She paused the movie she was watching. “Yes, Jayne?”
“Can I borrow the key to Adelle’s house? I want to finish up the project.”
“Sure.” She dug around her purse and pulled out a keyring. “Are you feeling better?” She eyed me, probably noticing my swollen face.
“Yeah. A bit.”
“Lock it up after you.”
“Will do.”
I slipped out of the house, wanting to get this project finished up before nightfall. Just in case it didn’t go so quickly, I took my car the few blocks to Adelle’s house. Had anyone followed me here? I did the deadbolt and the chain. Being alone made me nervous, and I almost gave in to the temptation to call Dana and have her join me.
Don’t be a wimp, I told myself. You’re the only one here.
With that note of encouragement, I threw myself into the task. I organized the remaining papers and restacked the boxes. I found a few journals, but they were empty. I flipped through them anyway, and a loose paper floated out of one and drifted to the ground. I picked it up.
The time has come to pass Dekla on. She no longer needs me.
“Dekla,” I whispered, letting the paper slip through my fingers. Not declare, and definitely not de-claw. But what on earth was Dekla?
Time to visit Adelle again. I pushed myself off the carpeted floor, my fingers already hitting the speed dial on my phone.
“What’s up, Jaynie?” Dana asked, her words distorted by what I assumed was a Dum-Dum.
“I need to you look something up for me.” I locked up the house and slid into my car. “D-E-K-L-A. Google it for me and tell me what comes up.”
“On it.”
I hung up, content to let Dana do my research. Adelle and I were going to have a little chat. But I had to hurry. It was already three-thirty in the afternoon, which only left me three hours before the game.
Dana called me back when I was two minutes from the hospital.
“What have you got for me?” I asked, stopping at a red light. “Did you find out what Dekla is?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Only it’s not a what, it’s a who. She, actually. Dekla is one of the Latvian goddesses of fate.”
“A goddess of fate?” I visualized the tall blond woman. Was she Dekla?
The car behind me honked and I jumped, only then noticing my light was green. “Thanks, Danes.” I made my left turn and pulled into the hospital parking lot.
“What’s going on, Jayne?”
“I’ll tell you at the game. See ya.” Hanging up, I hurried toward the doors.
I bought a card and two balloons in the hospital gift shop, then took the elevator up to see Adelle. To my infinite gratitude, she sat upright flipping through TV channels when I walked in.
“Hi, Adelle,” I said meekly, holding my card and balloon out like some kind of offering.
She turned her attention from the TV, focusing tired gray eyes on me.
I opened my mouth to offer an explanation of my visit, when she whispered, “Dekla. You’ve come.”
That name again. My heart pounded and I turned around, expecting to see the familiar woman in the halls behind me. Nobody. Could only Adelle see her? I swiveled back. “Do you see her? Is she here?”
Adelle held out her hands and gestured me forward. “You’ve misunderstood. You’re Dekla.”
The world swirled around me, and I reached out a hand to steady myself. “What? Me? No, I’m Jayne. I’m not a goddess.”
Adelle shook her head, a small satisfied smile on her face. “No. You are Dekla. You see the fate of those around you. You walk in their shoes at the moment of their death. You have the ability to change their destiny.”
I opened my mouth, about to question how she knew all that, when her final words caught up with my brain. I coughed and sputtered. “Change their destiny? I’ve tried. I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” Adelle gestured again, pulling me toward her. “You just haven’t learned how.”
I came to her this time and settled on the edge of the bed. I set down the cards and balloons, noting how my hands shook. “I’m just a girl.”
Her gray eyes widened, piercing me. “Then how do you explain your powers?”
“I don’t have any powers. Just a curse.” My voice came out bitter.
“That’s not true, child. You simply must ask Laima to teach you.”
“Laima?”
She nodded. “I know you’ve seen her. She follows you. The scent of death calls to her, and she waits to see your verdict about their fate.”
