The Doorknob Society (The Doorknob Society Saga) (43 page)
Read The Doorknob Society (The Doorknob Society Saga) Online
Authors: MJ Fletcher
Tags: #Juvenile Fiction
I still hadn’t told Dad that I had seen her that fateful night in the Infinity Library when all hell had broken loose or that she had been the one to help True and Darker escape. I didn’t want to do that to him, to tell him that the woman he loved, my mom, was a traitor. My thought was to find her and talk to her but down deep I knew it wouldn’t work out that way and that scared me more than anything.
“Dad, don’t worry about me or my friends. The only plans I have are to go out with Slade tonight.” I smiled and took another bite of my apple trying to keep from looking directly at him since he had the uncanny ability to know when I was lying.
“Fine,” he sighed seeming relieved and planted a kiss on my forehead. “Don’t get into too much trouble and never forget how much I love you.”
“Love you too, Dad.”
What he really meant was to be careful because there was next to zero chance that I wasn’t going to get involved. Dad left the room and I tossed the rest of my apple in the trash and headed out to meet my friends and see what if anything we could do to find out about the Impossible Engineer artifact.
I used a portal to quickly get home stepping into my attic bedroom at 312 Mission Way Cape May, New Jersey. The DS Manor rested in a dimension that straddled Cape May and San Francisco so it was always a quick hop to get to either place. Let me tell you that since I really came into my powers it is so much easier getting where I need to go and I love every minute of it.
I stripped off my workout clothes and took a quick shower before rifling through my wardrobe to try and find something to wear. I decided on my combat boots, black stretch pants with a skull motif and a short gray skirt. I threw on one of my t-shirts and a hoodie and started brushing out my hair while I grabbed my bag slinging it over my shoulder and heading for the door. Before I could grab the knob and portal out I heard the doorbell ring.
Damn it, I didn’t want to be late again. Slade got annoyed when I showed up late for our dates. He just didn’t understand that my internal clock ran about five minutes behind at all times. I raced down stairs and swung open the front door.
“I’m so glad I caught you.” Val jumped forward hugging me tightly her mass of brown curls that she called hair choking me. I patted her back and she stepped back. She was wearing her Cape Beanery, our hangout spot, apron under her jacket. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out onto the porch. “You can walk to work with me.”
“Okay,” I sighed as I pulled the door shut behind me. It’s not that I didn’t want to see Val; she had actually become a very good friend. But by walking I would be late yet again even though we were going to the same place. Val had a way of making time slow down.
“What are you and Slade doing tonight?”
“Movies.” I moved my hands over my pouch holding my doorknob checking to make sure it was there. A nervous habit I had picked up because I never wanted to find myself without it. “You meeting anyone?”
“Maybe?”
“Who?” I knew, everyone knew and yet it seemed that the two who should know that there was a relationship going on were clueless.
“Maybe Edgar. I texted him earlier, though I haven’t heard back. I figured he might have plans.” She kicked at pebbles as we walked along and I smiled to myself.
“Maybe he’s with Slade? When those two get talking there’s no stopping them,” I suggested trying to make her feel better about him not replying.
“That’s true.” She seemed to accept that as a good possibility and sighed as we walked along. The weather was turning nice, spring not far off. Before you knew it the streets of Cape May would be crowded with the usual summer visitors, none ever suspecting that the city was home to the oldest secret groups in the history of mankind.
“Have you talked to Jessica lately?” Val asked.
“No.” I hadn’t talked to her since last week. She and Nightshade had been spending a lot of time together and I had barely seen him after the battle. Only twice, once at the Beanery and another time at school with Jess, that time he hadn’t even talked to me.
“Jess and Nightshade were at the Beanery last night.”
I wanted to ask a ton of questions but I bit my tongue. Val did think twice, she plowed ahead... bless her.
“They came in together. Jessica was nice as usual, though Nightshade barely said anything. They sat at a corner table for hours. A bunch of other people joined them and they stayed until closing. My boss made me tell them they had to leave.”
“I bet that went over well.” I grinned, thinking of Nightshade being kicked out of the Beanery.
“They were annoyed and a little rude but they left a big tip. Jess seemed happy.” Val chewed nervously at her lower lip. It was obvious that she wanted to tell me something but not quite sure how to say it.
“Why’s that?” I asked, though not sure if I wanted to hear it.
“She was hanging on Nightshade most of the night and he seemed to be enjoying the attention.”
I bit the inside of my mouth not wanting to say anything. I mean, why did I care? If my cousin hooked up with James Nightshade; it was her business. He was an infuriating and annoying guy who always had to be right about everything.
My mind drifted to the battle at the Infinity Library. It wasn’t hard to recall; it had been burned in my memory. And each time I recalled it, it was as if I was living it all over again. I actually felt the energy surging toward me and the thought that I was about to die felt as real as it had that night. James had jumped in front of me taking the full blast of Darker’s assault without thought to his life and it had almost killed him. We had never talked about it or the fact that when I thought he was dying I had kissed him. Thinking about it I could still feel his lips against mine wet with his own blood.
It had all been in the heat of the moment, I told myself. I didn’t truly care for Nightshade, not like I cared for Slade. I felt bad for James, having lost his girlfriend to the First Kind. I knew that was the reason he had tried to save me. He had been trying to right a wrong and it had nothing to do with him caring for me. And that’s what I had been repeatedly trying to convince myself of since the moment it had happened.
