I almost told her, but it would have sounded too crazy. Instead, I shook my head. “Just tired.”
Grace snagged the picture from my hand and I let her have it.
I ate my hamburger, lost in thought. Maybe Jareth had been drugged out. That would explain his odd behavior of trying to push his way into a random stranger’s house. It wouldn’t be the first time a celebrity had done something like that. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t come up with an explanation of how he had disappeared into a puff of mist.
I washed the dishes, volunteering to do Grace’s part as well so she’d leave me alone. She skipped outside to play soccer and to wait for Rafael to drive by. Betty sat down to read a book in the family room. As soon as I was finished washing the dishes, I decided to google Jareth.
Sitting down in front of the computer, I began the almost impossible task of finding any real information about him. There were so many photos of him plastered everywhere and tons of magazine articles, all claiming to have the exclusive scoop on Rock’s Latest Sensation, but it was all marketing, filled with what parties he had attended, what he wore, what he ate, and who might be his latest girlfriend. There was nothing real.
A short time later, Al came home with free movie passes a customer at the tire shop had given him. Everyone tried to convince me to go, but I was too engrossed in my research. I had to know more about Jareth.
“Just leave her alone, honey,” Betty said, sending Al a knowing smile. “She just won special passes to the Jareth concert and they put her into a Jareth mood.”
Al squinted over my shoulder at the full-body shot of Jareth I had up on the screen. He was dressed in black pants with no shirt, his muscular abs exposed, his arms widespread, and his hair blowing in all directions with his eyes ringed in black eyeliner and streaked with silver eye shadow.
“Reminds me of that neighbor kid, Rafael,” Al grunted.
I glanced at Al in surprise. I was beginning to think that underneath that gruff exterior he was actually quite perceptive.
He tousled my hair before throwing one arm around Betty and the other around Grace to herd them out the door.
I returned to my research.
I didn’t really know what I was looking for, but I knew there had to be something odd out there, somewhere, about Jareth. I immersed myself in reading the forums and it was some time before I realized that I was alone once again. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I grew uncomfortable.
I was just about ready to turn the computer off and escape to my room, when I saw a strange entry on one of the forums.
The subject heading read: “Jareth doesn’t exist! It’s a conspiracy!”
Chapter Seven - Jareth Doesn’t Exist!
Shivering a little, I clicked on the discussion titled Jareth doesn’t exist! It’s a conspiracy!
It was an entry dated about three weeks ago and posted by someone named “Jung Lin - in Covina, CA”. Written as one big paragraph, it was difficult to comprehend. On my third pass of trying to understand it, I began to read it aloud to myself in little chunks:
Jareth doesn’t really exist. He appeared out of nowhere six months ago and had someone cleverly fake a background to make it seem as if he has been here all along when he really hasn’t been. There’s no real record of him before six months ago. I went to the school that he was supposed to have attended and he was never there. None of us remembers him. His agent won’t answer me anymore. As a journalist, I can smell a rotten story a mile away and this one reeks. I tracked him down and when I asked him about the fake school record, he ended the interview abruptly and I was fired from my job on the next day! But he picked the wrong woman to do this to!
There was a whole line of those frowning-face emoticons, followed by a line of exclamation points in bold. Then, some very strange sentences began. Ones that sent chills down my spine.
I started following him. He isn’t human. He can disappear into a cloud. He can make things appear out of the air. He can talk to animals. He meets with other beings that mysteriously appear out of thin air. Every one of them adds Equal to their water before drinking it. They never touch anything metallic. It seems to cause them problems. I managed to overhear one of their conversations once and they said that the Snake Brotherhood is causing problems and that they can’t find a Fate Tracker named Melody. He said it had to do something with the mysterious ‘blue-thread’ that suddenly appeared and Jareth said these words, and I quote directly: ‘My rival is shrouding my sight. Why is he down here on Earth and why won’t the Inner Circle get rid of him?’ Then that bird flew over me. It landed on Jareth’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. I know that blasted pigeon told him where I was because he stopped talking abruptly and started running toward me and I barely managed to escape.
I swallowed and quit reading aloud.
At this point, Jung Lin started talking more about the Snake Brotherhood. I clicked on all the reference links and discovered it referred to a race of reptilian beings that have been secretly controlling the Earth from the fifth dimension for thousands of years. They allegedly built the Pyramids and some claimed that present day rulers in some rich countries were really reptiles. Apparently, it was quite a popular conspiracy theory on the internet.
I frowned, not certain what to think about it.
I turned my attention to researching “The Inner Circle”, but my searches brought up mostly musicians and self-help groups. I doubted they had anything to do with Jareth.
Scanning the first part of the entry again, I grabbed my science notebook. Since Jung had mentioned that these beings disappear into clouds and talk to animals, I figured I must at least consider the rest of her data in my research. I quickly jotted down the following:
Per Jung Lin, they do the following -
Drink Equal in water - unconfirmed
Don’t touch metal, causes problems - unconfirmed
Jareth arrived on Earth six months ago - unconfirmed
Jareth has a rival - musician?