Her words crashed over my brain like a cold tsunami, taking my wits with them. “What? Scent of death? You mean the lemon smell? Oh! She’s the woman I see!” Laima. She had a name.
“You smell lemons?” Adelle smiled again, the wrinkles around her eyes tripling. “Better than me. I smell wet dog. You must ask Laima to teach you.”
Too much information at one time, and I didn’t know which question to ask first. “Teach me what? What do you mean, my verdict?”
Adelle squeezed my hand. “You are the second goddess. Laima weaves the destiny and lets you see the outcome. You can cast a vote to change it or sustain it.”
“Wait a minute. You mean, I can change how people die? How?” I gasped out, unable to believe that I’d had this power the entire time.
“Ask Laima.”
I plowed on, the questions flying out of me. “And it’s not everyone. Why do I only see the horrible deaths?”
“Those are the only ones you can change.”
“But how?” I pressed. “I’ve never been able to change anything.”
“Ask Laima.”
Frustration grew in me, and I exhaled. “I have. She doesn’t tell me anything.”
“Doesn’t she?” Adelle arched a penciled eyebrow. “Hasn’t she answered everything you’ve asked?”
“Um, no, not that I can recall. Like she never told me what Dekla is. How do you know all this, anyway?”
“I used to be Dekla,” she whispered.
“Huh?” I pushed my hand through my hair, yanking when I got stuck in a curl. “You mean, you used to be me?”
She shook her head, the wig sliding slightly to the left. “No. I used to be Dekla. But I was also Adelle. And now I am dying. The power passed to another.”
Her note flashed through my mind. Passing Dekla. “But why me?”
“I chose you.”
“You chose me? But how? Why?”
Her light eyes pierced mine, and she held my gaze for several heartbeats of silence. Then she said, “Ask me again in a few days.”
“Why not now?”
She shook her head. “I can’t tell you now.”
Fine. I took a deep breath and sat again, question after question tumbling through my head. “Is Laima like us, too? How long will I be Dekla? Is Dekla inside of me?”
Adelle raised a hand. “Slow down. No, Laima isn’t one of us. She’s immortal. We die. But Dekla is one of her sisters, and she chose to distribute her immortal soul among the human race. I had a piece. Now you do.”
“I don’t understand this power,” I whispered. “I can’t even help people. Why would she do that?”
“Your mortality makes you greater. You are compassionate. You care in a way that Dekla never could.”
This was too much. But still, the million-dollar question. “How do I change their deaths?”
“Ask Laima.”
I bit back a snarl. “Great, I’ll just send her a text message when I get out to the car.”
Adelle reached over the side of the bed and picked up an old cell phone. “Do you have her number?”
I stared at her, unbelieving. Then I pulled out my phone. “No. No, actually, I don’t.”
“I’ll give it to you.” Adelle’s voice softened. “And then, my dear Dekla, I’ll have to bid adieu. I’m getting quite tired.”
I left Adelle’s room shaken and confused. I should be contacting Laima.
&nbs
p; I snorted. Would a goddess really answer my text?
I’d find out soon enough, because I was definitely going to text her.
I bumped into something in the hallway and turned around, an apology on my lips. “Oh!” I exclaimed. “I’m so sorry. Excuse me.”
Brown leather shoes under red and yellow striped pants appeared under my eyes. “Jayne?” a familiar accented voice said. “What are you doing here?”
“Aaron?” My brow knit together in confusion. I couldn’t take my eyes from his shoes. I tried to reconcile his voice with the strangely dressed person in front of me. “I’m visiting a friend. What are you doing here?”
“I work here,” he replied, a bit defensively.
My eyes traveled up his pants to the red suspenders over a green shirt. A plastic flower hung out of a breast pocket. “As what? A clown?” I lifted my eyes to take in his whole ensemble. Was he wearing a curly red wig? A rubber nose?
Rubber nose, no. Red wig, yes.
“I’m a private entertainer. I do birthday parties, cheer kids up after surgeries, things like that.”
My mouth dropped open and I laughed. “You really are a clown!”
