Midnight on Strange Street, page 22
This mind-meld thing really helps, he thought to himself. Just himself. And as he eased to a stop, one slider glove extended, he found his face heating up.
“You okay?” he asked Dani, getting to his feet.
But Dani was already standing, board in hand—more than okay.
“Come on,” she said, tossing Zander the connector cord. “We keep to the backyards, stay in the dark. The silver suits are probably watching our street, so we gotta go the back way.”
Zander had forgotten how bossy Dani could be. But he was kind of grateful, too; he wouldn’t have thought to keep off the street. He followed Dani as she cut across yards, moving with ease, avoiding ditches, ducking under branches, and opening gates, until they reached a familiar yard. Zander spotted Cedar House, and his stomach knotted in ten different places. He hadn’t realized until this moment how much he missed the place. The late-night chats, the Sunday-night games of sardines…
Hey. Dani shook him out of his memories, motioning for him to follow her to the Gils’ back porch.
But your place is one more over, he said, confused.
Yeah, I’m aware. We’re not going to my place.
Dani reached the trellis that ran up the porch’s far left column. Without hesitation, she grabbed hold, finding footholds in the wood-hewn diamonds and working her way up.
“What the heck are you doing?” Zander whispered.
In a matter of moments, Dani had reached the porch roof. She stood atop it and waved for Zander to climb.
It’s easy, she told him. I do it all the time at my house.
“Like that helps me,” Zander muttered, but what choice did he have? He climbed the trellis, taking much longer than Dani had and ending up with several scratches from the splintery wood.
“The price of stealth,” Dani told him, holding up her own scarred, callused hands. Then she opened the nearest window and climbed inside.
Zander dropped in after her and found himself in a room that smelled of lavender. A collection of paper creatures lay on a white wicker dresser. This was Lola’s room. Zander had only been here once before, when a storm had caved in the roof of Cedar House, forcing the Sardines to meet indoors. Now he watched as Dani opened and shut drawers, then stepped inside the walk-in closet and rummaged around.
“What’re you looking for?” he asked, scratching a brand-new mosquito bite on his cheek.
“The memo,” Dani said. “Or something more. Come on, let’s check Bastian’s room.”
She opened the bedroom door onto a dark hallway, looked both ways, and crept out. Once again, Zander had no choice but to follow.
Bastian’s room was opposite Lola’s, and way different in style. A host of stars twinkled above their heads, casting eerie light on dark plaid wallpaper. Artwork was tacked to every wall, most of it colorful glowboard designs done in pastels, pencils, and chalk. Zander felt weird about being here, seeing artwork that Bastian had once shared with him in private—artwork Zander had told Mitchell and his Grackles about. Standing here now, without Bastian’s knowledge, made Zander feel like a traitor twice over.
Dani picked up notebooks and papers from Bastian’s desk, turning some over, flipping through others.
“It’s got to be here,” she said. “Check the floor. Maybe under the bed. It might still be shaped like a swan.”
“I don’t get what we’re looking for,” Zander said, but he still got on his hands and knees to check under the bed. It was spotless there—no dirty clothes, no boxes, not even dust bunnies. He hadn’t known that Bastian was such a neat freak.
“You met Nando,” Dani said, pawing through desk drawers. “Their older brother?”
“Yeah,” Zander said, now tugging the pillows off Bastian’s bed, checking under the sheets. Nothing suspicious-looking there, either.
“Well, he works for the government, and he came to town on secret government business. Now think, what secret government business is there in Callaway?”
“Uh…” said Zander. “Drug bust?”
Dani groaned, slamming the last of the drawers shut. She slumped into the desk chair, looking defeated. “Bastian and Lola stole one of his papers. It was about a deal with Gloworks. And that van I saw picking up Bastian—it was a Gloworks van. Connection?”
“Uh…”
“Connection,” Dani said with conviction.
“The Gloworks?” Zander asked. “Mr. Jensen’s Gloworks?”
