by W. J. May
“And that was it,” she concluded. “He was spotted leaving St. Stephen’s Church after a midnight mass sometime early in the New Year. Although no body was ever found, he was officially presumed dead two years later. So, that’s it. That’s Jonathon Cromfield.”
She turned to Rae proudly, but Rae was frozen in place—her mouth fell open and she was staring at the girl without blinking, lost in her own little trance. Molly nudged her with a frown, but when Rae didn’t move, she snatched the paper from Ellie’s hands with a sweet smile.
Devon stepped forward, giving Rae a ‘what’s up’ look. “That’s very good, guys. We can see a lot of effort went into this. You all pass with flying colors and our thanks. Now go! Run along!”
The children dismissed themselves and hurried out into the sun, as thrilled as everyone else that the school year had come to a close. Four friends remained in the Oratory, three of them staring at Rae as though she’d become slightly unhinged.
“Uh, Rae? Earth to Rae?” Molly shook her again. “Geez Devon, you must have knocked her down harder than you thought.”
“SSC!” Rae gasped.
The other three exchanged a look before turning to her curiously.
“What’re you talking about, Rae?” Devon asked with concern.
She turned to him with a look of open triumph. She couldn’t believe they hadn’t clued into this sooner. How in the world had they missed it? “The last place Cromfield was seen coming out of alive. St. Stephen’s Church.”
Devon nodded slowly. “Yes, that’s what the first years said.”
“SSC. Saint. Stephen’s. Church.” She punctuated each word.
There was a collective gasp as all four of them stared around their little circle.
“It’s been under our noses the whole time,” Julian muttered, taking the written report.
“That doesn’t matter,” Rae said firmly, “all that matters is we have a target now. We have a place to start looking.”
Molly’s eyes closed with a momentary grimace. “And it’s certainly true to our luck…”
“What do you mean?” Devon asked with a frown.
“It’s just typical.” Molly shook her head. “The night of our big graduation, and how are we going to spend it? Breaking into a church…”
Chapter 13
“Well…it was fun while it lasted.” Molly dropped her sweater on the floor in Rae’s room before sweeping her red locks up into a tight ponytail.
“Sure was.” Rae moved with a lot more enthusiasm, flipping through her closet at a breakneck pace. Instead of pulling out the long garment bag that beckoned invitingly, she reached beside it for a heavy black jacket.
“Wait—what was fun?” Devon asked with a frown. He and Julian were the only two who had not sprung into immediate action. Instead, they were watching the girls with twin looks of puzzlement splashed across their handsome faces.
Molly sighed, wiping off her lipstick with a tissue. “School, graduation. Well, the illusion of graduation.” She glanced wistfully into the mirror. “Those precious seconds where I thought I might actually get to go out on my date.”
“Wait, wait—hold up!” Devon demanded, crossing to the middle of the room to halt the action. “What’re you talking about? Why are you not going out on your date? Wait a sec! Who are you suddenly dating?”
“Luke,” Molly said innocently. “Rae didn’t tell you?”
Devon’s mouth fell open but he looked undeniably pleased. “No, she did not. That’s awesome Molls!” His smile faded. “But…why are you not going?”
Rae smiled cheerfully. “Because we’re breaking into a church.”
Julian chuckled and took a seat on the bed. “Oh, this is going to be good.”
Devon drew himself up to his full height. “There is to be absolutely no church breaking until after graduation. Do I make myself clear?”
Molly snorted in muffled laughter. “Okay, Carter. Actually, no, you don’t.”
“Rae, come on,” Devon continued. “The two of you deserve to get all dressed up and walk across that stage. The church has clearly been there for hundreds of years, it’s not going anywhere. The reservation I made downtown, however, expires at ten.”
Rae just shook her head, pulling a long-sleeve shirt over her camisole. “Nope, we have our destination. We’re going now. There’s no telling what Cromfield is up to or what timetable he’s working on. We’ve got to find him. Everything depends on it.”