“It’s not funny,” he growled. “The sick kids have as much right for laughter as any other child.”
The tragedy behind his career struck me, and I sobered. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m glad you’re doing something so nice. I just.... wouldn’t have been able to picture it if I hadn’t seen it.” I flashed him a smile, fighting giggles. The total absurdity of this situation struck me, and I wanted to laugh out loud. I was in the hospital, trying to learn about my curse from a dying woman, and now I’d run into my ex, dressed like a clown.
He leaned toward me, close enough that I could smell the mint gum he was chewing. “That’s because you never notice me, Jayne.”
I inhaled his scent. My lips part as if they were crying out in desperation, “Kiss me! Kiss me now!” Traitorous mouth. I pressed them together. “What are you talking about? I always notice you.”
“You have a good way of pretending you don’t, then.”
His warm breath washed over my mouth, and I struggled to concentrate. Did his lips brush mine when he spoke? He was right there. “No, I don’t,” I said lamely.
“Jayne.” The whisper sent tingles down my spine. “You’re making me crazy.” He put his hands on my shoulders.
He’s going to kiss me. The thought flew through my head. I should pull away. But I didn’t. I wanted that kiss most desperately. My pulse pounded in anticipation.
“Mr. Chambers!” A shrill voice rang down the hall, and Aaron let me go. “I don’t think you’re being paid to stand out in the hall when you have a birthday party to attend.”
“Sorry, ma’am. You’re right.”
I jerked away, the spell broken. “We shouldn’t be talking, anyway. It might make your girlfriend jealous. After all, it wasn’t working out between us.”
I threw his words back at him spitefully. I shouldered my purse and marched down the hall, keeping my head high in case he watched me leave.
I called Dana from my car as soon as I parked at the game. “I’m here. Second row of cars.”
She groaned. “Seriously? You’re going to stay in there?”
“I have to!” I exclaimed. “How can I be a good spy if I’m not watching people come in?”
“Fine,” she huffed. “It’s your social funeral.”
As long as it wasn’t my real one.
A moment later Dana’s yellow galoshes appeared trekking across the grass toward my car. I popped the locks and she climbed in next to me.
“Raining?” I asked, examining her matching yellow raincoat. I hadn’t noticed any water hitting my windshield.
“Might,” she replied, unwrapping a Dum-Dum. She stuck her purse between us and I dug through it, in the mood for a cotton candy sucker. “So. Tell me why I looked up Dekla.”
Oh boy. My stomach tightened into knots at the memory of my conversation with Adelle. “Well... apparently, I’m her.”
Dana squinted at me. “How’s that possible? She’s a thousand-year-old goddess.” Her eyes narrowed even more, into tiny slits. “Wait a minute. How much have you been holding out on me? Is this, like, your seventh time through high school?”
My face burned. “No! I haven’t been holding back! It’s more like, I have her powers.”
“So you’re the goddess of fate?” Dana blinked several times. “Why can’t you change things, then?”
“That’s the confusing part.” I shredded the candy wrapper. “There’s another goddess. The woman I see.”
“Laima,” Dana supplied.
“Oh, you know about her?”
She shrugged. “Her name popped up on every website that Dekla’s did.”
I nodded. “Yeah, Laima. Anyway, she’s like the actual goddess. I’m just the sidekick. And I don’t know how to do anything with my powers.”
Dana leaned toward me. “But you can?”
“Well, not right now. I don’t know how.”
“But if you learn? Then you can?” she pressed.
My head bobbed again. “Yeah. Apparently.”
“Wow,” Dana breathed, settling back in her chair. “That’s fabulous, Jayne.”
“Yeah.” But I didn’t feel excited. I focused on the spectators of the game. I hoped I’d figure my powers out before I ran into another lemon-scented person.
I didn’t sleep much all weekend. The thoughts churned in my heart, emotions like frustration and hope chasing each other around. I could hardly keep my eyes open in school on Monday. We had a Spanish test, and Mr. Livingston stopped me when I turned mine in.
