The Glass Wall (Return of the Ancients Book 1) (14 page)

Apparently annoyed himself, he raised his voice, incensed. “And your willful ignorance will not change your fate. You are already playing your part, and if you choose to remain blind, then utter destruction is inevitable.”

As people turned to look at us, I set my unfinished sandwich down and looked him straight in the eye. “What are you trying to say? Assuming you’re speaking the truth and you’re some kind of alien that can read the future … what are you trying to get me to do?”

He dropped his voice, and scornfully curled his lip. “Oh, don’t assume one as insignificant as you can do anything! Indeed—” At this point, he interrupted himself and succumbed to a bout of scathing laughter. “You are a mere human and most definitely not the finest of specimens!”

At that, I began to wrap my sandwich. He had ruined my lunch. I wasn’t about to sit there and be insulted by an alien any longer, rock star or no.

“Wait!” Jareth clamped his fingers over my wrist.

“I’m going back to work,” I said, frowning at him.

“You still have time.” He brushed my protest aside. Still holding onto my hand, he explained, “Rafael and I are looking for our mentor and you have met her. Just tell me where she is. I’m sure that’s the only role you have to play in this drama. It’s a simple choice. Either you tell Rafael or you tell me.”

“Oh, I see.” I snorted sarcastically. “It’s one of
those
deals … one door leads to your heart’s desire and the other leads to utter destruction. All Sydney has to do is choose the right door, which is, of course,
your
door!”

“Yes,” he replied quite seriously, blinking in surprise. “It
is
something like that.”

“Then, the choice is easy!” I snapped, yanking my wrist free. “I’ll tell Rafael. He’s much nicer than you are!”

At that, I rose, and Jareth followed suit.

He towered over me angrily. His eyes churned with emotion, and I wondered if I’d just done something very foolish.

As all eyes turned his way, he visibly took a deep breath to calm himself and slowly sat back down. He motioned to my empty chair. “Please, have a seat. I believe we have started off wrong from the start.”

“I’ll say we have!” I agreed. Against my better judgment, I sat back down. With the initial shock over, my brain was finally beginning to work or it seemed to be. At least I was starting to think of questions. “I gather you and Rafael are enemies?”

He still looked angry, but answered easily enough, “It’s much more complicated than that. The mere word ‘enemy’ cannot describe it. I’m not afraid to do what I must and Rafael is a dreamer!” His smile was disdainful.

“So, I’m a dreamer?”

Rafael’s quiet voice startled us both. I hadn’t noticed his arrival. I wondered how long he’d been standing nearby. His eyes were hard and his lips drawn in a rigid line as he surveyed Jareth with visible distaste.

I don’t know what would have happened next if Samantha hadn’t walked up to our table just then. “Enough, boys,” she said tartly. “Take it outside. Sydney has to work now.”

I jumped to my feet.

“Sydney,” she continued, throwing her arm about my shoulders and drawing me away, “I don’t have a place in my shop for teen theatrics and that applies to even Jareth. When you’re here, I expect you to concentrate on your job and not to date boys.”

“I’m not dating anyone!” I frowned, but I could tell she didn’t believe me.

After escorting me back to the kitchen, she returned to the front of the shop.

Angry, I stalked to the dishwasher and began to slam dishes onto the rack.

I stayed in the back for the remainder of my shift. A few of my fellow co-workers tried to pry details from me about Jareth. The most persistent was a chubby, curly-haired girl with red hair and a multitude of freckles.

“Are you, like, his girlfriend?” she asked as I helped unload boxes from a delivery van.

“No,” I said shortly.

“Are you sure?” she kept insisting.

“I think I’d know if I was!” I snapped, kicking the storage room door open with my foot and setting a box down.

“I mean, you know, with him being a celebrity. You have to keep things like that quiet,” she chattered and giggled. “But, it’s not like you’ll ever tell, not for a while, anyway. I’m sure you’re his girlfriend. Why else would he be shooting his newest video here next week?”

“What?” I asked, turning to her in surprise.

“He’s been talking to Samantha out there for several hours, and she finally agreed. She couldn’t resist all that money. He’s filthy rich, but you know that already,” was the reply.

Suddenly, I lost my temper. I was tired of whatever game Jareth and Rafael were playing with me. I didn’t care if they were looking for their mentor. I had never met her. I was sure I’d have noticed her if I had. She’d have been as odd as rest of them.

I slammed another box down in the storage room and let the others unload the rest. It was time for me to clock out anyway. I was punching my time card when Samantha came into the corner of the backroom that served as the office.

“You did well today, Sydney,” she said. She folded her arms and craned her head around to make a quick visual inspection of the cleaned dishes, swept floor, and neatly organized storage room.

“Thanks,” I murmured. I grabbed my bag of “Bean There, Baked That” T-shirts and prepared to go.

“Jareth will be working and filming here the next few weeks,” she said, watching me closely. “I hope that won’t be a problem for you.”

“No, it won’t,” I replied. “I hardly know him.”

Samantha pursed her lips and eyed me thoughtfully. “Well, I think he wants to change that.”

“I don’t care what he wants,” I answered shortly.

She smiled at me for the first time. “Well, you stay strong and true to yourself, young lady. I’ll be seeing you in the morning then.”

I pushed my way out the back door and pulled up short.

Rafael was waiting for me, leaning against his Bentley. Ajax hung out of the window, panting a little.

“What do you want?” I asked, a little rudely. “I have to catch my bus.”

“I can take you home,” Rafael offered, opening the door to his car with a slight bow.

Ajax looked at him and then at me with his tail stiff. He wasn’t about to wag. He remained stubbornly in the front seat, but Rafael didn’t appear to notice.

“That’s ok, but no,” I said wearily. “I don’t know what you and Jareth are up to, but I don’t want any part of it.”