“Everything can wait a few hours.” Devon pulled her to a gentle stop. “Rae, listen to me. You don’t want to miss your graduation, trust me. There’s something to be said for ending your old life before you move on with your new.”
She faltered for a second and he pressed his luck.
“The church will still be there in a few hours, we can go right after the ceremony. But you and Molly have been working too hard for this. You need to walk across that stage.”
Rae glanced at Molly, who was staring longingly at the garment bag.
Devon brought his lips to her ear and whispered softly, “End this chapter. Do it right. Then we can go see whatever the future has in store. Together.”
Rae bit her lip and stared up into his eyes. “We can go right after the ceremony?”
He chuckled, kissing the tip of her nose before releasing her. “Right after the ceremony.”
Julian shook his head. “You are hands down the strangest girl I’ve ever met.”
Rae whirled around, a sarcastic reply on the tip of her tongue, but Molly silenced her with a feral shriek as she practically shoved the boys out of the room. “No time! If we’re really going to do this, then we already lost four minutes arguing about it! We’ve got to move!”
Devon grinned as he jogged out the door. “See you at six, Rae.” His eyes flickered inside to where Molly was working herself up into a crackling whirlwind of energy. “Good luck!”
The door closed silently behind him and Rae turned to Molly with a wary eye. “I’m not going to need to find you a sedative, am I?”
Much to her surprise, Molly leapt upon her, throwing her tiny arms around Rae’s neck. Rae patted her gently on the back, both shocked and amused.
“What’s this?” she asked tentatively.
Molly shuddered with a silent sob. “I’m just…” She pulled away and wiped a stream of sudden tears from her face. “I’m just so happy we get to wear these dresses!”
Rae’s big speech about once-in-a-lifetime moments, how it was important to take a second to breathe and how it was okay to cry, vanished in an instant as she took a step back and surveyed her over-emotional friend.
“The dresses? Really?”
Molly stopped crying in an instant as her face lit up with glee. “Wait until you see them!”
What started out as a two-person beautifying extravaganza, quickly expanded as the door pushed open and two or three other girls from their graduating class pushed their way inside.
“Sorry to just drop in,” Maria apologized, “but we were actually hoping that Molly could help do our hair…?”
Molly scoffed impatiently, but beamed to herself as she waved them inside. “All right, all right, I’ll see what I can do. You guys are lucky I’m such an excellent multi-tasker. Haley! Plug in that straightener. Maria! Find me curling irons in three different sizes. Rae! Hairspray. Lots and lots of it.” She shook her head despairingly. “Honestly…what would you people do without me?”
Three hours later, the tiny room had transformed into some sort of Barbie playhouse. Loud music blared from Rae’s computer, pieces of popcorn and licorice scattered the floor, and the girls themselves? Well, the girls had been sculpted to perfection.
No longer did they look like the innocent little teenagers who had first started at Guilder all those years ago. They were going to cross the stage as elegant young women, ready to take their place in the world.
Molly did a phenomenal job, styling each girl to play on their strengths. Haley wore a statuesque whi
te gown, which brought out her full height, while her hair was piled gracefully atop her head in a crown of regal curls. Maria, on the other hand, had gone for a sleek, modern look. Her jet-black dress was offset nicely by the new angular cut to her hair and dark red lipstick. Alecia, the resident doctor, was wearing a light pink baby doll that added a youth and softness to her often-serious face. While Molly had gone for a shimmering number in deep emerald green. It matched her eyes exactly and made her flaming crimson locks even more vibrant.
Rae slipped into the bathroom to change.
Molly was just setting in the final pin to secure locks to her head as she called for Rae. “Come on Rae! Out of the bathroom. I want to see how it looks.”
There was a brief pause followed by a rustle of fabric.
“I…don’t know about this one, Molls. It’s a little extreme. Even for me.” She stared at herself in the mirror. She should have known better than to leave Molly in charge of this.
Molly spat out the remaining bobby pins and turned her head sharply towards the closed door. “Have I ever steered you wrong?! Even once?! Come on! Get out of there!”
