Eighteen

IN THE MOVIE VERSION of our flight, we’d have run straight into a trap. Everyone would have been taken captive … except me, being the heroine. I’d be smart enough to avoid capture, so I could plot a daring rescue to free my friends. But it wouldn’t be easy. Or quiet. Tori and Simon would blow up a city block with magic. Derek would throw a few trucks at our pursuers. I would recruit a platoon of zombies from a conveniently located cemetery.

But as cool as all that would have looked on the big screen, I was really more in the mood for a quiet getaway. And that’s exactly what we got. The Edison Group never left the factory yard.

We walked at least three miles. When we were far enough from the factory to stop skulking, Derek led us into the commercial section on the other side of the neighborhood, where four teens wouldn’t look so out of place on a school day.

“I know you guys love this cloak-and-dagger stuff,” Tori said finally, “but can’t we just grab a taxi?”

Derek shook his head.

I cleared my throat. “A cab would be risky, but if there’s a shorter route to where we’re going, my feet would really appreciate it.”

Derek stopped short. I smacked into his back—not for the first time, since he insisted on walking in front of me. I’d been tripping on his heels and mumbling apologies the whole way. When I’d slow down to let him get farther ahead, he’d snap at me to keep up.

“We’re almost there,” Simon said.

He was beside me—sticking to the curbside, walking as close as Derek. While normally I wouldn’t complain about Simon being so close, I had the weird sensation of being blocked in.

As we started forward again, I tried dropping back with Tori, who lagged behind, but Simon put his fingers on my elbow and steered me back into place.

“Okay,” I said. “Something’s up. What’s with the walking blockade? ”

“They’re protecting you,” Tori said. “Shielding you from the big bad world.”

Neither of the guys said a word. Whatever it was, they weren’t telling me. Not yet.

* * *

Our destination was some kind of unused industrial building in a neighborhood so rundown that even the gangbangers and the homeless seemed to steer clear.

Just as we were about to go inside, Liz called to me. She stood by the missing front door like she couldn’t cross the threshold. I asked whether there was magic keeping her out, but she said no, she just needed to talk to me. So I waved Derek and Simon on, telling them I had to speak to Liz.

She’d been quiet since I’d met up with the others, staying out of sight. Now she crouched on the dirt patch beside the building to tug up one purple and orange sock.

“You know, I really loved these socks, but another day of having to look at them, and I’m going barefoot for eternity.” She tried to smile, but after a moment’s struggle, gave up and straightened. “I’m taking off now. You don’t need me anymore.”

“No, I—I mean, if you want to, sure, but—”

“That came out wrong. I just …” She lifted her foot, adjusting the sock again. “I should go. But I’ll be back.”

“I don’t have your shirt. We’ll need to set up a rendezvous point or something.”

She laughed, almost genuine now. “No more rendezvous points. I’ll find you. I always do. It just … might be a while. I’ve got stuff to do. And you …” She looked toward the building, and the wistfulness in her eyes stabbed through me. “You’ve got stuff to do. You and the others.”

“Liz, I—”

“It’s okay. You do your thing, and I’ll catch up.”

“I’ll miss you.”

She reached out, and I swore I felt her fingers brush mine. “You’re sweet, Chloe. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back.” Then she disappeared.

The others were waiting just inside the door. We picked our way through the debris, walking single file in the near dark behind Derek.

As we moved, the hairs on my neck rose, and a dull throbbing started in the back of my skull. I slowed. Now it was Tori’s turn to smack into me.

“Come on, move,” she said. “Oh, that’s right. Chloe’s afraid of the dark. Simon, you’d better hold her hand or—”

“Knock it off.” Simon pushed past Tori and came up beside me. “You okay?”

“There’s … something here. I can feel it.”

“Ghosts?”

“I don’t think so. It’s like what I felt in the crawl space at Lyle House.”

Derek swore.

I turned to peer at him in the darkness. “What?”

“There’s a body.”

“What?” Simon said, with Tori echoing, shriller.

“There’s a dead body somewhere in here. I smelled it yesterday, after we’d settled in.”

“And you didn’t bother telling me?” Simon said.

