Seers (34 page)

Aaron didn’t say much to me. He was still upset about the meet I’d missed, even though he’d done well. I didn’t feel like repeatedly apologizing, so I didn’t. I don’t think that made him any happier with me.

Patrick kept a careful eye on me throughout the day, but he managed to keep his distance at the same time. He didn’t reference last night, or any of our other problems. For that I was grateful. The day was like a break from the Demons, and I needed that.

Still, the worry was there. A constant presence in the back of my mind.

Thursday night was spent in my bedroom, talking to Lee.

I still didn’t want to tell her about Demons and Guardians, but we talked a lot about Aaron, and Patrick. I told her all about his evening over here, with me and the twins. I blushed a little as I described our kiss, and then his following apology. I was still a bit confused by that reaction. Why was he sorry the kiss had happened? Hadn’t he felt the magic of that moment?

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By the time we fell asleep—both of us squished on my twin bed—I had a better grasp of my feelings. I knew I needed to talk to Patrick, and see if he cared for me like I was coming to care for him.

But before I did that, I needed to break it off with Aaron. Because regardless of what Patrick decided, I was no longer in love with Aaron. Lee felt pretty confident that we could remain friends, but I knew that even that would take a while. Still, neither of us were happy—that was clear to me now.

Friday morning, while Lee grabbed us some pop tarts, I glanced down at the newspaper that Grandpa had been reading.

He’d left it lying there, while Grandma had ordered him to help her pack. Her best friend, a weird but cute old woman named Lilly Gibbs had fallen yesterday sometime, breaking her leg. She was older than grandma by almost ten years, but she acted younger most of the time. (Her cat had climbed up a tree, and the almost eighty year old woman decided to climb up and help get him down.) She’d insisted that she was perfectly capable to take care of herself, but Grandma intended to at least spend the entire weekend at her farmhouse. She lived about fifty miles away, in a small country town.

I think Grandpa just wanted her gone already. He was anxious to have the house to himself, and not be bothered every five seconds by her endless plans and preparations.

The twins were fighting upstairs. I could hear their heated voices, but not the individual words, which was fine by me. I concentrated on the paper, my eyes scanning the article quickly. The Death Train was moving closer. It told of a man who had died mysteriously, not quite thirty miles from here. It was like Jack Williams, the Australian Guardian, had said—Far Darrig was getting closer to his target. I pitied whoever it was, even while a dim part of me wondered if I was uselessly pitying myself. But since Patrick didn’t seem to believe the Demon was after me, I would trust him. It was all I could do right now, or lose my mind with fear.

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I yelled for the twins to hurry, and then thankfully took my pop tarts from Lee. “We’re walking out the door!” I warned, calling up the stairs.

“We’re coming!” Josie nearly screamed. “Keep your shirt on, all right?”

Jenna ran down the stairs first, a deep scowl on her face.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Nothing.” Jenna grunted, pushing past me to open the front door. “You’ll just take her side anyway.” She marched outside, and I rolled my eyes to Lee, who was grimacing.

“Some days I’m kinda glad about the whole only child thing.

Today is definitely one of those days.” Josie was stepping heavily down the stairs, a frown wrinkling her brow. “Yeah—I’d sign up for that,” she told Lee. And then she pushed past me, and jumped off the porch.

I sighed and followed them, but with less energy. Lee fell into step beside me, and we met Grandpa at the base of the couple stairs. He was heading back inside, after carrying out some of Grandma’s bags, and he looked confused.

“What’s eating them?” He asked.

“Just another day at the Bennett house,” I shrugged.

Lee shook her head. “Don’t ask me, Mr. Bennett. I’m only a visitor here.”

He reached out and tapped her nose, like he used to do when we were six. “I think not. You practically lived here your growing up years. Hate to break it to you, but you’re practically a part of the Bennett madness.”

“Thanks, I think. Maybe.” Lee stepped past him, moving for the car.

Before I could follow, Grandpa was reaching for my arm, keeping me there with a light touch. “Kate, I was thinking maybe we could talk after school. You know, about some things.” I could see the seriousness in his eyes, and his aura, even if I didn’t understand entirely what he was getting at.

