Diary of the Gone (9 page)

“
I know you were out there
at night,” she said.

“
Were you watching
me?”

“
As a matter of fact, I
was. Maybe it’s time for you to stop it? What if…?” Words failed
her for a moment. “What if something’s going to happen to
you?”

“
You’ll survive,” I
scoffed.

“
Maybe I will. But Mom
won’t.” She turned away.

After a few moments of silence she
asked, “Did you find anything?”

Caught off guard, I wasn’t sure what
to reply. I definitely wasn’t going to break the news to her of a
girl being kidnapped, or about meeting Wayne there. She would find
out about the former in good time while the latter would stay with
me. Why bother her, right?

“
No, I didn’t,” I
said.

We were close to
school, and I could feel the stares Bev’s classmates and friends
gave us as we passed them. I knew she’d tell them later she
had
to take me to school
because Mom had made her. I lowered my eyes to the ground not to
see suspicion and scorn in theirs.

To relieve Bev of myself, I said I
needed to go and get ready for my class. “By the way, there’s your
boyfriend … and the jerkface.” I flung a hateful stare at Terry
Haubert and Stan Crosby. Even though I didn’t owe Terry a grudge,
he was friends with the one I hated more than anyone in Olden
Cross.

Bev scoffed quietly, then moved
towards them without saying a word to me.

Before I’d gotten into trouble, I
trotted away from them, joining the crowd that to my relief paid no
attention to my persona.

“
Hey, wait!” someone
said.

Wayne walked fast towards me, a bag
slinging over one shoulder. He was wheezing as if from running for
a while, his face bleached. He clawed my elbow and whispered, “We
need to talk. Now!”

We elbowed our way through the crowd
causing a few grunts and moans from those we pushed, but Wayne
didn’t care to apologize.

“
What happened?” I asked
him when we stopped near the school cafeteria, nearly empty at this
time.

“
It’s Audrey,” he
whispered, but it felt as though he wanted to scream.

It hit me. The girl. The one who
screamed out there in the dark.

“
She’s gone! Her parents
called us this morning to ask if she was with me.” Wayne balled his
hands into fists that threatened to punch something.

Words failed me. Wayne spoke instead.
“There’s someone who might know where Nate and Audrey can be.
Meeting you here at lunchtime.”

He turned to go.

“
Wait. Who are you talking
about?”

“
Talk to you
later.”

It irritated me that no one cared to
explain anything to me.

The news of Audrey not coming home
spread like wildfire. Even though everyone spoke in hushed tones, I
caught some of them discussing the details of Greg’s death, the
words ‘strangled’ and ‘marks’ repeated here and there. I
occasionally heard my name mentioned, then schoolmates stole
furtive glances at me. Well, they never meant to be furtive in the
first place.

When lunchtime arrived, I headed for
the cafeteria as Wayne had instructed. I glowered at everyone for
thinking I was the one responsible for Nathan and Audrey’s
disappearances. As I entered, everyone went silent. I felt like I’d
stepped into a Shadow, no color, no sound, nothing. Some even
stopped chewing, their mouths full.

I grabbed a tray and proceeded to the
line of students when suddenly I tripped and crashed onto the tile
floor, my tray rattling in the momentary silence.

A few people burst into laughter, and
I felt my cheeks burning with shame. As I scrambled to my feet I
looked back to see Stan sticking out his leg from behind the
table.

“
Watch where you’re going,
Blackscum,” he said with a sneer.

His friends cheered, clapping his
shoulder in approval. He stood up and came over to me, everyone
around watching us. I looked into his hateful eyes, not afraid of
him anymore, even though he was taller than me.

“
Well, now you’ve asked
for trouble,” someone said from behind him.

Wayne stood in the entrance, then
crossed the distance between him and Stan in mere
seconds.

“
Will you just go to—?”
Stan didn’t finish the question. Wayne punched him so hard in the
face Stan fell to the floor, wriggling in pain. The crowd gasped
unanimously.

“
You will never ever treat
this kid badly,” he said, pointing his index finger at Stan. “Let’s
go,” he said, and I didn’t realize at first he was talking to me,
so mesmerized I was by the sight of Stan cowering and clutching at
his bleeding nose.

“
Callum!” Wayne called,
then I snapped out of it.

We exited the cafeteria in total
silence. “Aren’t you afraid they’re going to expel you?” I
asked.

Wayne walked with confidence I never
had. “The Crosbys will never order us around.”

I tried my best to keep up with his
strides, then asked, “Why do you hate him so much?”

He scoffed. “Well, first, he’s a jerk
who treats others like they’re scum. And second, once he tried to
kiss Audrey against her will. It’s good I made it in time and
kicked his ass.”

Now that Audrey had been mentioned, I
asked, “Where are we going?”

“
First, to Mrs. Palmer’s
house, then—if we don’t find her there—we’re going to the Swamps,”
he replied brusquely.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“
We need to find her,” he
said.

“
The
Mrs. Palmer?”

His lips curved into a smile, but his
eyes remain stern. “Nate told us you two had seen her there, right?
The day or two before you found Greg.”

“
Right. Do you think she’s
the one doing this?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “She may
know something, and we need to find out what.” He broke into a
brisk pace.

“
Did you check the
library?” I asked.

“
Yep. It’s locked,” he
offered another brusque response.

Mrs. Palmer’s house was far from my
most favorite places in Olden Cross. Nate had advised me to never
approach it. Unfortunately, Wayne wasn’t as easy to intimidate as
I, but probably even he wasn’t fond of his idea.

We marched along the street in silence
and soon reached the gate to Mrs. Palmer’s cottage. It looked
shabby, wild vines twining the front porch. The house seemed even
more precarious than the nearby houses.