“It’s a body. Long dead. Some homeless guy. It’s a good place otherwise.”

“Otherwise? A pitch-black hideaway filled with trash, dead bodies, and rats. You know how to pick’em, bro.”

“R-rats?” I said, thinking of the bats.

“Great,” Tori muttered. “She’s scared of rats, too.”

“As long as I’m here, they’re staying away,” Derek said.

It wasn’t the live rats I was worried about.

He continued. “But I didn’t think about the body. Chloe? Is it a problem?”

It was. I should say something about the bats, how I’d accidentally raised them while dealing with that ghost. But I looked at everyone, how tired they seemed, all impatiently waiting to find a place to rest and talk, find out what I knew. I could handle this. As long as I didn’t try summoning Liz, I wouldn’t raise this body.

So that’s what I said.

“But it bothers you being near it,” Simon said. “We should—”

“ I’m sure safe places aren’t easy to find.” I forced a smile. “It’ll be good experience. I need to learn to recognize the feeling.”

“Oh, of course,” Tori said. “Chloe’s going to learn from it. Do you ever quit? You’re like a perky little Energizer bunny—”

Simon turned to snap something at her, but Derek waved us on. We reached a room in the middle, with no windows. Derek turned on a lantern. It cast enough wavering light to see by. Earlier, the guys had set up crates to sit on, and laid newspaper over the filthy floor. Two new backpacks were hidden behind the crates alongside a neat stack of cheap blankets. Not exactly the Hilton—or even Lyle House—but a lot better than where we’d slept last night.

As we sat, Derek pulled a handful of energy bars from his pocket, and gave one to me.

“Oh, right. You must be starving.” Simon reached into his pockets. “I can offer one bruised apple and one brown banana. Convenience stores aren’t the place to buy fruit, as I keep telling someone.”

“Better than these. For you, anyway, Simon.” Derek passed a bar to Tori.

“Because you aren’t supposed to have those, are you?” I said. “Which reminds me …” I took out the insulin. “Derek said it’s your backup.”

“So my dark secret is out.”

“I didn’t know it was a secret.”

“Not really. Just not something I advertise.”

In other words, if kids knew he had a chronic illness, they might treat him differently. He had it under control, so there was no reason for anyone to know about it.

“Backup?” Tori said. “You mean he didn’t need that?”

“Apparently not,” I murmured.

Simon looked from her to me, confused, then understanding. “You guys thought …”

“That if you didn’t get your medicine in the next twenty-four hours, you’d be dead?” I said. “Not exactly, but close. You know, the old ‘upping the ante with a fatal disease that needs medication’ twist. Apparently, it still works.”

“Kind of a letdown, then, huh?”

“No kidding. Here we were, expecting to find you minutes from death. Look at you, not even gasping.”

“All right, then. Emergency medical situation, take two.”

He leaped to his feet, staggered, keeled over, then lifted his head weakly.

“Chloe? Is that you?” He coughed. “Do you have my insulin?”

I placed it in his outstretched hand.

“You saved my life,” he said. “How can I ever repay you?”

“Undying servitude sounds good. I like my eggs scrambled.”

He held up a piece of fruit. “Would you settle for a bruised apple?”

I laughed.

“You guys are weird,” Tori said.

Simon sat on the crate beside me. “That’s right. We are totally weird and completely uncool. Your popularity is plummeting just by being near us. So why don’t you—”

“Chloe?” Derek interrupted. “How’s your arm?”

“Her—?” Simon swore under his breath. “Way to keep showing me up. First, food. Now her arm.” He turned to me. “How is it?”

“Fine. All stitched and bandaged.”

“We should take a look,” Derek said.

Simon helped me pull off the jacket.

“Is that all you’re wearing?” Derek said. “Where’s your sweater?”

“They didn’t give us a chance to grab anything. I have money. I’ll buy one.”

“Two,” Simon said. “It’s freezing after the sun goes down. You must have been a Popsicle last night.”

I shrugged. “I had other things on my mind.”

“Her aunt and Rae,” Tori said.

“W-we’ll get to that,” I said, as Simon looked at me. “There’s a lot to catch up on. You guys start.”