“Yes. And that memo was on a special letterhead. I’m almost sure there was an address. A clue to where the others could be.”
“Well,” Zander said slowly, trying to sort it all out, “what if they’re at…Gloworks?”
Dani frowned. “That’s too obvious. Anyway, why would anyone take them to a glow factory?”
“It’s not just a factory,” Zander said. “There are meeting rooms, and some special lab…but they didn’t let us go back there on the tour.”
Dani was looking at Zander as though he’d transformed into a flying cockroach. “You went on a tour there?”
Zander shrugged. “With the Grackles. Mr. Jensen was pretty nice.”
“Whatever,” Dani sighed. “So if they are at Gloworks, what do we do? It’s all the way across town, and my glowboard doesn’t work.” Dani pointed to the clock on the bedside table. It was 10:13. “Today’s the summer solstice. That’s what your message said, right? Summer solstice.”
Zander nodded, feeling a lot less smug than he had a minute ago.
“That was the final clue we needed,” Dani said. “The aliens—they’re meeting us on Hazard Hill at midnight, tonight. And if we’re not there…” Dani shook her head. “We have to be there, that’s all.”
Now Zander felt like he might puke. “Maybe,” he said weakly, “the others aren’t really in trouble. Maybe it’s one big misunderstanding.”
Dani gave Zander a look that said, Don’t be stupid.
“Just saying,” Zander mumbled. “It’s possible. And it’s not like we’ve got a lot to go on.”
Suddenly, the desk lamp flickered on. Zander blinked against the light, looking to Dani.
Did you do that? he asked.
It was dark, Dani thought back. In the new light, he saw a blush spread over her cheeks.
Zander smiled a little. “It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who can do weird stuff.”
“Yeah.” Dani looked pensive. “We thought the fifth person was Radar.”
“Wait. You thought I was a dog?”
Dani’s entire face was red now. “Well, what else were we supposed to think? The aliens said ‘five.’ Radar hangs out with us a lot. It made sense.”
“A dog,” Zander muttered, hardly comforted by Dani’s explanation.
“When did you know?” she asked after a moment’s silence. “About the powers.”
“A year ago, I guess? Around when I turned twelve. That’s when I first started to feel…” Zander frowned, searching for words. Finding none, he tapped his chest.
“The blue fire,” Dani said.
He looked at her, surprised. “Yeah. That. We were at a restaurant, and the waiter brought out a tray with desserts. You know, the special ones they use for display. I wanted the brownie sundae. I was thinking that I wanted it. And all of a sudden it fell off the tray, right onto the table, in front of me. Everyone thought it was a funny accident. The waiter apologized, and the manager even came out to say our meal was free. But it wasn’t an accident. I knew it was me. I’d felt it on the inside.”
“Yeah,” Dani said. “That’s how it felt on the hill tonight. When we were skating, our thoughts were combined—tethering, that’s what we call it—and suddenly it was like our flames combined, too. We were connected, all over. I felt the heat inside, and I told myself it was just adrenaline. But now…” Dani’s face crumpled. “The fire. I know it was us.”
“Because you were connected?” Zander guessed. “Like, you were stronger with your powers combined?”
Dani gave him a look. “It sounds super corny when you put it like that.”
“Hey, I saw that fire. I don’t think it’s corny.”
If anything, Zander was jealous. The others had connected their thoughts, and maybe it had resulted in disaster, but they had shared a bond, like a real team. A team where they belonged. Zander had never felt that way with the Grackles.
“Am I really the reason you left?”
Zander started at Dani’s question. “Wait, what?”
“You left because of me,” Dani said in a whisper. “Because I sucked out all the fun. Right?”
“Uh…” Zander cleared his throat. “What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
Crap, Zander thought.
Now he wished that Dani hadn’t turned on the lamp, because he couldn’t hide the weird feelings he was sure were on his face. “It wasn’t the only reason. When Mitchell asked me to join the Grackles, he seemed pretty cool back then. His dad gave us all brand-new equipment so we didn’t have to buy it for ourselves.”
