Edgewood Series: Books 1 - 3 (20 page)

Mr. Specter sighed. “Ask anyway. We can always try another avenue if they won’t come willingly. Jameson’s father plays golf at the country club where Dr. Anton is a member. We may be able to arrange a different kind of meeting.”

“How is it that you know so much about us?” I asked.

“We had a rough idea of when to expect the light particles,” Kevin Adams said. “And we’ve been watching all the kids in Edgewood for months. We have the advantage over the Associates that way. They come sniffing around after the lights appear. By then, we’d hoped we’d be able to warn the kids who were affected.”

“Now that we’ve filled you in,” Mr. Specter said, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees, “we’d like to make you an offer we think you’ll find very interesting.”

“Still listening,” I said.

“We’d like the two of you and Nadia and Jameson to join our group,” said Dr. Anton.

“Join the five of you?” Mallory’s index finger swooped in an arc from person to person like she was counting. “In doing what?”

“It’s not just the five of us,” Kevin Adams said. “Remember me mentioning that there’s hundreds of us quietly opposing the Associates? We’re just one small faction of a bigger group called the Praetorian Guard.”

“The Praetorian Guard?” I said it slowly, pronouncing each syllable.

“Exactly,” Kevin said. “That’s the name of our organization. Sometimes P.G. for short.”

“How’d you come up with that?” Mallory asked.

“The name ‘The Justice League’ was already taken,” Kevin said, chuckling. None of his friends joined in with laughter, so I was guessing it was an old joke. “But seriously, the Praetorian Guard has been around for a very long time. We haven’t been able to defeat the Associates yet, but not for lack of trying. Our organization began when groups around the world realized we were all fighting a common enemy. We banded together, all of us combining our strengths and uniting against the Associates.” His tone got serious, and he fixed his eyes on Mallory and me. “You are being called to join an organization that is making the world a better place. With your powers and our know-how, we have a real shot at destroying the Associates. So what do you think?”

“I don’t have a lot of free time this semester. What exactly would you want us to do?” Mallory said, asking the very thing I’d been wondering myself.

“Well, it depends on your powers,” Dr. Anton said. “We would test each of you to determine—”

A loud noise upstairs startled all of us and caused the doctor to stop mid-sentence. Someone was pounding on the door, ringing the doorbell, and yelling something undistinguishable all at the same time. It sounded like a woman’s voice, and she was furious.

“What in the world?” Rosie said.

“I’ll get rid of whoever that is,” Mr. Specter said, standing. “Probably a student prank.” He crossed the basement but stopped before going up the stairs. “None of you move a muscle,” he said, finger pointing. “Everyone stay right here.”

His footsteps on the stairs were nearly drowned out by the noises at his front door. The ringing, banging, and yelling had escalated. She wasn’t going to be easily turned away, whoever it was.

“Where was I?” Dr. Anton asked us, stroking his goatee.

“You said you’d test us?” Mallory offered, but it was no use. The distractions upstairs were too great, especially now that we heard Mr. Specter’s raised voice in response to the woman’s yelling. Everyone in the room looked up in alarm as we heard frantic movement on the floorboards above our heads. The woman was calling out something and now I could make out the words: “Russ! Where are you, Russ?”

My jaw dropped in shock. “It’s my sister,” I said to Mallory.

Carly clomped down the basement stairs, Mr. Specter on her heels. In the stairwell I heard her yell, “You people have a lot of nerve. If you think I’m going to let this happen again…” And then she turned the corner at the bottom landing and was in the room with us. I stood up and so did everyone else.

“Carly?” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“Russ, thank God,” she said, walking over to me. “You didn’t agree to anything, did you?”

“We were just talking,” Mallory said.

“Talking. That’s how it starts,” Carly said. From her tone, I knew she was gearing up for a big blow-up. I’d seen it before. “You people are pathetic,” she said to the group, her voice shaking in anger. “Sixteen years later and you’re still meeting here with your popcorn and lemonade. Still playing at saving the world.”

“Now, Carly,” Rosie said, but she might as well have been a speck of dust for all the notice my sister took.

