He shook his head. “I’m staying at a little place someone helped me get in return for a few favors.” He managed a half-smile. “I’ll appreciate the shower after all of that…”
“Yeah,” I stood awkwardly before adding, “I’m sorry again about your friends. They didn’t deserve to go like that.” I shifted from foot to foot, anxious to find out how Kevin was doing, but I didn’t feel right about leaving Harrold alone.
Harold sensed my impatient concern. “Go find out how your cousin is doing. I can make my way from here.”
“But, you’re all…”
“No one notices a dirty homeless man walking down the street.” He raised his chin defiantly. “I’ll be fine.”
Feeling oddly like I’d been chastened, I swallowed and said, “I’ll find you later to check on…things.”
He just nodded and started walking, his shoulders slumped tiredly. I watched him for a moment. I still felt guilty for failing him, and I wished Uncle Alex was here to help. Thinking of Uncle Alex spurred me to run for the warehouse.
With each breath, my anxiety for Kevin grew. I’d managed to push it down while getting Harold away from the fire, but now every stride seemed to increase my fear for my cousin.
When I dashed inside, I saw Kevin laid out on the couch with Zoe on the floor beside him. She held his hand and wiped away tears with her other hand. My steps slowed as I neared them. Blood from Kevin’s wounds stained the couch. From where I stood, I couldn’t see if he was breathing.
“Zoe?” My question came out in a choked voice.
Her head jerked up. “He’s still alive, barely.” She took a shuddering breath. “Aunt Kate is trying to convince the Complex that we need help.”
“Why does she have to convince them?” I felt cold all over – shocked that Aunt Kate had to persuade someone to save my cousin’s life.
Zoe just shook her head wordlessly.
I’d never seen her like this. Usually she was ready for a fight, but now she just looked defeated. I bent down and hugged her. Then I stood up. “I’ll find out what’s going on.”
Zoe pointed in the direction of the laser tag room, which I interpreted as Aunt Kate’s location.
I walked determinedly over to the room, ignoring the stray thought that it had been a long time since we’d played laser tag.
Aunt Kate stood just inside the laser tag maze with Uncle Dan. An iPhone rested on a table between them. Aunt Kate was saying in a clipped, angry voice, “Yes, I know you don’t believe my kids fought a blattarian, but their description is consistent, and more importantly, my nephew’s injuries are obviously from a blattarian.” Her hand curled in a fist.
A blattarian? That thing had a name? Somehow it was worse, knowing there were enough of them in the world to deserve a name.
Uncle Dan leaned with his hands planted on the table. His bent head hid his face, so I couldn’t see his expression, but I recognized the tension in his body. He was walking the tight edge of barely controlled anger.
A querulous voice issued from the phone’s speaker. “Kate, there’s no need to be so cranky.”
Geez, did that guy just call my aunt cranky like she was little kid? I edged closer; neither ‘rent had noticed me yet.
Aunt Kate drew breath, but the voice kept talking. “But blattarians never go that far north. It’s too cold and wet. I can send Smitty over there to investigate, but I’m sure your children simply saw something they confused with a blattarian.”
“Hey!” The words burst out of me. “I don’t know who you are, but if a blattarian looks like a bunch of cockroaches all clustered together, then that’s what we saw and killed.” I ignored Aunt Kate’s “be quiet” gestures and Uncle Dan’s glare. “Why? Why aren’t you sending help? Kevin is dying!”
“Young lady,” the man on the phone sounded mad, and for a moment I was afraid he wouldn’t send help. “Smitty is preparing to come to you and we’ll find out what is really going on.” He paused, then added, “I’ve given him a vial of meds, just in case.”
Aunt Kate relaxed. “Good, thank you, Dr. Michaels.”
“But he’ll be too late.” Desperately, I turned to my aunt and uncle. “Kevin doesn’t have long, right?”
Aunt Kate opened her mouth, but a soft popping sound interrupted. A man appeared beside Uncle Dan. My uncle crossed his arms and glared at the small man.
I gawked at the newcomer who I assumed was Smitty. He smiled at me before turning to Aunt Kate. “Hi, Kate. Michaels sent me with meds for a blattarian.” He shook his head. “It seems unlikely that’s what attacked your nephew, but let’s take a look, shall we?”