“What,” said Dani. “You couldn’t buy it for yourself?”
“Not everything.” Zander looked down, picking at his knit wristbands. “You had to have noticed, all my stuff was in rough shape. Secondhand gear.”
“But I…” Dani scowled against the light. “You knew how bad my board was. You weren’t the only one who didn’t have great equipment.”
“Yeah,” said Zander, “your board was bad, but the reason you couldn’t buy a new one wasn’t because your parents were broke. My dad got laid off and didn’t have a job for a long time. I never told you all that.”
“No,” said Dani. “You didn’t.”
“And the reason we moved? It wasn’t because we wanted to live in a cooler part of town. My new house? It’s half the size. We couldn’t afford our place on Cedar Lane. That’s the truth.”
Dani blinked. “I…didn’t know that.”
“You didn’t ask,” Zander said—not an accusation, just a fact. “Even after we moved, it got so bad, Dad said he might have to send me away, to live with my mom’s family in Vancouver.”
“Vancouver?”
“It wouldn’t have been so bad,” Zander said. “The Kwons are really nice, and I didn’t get to know my mom before she died. It would’ve been a good experience. That’s what my dad said. But I didn’t want to leave here. I liked school, and I liked glowboarding, and I liked…you.”
Dani’s eyes got big. “Me?”
“I mean, all of you,” Zander said quickly, feeling flushed. “You know, the Sardines. But then my board broke, for good, and I couldn’t tell you all. It seemed like the only way I could keep skating was to do something you all would hate me for. And I did it. I joined Mitchell’s team. And…you hated me.”
The room was quiet. Zander felt the way he had once when he’d gotten a stomach bug and barfed up chili cheese fries into a restaurant toilet.
Finally, Dani spoke. “I didn’t hate you. None of us hate you. We didn’t understand why you left, that’s all. Why didn’t you tell us what was going on?”
Zander lowered his eyes. “I guess I was too embarrassed. Mitchell made everything easy, and you guys made it so hard. And then suddenly we weren’t friends anymore. But I never wanted that to happen. And I never meant for them to use the things I told them to hurt you all, especially Bastian. I know that part was wrong: I shouldn’t have stood there and let the Grackles be awful to you. When I left the Sardines, I wasn’t trying to be a traitor. But taking Mitchell’s side—I guess that made me one.”
The room got quiet again, and Zander listened to the tick tick tick of the bedside clock.
Dani said, “Maybe I hated you a little.”
Then she laughed, a sort of muffled sound, and Zander laughed, too, and found he could look at her again.
“I never told you congratulations,” he said. “For winning the race.”
Dani snorted. “They didn’t announce an official time, so technically we didn’t win anything. And if we didn’t win, we won’t get the cash prize, and now my board is toast.” Dani motioned limply toward her backpack. “That’s the end of the line for me.”
“But you won,” Zander insisted. “And you deserved it. All of you.”
“Two eleven, though,” said Dani, pointing at him. “That’s pretty great. You must’ve practiced hard.”
“Yeah. Um…About that…”
Dani’s face changed, her brow scrunching up.
She knows, thought Zander. She probably suspected the whole time.
Still, he had to say it.
“We cheated,” he blurted. “Well, Mitchell did. He made us all—”
Dani’s brow stayed scrunched. She waved for Zander to stop talking.
“No,” he said. “I’ve got to tell you. I know it was wrong. I—”
“Shut up,” Dani growled, lunging forward to clamp a hand over Zander’s mouth.
That’s when he heard the footsteps outside, in the hallway.
They weren’t alone.
The footsteps came closer, closer, and then Bastian’s door creaked opened.
Everything happened at once.
Dani screamed, and rough hands caught Zander, pulling him off his feet.
A man’s deep voice boomed out, “What’s going on here?”
Then Zander heard a name flash in his mind, Dani’s thoughts sharp with fear:
Nando.
Lola woke choking. There was a strange object in her mouth, cold and metal, tasting of blood. A pinching sensation shot through her arms, and she blinked against harsh white light. Strangers stood over her, speaking in low voices.