The bells ringing over the Beanery door as it opened snapped me out of my thoughts. Val had let us quietly finish our walk and I was grateful for that. She smiled, gave my hand a squeeze and hurried off to the backroom.
Our regular table was empty—I wasn’t late after all—so I made my way to it and sat down gazing out the large bay window at the picturesque street. A row of Victorian homes, or painted ladies as they were often called because of their bright colors, lined the block. The street lamps were already lit for the night casting a gentle glow and giving an old-fashioned charm to the scene.
“Hey.” Slade appeared beside me and leaned down kissing me lightly on the lips.
I smiled at the sight of him. He was a handsome guy with a solid build and I sometimes wondered what he saw in me. He slid in beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders hugging me.
“Here you go guys.” Val placed two cups of coffee in front of us and glanced at Michael with sad eyes.
“Slade, did you happen to see Edgar today?” Val asked anxiously.
“Yeah, he was doing work for his dad and then he’s meeting us here.”
A grin burst across Val’s face and she rushed back to work much happier knowing that Edgar was on the way.
I didn’t waste time getting right to the point. “What happened?”
Slade didn’t waste any time either. “Levi returned this morning. He was injured; a broken arm, some badly bruised ribs and scraps. He said he had been on the trail of the artifact when he had a run-in with some members of the First Kind.” Slade sipped his drink while I contemplated the news.
“Were they there?” I finally asked.
Slade knew who I was talking about without me needing to explain.
“Darker was one of the ones who attacked him, he didn’t see True anywhere. From everything I can gather no one has seen her since that night at the library. Maybe she didn’t make it out after all?”
I’d never forget the image of my mother helping True escape through the portal; it was seared in my memory.
“No, she got out I’m sure of it. Did Levi find anything?”
“Not sure, that’s all the information I could find out.”
“Damn it.” I hit the table annoyed that we were still so in the dark about what was going on.
“Calm down we’ll figure it out.” Slade slid his hand over mine trying to soothe me and I bit my tongue wanting to tell him to just let me be angry. But Slade always felt he was supposed to fix things, maybe because he was an Impossible Engineer and IEs were adapt at building and repairing, putting things together and making them work. Hell, it’s probably why he liked me so much... I was broken and he was looking to fix me.
“I know we will.” I slid my hand out from under his and grabbed my cup to sip my coffee.
“Hey, guys!” Edgar yelled as soon as he opened the door to the Beanery causing everyone to turn his way. He was dressed as oddly as ever his ever-present leather satchel at his side, the usual assortment of maps and bits of paper hanging from its edges. His goggles were pushed up into his hair forcing it to unnatural heights.
He sped toward us just as Val rushed out of the backroom, her head down. They collided with one another falling to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. Val pushed herself up and from the angry set of her mouth I knew she was ready to start yelling until she saw who she was sprawled over. She stared at Edgar for a moment, smiled and then blushed bright red. Edgar returned her smiled while customers returned to their conversations.
“Why didn’t you answer my texts?” She didn’t make a move to get off of poor Edgar who was trapped beneath her.
“I was helping my dad. I sent you an e-mail,” he explained.
The majority of technology regular people used mystified Edgar. Slade had worked on Edgar’s phone for a full day to get it to connect to a regular cell network in order for him to be able to text Val.
“E-mail is for old people, Edgar, next time text me.” Val stood up and offered Edgar her hand and helped him up. He brushed himself off and Val playfully punched his shoulder and then went back to work. Edgar watcher her walk away and then joined us at the table.
“Hey, guys,” Edgar said half-heartedly his attention remaining on Val.
“Over here, Edgar.” I laughed snapping my fingers in front of his face.
He blinked, laughed and slapped my hand away. “Did you guys hear about Mr. Miller?”
Edgar was well connected in the Mapmakers Union and he was always able to get information faster than we could. We filled him in quick on what we already knew about the situation. Val brought over a drink for Edgar and we waited for her to leave before we started discussing it again. It was a strict rule... outsiders were not to know about our world.
“Do you know anything else?” I asked, Edgar’s eyes shifted back and forth and he took a deep breath.
“According to my source, Mr. Miller hit a dead end in his search. He said even the First Kind has feelers out trying to learn anything. He did say that allegedly they have some information they stole a while back that is helping them in their search.”
“Do you know what it is?”
“No, I just know that it’s a big deal and that everyone is upset about it. According to the story I heard the First Kind stole the information and during the robbery they killed a bunch of people.”
I leaned back and wondered what the First Kind could have possibly stolen that would be of help to them.
“Maybe if we find out when they stole it, we could backtrack and figure out what they have,” I suggested. “Did you hear anything else?”
“Just a name of one of the people they killed,” Edgar dipped his head and my stomach began to sink something was wrong “Lauren Harkness.”
The name struck me like a slap in the face. I sat back and my mind raced at the thought of what this could mean.
“What is it, did you know her?” Slade asked concerned.
“No but I know someone who did. She was Nightshade’s girlfriend.”
About the Author
MJ Fletcher is the creator of the comic book series
Adam Zero: The Last Man of Earth
published by Ronin Studios. He’s also been published in Hope: The Hero Initiative and Digital Webbing Presents.
The Doorknob Society
series is his first book series and he’s thrilled about it. He lives near the beach with his wife, daughter, dog and a crotchety cat.
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