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“Sure,” I said slowly. “I’d like that.” He smiled. “Good. Have a nice day at school, doing whatever it is you do these days.”

“Thanks. You have a good day too.”

“Will do.”

My car horn honked behind us, and I frowned in the direction of the driveway, seeing Josie just sinking back into her seat.

“‘Bye Grandpa.”

“‘Bye honey.”

I dropped the twins off at school, but only after giving them a stern lecture on fighting over stupid things. The result of that was two sisters who were now more angry with me than each other. Neither one said goodbye as they climbed out, and I heard the invisible Toni, who was waiting on the sidewalk, say, “You’re great at that, Kate—maybe you should be a counselor or something.” Josie slammed the door, and I shook my head—at the twins, and at Toni.

The morning classes went well. I was just glad it was Friday.

Aaron was in a slightly happier mood. He kept talking about the dance tomorrow and how excited he was. Jaxon and a few of his other sports friends were all going as a group with their dates, and they had a lot of fun activities planned for the day. He was telling me all about it during lunch, but I found it hard to concentrate while I was very aware that Patrick heard every word.

“Maybe I can pick you up around noon? We’re going to have a picnic at the park, and then do this whole scavenger hunt thing.

Then we might play some more games, maybe catch a movie before dinner. Then I can bring you back home and you can have plenty of time to do whatever, get ready—you know, that stuff. Then we can go to the dance.”

“Sure,” I said. “It sounds like fun.” Lee didn’t need a ride home—she’d be staying to work on the music library, which she’d been avoiding for the entire week.

Rodney, the band geek, was helping her out again, and had offered

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to take her home. I thought about teasing her, since she’d had a crush on the dark haired drummer for years, but decided against it. I just didn’t have the energy after putting up with the talkative Aaron and silent Patrick.

While I was walking to my car I got a phone call from Toni.

“Your sisters are getting into a blue minivan,” he hissed urgently. “I repeat, a blue mini van!” I frowned in confusion, then realization dawned. Still, I asked him to read me the license plate, just to be sure. He did. “Should I intervene?” He asked, sounding eager to do so. I knew he’d been bored out of his mind the past couple days.

“No—I forgot about that—they were invited to a party. The woman driving is Mrs. Collins. And I’m pretty sure she’s safe,” I added sarcastically. “Besides, what evil Demon would drive a minivan?”

“Well, excuse me for taking my job seriously.” Toni grumbled at my light teasing.

“Thanks for being concerned,” I told him sincerely. “It means a lot that you’re keeping an eye on them.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve had enough of this school—I’m calling Patrick. Unless you want to give me a lift?”

“I was hoping to just head home, but . . .”

“Fine. Whatever. It’s not like I’m important or anything . . .” I sighed and unlocked my car. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Of course not,” he said expansively. “But really—don’t worry about it. Patrick’s probably already on his way.” I got in my car and prepared to say goodbye and end the call.

But he wasn’t done yet.

“Lee isn’t with you, is she?”

“You still smitten with her?” I asked.

“She’s unique, and a hottie. What’s not to like?”

“Goodbye, Toni.”

“Yeah, it was nice talking to you too, Kate. Goodbye now.” He hung up, before I could hang up on him. I shook my head, 264 K • • •

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and then drove home alone.

It wasn’t until I saw my Grandpa’s note on the fridge that I remembered he’d wanted to talk about something. But that would have to wait. According to his quick, somewhat messy scrawl, one of his friends had called him at the last minute, wondering if he wanted to play some poker.

Your Grandma would never let me go, his note said in closing, so I had to take the opportunity. We’ll talk later. See you tonight.

Love, Grandpa

P.S. Destroy this, please. Your Grandma would kill me for being a bad influence.

I smiled, but did as he instructed. I tore it into a hundred tiny pieces, and then tossed them into the garbage, half wishing I would have burned the note instead as I watched the pieces flutter into the trash.

I wondered what to do with the house all to myself, and then realized I should probably pick a dress to wear for tomorrow.