Avery! she called out.
Beside her, a machine began to beep.
Avery, where are you?
The beeps grew louder, more rapid. There was movement around Lola, and powdery gloved hands touched her arms and legs.
Avery, she called. Dani! Bastian, where are you?
The foreign hands were rotating her arms. She felt a cold, sticky substance drop on her skin, and though she strained upward, restraints kept her pinned flat against a hard surface.
She couldn’t see their faces; she could only hear their staticky voices.
“Let’s go with a sedative, it’s not time.”
“At least we’ve got the twins.”
“They’ll bring in the rest, Smith. Focus on your job.”
Lola’s eyelids drooped shut against the too-bright light. She felt tired all over, like she could sleep for days.
She drifted away, while the strange machine beeped on.
Avery fought against her bonds, but struggling did no good; they were too tight. She tried to speak, but no words came out of her mouth. All the while, a man in a silver suit sat across from her, the visor of his helmet opaque. His tenor voice crackled out from the helmet speaker, a terrible thing.
“Not to worry, Ms. Miller. You’re in good hands.”
Avery glared. Good hands? Good hands didn’t lock kids into vans. Good hands didn’t kidnap girls and take them to strange, windowless white rooms.
Secrets. Bad things. Pain. That was all that could possibly await her here.
Lola? she called out. Bastian, Dani?
She listened, but there was no answer.
Avery shut her eyes. She took hold of the fear inside, stoked by a blue-white flame. She tried to form it, to reach out, the way she had on Sardines Night, when she’d saved Dani from her fall.
Out, she ordered it. Move. Set me free.
The flame stayed inside her, dancing and sparking, but not expanding. It remained stubbornly small.
A chill passed over Avery. These people had done something to her, somehow taken away her power. Which meant they knew all about her tele-whatevers. They had been watching, waiting. Now she was their prisoner.
Avery was too angry to cry, and far too scared. She could only watch as a sleek white door swished open, and yet another silver suit walked into the room.
“How’s this one?” The man’s voice raised gooseflesh on Avery’s skin.
“Well enough, Smith,” replied the other silver suit.
“Wh-why don’t you ask me?” Avery wheezed. “I’m not okay. I—I’m not okay at all.”
The man named Smith turned to her, folding his arms.
“Sorry to hear that, Ms. Miller,” he said. “From what your father told us, we thought you might have come to us willingly.”
“What—” Avery swallowed, trying to rid her throat of its scratchiness. “Wh-what did my dad tell you?”
“He’s an employee of ours, you understand.” Smith leaned against the table where Avery lay bound. He spoke breezily, as though Avery were not, in fact, tied up. “We hired him to do some important video work. Once all this is said and done, no longer a government secret, the public will want to know what happened here. It’s the documentarian’s dream, really. The chance of a lifetime.”
With difficulty, Avery shook her head. “He wouldn’t do that. He’s my dad.”
“My dear.” The man patted Avery’s ankle sympathetically. “He’s the one who turned you in.”
In response to Avery’s silent stare, Smith went on. “People do odd things at times like these. I’m sure he was only doing what he thought best.”
“B-but you can’t just tie up kids,” Avery sputtered. “It’s illegal!”
“That’s…a gray area,” the man said in his sympathetic tone. “I wish you’d see—I hope you will—that we’re doing this for your own good. For your good, and the good of our country.”
He gave Avery’s leg a final pat, then turned and walked to the door. “Continue monitoring,” he instructed the seated silver suit. “We’re interrogating the boy first.”
Bastian, Avery thought, panicked. They have Bastian.
“Where’s Lola?” she cried out.
The man did not answer her.
“An hour,” he told the silver suit. “Maybe more.”
“Very good, sir,” the silver suit replied.
Then the door swished shut behind the man, and Avery shut her eyes in despair.
He’s lying, Avery told herself. Dad would never do that. He wouldn’t turn me in. Not me. Not his own daughter.