Aunt Kate didn’t waste any more time arguing. She directed Smitty to where Kevin lay, still bleeding from his many wounds. I followed them, my amazement over seeing a supernormal with transporter abilities superseded by concern for my cousin.
Smitty bent over Kevin, jerked back, and stared at Zoe and me with narrowed eyes before reaching into the messenger bag at his side. He pulled out a vial filled with light green liquid. Moving quickly but gently, he opened Kevin’s mouth and tipped the vial into it. He let three drops fall under Kevin’s tongue.
I focused every part of my being on Kevin as if I could lend him my strength. My jaw ached, and my shoulders felt like tightening screws. Nothing happened for forever. I drew a terrified breath. As I let it out, Kevin convulsed, his arms flailing about and his body almost falling off the couch before Zoe caught him in her arms.
“Hold him!” Smitty yelled, reaching into his bag and pulling out another vial. Zoe wrapped her arms around Kevin’s upper body while I grabbed his feet. Smitty caught Kevin’s face and forced his mouth open. This time the liquid was blue and Smitty let four drops fall under Kevin’s tongue.
Kevin went limp and I slumped onto the floor, shaking. Smitty peered at Kevin, lifting an eyelid and nodding.
Kevin gasped and twitched. His eyes flew open. He stared at us for a moment before coughing. “What happened?” His wounds stopped growing, but they weren’t visibly healing. Dried blood still streaked his body, though no new blood appeared. He struggled to a sitting position. “Ugh, that sucked.”
I took his hand. “The meds or the attack?”
He looked at me with serious eyes. “What was that thing?” He looked at the wounds on his arms. “Why am I not healing?”
Smitty answered, “A blattarian.” He sat down on the table heavily. “I’ve never heard of one so far north.” He held out his hand with a “come on” gesture. Kevin hesitated, then let Smitty take his arm to examine it. “The creature’s bite has something in it that retards healing in supernormals. Of course, it kills normals in minutes by dissolving the flesh.” He turned Kevin’s arm over. “I gave you a basic mixture to speed healing, but, even so, it’s going to take your body time to heal.” Smitty let go of Kevin’s arm. Kevin tucked it under his other arm and shivered.
“So the big question is … why and how did a blattarian come this far north?” Aunt Kate turned to the large monitor, pressing the on switch. “We’ve had a run of beast attacks lately.”
What an understatement!We’d had almost daily hunts in the past two weeks. But I didn’t comment. Aunt Kate had this man’s attention and it had been awhile since any other supernormals listened to a Brighthall. We weren’t exactly in favor since Emma’s defection to Mountain of Ash. Aunt Kate had never said one way or the other, but I was certain most other supernormals suspected we’d helped Emma.
Smitty moved closer, studying the monitor, which showed the locations of all the recent attacks. I ran my gaze over the map, while Aunt Kate added the blattarian fight as we watched. The marker lit up in red, showing it as a creature kill rather than capture. The red marker joined two other red markers:the bizarre snake/panther beast we’d fought last week in Forest Park and the ghoul disguised as a homeless man along the waterfront. The snake/panther creature had died when Zoe ripped off its snake head with her whip. I was still trying to get the gore out of my favorite hoodie.
The ghoul had died by slitting its own throat in front of us.
Blue markers indicated captured beasties. Our containment room wasn’t very large, only able to hold five or six beasts at a time before they were taken to a safe habitat. The last pickup had been Wednesday, and we already had two more creatures in the room. One was a giant stingray with the ability to shoot lasers. After a fierce fight in the Willamette near Ross Island, I’d frozen it and Zoe had sped it back to the warehouse. Now it floated in a vat of water, looking sullen. Next to it was a black furry thing that spit a stinky, but mostly harmless, goo.
“An unusual number of out-of-place beasts.” Smitty commented in a clinical tone, referring to the stingray and snake/panther.
“Yes.” Aunt Kate’s tone matched his. “Though none as out of place as the blattarian.”
“Yes, this is very strange.” Smitty frowned as he pulled a tablet out of his bag. “Can you send this data over to me?”