Carly crossed the room and jabbed a finger toward Dr. Anton. “I’m the most disappointed in you. You’re supposed to be helping kids and instead you’re exploiting them. Haven’t you heard of doctor-patient confidentiality? If I’d known at the time that my parents had Russ seeing you, I would have put a stop to it right away.”

“Please, Carly,” Dr. Anton said, in the reassuring manner that I remembered quite well from my time as his patient.

“Don’t ‘please Carly’ me, I’ve heard it all before. You better watch it. My family could sue you for violating Russ’s rights and you’d lose your license. How would you like that?”

“You don’t need to get so worked up. I’ve done nothing to violate Russ’s rights.”

Carly waved a dismissive arm, as if to brush him away, and turned her attention to Kevin Adams. “And you! Reading comic books all day has done a number on your brain. You can play at superheroes all day if you want, but when you start involving my family—”

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute there,” he said, holding up both hands.

“Please have a seat, Carly,” Mr. Specter said. He tried to guide her by her elbow, but she angrily shook him off.

“I’m not finished yet. The two of you should be ashamed of yourselves,” Carly said, looking directly at Mr. Specter and Mrs. Whitehouse. “Working in a high school and using your position of authority to wrangle students into your stupid game. How unethical is that?”

Mr. Specter looked rattled, but he kept his voice calm. “I’m not sure what you think is happening here, but I assure you—”

“Keep your nice talk for someone else,” Carly said. “I know what you’re all about, and as far as I’m concerned it’s your fault Gordon Hofstetter is dead. If you hadn’t encouraged him with your spy games he’d still be alive. I say enough already. Do what you want, but don’t involve my family. This ends
now
.” She beckoned. “Come on, Russ, we’re leaving.”

I don’t usually do everything Carly tells me to, just the opposite, in fact, but her mention of Gordon Hofstetter’s death kept me from questioning her. Two nights ago we’d taken him to the hospital. I’d held the old man in my arms and told him everything was going to be okay. He was in bad shape, but alive. And now he was dead? And this group of people was somehow connected?

Carly said, “You too, Mallory. We’re not leaving without you.” Mallory hesitated for only a moment, and then, seeing I was leaving, she came too. I guessed she didn’t want to be there without me.

Carly rested a hand on my shoulder. A little awkward since she’s shorter than me. Normally, I would have pulled away, but my brain was spinning from everything we’d heard that evening and I wasn’t feeling like myself anymore. She couldn’t resist one last retort. “Leave these kids alone, or you’ll be answering to me.”

We trudged up the stairs in silence. None of them tried to follow us, as I thought they might. Carly led us to the front door and didn’t speak until we were outside. “Do you have everything you came with?” she asked.

We both said yes, and then I asked, “How did you know I was here?”

“Frank told me about selling the stone to Mr. Specter. I went over to the house to talk to you, and Mom said you were here. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.” She pulled at my sleeve. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

As we fast-walked down the driveway to the cars parked at the curb, Mallory asked my sister, “You knew Mr. Hofstetter?”

“Yes,” Carly said, not stopping. “I knew him. I was in love with his grandson David. He’s dead too. It happened sixteen years ago, but I remember like it was yesterday.” Her voice was bitter. “They said David died in a car accident, but I knew it wasn’t an accident. Gordon knew it too, and he’s been watching and waiting for the lights to come back. Just recently he’s been digging around, making phone calls and asking questions. He told me he was onto something, and I begged him to stop. I told him it was dangerous. Sure enough they zapped him just to shut him up. I have a friend who works at the hospital and she said the cause of death was listed as heart failure. Another complete cover-up. I guess it doesn’t matter. In the end they got him too.”

“Who?” Mallory asked. “Who got him?”

Carly said, “The Associates, of course. Didn’t those idiots clue you in?”

“How is it you know all this?” I asked. It was a warm evening; the outside air had a hint of humidity, especially noticeable after having been in a basement.

Carly paused to get her car keys out of her purse. When she finally spoke, she didn’t answer my question. “Associating with these people is dangerous,” she said, gesturing to the house with a tilt of her head. “If someone was watching, you could be killed. Believe me, I know. Avoid them at all costs.”

