grazed mine, and I almost jumped back. I wasn’t expecting his hand to be so cold. If his whole body felt like that, I was glad he hadn’t hugged me.
He turned the card over in his hands before he opened it and read it. It had a picture of a bumblebee and some silly joke like, “Bee well soon.” Jack politely chuckled. “Thanks, Cass. Very thoughtful of you.”
“Sure,” I replied with a shrug. “I just thought… you might need some cheering up. Sorry I didn’t have a chance to bake cookies or anything.”
“That’s all right.” He made a half smile that sort of reminded me of the Jack I was used to. “How’s your sister?”
I was surprised he’d asked me and not my dad, who was still standing behind me by the door, sort of pretending he wasn’t there. I turned and looked at him, expecting him to answer. I hadn’t even spoken to my sister since the whole thing happened. Although, for that matter, I’m not really sure my dad had either. Was he just speaking to Aaron about his oldest daughter?
“She’s okay,” my dad said, with a sharp nod. “She’ll be home this afternoon.”
“Right,” Jack said. “She left. She went to her grandma’s house.” He was speaking as if he was trying to remember something that wouldn’t quite come to him, like pulling on a loose thread, crawling his way along to the root of the problem. I knew the feeling. “She wasn’t at the hospital.” He had been staring at the floor, but his eyes shifted to fall on my dad, and I saw an expression there I’d never seen before. “Why wasn’t she at the hospital?”
Before my dad could answer, Alice crossed to her son and rested her hand on his chest. “Jack, I’m afraid you’re getting upset again. Why don’t you take some deep breaths…?”
“We should probably go.” My dad was being polite. I could see he wanted to get me out of the Cooks’ house as quickly as possible, but I didn’t know if I was in danger from Jack or if my dad was afraid Jack might say something he didn’t want me to hear.
“Jack,” I said, trying to force down the panic in my own voice. I wanted some answers, and this might be my only chance. Still, I had to be careful not to tip my dad off that I might know more than he suspected. “Did Dr. Sanderson explain to you what happened? How Drew’s death was a tragedy, but these things happen?”
Jack had been continuing to mutter that he didn’t know why Cadence wasn’t at the hospital, but at my words, he froze. Something drastic happened to his disposition, and a carefree smile slid over his face. “Oh, that’s right. Dr. Sanderson told me. He said Cadence needed to go to her grandmother’s to rest. That makes perfect sense. Of course she did. And Drew—it was a tragic accident, the way that she died, but these things happen.”
“Jack,” Mrs. Cook
said, still holding on to him, “Dr. Sanderson also said you need plenty of rest. Why don’t you go sit on the sofa?”
“Okay. Bye, Cassidy. Bye, Mr. Findley.” Jack turned like a robot and practically marched out of the room. I stared after him. Dr. Sanderson had definitely gotten to Jack—the same way he’d gotten to me.
“I’m sorry,” Alice said, rubbing her face in frustration. “He’s simply not himself. Not yet.”
“No, don’t apologize,” my dad replied. “We understand.”
“I’m not sure why he seems to calm down when we mention Dr. Sanderson,” Alice continued, looking at me, “but that does seem to do the trick.”
Hesitantly, I treaded into waters I wasn’t sure I should explore. “It made me feel very calm to talk to the doctor,” I said, wondering if I was setting Jack up for more brainwashing reminders from his mom, and if so, whether or not that was in his best interest.
“Dr. Sanderson came by to talk to Cassidy the other day,” my dad explained. “She was a little upset about Drew. They were on the cheerleading squad together.”
“I see.” Alice gave me a small smile. “This must be hard for you, too, dear.”
I only nodded, not sure I could trust myself to say anything else. I was definitely worried about Jack, though. If my sister came home acting like that, all weird, I wasn’t sure what I would do.
“Cadence will be home soon,” my dad said with a smile. “We should get back.”
“Thanks again for the card,” Alice said, patting my arm.
“Sure.” I glanced past her and saw Jack sitting rigid on the sofa, staring at the television, and I hoped the real Jack was in there somewhere, but I began to think we might not see him again.
I followed my dad out the door and climbed into his truck. I hadn’t even gotten my seatbelt fastened before he let out a very soft sigh. “Cassidy, do you feel like it helped to talk to Dr. Sanderson?”
He pulled away and was halfway down the block before I decided how to answer. “Yes,” I said emphatically, “but I think it might help if I could talk to him again.”
My dad glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, and I could see surprise there. “You do?”
“Yes.” Rather than tipping my hand, I stopped talking. If my dad had a follow up question, he could ask it. He didn’t need to know that I was taking a huge risk by requesting to see the doctor again. He had no idea I planned on being a pretty poor patient.
My dad cleared his throat and said, “Well, I think he’s out of town right now. But as soon as he gets back, I’ll see if he can come over and speak with you.”
“’Kay,” I said. Did it make any sense to me that the doctor who saved Drew, one I’d never heard of before even though I had lived in Shenandoah my whole life, had conveniently gone out of town the day I wanted to speak to him? Of course not. But then, I was beginning to wonder if Dr. Sanderson was even a doctor at all. But I played along. At this point, I had no idea who I could trust, but the list was getting smaller and smaller by the minute.
Chapter 11
Never in my entire life has my mother let me eat Sunday lunch upstairs, but all it took was mentioning that speaking to Jack had me feeling sad, and she agreed to let me fix a plate and take it to my room. I felt like she wanted to talk to my dad and thought it would be easier if I wasn’t there since this game of secrets was becoming more and more complicated with every passing moment.
I grabbed a chicken breast, a helping of mashed potatoes, and a few roasted carrots, slipping a can of pop into my pocket before I headed up the stairs, my mom shouting at me to be careful on the carpet. My true purpose was to call Lucy as soon as I could. I needed to let her know what had happened at Jack’s.