Aunt Kate pressed and swiped until Smitty nodded. Then he fell silent, pondering the information. After a moment, he asked, “How do you find out about the incursions?”
Aunt Kate hesitated before answering. I knew why – her source was Nick Carradine, a damaged supernormal man who lived on the streets. He used his ability to sense supernormal beasts which made him a perfect tracker. Somewhere in his past, he’d been hurt so badly that his mind snapped, leaving him only able to focus on using his ability to find creatures. The ‘rents all tried to get him to a shelter, but he was terrified of being inside so they left him alone, making sure he was fed and as safe as possible. He never used any of his other supernormal abilities, just searched for monsters. The ‘rents had discussed getting him help, but he’d threatened to set monsters on anyone who tried.
Aunt Kate finally answered, “I’ve got resources in the local population.”
Smitty’s eyebrows drew together, but before he could comment, Uncle Dan came striding over from the front door. “Rebecca is here for Kevin.”
Aunt Rebecca was Kevin’s normal mother. I didn’t know her very well, but I liked her. She was a real estate developer. In fact, she owned the warehouse. Ironically, supernormal rules prohibited her from coming inside the building she owned. She was good-natured about it though – joking that we’d better not do anything to get her arrested.
“I’ll help him,” Zoe said, and I rushed to assist.
Kevin actually needed help standing, which shook me. If it were a typical injury, he would have already healed. He insisted on walking to the door with Zoe and me shadowing his steps. Uncle Dan held the door open as Kevin tottered outside.
“Kevin!” Aunt Rebecca caught her son in her arms. “What happened?” Her eyes looked over his head at us accusingly, ignoring Kevin’s blood staining her tidy suit.
Uncle Dan said in formal, stiff voice, “He fought a beast that can affect our healing abilities. He’ll be okay with a day or two of rest.”
Aunt Rebecca gave Uncle Dan a cold frown. “My only remaining son must be kept safe. You promised me.” She held Kevin tightly, not wanting to let go.
“Mom, it’s okay. It’s not his fault.” His mother’s hug muffled Kevin’s voice.
She sighed. “Let’s go home. I guess I get to pamper you for a while, at least.”
“Rebecca –”
“No, Dan, there’s nothing you can say to me right now that will help. Not you, not Kate.” Aunt Rebecca held Kevin with one arm around his shoulders and made a wiping motion with her other hand as if she was waving off any arguments. “When Alex told me about your world, I thought I understood the danger, but I’m having a lot of trouble with the reality right now.” She directed Kevin to her black Range Rover, and he sort-of crawled into the front seat, moving so stiffly it hurt to watch. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to spend time with my son.” She bit the words off with a glare.
Uncle Dan stepped back with his hands raised in acceptance.
As we watched Kevin and his mother drive off, Zoe ran a hand through her hair, leaving little spikes. “Well, that was fun.” Sarcasm edged her voice. “What else can happen?”
Her words jolted my memory. Worry about Kevin had made me forget about what the blattarian had said to me before I fried it. I considered telling Uncle Dan, but the way he was frowning after Kevin made me hesitate. Instead, I headed back inside, intending to tell Aunt Kate. Zoe followed, and after a moment, so did Uncle Dan.
“Hey, Aunt Kate,” I called out. She turned from contemplating the beast attack data with Smitty. “So in all the excitement, I forgot to tell you that the thing, the blattarian, told me some stuff.”
“It talked to you?” Smitty raised an eyebrow.
“What? Why? Is that unusual?” I clasped my hands together, feeling nervous at his tone of inquisition.
“Yes,” Aunt Kate said gently. “Most beasts can’t speak or won’t speak to us. What did it say?”
I glanced at Smitty, wondering if I should have waited for him to leave before mentioning the conversation, but it was too late now. “It said more were coming. That it wasn’t the worst.” I held myself very still to keep from shuddering. “It said that we, the Brighthalls, are being targeted for some reason.”
Smitty and Aunt Kate shared a look, and Smitty asked,, “What does that mean? The beasts aren’t coordinated; they wouldn’t mount an attack like this.” He shook his head. “Most of them are basically animals, like normal beasts. It doesn’t make any sense.”