“But I have to see Mr. Specter at school,” I said.

“And Mrs. Whitehouse too,” Mallory said. “There’s no getting around eating in the cafeteria.”

Carly said, “That’s different. I mean, don’t see them outside of your normal routine. Like tonight.” When we got to curb, she looked up and down the street and exhaled in relief when she saw it was quiet. “Mallory, I’m going to follow you home. Go straight home and walk right into the house. And this is important: never use your phone or computer to talk to anyone about this. It can be traced.”

“We figured out that much. We’ve been careful,” Mallory said, fishing through her own purse and pulling out a key ring. I realized at that second I was being robbed of the rest of the night with Mallory. My imagined stop at Starbucks wasn’t going to happen. It seemed I couldn’t get ahead in this relationship no matter what, but I guess that was the least of my worries at this point.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at school,” I said, but my words were swallowed up by Carly repeating her instructions. “Go straight home and lock the door behind you. Don’t talk about this to anyone.”

“She heard you the first time.” I leaned against the car, thinking that Carly had a lot of explaining to do. “We’re not mentally challenged.”

“I know that,” Carly said. “Get in the car.”

Carly drove an ancient, beat-up Honda she called “old reliable.” It got great gas mileage and gave a smooth ride, but the seats were worn and the dashboard dusty. Still, if someone wanted to play a cassette tape, this would be the car to have. Empty Diet Coke bottles on the floor in the back scuttled from side to side with every turn. It drove me crazy, but Carly didn’t seem to notice.

Mallory pulled away from the curb, and Carly and I kept pace right behind her, only a car length between us. “So,” Carly said. “I take it you and Mallory have both been in contact with the light particles?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve each developed supernatural powers?”

“Yes.”

“Great,” she said glumly. “Which ones?”

“Mallory can do mind control,” I said, “and it seems that I can heal people.”

“Really.” Carly tapped on the steering wheel, and her forehead scrunched in thought. She reached over to turn on the radio, then seemed to think better of it and returned her hand to the wheel.

“I can also sense electricity,” I said. “I can tell where it’s coming from and how strong it is.” That wasn’t all though. I thought about how best to describe it. “Sometimes it feels like the electricity and I are one and the same.”

“That’s a new one. Are there any others?”

“Any other powers? Not that I know of.”

“No, I meant any other kids.”

“Oh, yeah. There’s Jameson. He can move objects with his mind. And Nadia. She can read people and see their past events. It’s like she can see into people’s—”

“You don’t need to explain. I know what it means,” Carly said.

“How do you know about all this?” I asked. “Did you see the lights when you were in high school?”

“No,” she said. “Not me. I was home that night, sleeping. But David Hofstetter, my boyfriend at the time, he’d been restless for months. He was out that night and saw it. Told me all about it the next day. He said it was like the universe had chosen him to experience something magical.” Carly snorted. “Some magic.” She continued, her voice dull. “There were four other kids there when David saw the lights. A few years later they were all gone. Either dead or they’d joined forces with the Associates.”

“Do Mom and Dad know about this?”

Carly turned to me, her eyebrows raised in alarm. “No! And you better not say anything to them either. Tell. No. One. Talking is a death sentence. You need to warn those other kids too. My advice? Don’t use your powers, don’t talk about it, go about your normal business. Live a regular teenage life. The Associates will eventually lose interest and go somewhere else.”

It was a lot to digest. We drove in silence, me thinking and Carly concentrating on keeping Mallory’s car in sight. At stop signs Mallory would lift a hand, and I always waved back, even though it made me look like a goof.

“How is it you know about Mr. Specter and his group?” I asked.

“Those people,” Carly said, spitting out the words. “Can you believe that all five of them stayed in Edgewood and got jobs that centered around teenagers just so they could see which kids would become affected? They never got over the glory years when they were the ones with the powers. They’ll coast on that forever.”

She still didn’t answer my question. I tried wording it differently. “How do you know all this?”

“They approached David and offered him the same deal they were going to give you. And you know how that turned out for him.” Carly sighed. “He was so excited about joining forces with them. He wanted to make a difference. Save the world.”