Feathermore (13 page)

“
So, how did you know where to find me?” I asked casually, stealing a quick glance her way.

She shifted on the driver’s seat, and from the corner of my eye I saw her mouth form a thin line, which could only mean she was thinking—possibly about another lie to feed me. “I didn’t. As I said, we were driving by and I saw you walk out—”

I cut her off. “No. You said you saw the
car,
not me. So what’s it going to be, Claire? What is going on? Are you finally going to tell me what’s up?”

She didn’t say a thing, didn’t even blink—just stared out the window.

Now I was starting to get annoyed. Here I had a supposed demon after me (even if I still didn’t quite believe it), and weird things had been happening for quite some time. And she wanted to pretend everything was just hunky-dory?

“
That’s okay,” I said. “Don’t tell me anything, but sooner or later you’ll have to. Something’s happening, and I have no idea what it is or how to control it. So if you don’t want to help me . . .” I left the unsaid threat hanging like an elephant in the air, but she didn’t budge and didn’t say a word for the rest of the drive home.

As she parked in my driveway and turned off the engine, neither of us moved. “Look, Jade,” she said, staring ahead at the garage door, “it’s more complicated than you could ever imagine, and I just don’t know if you’re ready yet.” She turned and gave me an apologetic look.

“
But I need to know!” I was practically yelling. “Do you get that? How complicated is
that
?”

“
Let’s just go inside and I’ll explain as much as I can,” she said, sliding out of her seat a little too quickly and walking up to the house.

Inside, I turned on some lights and headed to the kitchen. There may be someone trying to kill me, but I wasn’t dead yet, and I was starving. I sat on the couch with a bowl of corn flakes, waiting for her. When she didn’t start, I said, “Who is coming after me? And
why
? What have I ever done to anybody?”

I could feel her body tense. Then the doorbell rang, and she stood up. When she came back, Nate was with her.

“
Great,” I muttered. “Maybe
you’ll
tell me what the hell’s going on.” I put a spoonful of cereal in my mouth and crunched away. It seemed really loud.

“
Okay, so what is it that you think you already know?” Nate asked, dropping his lanky frame onto the couch. I caught the twinkle of amusement on his eyes. Did he think this was
funny
? My parents had been dead less than a week!

I told them about the voices and my dreams, though keeping the part about Blake to myself. I also skipped Lilith’s showing up at the library. After all, I wasn’t totally sure it
had
been real.

“
It isn’t exactly what you’d call normal,” I said when I was done. “
Nothing
that’s been happening is. I need to know why, and I need to know why my parents died.”

Nate stared at me, taking me in, looking as if he was weighing his options. He opened his mouth and was about to say something when Claire interrupted him.

“
We’ll help you, but this is a whole ’nother world, Jade. As much as you may think you’re prepared, well, what I’m about to tell you is going to hit you hard.”

“
Can you at least tell me why someone is after me?” I asked.

“
We don’t know yet what they want, exactly,” she said. “But we’ll figure it out—I promise.”

“
Why does she call you ‘cherubim’?” I watched her, half expecting another evasive answer, but instead I hit the jackpot. She couldn’t have looked more shocked if I had just slapped her. She stayed silent for a while.

Nate scooted closer on the couch and brought his face right up close to mine. “Where did you hear that word?”

“
I told you, after my parents died I had a dream.” I looked at Claire. “You and she where there, and she called you a cherub and said something about you not being able to save me, just like you couldn’t save—”

“
Shemer,” she finished. She fidgeted in her seat. “It wasn’t a dream, Jade. It was a different realm. I didn’t sense you there—I have no idea
how
you got there.” No longer talking to me, she was pacing back and forth in front of the TV and muttering to herself.

“
This changes things,” Nate said after a brief silence. “It’s progressing too fast. It’s become too dangerous now.” I could see in both their faces the faintest trace of alarm, but just as suddenly as it had come, it was gone.

“
What
is!” I was yelling now. “What are you
talking
about?”

Claire started making plans for us to leave, saying that Lilith was too close now and that she could come after me at any moment. I tried to ask why she would be after me in the first place, but she wouldn’t acknowledge me. It was as if I was completely gone. They were talking among themselves, and I was left out of it all.

“
I’m not going anywhere until someone explains to me what the hell is going on!” Once again I sounded like a six-year-old throwing a tantrum. I even stamped my foot on the floor.

“
You’re in danger,” Nate said matter-of-factly as Claire kept pacing back and forth.

“
Gee, really?” I deadpanned. “Dear me, I had no idea I might be in some sort of danger.” Then, dropping the sarcasm, I said, “What
are
we exactly?”

In response, all I got from Claire was a blur as she flashed by me and pounded upstairs to the guest room, slamming the door behind her.

I turned and looked at Nate. “What the hell was
that
?” That was Hollywood vampire fast—too fast for human eyes to catch, but I had caught it.

“
That’s Claire, and that was a glimpse of what we are,” he simply said as he made his way toward the staircase.

12 THE PROBLEM

Since no one would help me get my arms around what was going on, I decided to go for a drive. I couldn’t just sit and do nothing, even though I knew in the back of my mind that Lilith could find me anytime she liked. Right now I didn’t care. Hell, for all I knew, she may actually explain more about all this than my so-called best friends.