“Fine, but if this goes sideways, you’re paying for my therapy…”
The door opened and Rae stepped out in her dress, fidgeting nervously as she waited for her best friend’s opinion. Molly’s eyes welled with automatic tears and she clasped her hands to her mouth. “Oh my gosh, Rae! Seriously. There are not words…”
“Really?” Rae asked anxiously, and she turned to the mirror in the room.
The dress was ruby red; a waterfall of tightly fitted silk that looped once over her shoulders before spilling all the way to the floor. Two sparkling silver shoes peeked out from just below, but with the way the silhouette was cut, Rae hardly needed the shoes to give her added height. It was elegant but undeniably sexy all at the same time. Elongating her entire body and offsetting her pale white skin, making it almost seem to glow in comparison. The bodice was a little on the lower side while still being modest, but when she turned around, the dress had absolutely no back. The graceful sweep of the fabric started up again just at the lower tip of her spine, placing her shimmering fairy tatù in full breathtaking view.
As for her styling, Molly had loosely curled the dark locks and let them spill naturally down her back. There were no pins, no hairspray—nothing except a fresh, tumbling wave of raven black. Makeup was also kept to a minimum. Rae wore no powder or foundation. She didn’t need to. All she had was a touch of shimmer above the eyes offset with heavy dark mascara. That, and a vibrant blood-red lip, completed the look.
“You are…my masterpiece.” Molly flashed a picture with her phone and tucked it away in her purse for safe keeping. “Seriously. I wish I could enter you in some kind of styling show.” She frowned thoughtfully, considering this, as Rae rolled her eyes and made her way through the room.
The rest of the girls were gathering up their things to head downstairs and meet their dates. But before Rae could text Devon, she had to stop by and see her mother.
Molly, she called telepathically across the room. Molly’s head shot up and she met Rae’s eyes curiously amidst the noisy clutter. Thank you for this. Really. This is going to be a perfect night.
Molly’s eyes misted over, but she said nothing to alert the other girls to their private conversation. She just pressed two fingers to her lips in a silent blown kiss, and smiled as she gathered up the rest of her equipment into a bag.
Still smiling, Rae swept down the stairs. Heads turned as she passed them in the halls, but for the first time, it wasn’t out of curiosity or fear. It wasn’t because she was Rae Kerrigan, the girl with two tatùs, and everybody wanted to get a look at the freak. All she saw in their eyes was a breathless sort of admiration. Their eyes widened and lingered appreciatively as she breezed past them. A few of the boys even whistled under their breath.
That was all well and good, she thought. But let’s wait and see what my mother has to say about this risqué number. As it turned out, she needn’t have worried.
“Oh my goodness!” Beth murmured as she opened the door to let Rae inside. “Honey, you just look…”
Rae’s automatic smile slid off her face in horror as her mother burst into tears. “Oh, Mom,” she patted her on the back and shut the door with her foot, “don’t cry, come on. It’s just graduation.”
“But I’m here to see it,” Beth whispered, taking Rae’s hands. “A few months ago, I didn’t even know I had a daughter. There was just this hole in my life, a constant wanting I couldn’t explain.” She wiped her eyes. “I would have missed this. This day would have come and passed and I would never have known.” She gave Rae’s wrists a little squeeze. “Except that you found me.”
Rae’s own eyes streamed over and Beth was quick to wipe them with a ready tissue. “Oh no, don’t you dare. I haven’t known her long, but I know that little best friend of yours well enough to know that she’ll shock me into high heaven if I let you ruin your makeup before the ceremony.”
Rae laughed and dabbed her face dry. “She does seem even more keyed up than usual…”
“So, how about it?” Beth asked with a smile. “Are you and Devon ready for your big date?”
“I think so.” Rae was suddenly nervous. “He’s taking me to Clos-Clos—something?”
“Clos Maggiore?” Beth nodded her approval. “I’m impressed. He’s really pulling out all the stops for you.”
