Marcus cracks a smile, flashing his white teeth. His mind fills with luscious thoughts containing both Cadence and myself. I project just a flicker of anger at him and he takes a step back.
“We do come in peace,” he whispers. “Seems you’re alright. Maybe we should leave now.” He grabs Cadence’s arm.
“Not a chance.” Cadence’s resolve kicks in and her determination outweighs the fear the humans usually feel when near us.
“Come in.” I use my voice to welcome them into this home that doesn’t even belong to me. It feels strange opening the door and inviting them in. Such an ordinary and harmless everyday thing, yet one I’ve come to associate with death.
“Mav says to be nice to you, but I know you know what happened to Tarick, and you’re going to tell me everything.” Cadence pulls Marcus in, and his thoughts change to pure terror.
I’m doing all I can to not project my usual dark aura, which shouldn’t be too difficult in my weakened state. I know Cadence’s head already hurts, but Marcus doesn’t seem to be as affected by my energy.
“I think my mom’s calling.” Marcus turns towards the street. “Let’s go.”
“You’re not pulling that off.” Cadence drags him reluctantly to the couch, and I close the door.
I don’t think I can answer the questions you have, I say to them mentally.
“Holy Hell!” Marcus grabs his head as if an explosion went off inside of it.
Cadence blinks and glares at me from under her thick eyelashes. “Mav said you can do that. Totally freaky, by the way.”
It’s easier for me to talk like this.
“Okay. Where’s Tarick?” Cadence asks.
“Can you teach me how to do that?” Marcus asks. His thoughts move into desperate daydreams of being a superhero. “That’s so awesome!”
Where’s Maverick? I ask.
“Oh, he’s—” Marcus begins to tell me, but then Cadence covers his mouth and shakes her head.
“First tell us about Tarick, and then we’ll answer your question.”
But, I read in their minds that he’s at the therapist. It amazes me that even though they know I can read them, they refuse to believe it.
I can’t answer your question.
Cadence doesn’t really want to know the truth. She is imagining that Tarick is alive in captivity, despite what Maverick already told her. Only humans do that sort of thing. I know firsthand how humans love to keep things in cages.
Tarick is no more.
“That’s all you’re going to say?” Cadence asks. “I don’t believe you. You’re lying!”
I should never have let them in.
“I’m thinking Oprah would love to interview you. Are you up for it?” Marcus asks. Pictures of me being interviewed by a television host while he stands backstage counting money rolls through his scattered mind. There’s something odd about Marcus’ brain that fascinates me.
As I try to narrow in on their individual thoughts, both of their minds bombard me with so many questions, my head starts to throb. I realize now that the longer I stay here, the more people I put in danger. Why would Maverick send them here? Neither of their minds possess anything useful, and that’s when something clicks inside of Cadence.
Cadence’s anger boils over. She reaches out to grab my head, but I move out of the way. Her thoughts rage with images of her killing me, ripping me apart. She lunges at me once again, and all I can do is defend myself.
21
MAVERICK
“SERIOUSLY, I SENT you over here to help the situation, not worsen it.” I throw my hands up in the air.
Cadence slumps in Marcus’s car, and Marcus rests against the hood. I should never have sent them here. All the tension that had left my body during my therapy session has returned.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Cat fight of epic proportions,” Marcus says with an impish grin. “I should’ve filmed it. That footage would have easily gone totally viral. It wasn’t much of a fight, though. Every time Cadence went at her, the black-eyed girl just moved out of the way. She’s like a ninja or something.”
I’m not comforted by his sense of humor at all. I can’t help but shake my head at him. “What is wrong with you, dude?”
Marcus can only shrug his shoulders.
I turn to Cadence. “I can only hope that she didn’t take off. We need her. I guess I can’t trust you, can I?”
She gets out of the car and folds her arms. “She knows plenty and refuses to tell us anything. I figured I’d beat the truth out of her.”
“Dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” I glare at her. “Did it occur to you that she saved my life, and if we could gain her trust, she’d help us figure this whole thing out?”
“Maybe.” A tear streams down her face. “I just want to find Tarick.”
The look in her eyes tells me she doesn’t believe he’s dead. I can’t blame her for how she feels. “I know…we just have to go about it the right way. I agree that she knows way more than she’s letting on, and I promise you that I will get the truth out of her.”
I poke Marcus on the shoulder. “And you, bruh, you need to rein in this craziness and focus on what we’re doing. This is some serious stuff. Are we clear?”
“Yeah, man, whatever.” Marcus’s mouth closes into a line.
“What are we going to do now?” Cadence asks.
“I have no clue, but it’s getting late and my mom will be home soon.” I scan the area near my back yard. “And I’m not sure where those other black-eyed kids may be lurking. Marcus, can you take Cadence home?”
“Yeah, sure. Let’s go, baby doll.”
Cadence gets back into the car. “Ugh! Don’t call me that, jerk.”
“I think you owe Astid an apology, too,” I say.
“Maybe next time.” She shuts the door. After Marcus starts his car, they head down the road.
ASTID LAYS on my bed and stares at the ceiling. She attacked me.
“I’m sorry. Are you hurt?”
No. She couldn’t possibly inflict pain upon me, but she wants me dead.
Her black eyes look into mine, and a shiver runs through my body. Even though she looks so alien, I almost forget she’s not human. I don’t need to be a mind reader to know she is shaken up. If she possesses the same kind of powers as her brother, I know she could have easily killed Cadence.
“Uh, my mom will be home soon. Did you get anything to eat today?” I look away and head toward the bean bag chair.
How was the therapist? she asks. And I’m fine. I ate all the fruit, though, and the frozen peas.
“Did you microwave them?” I didn’t see any pans in the dishwasher or sink.
No. The peas were cold, but still edible. She sighs. You didn’t answer my question about the therapist.
“It was fine. A little weird.” I imagine her eating the frozen peas cold and scrunch my nose up. “I guess they don’t have microwaves where you’re from.”
What does a therapist do exactly?
I shrug. That’s actually a good question. “Listens to you mostly. Prescribe pills, sometimes, but mine didn’t. She tried relaxation techniques on me, but the end of the session was really bizarre.” I move my book bag to the side and plop down on the mushy seat. “Actually, the whole session was bizarre.”
I shut my eyes and try to remember what I had dreamed about. Surely, I slept through it, but I can’t recall the dream. “I told the therapist about Ronald, the guy camping outside the house in his car. I didn’t tell her his name, but she somehow knew it. Maybe I mentioned it when I was out of it. I’m not sure. Dr. Wilson told me to stay away from him.”
I agree with Dr. Wilson.
The front door opens and I know that I have to face my mother and her million questions about the first day of school, so I leave Astid to her thoughts…and ceiling watching.
“Just wait here, and don’t make a sound. I’ll grab some veggies or whatever for you after dinner, okay?”
; Astid nods, but I can tell she has her doubts. She should know by now that I’m not going to call the cops on her. I close the door behind me and greet Mom in the kitchen. She puts a bag of groceries on the table and asks me how my day was.
Before I can reply, a bang echoes from my bedroom. Mom turns to me, and I feel my body break into a cold sweat. “Oh, I left my baseball bat against the wall.”
I run to my room. After a deep breath, I open my door.
“What is it?” Mom asks me from down the hall.
I peek my head inside. “Astid?” The bed is empty.
In a panic, I check and see that she’s not in my bathroom. My dresser is moved away from the broken window.
“My baseball bat fell on the floor. No worries,” I call back to Mom. I internally kick myself for not telling her the window shattered somehow. How else will I get it fixed?
I glance out the window before moving the dresser back into place. There’s no sign of Astid at all. Where did she go?