All the windows were draped with dark
curtains. It didn’t seem like anyone lived here. Wayne pushed open
the gate that creaked and gave us away. We walked down a beaten
path, then up the stairs to the porch dusted and covered with
shrunken leaves. A faded doormat lying at the doorstep said
‘Welcome’. Mrs. Palmer must have a weird sense of humor, I noted to
myself.

Wayne knocked on the door while I
stood behind him, sweeping the leaves with my foot.

After half a minute there was no
response, so Wayne knocked harder. The house remained
still.

“
Let’s go,” Wayne
said.

Despite Nathan’s warnings about Mrs.
Palmer I hoped she would be home as the idea of going to the Swamps
again made me squirm. Nothing good ever happened there during the
day.

As we approached the forest, Wayne
fired questions at me about what we had seen exactly, and I told
him about the deer carcass—which surprised him a great deal—and
about Mrs. Palmer who ‘appeared out of nowhere’ as Nate had said. I
left the Shadow out of my story of course.

We took a turn left, towards the
graveyard, and soon entered the forest.

For the first time in a few days the
sun forced its way from behind the clouds, shadows of the trees
showing on the ground as forked-lightning grids. Then the brief
brightness dimmed back to the gray that clung to Olden Cross like a
curse.

Tree branches swayed in the gentle
breeze as we proceeded farther into the forest. The wind would feel
warm under any other circumstances, but now it made shivers run all
the way through my skinny frame.

First we reached the place where I’d
found Greg’s body, then moved deeper into the Swamps, jumping from
tussock to tussock, and came to a spot where I’d met Wayne
yesterday night.

There was no one around. I felt
relieved about not stumbling across another Shadow.

“
Watch for footprints from
here,” Wayne told me. “They must have left some. The ground here is
damp.”

We did find our own prints, and two
more sets. The same heavy footprints that led to Greg’s body,
together with another set that belonged to a person lighter in
weight.

“
It’s Audrey’s. She was
here,” Wayne said, his features stern.

We followed them for some time, but
soon the prints were gone. We checked for more, searching in all
directions, but couldn’t find any.

“
They can’t be far, can
they?” I asked.

Wayne didn’t have time to respond as
both of us noticed movement ahead. A black silhouette swished among
the trees. We ducked and hid behind the nearest tree, then stuck
our heads to watch.

“
It’s her,” Wayne
whispered. “Let’s see where she’s going.”

Mrs. Palmer made her way through the
tussocks with as much ease as we did. She didn’t head our way, but
past us. Still we didn’t dare move until she was a bit farther
away.

“
She must be going back to
the school,” he said. “Let’s go.”

I didn’t move. “I think I’ll wait
here.”

Wayne scratched his cheek, rolling his
eyes. “Come on, Cal. Everyone’s scared of her. The question is, do
you want to find Nathan or not? She may know something that’ll help
us.”

I sighed, suppressing a shudder that
rippled through my frame. “Okay.”

Wayne was right. Mrs. Palmer was
indeed heading towards the school. I had a feeling that any moment
she would shift into a raven and fly away from us, cawing and
flapping its wings.

The school came in sight. Mrs. Palmer
entered it without looking back.

“
Stop,” Wayne said. “Let’s
wait a bit. It’s going to be a break soon.”

After a couple of minutes the bell
rang and we mingled with the crowd that exited the
building.

As usual, the short corridor leading
to the library was empty.

The door creaked, and we entered a
darkened room, red long curtains shutting off the light, the aroma
of sandalwood hanging as a thick pall over us.

Even on a sunny day the library looked
gloomy. Several rows of bookshelves stood side by side, with barely
enough room in the aisles for two people to pass by. Behind the
last row there was a confined space with a desk where a rare
visitor could read a book, if they didn’t mind Mrs. Palmer’s
scornful stares.

Since Wayne had told me the library
was locked, I was surprised to see a girl sitting there.
Approximately my age, maybe a year younger, she had dark brown hair
falling on her shoulders like seaweed. She gave us a smile, a
question of ‘Did you get lost?’ sparkling in her forest-green eyes.
I fidgeted uncomfortably, not sure what to do with my hands,
shoving them into my pockets.

She turned her head to the farther
corner where Mrs. Palmer sat. That was the moment my heart skipped
a beat.

“
Well, well,” a croaky
voice greeted us. “Look who’s here. I thought you were not going to
come.” Her raven eyes stared at me, a gentle smile tugging at her
lips.

Wayne raised an eyebrow at me,
obviously surprised at such a greeting.

I vividly remembered my last visit to
this place. Bev and I had come here to get our books, and while
Mrs. Palmer treated my sister with scorn we later found out was
normal, she scrutinized me with fascination, the way an
entomologist would study a rare bug obtained after a long search. I
wasn’t sure it was a good sign, but figured out I’d better take it
for granted as nothing worked properly with me.

Now that Wayne and I were here, the
feeling had returned.

“
Vivian, would you mind
leaving us alone for a few minutes?” Mrs. Palmer looked at the girl
through her rimless half-moon glasses. “I need to talk to these two
gentlemen here.”

“
But Aunt Gloria, I had
such a good time here,” the girl implored. “I’d like to
stay.”

Niece. That’s why
she isn’t scared of Mrs. Palmer,
I
thought.

Now I could see a subtle resemblance
between them: the almond-shaped eyes, even though they were
different colors, their hair like seaweed. Even their voices were
the same timbre, only the girl’s was more squeaky than
croaky.

“
Our conversation will
only distract you from reading,” Mrs. Palmer said, glancing at
Vivian over her glasses.