Rae pawed the ground anxiously with her heel. “Well, I didn’t realize it before, but we’ve never really had a date. Not a real one, anyway. I mean, we’ve gone out for missions before, and saved each other’s lives before going out for food, but I’m not sure if that counts.”
Beth’s lips twitched, but she fought to keep a straight face. “I don’t think it does. Well, here,” she reached into a drawer on her desk and pulled out a small wrapped package, “I don’t want to keep you.”
Rae tore off the tissue wrapping with great suspense. She hadn’t gotten a present from her mother since she was about four years old, and she had no idea what to expect. A little box tumbled out into her hands and she lifted the lid with a silent gasp. “Oh Mom! They’re beautiful.”
A pair of diamond earrings sparkled back at her. Only these weren’t the little studs Rae would expect considering the stone. They hung down almost three inches, looping in an intricate design before ending in a little teardrop.
“They were your grandmother’s.” Beth took them out of the box and fastened them to Rae’s ears as Rae held back her hair and watched in the mirror. “Passed down from generation to generation. Stories go, that your great-great-grandmother Liliana had to pawn them one Christmas to pay for presents. But her husband bought them back from the same man later that year.”
Rae stared in awe at the dazzling effect as they sparkled against her dark hair. “Are they real? They can’t be real…”
“They are.” Beth smiled. “Probably cost as much as my first car, but every family’s got to have heirlooms, right?” She stroked back Rae’s hair with a look of tender pride. “Argyle brought them with him. He planned to give them to you at graduation but gave them back to me. They’re yours now. Mother to daughter. One day, you can pass them on to your children.”
Rae threw her arms around her mother’s neck. “Thank you,” she whispered. “They’re absolutely lovely.”
“So are you, my dear.” Beth pulled away and gave her a once-over. “Now, go find that boy of yours. I’m sure he’s pacing the halls.”
Rae grinned and gave her a wave as she slipped out the door. “I’ll see you at the ceremony.”
A swarm of caterers were already setting up for the big event as she headed back across the lawns. They darted back and forth from the parking lot, carrying plates of appetizers, stacks of cutlery and stemware, and bags of ice. She wondered where they were all banished to once the actual ceremony began. She couldn’t imagine that they would be allowed to stick around…heaven knows what they would hea
r.
‘And the award for excellence in the field goes to Maria Morales, for her excellent use of telepathy when evading—’
“Rae?”
She looked up and saw Devon walking slowly towards her across the tall grass. The sight of him in a tuxedo momentarily took her breath away, and all she could manage in response was a small smile. But the look on his face had her puzzled. He was frowning as if he didn’t quite recognize her and there was a question in his voice when he said her name.
All at once, her brain snapped into high alert.
The brainwashing device—it had to be. Either that or Kraigan had come back to campus and had momentarily stolen his tatù, rendering him temporarily disoriented. Of course, there was also the chance that another of their friends had been shot and Devon had donated all his blood.
“What is it?” she asked anxiously as she hurried towards him. She took his hand the next second, squeezing and searching his eyes. “What happened?”
He flashed his dimple and her heart cautiously slowed before speeding right back up. “You,” he said simply. “You look…” His eyes clouded again and he shook his head with an incredulous grin. “How is it that we’re dating?”
She blushed, as much from his compliment as from his inability to properly formulate one. “I’m just slumming it, I guess,” she teased lightly. “Seeing what the other side has to offer.”
He wound her arm gently through his, his eyes sweeping every inch of her body before coming to rest on her face. “Well, I’m very glad that you are,” he said softly.
They smiled at each other for a long moment, gazing deep into each other’s eyes, before all at once, he pulled abruptly away. “Okay then,” he started speed-walking to his car, tugging her along behind him, “let’s get going to the restaurant.”
She stumbled slightly, giggling as she tried to keep up. “What’s your hurry?” His face had turned abruptly solemn and the sight of it was cracking her up. “I’m in heels here, remember?”