“You look tired, Jayne. Are you alright?”
I managed a wan smile. “I could use a break. Maybe our Cinco de Mayo party will be just the thing for me.”
“Have the police been bugging you?”
I shook my head. “No, but I wish they would. I keep calling them. The thing is—”
He interrupted me. “Maybe the case is dying. There haven’t been any more murders.”
“I don’t think so.” I could feel myself getting fired up, wanting to lay empirical evidence at his feet. “Things have been—”
“Maybe they want you to drop it.”
I stopped. I had the feeling that was true. The police didn’t seem too interested in what I had to say anymore. “I have a meeting with them tonight. Then, hopefully, this will all be over.”
“Why are you meeting with them?”
“Now, that’s classified information.” I patted the pile of exams. “Maybe I’ll put an article in the school paper.”
“Good luck, Jayne,” he said, rubbing his eyes. He looked tired too.
My next two classes went too smoothly, and then I was headed to English. How I wished the office had let me switch classes!
Again I waited until the last minute to slip into class, and then I completely ignored Aaron and sat in the back by Drew Collins, a quiet boy with long brown hair and glasses. He sat chewing on a pencil and reading his physics book, not even sparing me a glance.
I expected Aaron to try to talk to me, to act casual and cool. But he didn’t. I watched him talk to Poppy. She giggled loudly, glancing back to gauge my reaction throughout the class. I had none. Ms. Siegfried had given us a day to work on our essays, and that’s exactly what I did.
When the bell rang, I took my time gathering up my things, but I needn’t have bothered. Aaron’s phone chirped and he answered it while he walked out, not even looking over his shoulder at me.
I got a sick pit in my stomach. It really was over. He had no interest in me at all.
Dana poked her head into the classroom. “Um, hello, Jayne? Gonna eat lunch today?”
I glanced around and realized I was the only one left. I shouldered my backpack with a sigh and stood up. “Not really hungry, Dana.” I wrinkled my nose.
“Oh, Jayne.” Dana joi
ned me at my desk and gave me a hug. “Tough year, huh? Maybe Aaron’s the one you should practice your powers on.”
“Dana.” I gave her an annoyed look. “Not now, okay?”
“But Jayne, I’ve been thinking about this. What if it happened because you made it happen?”
I rolled my eyes.
“No, serious, Jayne. Think this through with me. You see a vision of Aaron and his ex-girlfriend living unhappily ever after. So as soon as he comes along, you start pushing him away—pushing him back to her. You were making it come true.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but then stopped. What had Aaron said? That I never noticed him? Was it possible that I made him feel like I didn’t care?
“Yeah,” Dana said, nodding. “You’re with me. So, imagine what would’ve happened if you hadn’t seen the future.”
“I would’ve acted like an idiot, falling for him and thinking we were going to last forever.” I lifted my chin. “At least I avoided getting my heart broken.”
“Right. Looks like your heart’s intact.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. “I wish I’d never met him.”
“You can’t live trying to avoid the inevitable, Jayne. Forget what you saw. Just embrace life. And try to get Aaron back, before it’s too late.”
“It’s too late, Dana,” I said softly. “I just want to move on.”
The rest of the day went by in a blur. I could hardly wait for it to be over. Dana promised to meet me at the game, and I hurried away from the classrooms. Tonight should be a big game. Last one of the tournament, which we were doing so well in. Yet not even the thought of a championship title cheered me up.
I started up my car and headed home. I needed something dismal to match my mood. I didn’t really have a good selection of depressing music, but The Fray could be rather melancholy. It would have to do for today.
I pulled into the driveway at home and sighed. First one home. I didn’t really feel like going into an empty house right now, even though nothing spooky had happened in a few days. I opened my cell phone and sifted through contacts, wondering who I could go visit for a bit.
My thumb paused on “Laima.” I had an actual number for her. Would it work? I texted out a quick message.
I need to talk to you. When you have a moment, would you mind appearing? Thx.
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