I voiced the thought floating around in my head, “Maybe someone’s sending them?”
“Who?” Zoe asked. “Why us?”
Chapter 4
When the weak Sunday morning light shone through my bedroom and onto my eyelids. I groaned and turned over in bed, pulling the comforter over my head to block out the day. Any sleep I’d managed to get had been pierced by nightmares of the blattarian, or the cockroach cluster, as Zoe started calling it during our anxious discussions last night over dinner. No one knew why it had come to Portland or why it knew who the Brighthalls were. The idea of the monsters uniting in some way seemed to blow Aunt Kate and Uncle Dan’s minds. Aunt Kate kept muttering that it was impossible because the creatures were too dissimilar to coordinate. It would be like cows and lions deciding to attack normals. Her comment made me think uneasily of Animal Farm. After all, the farm animals in that book managed to overcome their disagreements to defeat the humans. However, that was just a book. This was real life, and, as far as I knew, no creatures had ever come together to attack normals or supernormals.
Buried under the covers, I gasped when something jumped on me. When it started purring and tried to nose its way under the comforter, I relaxed. It was just Boo coming to let me know he was hungry. Never mind that Dad was almost certainly awake. Boo preferred his breakfast served by me.
I groaned my way out of bed with the thought that maybe some animals had already figured out how to control us. Certainly Boo had to some extent.
I stomped sleepily downstairs, with Boo darting around my legs, meowing excitedly. Dad was awake and in the kitchen, dressed in hiking gear. His daypack sat on the kitchen table.
“Good morning, sunshine.” He smiled at my grunted response. “Feel like eating an omelet?”
“Okay.” I finished feeding Boo, then sat at the table, resting my head on my crossed arms.
Dad put a hand on my shoulder. “Ollie, are you okay? You got in late from dinner and went straight to bed. Is there anything going on with the Brighthalls?”
Translation:Is there anything bad going down in the supernormal world?
I started to brush off his question with the vague response, “just the usual hunting and training,” but I paused. Back when I’d found out that Dad knew about supernormals in general and my heritage specifically, he had made me agree to keep him updated if there was anything important going on. In my heart, I didn’t want to--I wanted to protect Dad from anything scary--but he was very clear about wanting to know.
I lifted my head. “N
ot sure. We’ve had a bunch of monster hunts lately. More than usual.” I shrugged. “No one knows if it’s a big deal or not.” I decided not to tell him details about the cockroach cluster. I didn’t want him to worry too much and, anyway, he couldn’t do anything about it. “Kevin got hurt yesterday, but he’s doing better now.” I smiled at him, pushing away my apprehensions. “I’m just tired, but I’ll be fine.”
Dad regarded me closely for a moment before saying, “Okay.” I suspected there was the underlying subtext “I’ll talk to Kate for more details,” but he didn’t say anything else while he made breakfast.
After breakfast, Dad announced he was hiking Larch Mountain with friends. “Do you want to go?” he asked as he looped the strap of his daypack over his shoulder.
I blinked, surprised. Dad knew I trained most weekend days. Most weekdays, too, for that matter. “No, I need to get to the warehouse soon.”
“I figured as much.” He gave me a wry smile. “Maybe I’ll talk to Kate about giving you a weekend off so we can take a vacation.”
I grinned back, thinking of Uncle Dan’s response. He would strongly resist any interruption in my training. “That sounds nice, but I’d like to see you convince Uncle Dan.” My grin faded. “Wait, no I wouldn’t. He’s gotten pretty intense since, you know… Best not to poke the bear right now.” I gave Dad a pleading look. “Seriously, not now, okay? Maybe in a few weeks, when we aren’t hunting so much.”
Dad rubbed his jaw while giving me a look through narrowed eyes. “Okay.”
Yeah, he was absolutely going to talk to Aunt Kate – not only about time off but about any threats I was conveniently forgetting to mention. I considered telling him everything, but I didn’t want to alarm him over something that might not be a big deal. I thought about trying to stop him from talking to my aunt, then decided to let it go. Attempts to stop him would only make him more suspicious, so I just smiled and told him to have fun on his hike.
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