Melody - person of interest?
Snake Brotherhood - need to research
Inner Circle - need to research
Blue-Threads - need to research
Fate Tracker - need to research
I stared at the page, tapping my pencil when, again, the thought crossed my mind that I was alone in the house.
I reached over and turned on Betty’s radio, but they were talking about Jareth’s upcoming concert and I nearly knocked over the computer in my attempt to change the station. I found one playing classical music and managed a deep breath as the sounds of a harp filled the room.
Deciding it was getting too dark, I got up to flip all the lights on in the living room, kitchen, and hall, before returning to the computer and reaching a sudden decision. I was going to respond to Jung Lin’s message. Maybe I could get her to talk to me. She might have more information.
I created a fake username of “Tigger” and posted “I’ve seen them disappear into mist too.” I didn’t say anything else. I hit reply, but an immediate message popped up on the screen. It said: “This discussion has been removed. It’s no longer valid.”
Frowning, I hit refresh and searched through the list of entries.
The discussion was no longer there.
I kept hitting refresh and searched for any traces of the thread for a good fifteen minutes, but it was as if Jung Lin’s entry had never existed.
Recalling that she’d been located in Covina, California, I thought googling her directly might be worth a try.
It didn’t take long.
I found the link near the bottom of the first page of results.
“Local Journalist Found Dead in Apartment.”
It was Jung Lin. It had happened just five days ago.
I looked at the screen in complete shock.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang and I screamed. Searching for a weapon to defend myself, I seized a pair of scissors.
The doorbell rang again.
; Shaking, I crept up to the window and peered outside.
It was Ellison. He was surprised when I opened the door and hugged him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, but rushed to add, “Never mind, I’m glad you are!”
Ellison grinned and walked inside. “Yeah, Betty texted me and asked if I wouldn’t mind dropping by to check on you. She thinks you’ve been a little freaked out since Halloween.”
I laughed a little nervously and hid the scissors behind my back. “Nah, not really. I’m used to being by myself.”
Ellison bent and scratched Tigger’s belly before straightening and holding out a small white stone. “What are these? I found quite a few outside in the yard. Kind of cool looking.” He tossed it to me.
Still clutching my weapon, I couldn’t move fast enough to catch it and the stone bounced off my nose. Ellison laughed as I sheepishly revealed the scissors and set them on the table. He stooped, picked up the stone, and dropped it into my palm.
It was small, polished, and pearly white. I turned it over and saw a strange symbol burnt into it that looked like a triangle with some loops inside it. It was actually quite pretty.
“Never seen it before,” I mumbled.
“Must be from Halloween,” he said. “Probably part of a kid’s costume.”
I touched the stone with my index finger. “Where was it?” I asked, curiously.
Ellison led me outside to the edge of the yard. It was dark and hard to see, but he had a miniature flashlight on his key ring. He shined the beam back and forth around the mailbox.
“Over here, about a dozen,” he said. He flicked the light and then added, “Oh, a few more over here too.”
“What about over there?” I asked, pointing to something white glistening in the streetlight.
We walked closer to the streetlight and found even more white stones. A line of them led toward the greenbelt. Neither of us said anything as we searched through the darkness. We didn’t stop until we had discovered the entire yard was ringed with them and if you dug in the dirt with your heel, there were even more.
“Odd,” Ellison said. He was no longer laughing.
We went back inside, sat at the kitchen table, and looked more closely at the handful of stones we had just picked up. They were all white, of different sizes, but all of them had the triangle and loops burned on one side.
“Let’s look this symbol up,” Ellison suggested, moving to Betty’s computer.
We spent the next hour sifting through tons of images. There were lots of triangles, but nothing with the swirls inside them.
After a while, I got bored and went to the kitchen to make ice cream sundaes. Tigger followed me hopefully as I brought our ice cream back to the living room and sat down.
“Here it is!” Ellison laughed suddenly and popped his knuckles. “Yeah, must be a kid joke. It’s a fairy rune.”
“Fairy rune?” I peered closely at the screen.
There it was, a picture of a triangle with swirls, exactly matching the white stones sitting on the desk.
“Yeah.” Ellison wolfed down his ice cream. “It’s a fairy protection rune. It means protection from fire or something like that. The kids must have tossed them around your yard as a Halloween prank. A little weird, but you know how kids are. What do you think?”
I glanced at the screen and back at one of the stones. It didn’t look like a toy to me. It was beautiful and for some reason it made me feel good. I didn’t have to say anything, because at that moment Al’s truck pulled up the driveway.
“Oh, it’s getting late,” Ellison said, glancing at his watch. “I meant to pick up Betty’s birthday present tonight and drop it off, but I’ll have to do it next week.”
“Birthday?” I asked, dumping my uneaten ice cream in the sink. “It’s Betty’s birthday?”
“Yeah, her birthday is tomorrow—” he began, but cut himself short as Grace came in and he began to chat with her about the movie instead.