“It’s much too late, Sydney,” he said quietly.

I just looked at him and then, deliberately, turned on my heel and walked to the bus stop.

He didn’t follow.

I suppose I’d have gotten home much earlier had I taken Rafael up on his offer, but I needed to think. If they really were aliens—something I was really starting to believe—then I must take Jareth’s ominous warning about my fate seriously, and that meant that I should probably talk to Rafael and hear his side of everything, if he was even willing to tell me. But, I was too tired to deal with it today.

By the time I pushed the front door to the house open, all I wanted to do was go to my room and pet Jerry.

“You
had a busy day!” Grace snickered as soon as I walked into the kitchen.

“Yeah, it was,” I said, grabbing a soda from the fridge. “Samantha kept me running all day.”

“I didn’t mean that!” she said, shoving her phone in my face.

Puzzled, I looked at the screen.

I read the words: “Who is this girl?”

It was a picture of Jareth and me in the coffee shop, when he had grasped my hand. The angle of the photo made it look romantic.

Shocked, I continued to read.

“Has Jareth been hiding a new flame? Is
she
the reason he has cancelled his concerts and is hanging out in Seattle for the next few months?”

I didn’t want to read any more and slammed the phone on the counter.

“Hey, don’t break it!” Grace frowned, picking her phone up and cradling it gently.

“Sorry,” I practically growled. “It’s a bunch of bull. He’s creepy.”

Betty came into the kitchen, opening her mouth to say something, but clamped it shut as the phone rang. Looking at the number, she answered it with, “Why, good evening, Samantha!”

I froze.

“Yes? Oh, I see. Yes, that makes complete sense. I’m sure Sydney won’t mind. Ok, well, you have a good evening too!”

Turning the phone off, Betty glanced at me, saying, “Well, Sydney. It looks like Jareth has really caused a stir at the coffee shop. There are so many reporters there now that Samantha thinks it’s better if you wait a couple of days before coming back to work. She said she’d pay you anyway. She knows none of this is your fault. In fact, she says she owes you. Her business is bursting at the seams because of you and Jareth. He’s paying an ungodly amount to film there these next few weeks!”

“That’s funny.” Grace laughed a little. “I’ve never heard of anyone being paid
not
to go to work!”

For some strange reason, I wanted to cry. Grabbing my stuff, I escaped to my room.

Betty was smart enough to leave me alone.

My cell phone woke me up early the next morning. I knew it was Maya, my mother. She was the only one who had my number.

“Sydney?” Her voice sounded worried.

“Hi, Maya,” I said, trying to determine if she was lucid or not.

“Are you doing ok? I read some really weird things on the internet this morning, and my therapist suggested I call you,” she said, sounding unusually coherent.

“I’m fine,” I replied. I was sure the things she spoke of had to do with Jareth, but I asked anyway, “What things?”

“Oh, I read that you’re Jareth’s new girlfriend. How did that happen? Are you?” She sounded a little lost, and I felt sorry for her.

“No, I’m not. It’s all a mistake. I’m sure it’ll be cleared up soon,” I reassured her.

“Ok.” She laughed a little in relief. “They are going to let me out for a few hours on Thanksgiving. I thought we could go to Denny’s.”

“Alright,” I agreed. “I look forward to it.”

“Ok. Well, I’ll see you soon, Sydney. It’s just a couple of weeks. Good-bye.”

She hung up, and I just stared at my phone for a while. Obviously, the stories were taking on a life of their own if my mother had read them and gotten worried.

I found the whole situation a bit overwhelming and kind of scary. I didn’t know what Jareth was trying to pull, but I knew that he was up to something.

I spent the day trying not to think about Jareth and Rafael, but not thinking about them was hard to do. Grace went to watch a movie with Ellison. Betty dropped by once to give me an egg sandwich. When I came out later for something to drink, Al tossed me a Washington State Driver’s Guide and patted me on the head.

“Study hard. I’ll take you Wednesday to get your permit, and we can start practicing, kiddo. It’s time to start your Mackenzie Basic Training.” He saluted. “Besides studying for your test, you should start by learning the most important rule, the Mackenzie Covert Code Phrase—to be used whenever complete trust is required. Do you remember what Grace said from before?”

I had to shake my head and say, “No.”

“It is, ‘Can you get me some of those Blue Pickles?’” Al nodded sharply.

I couldn’t resist laughing at him a little. He made me repeat it several times before leaving.

I stayed the remainder of the day studying in my bedroom. I concentrated on science until I felt confident I’d at least get a C on the next test, and then I read the driver’s guide Al had given me before drifting off to sleep.

Chapter Twelve - Iron

The next morning at school, Sister Ann—the ostrich look-alike—pulled me out of my mentor class and escorted me to the front office.

I finally got the courage to ask, “Am I in trouble?”

“Absolutely not, quite the opposite.” She smiled at me. “We have a visitor who specifically requested you for the day. It’ll be your first Buddy experience!”

I followed her, a little shocked. A Buddy had to babysit the visitor the entire day, take them to every class, to lunch, sports practice or whatever, and answer all of their questions. Usually, the school chose the talkative kids like Ellison to be Buddies.

Sister Ann opened the office door and motioned for me to enter.

Startled, I froze in the doorway.

Harmony sat on the couch, dressed in the perfect school blazer and a plaid skirt. Her hair was done up in pigtails. It looked absurd, and I couldn’t believe for a second anyone would think she belonged in high school.

“This is Harmony Channing. She’s thinking about transferring here.” Sister Ann began the introductions.

“We’ve met,” I said, wondering what Harmony was up to.

“Yes, she mentioned that you spoke so highly of the school that she just had to check us out!” Sister Ann beamed at me.