As I got in the car and started driving, feelings of betrayal started to fill my head. My two best friends, whom I had shared everything with, were holding out on me. All this time shared with them felt like a lie. Why were they even my friends—because they wanted to be, or because they had to? I didn’t want to think about it too much. I obviously wanted answers, but no one was giving them to me, and everything else that was happening around me was just too weird. Maybe Claire was right: maybe I should just stay out of it. But how could I do that?

I had made it downtown, where all the shops and restaurants were still open and lively with all types of people. I rolled down my window for the first couple of blocks, just letting the music from the restaurants, the laughter, and the happy chatter fill the car. I decided that a walk in the cold night might help clear my head, and I parked near Mom’s favorite spot, Capri Valley, a homey little Italian restaurant.

I made my way down Main Street and cleared my head of all that had been going on. I wanted to take this little time I had alone and just be me—whatever was left of me, at least. I went into a few clothing stores and fell in love with too many outfits and accessories.

What was I going to do when I needed money? I would probably have to get a job after school and start saving up. The house had been paid off a long time ago, so I didn’t have to worry about mortgage payments or rent, but everything else was up in the air at the moment. It was still hard to believe that at seventeen I was all alone.

The night started to get colder, and as usual, I didn’t have a sweater with me. I remembered I still had the debit card Dad had given me a couple of years ago for emergencies. At the time he gave it to me an emergency was not having enough for a cab or for pizza on a Friday night. Since I had never really gotten the chance to use the card, I didn’t really know how much was on it, so I picked up the cheapest (and, as it happened, ugliest) sweater I could find. Luckily, there was enough for that.

As I left the store and walked to the car I started feeling a pull, as if my body were in control and wanted me to keep walking. Not knowing what the pull was, I fought it at first, but it kept getting stronger until I just gave in and let it lead me. I stopped at a café where some kids from school usually hung out. Not really our kind of spot, but from where I was standing, I could recognize some classmates.

I took a quick look around the outside tables and then took a closer look through the window at the inside. To the left were about six tables filled with kids having sodas and sweet treats. To the right were two pool tables, with a small counter attached to the wall, where people had set their drinks, and some girls had laid their purses. Amy and her preppy friends were acting all dumb around the football team. I kept scanning the place, my body still urging me to proceed.

That was when I saw
him
. He was by the pool table nearer the wall, one hand on the side of the table and the other holding a pool cue. He was laughing at something someone had said, and he looked so lively and vibrant, I could actually see light emanating from him. It was probably the same energy I felt every time I was around him.

He leaned over the table. As he was lining up to take the shot he picked up his gaze, and it just sort of locked straight on to mine. I couldn’t believe my own eyes. He was hanging out with
her
now? I gave him the once-over. How
could
he? He straightened up and handed the cue to Ron, the quarterback. Amy grabbed his arm, probably asking where he was going, and at that point, I decided I had seen enough.

I started walking back to the car, my feet hitting the ground at a fast clip. I needed to get away from here, from him.

He grabbed my arm and spun me around. “Hey . . .” His voice sounded short of breath.

I didn’t respond. I was too upset to come up with anything to say right now. I fidgeted with the sleeve of my new sweater, almost ripping it apart.

“
What are you doing here?” he said, looking around. “Are you alone?”

“
Does it matter? You seem to have all the company you need.” I spat the words at him. Of course he would be with her—I was nothing but baggage now. I shook my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you.” I looked up at him, searching his eyes.

“
It isn’t what it seems,” he said. I wondered if it sounded as lame to him as it did to me.

“
That’s what they always say, and it always ends up being
exactly
what it seems.” I turned around and started walking away. Just then I heard her shrieking, annoying voice.

“
Avan?” There was that unmistakable grating lilt. “Why don’t we go back inside? There’s nothing worthy out here.”

I slowly turned to face Amy.

“
You don’t need to do charity work for the
orphan
.”

Avan got in front of me, shielding me from her—or maybe it was the other way around.

“
Take it back,” I said through clenched teeth.

“
Why would I? It’s true, isn’t it?
Orphan.
”

I couldn’t believe she was actually saying this—as rude and mean as she was, this had to be a new low, even for her. And what was worse, she wasn’t showing the slightest remorse about it. I had taken years of bullying from her, and she never got to me that much, but now she was actually making fun of my parents’ death. This was where I drew the line.

The old Jade was long gone, replaced by a new one who wouldn’t take crap from anyone. And it was high time someone stopped Amy. It was getting out of hand.

“
Amy, that was uncalled for,” Avan said. He put his hands behind him, trying to hold me back so I wouldn’t do something I was going to regret. I knew what she was doing. She was mad that she hadn’t been able to break him, and so now she was going to pull out all the stops to hurt me.

“
Oh, what a good boyfriend you are, Avan,” she hissed. “But be careful, or you may end up dead, too.” That was it. Although she may have been right, she was way out of line, and something inside me awoke.

I took a step around Avan as he tried to reach for me, but there was no turning back. The feeling in my back was stronger now than it had ever been before. I took another step forward. My face felt numb. I knew there was no expression on it anymore. Amy’s friends took a few steps back, and as I searched Amy’s eyes, there was no backing down—she was daring me to do something to her. I lifted my hand, my index finger out, pointing it right at her face, “Don’t ever talk about my parents that way, understood?”