Unfortunately, I got her voicemail. I left her a message to call me and then jotted down a few notes in my notebook before snapping a picture and sending it to her.
“Sunday: Went to talk to Jack Cook. He was acting odd. He seemed haggard and disheveled. His mom said he thinks someone is watching him and is sleeping poorly. He started asking why Cadence wasn’t at the hospital the night Drew died, but when I mentioned Dr. Sanderson, Jack’s demeanor shifted, and he was almost like a robot. He went into the living room to watch TV when his mother asked him to.
“Who is Dr. Sanderson really and who else has he brainwashed? I asked my dad if I could speak to him again, but apparently the doctor is out of town right now. I want to see if I can face him and not be brainwashed. Maybe I can find a way to figure out who he really is.”
Once I’d sent Lucy my notes, I took a few bites of chicken. My mom is an excellent cook, but I really wasn’t hungry. All of this sleuthing was making my stomach hurt. Thinking the mashed potatoes might settle it a bit, I concentrated on them.
I had decided enough was enough about the time my phone rang. I set my fork down and was relieved to see it was Luce. “Hey, did you get my pic?”
“OMG!” Most of Lucy’s greetings are the same three letters. “Yes! And get this! Last night, I decided to see if I could find this Dr. Sanderson on the Shenandoah Memorial website, and there’s not a trace of him.”
“Really?” I asked. That did surprise me a bit. I didn’t think there was any question he was there that night, when they brought Drew in. But if he didn’t work there, why was he there?
“As a matter of fact, I couldn’t find a Dr. Elliott Sanderson even licensed in the state of Iowa.”
Lucy’s words washed over me, leaving goosebumps in their wake. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. So, I don’t know how he could possibly be practicing medicine here….”
“Maybe he has a different first name and goes by his middle name or something.” There had to be a reasonable explanation.
“Doubtful.” Lucy shot me down.
I was trying to come up with something else when I heard the purr of an engine outside. I recognized the sound from the other night when this whole mess started. Jumping out of my chair, I almost knocked it over in my rush to get to the window.
Lucy was prattling on in my ear, but my eyes were glued out the window. It was the same car as the other night. Even though my friend was still talking, I needed my camera. I pulled the phone away from my head and took a few pics of the sports car, knowing I’d need to identify it. It was hard to see through the tint of the windshield, but I thought it was the same girl driving as had taken my sister away the other night.
I’d just put my phone back up to my ear, hearing Lucy ask, “Hello? Are you there, Cass?” when the most unexplainable thing I’d seen yet happened. I almost dropped the phone.
My sister got out of the car. I saw her standing there on the curb for the briefest second. But then, she was gone, only a blur remaining. Not even a half-second later, I heard the door downstairs.
“Cass??”
“Sorry!” I said, once I’d picked my jaw up off of the floor. I had to sit down, but I didn’t want to walk away from the window until the car was gone. Once it faded around the corner, I surveyed the road once more and stumbled to my bed. “Lucy, my sister’s home.”
“Oh, good. I guess you need to go then.”
I was trying to figure out how to tell her what I’d just seen. “Lucy,” I began, “Cadence just sprinted up the driveway so fast, she was just a blur. I wouldn’t have even known she was doing it if I hadn’t seen her get out of the car with my own two eyes. I even have pictures of the car to send you. But… seriously. A blur.”
In all of the years that I’ve known her, Lucy Burk has never been quiet for more than two seconds unless she was in class and couldn’t talk. She didn’t speak for at least half a minute. “OMG.” It was a whisper.
“What the…” I stopped myself. I heard my mom shouting my name. “I’ve gotta go.”
“’Kay. Send me the pics.”
“Right.”
I headed toward the door, sending the pictures as I went, but I wasn’t sure how to even face my sister. I knew what I’d seen, but there was no way that it could
actually be my sister, normal, average speed, college freshman, Cadence Josephine Findley, who just covered the distance from the curb to the house in less than a second. No. Way.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would Cadence look different? Would she have some sort of new appendages that made her run so fast? Would she glow in the dark? Surely, she wasn’t dangerous—not to her family, anyway.
From the top of the stairwell, I could hear my family talking. I took my time. If they didn’t know I could hear, they might just keep saying things that could be valuable to my investigation.
My mom’s voice carried up the stairs. “We had always heard that Transformation was extremely painful, but now I guess they have some new method or something, and it’s not so bad? Is that right, or was Aaron just trying to make us feel better?”
There was that word again. I knew for a fact now that my sister had undergone some sort of procedure, something that had altered who—or what—she was. The proof was in the blur I’d seen as she made her way to the house. And now my mom was confirming it.
I wished there was some way I could wait until after my sister replied before I showed myself, but Cadence was facing the entryway from the stairs to the living room, so as soon as I stepped foot on the floor at the bottom of the stairwell, she could see me.
I could see her, too, obviously. She looked the same—possibly less tired than usual, which I found odd since Jack looked just awful. She had a smile on her face and her brown eyes were twinkling. I wondered if she would feel cold to the touch like Jack. Maybe something was happening to him, too, and he was in the early stages whereas Cadence was a finished product.
My sister stood and embraced me, “Hey, Cass! How are you?” she exclaimed.
Relieved that she was as warm bodied as ever, I only said, “Good,” thinking maybe I should still be leery of whatever my sister had become. Remembering I needed to make sure they were not suspicious, I asked, “Are you feeling okay?”
I saw the exchange of glances between my sister and my parents before my mom, who was sitting in her recliner, replied, “Cadence is feeling much better, Cass. You’re so sweet to ask. Cadence, we explained that you needed some time away from town to process your friend’s passing, so you went to stay with Grandma for a few days.”