22
MAVERICK
AFTER A THOROUGH search of my entire room and then the whole house, I confirm that Astid has left her only safety net. Why was she so willing to go to her death like that? Isn’t she scared that those other BEKs will find her and end her life?
Maybe she left because she feared the other BEKs will kill me.
“Mom, can I stay with Marcus tonight?”
“On a school night? Maverick, what’s gotten into you?”
“Mom, I’m almost eighteen years old, I think I can manage to get to school in the morning. Besides, Marcus is driving me there now, and he lives right down the street.” She’s almost convinced, so I add, “It helps to be around my friends right now, that’s all.”
“I know, honey. And how the heck did he get a license?” She shakes her head in disbelief. “Okay, as long as you go to that therapy session, too. Dr. Wilson says you need to talk through your problems and we scheduled another one for tomorrow.”
“Okay.” I know I won’t be wasting my time with therapy any longer, but it’s easier to get away from that discussion now and save it for another day. “Thanks, Mom.” I kiss her cheek, run to my room, and stuff my school clothes into my backpack on top of my folders and paper. I also snatch up Ronald’s business card, just in case.
Once I’m on my bike, I pass Marcus’s house and head for the trail to town. Darkness begins to creep through the pines, and my adrenaline kicks in. There is no way I’ll let Astid die to protect me. Somehow, I have to find her. I have too many questions, and I deserve to get my answers.
MARCUS ANSWERS his phone on the first ring, and I tell him, “I’m staying at your house tonight.”
It’s safer if I make arrangements in case Mom checks up on me. She’s not a big fan of Marcus’ mom, and I don’t think she’ll take the time to go there. If she calls Marcus, perhaps he can say I’m taking a dump or something.
“Um, okay, but I’m sleeping on the bed. You’ll have to floor-it, bruh.”
I exhale a frustrated breath. “I’m not actually staying there, Marcus.”
“So, you’re not staying at my house?” Marcus asks, and pauses, confusion likely fogging his brain. “Okay, so where am I staying.”
“Damnit, Marcus. You’re my alibi. In case my mom calls, say I’m in the crapper.” I slow my bike down.
“All right. Next time, you be the alibaba for me,” Marcus says.
I actually laugh at his joke. “Sometimes, I think you act stupid on purpose.”
“Don’t tell anyone. It’ll ruin my reputation.” Marcus chuckles. “See ya.” He hangs up, not even asking what it is I’m doing. I’m surprised he didn’t ask about Astid either.
I ride up to Lisa’s house, and her bedroom light flickers behind the blinds. I creep around the house to her window and lightly tap on it.
Luckily she’s there and pulls the window open. “Maverick? You scared the living crap out of me. Seriously, you’re lucky I didn’t scream my head off.”
“Sorry, but I need your help.”
“You need my help? Why? What happened?”
“She’s gone. Astid just vanished out of the house.”
Lisa didn’t seem sympathetic. “Cadence came by and told me what happened at your house. She’s really torn up about Tarick. I’m not totally surprised she exploded like that. But, I really didn’t think she’d go off the deep end.”
“How did you talk to Cadence? Aren’t you grounded and stuff?”
She shrugs. “My parents like Cadence. They let her in to see me. They know all the stuff she’s going through, so they made an exception.”
Lisa was already on Cadence’s side, and I can’t blame her. But I try to convince her otherwise anyway. “Astid is very emotional, and the other BEKs are trying to kill her. I explained all that to you at lunch. I asked for Cadence’s help because I was desperate. I couldn’t miss another appointment with the shrink.” I’m so stressed, my head starts to throb. “I can’t do this alone.”
“I know. I guess Cadence isn’t the best person to help you at this point, though. And to tell you the truth, is it such a bad thing that Astid is gone? I mean, now you can get on with your life and we can begin to put this behind us.”
If only things were that simple. “Astid’s own people want her dead because she decided to not kill me. Besides, I had so many questions, but I never got the chance to ask them.”