I kept my formal dresses in a small closet in the entryway, under the stairs. I owned four dresses worthy of Prom, or other formal dances. I rifled through them, trying to decide. I finally narrowed it down to a deep maroon, floor length satin gown that bloomed out gently at the bottom, and a light blue one with a poofy skirt that fell to mid-calf.

I eventually opted for the maroon one, thinking that the darker, deeper color better suited the occasion, and my mood. I took it out of it’s protective plastic bag to let it air out a little, and then hung it on the door. I had some perfect black heels, and I thought that a side ponytail full of curls would work great with the spaghetti strap top. It would be a formal look, but it wouldn’t take long. I hoped Aaron would approve, because this would be our last official date together, as far as I was concerned. I just prayed that I’d have the courage to go through with it. I’d never

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ended a relationship, and I was almost more scared of that conversation than I was of the Demons.

Once I had tomorrow night’s wardrobe figured out, I went upstairs and drew the curtains closed. It was still bright, but I was still so tired after everything that had happened this week. I fell asleep easily.

When I woke up, the sun was going down. I was still tired, and thought briefly about rolling over, and falling back asleep. Then my stomach growled, and I headed downstairs. I heated up some left over chicken pot pie my Grandma had made last night, and quickly ate the delicious square of homemade goodness. Then I cleaned my plate, and listened to the silence in the house.

It was strange, to be this quiet. It was almost 8:00 now, the sun almost fully set. The twins should have been home, but I couldn’t hear them moving around upstairs. I wasn’t exactly worried yet, but I decided to check on them anyway.

I moved up the stairs, and stepped up to Jenna’s bedroom. The door was closed, and I tried to turn the knob. It started to twist, and then stopped abruptly. It was locked. “Jenna?” I called out. I tapped on the door with my knuckles. “Are you in there?” There was no answer.

My first feelings of fear began to prickle my scalp. I crossed the hall and tried Josie’s door—again, it was locked. “Josie?” I knocked more firmly on her door. “Josie, come on.” I glanced between their closed doors, and then started back for the kitchen—trying to keep my fear in check. I was being irra-tional. They were just mad at me still—maybe they’d convinced a friend to take them home with them. This didn’t have to be about Demons. Some things were still normal in my life. They had to be.

I looked up the number in the phone book, and quickly dialed.

Mrs. Collins answered on the fifth ring. “Hello?” She sounded slightly frazzled.

“Um, Mrs. Collins? This is Kate Bennett—Jenna and Josie’s sister.”

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“Oh, hello—I was just getting ready to call you again. I hope you don’t mind—the party’s running a little longer than expected.

They said it would be fine with you and your grandparents if they stayed for the movie. It’ll be done just after ten, if that’s all right.

I’m really sorry if that’s a problem. I could bring them home now if you’d rather?”

I was breathing easier now, and I forced a smile that luckily leaked into my voice. “No, of course not. They can stay. Should I come pick them up after the movie?”

“No need. I’m taking other girls home, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Someone in the background was screaming wildly for mom, and so I let her go quickly after that, and ended the call. I shook my head at myself and my overreaction, and then headed up to the bathroom. There I enjoyed a long, hot shower, and then I meticulously blow-dried my hair, trying to make it appear as full as possible. That done, I went back to my room, and the next thing I saw was the inside of my eyelids.

I woke up briefly when I heard a car pull up to the house, and glancing at the clock I saw it was just after ten. Knowing the twins were back safely, I fell back asleep in the same second I’d surfaced.

Only this time, I slept deeply.

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Thirty

I felt realy good in the morning. Extremely rested. I felt like I was myself again, which was good. I needed to make it through the date with Aaron as smoothly as possible. I got dressed in a comfortable, but nice looking outfit, and then I headed downstairs. I glanced at the other doors in the hall, knowing that the twins would probably sleep until noon. They didn’t recover well after late night parties, despite their youth.

I found Grandpa in the kitchen, just finishing his cup of coffee as he looked out the back window. He turned to smile at me, and he asked me about my night while I looked in the pantry for some cereal.