I felt bad. I hadn’t known it was her birthday. Tomorrow was Monday and school. I’d have little time to find her a present, and I didn’t have any money. I liked Betty. She’d been pretty nice to me, actually. It was because of her that Jerry had a nice cage. Suddenly, I didn’t want to be the only one who didn’t give her a present.
As Betty joined Grace and Ellison to talk about the movie, I sidled up to Al.
“Hey, can you drop me off after school somewhere tomorrow so I can get Betty a present?” I asked. I knew I didn’t have any money, but I had my trusty shoplifting skills. I winced a little. I was feeling guiltier about that by the day.
“I’ll be working late, kiddo,” he replied, but pointed to Betty’s keys. “You can borrow the truck.”
I flushed a little and looked at my feet. I was almost eighteen, and I still didn’t have my license. Ashamed, I admitted, “I can’t drive.”
“You can’t drive yet?” Al asked, obviously surprised. “Well, we are going to have to fix that right away. Driving is a basic skill. In my house, you have to learn the basic survival skills! Grace, what are the Mackenzie Basic Survival Skills?”
Grace rolled her eyes a little, but stopped her conversation with Ellison to rattle off, “First aid, driving automatic and stick, self-defense, water purification, fire-building, shelter construction, recognizing edible plants, and grilling the ultimate American burger!”
Ellison grinned.
“And what does ‘STOP’ mean?” Al asked, nodding proudly.
“Stop, Think, Observe, and Plan,” she said, sniggering a little with Ellison.
“And, what are the basic threes?” He raised his brows at his daughter.
“A human can survive three minutes without air, three hours in the snow without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food.” She sent me a commiserating smile.
“And, the most important rule?” Al held up his finger, waiting.
“When complete secrecy and trust is required, use the Mackenzie Covert Code Phrase: ‘Can you get me some of those Blue Pickles?’” Grace giggled.
“Well done, soldier!” Al gave her a salute and then turned to peer down at me. “It looks like we’ll have to start our little Sydney’s basic training immediately! On the way home tomorrow, I’ll pick up a driver’s guide for you to study. We’ll get this transportation situation cleared up and get you independent ASAP!”
I nodded, a little intimidated, but feeling a glow of warmth at his words “our little Sydney”. No one had ever called me that before. I was strangely misty-eyed.
“Betty, can you drop this girl off at the store after school?” Al continued. “She can take the bus home.”
I nodded, pleased. I didn’t tell him I didn’t have money for the bus fare, but it didn’t matter. I figured I could walk. I would pick a big store that wasn’t too far away.
“Of course, honey,” Betty replied, sending me a warm smile.
I was grateful that she didn’t ask why. But then Betty never pried. In fact, she had respected my space and had never forced me into awkward conversations. Suddenly, I realized I’d grown quite fond of her. I was going to steal a really nice present.
Chapter Eight - Caught!
Jung Lin, her strange comments, and the mysterious stones kept my thoughts preoccupied the next morning. I stumbled around the house looking for my books and then searching for my sweatshirt before finally making it out the door. We had almost left the neighborhood when I suddenly remembered I had forgotten my backpack. Betty was kind enough to return for it. It would have been a disaster to forget it, as I planned to use it to shoplift her present after school.
Back at the house again, I retrieved my backpack. Then on the way to the truck for the second time, I picked up a few fairy runes from the grass and stuck them in my pocket. I found them comforting, though I didn’t know why.
The school day passed uneventfully. My mind continually wandered between Jung and my shoplifting plans. I spent so much time trying to justify steali
ng Betty’s present that I actually considered nixing the whole plan.
Finally, the last bell rang and I headed to the bridge where Grace and Ellison were already waiting. They were talking, or it was more like Ellison was talking nonstop while Grace listened, but she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, if I hadn’t known about her crush on Rafael, I’d have sworn she had a small one on Ellison.
I was nervous. I hated thinking about shoplifting too much before I did it. It was bad luck. Though only caught twice for shoplifting, both times were for items that I had plotted for in advance. A little aggravated, I kicked the engraved letters on the sidewalk and then moved to the gravel on the side of the bridge and kicked that too. A clod of mud arched into the air. There was a plopping sound followed by an enraged squeal.
I jerked around to see Reese, the girl who looked like she belonged in a private school.
Reese stared at me with a livid expression.
Then, I saw the glop of mud dribbling down her pale yellow skirt. My eyes widened. Obviously, it was a very expensive skirt. I quailed at the thought that I would have to pay for it.
“I just bought this!” Reese snapped at me. “And I’m on my way to a party!”
“I’m sorry,” I said, clearing my throat. “It was an accident.”
“You obviously don’t think! Aren’t you too old to be playing in the mud?” Her eyes raked me from head to toe and then narrowed. “Wait a minute. Aren’t you that charity-case kid?”
“Charity-case kid?” I repeated, frowning a little.
“Yeah, the stupid one who wears trash from discount stores?” Her tone was highly disdainful.
I was actually used to comments like this, but I blushed anyway.
The Glass Wall (Return of the Ancients Book 1) Page 6