“If she was so desperate for help, why do you think she left?” Lisa asks.
I stop to think about that one before answering, “She left to protect me. Maybe she realized that coming to me put me in danger. But I need to find her. Astid has the answers I want, and I need to find out what really happened to Tarick. I won’t be able to sleep until I get the truth and this town stops looking at me as if I’m a cult leader.”
Lisa frowns. “I’ve been doing lots of research on the web about these black-eyed kids, Maverick. It’s really freaky. Some people actually believe they take your soul, your human essence. It’s like they’re demon vampires or something, but nobody knows for sure. The BEKs come knocking on your door, and you’re not supposed to let them in. It all sounds like urban legend crap, but...”
“It’s all for real,” I say.
She reaches out and takes my hand. “Go home and put it out of your mind. It’s dark and it’s late. And you don’t want to be outside. You should know that better than anyone else. I’m not sure I’ll ever go out after dark again. That night, seeing her…scared me to death.”
“I was counting on you to be on my side,” I tell her.
“I am on your side. But I don’t think this is your fight. Let her be. She can handle her own problems.” Lisa looks away. “I gotta go.”
She closes her window and I’m left by myself. Lisa, always the wise one, makes a lot of sense. I should be relieved that Astid is out of my life, but I just can’t let my questions go unanswered. Why doesn’t Lisa want to find out more?
I pluck the card from my pocket and read it one more time: Ronald Tunstall, paranormal investigator. I have a feeling I’m going to regret calling him, but at this point, I don’t have a choice.
EMPTY TABLES LINE THE CAFÉ, and I check the time. I have an hour left before they close it down for the night. I buy a sandwich and choose the corner booth, next to the window and as far away from the front counter as possible. I don’t want anyone to recognize me talking with a strange older man.
I’m not sure what to expect from a guy who pointed a gun at me. In the back of my mind, I do want to find out what he and his so-called group know about the black-eyed kids so I can compare it to what I’ve learned from Astid, which isn’t much. I’m curious as to how much Ronald might actually know, and maybe it’ll help give me a lead in finding her.
But how much can I trust this guy?
As I take one last bite of my club sandwich, Ronald comes through the door, looks around, and spots me. His dark eyes scan the entire café one more time before coming towards me. This whole thin
g seems so ridiculous. He’s pretending to be a secret agent, and I almost laugh out loud. Ronald stops, does an about face, and heads towards the counter to buy a coffee. What an idiot.
“Thanks for calling. I wasn’t sure you would,” he says as he slips into the seat opposite from me a minute later.
“Yeah, well, I had nothing better to do,” I reply, trying not to sound desperate.
“Lucky me.” With a silly grin, he blows on his coffee.
While I’m waiting for him to begin, because I don’t know what to say, I watch him closely. His brown and gray hair recedes from his hairline and deep-set wrinkles have formed at the top of his forehead. He is probably a little older than Dad, although my father has salt and pepper hair with a tiny bit more salt these days.
There’s no way this Ronald guy is involved with any government agency. He’s too much of a goofball. Ronald burns his lips with his first sip of coffee, grumbling a profanity before blowing on the steaming mug once again.
I tell him, “So here I am. Although I don’t know what I could possibly tell you that you don’t already know.” I make sure to keep my face straight when I say, “You seem pretty in-the-know to me.”
Ronald looks at me questioningly, his left eyebrow arching, and he pauses before saying, “Why don’t you tell me what happened that night your friend was murdered?” He stops again to take a quick swig of his coffee. “We both know Tarick was killed, don’t we?”
“It’s not something I really want to talk about anymore.” I look down at my empty plate. Ronald’s messing with me, trying to catch me off guard.
“I’m sorry if I come off a little cold,” Ronald says in a low voice. “I understand what you’re going through. I understand you better than anybody in the world.”
I find that hard to believe, but I just shrug my shoulders instead.
Black-Eyed Kids: The Complete Series Page 11