Fly: A PORTAL Chronicles Novel (The PORTAL Chronicles) (22 page)

But then Everett was there beside me, gathering me into his arms, his face full of pain and regret. “Please don’t cry,” he said, cradling me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things. I was mad. I didn’t mean any of it.” He stroked my hair, his lips resting on my forehead as he allowed me to cry and cry. Once my tears had quieted, he said, “It’s been a tough night for all of us.”

Unable to speak, I could only lean away and nod.

“Oh, Sophie! You’re bleeding,” he said, putting his hand to my face. Sure enough, a dark crimson stain soaked his sweater. “You must have hit your chin when you fell. Does it hurt?” he asked, gently swiping his finger across it.

“Ouch! Only when you touch it!” I couldn’t help but laugh then. “I’m an inevitable klutz, aren’t I? Leave it to me to find the one lone patch of ice on campus.”

Everett laughed too, releasing some of the tension in his dark eyes.

Mia caught up to us then. “What did I miss?” she asked, eyeing us on the ground.

The night had gone so many kinds of wrong that all I could do was deliriously laugh. Mia cocked her head.

“Sophie slipped on some ice… and quite possibly smacked herself silly,” Everett explained with a smile.

“I see,” Mia nodded. “Well, I just got off the phone with Dr. Smitherson. He said it’s safe to come in but that we should proceed with caution — whatever that means.”

Everett stood and helped me up. “Let’s get inside then. It’s not safe out here.”

The scene we came upon stopped my laughter short. Two men, once again clad in all black, flanked my front door — or at least what remained of it. Through a charred hole in the center of the door, I saw Dr. Smitherson standing in the middle of my dorm along with a handful of men in black jackets who scurried about. Crawling through the hole, I felt faint as the full effect of my dorm hit me. My couch and chairs were trashed, pillows lay on the floor in shreds, and splinters of what used to be my kitchen cabinetry littered the floor.

“What is going on?” I asked. “Who did this?” I nearly crumpled to the ground from the devastation of it all. My home. My one safe place. It was gone. I had never felt so violated in all my life.

“Oh! Sophie. Everett. Mia. I’m so glad you’re all safe,” Dr. Smitherson breathed, looking extremely relieved and then very concerned. “Everett, what happened to your face? And, Sophie dear, your chin?”

“She had a nasty spill outside,” Everett answered nonchalantly, eyeing my living room. “And I got attacked by a crazy woman,” he added with a covert wink my way.

“Oh!” Dr. Smitherson looked alarmed. “That sounds awful.”

“Yeah, it was pretty scary,” Everett said, a smile hinting at the corners of his mouth. “What happened here?”

“Obviously, there was a hit on Sophie planned for tonight. One of Brightman’s security guards caught some men in her dorm. They blew a hole through the front door with some mild explosives. Not the best choice if you ask me, but it seems Divaldo’s operatives aim for flashy hits these days.”

“Message received loud and clear,” Everett nodded. “They clearly wanted to be seen and heard.”

“They were captured and sent to PORTAL headquarters for questioning. I’m glad none of you were here. I was very worried.”

“I don’t understand. What is going on?” I demanded, slightly losing it.

Everett grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze. “I have a safe place for Sophie to stay tonight, but how long until her dorm is livable?”

“I can have most everything fixed and new furniture delivered by tomorrow afternoon,” said Dr. Smitherson. “It looks like Sophie’s belongings are untouched, but you might want to take inventory.”

“Sure,” Everett nodded.

“Mia, I think you should do the same. It doesn’t look like anyone went into your dorm, but you never can be too careful.”

“Yes, sir,” Mia nodded, walking off.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it then,” Dr. Smitherson said. “I need to call Director Salvatore and report what has happened. I’ll be sure to inform him you all are safe.”

“Thank you, sir,” Everett replied.

As soon as Dr. Smitherson had walked away, I dragged Everett to my bedroom, shutting the door behind us. “I don’t appreciate everyone talking about me like I’m not in the room. First, Hagen goes berserk on me, then he hurts that girl outside the bar, and now my dorm is broken into!?! I want answers and I want them now.”

Everett fidgeted under the heat of my eyes. “Let’s focus on getting an overnight bag packed for you and making sure none of your belongings are missing.”

“At least explain what Smitherson was talking about. Someone’s obviously out to get me.”

“Later.”

“Everett! I—”

“It isn’t safe, Sophie,” Everett said, pointing to the walls around us.

“What? Like the place is bugged?” I whispered.

Everett sighed. “Once we’re somewhere safe, I promise… I’ll tell you everything.”

Chapter 27

Hiding Place

Everett knocked on the door for a fifth time when a skinny, pimply-faced boy finally answered looking puzzled. His hair was disheveled and he only wore a T-shirt and boxer shorts.

“What do you want?” he asked groggily, squinting into the light of the hallway.

“It’s Everett, your roommate. I don’t have my key with me. Let me in,” Everett whispered, pushing his way past the boy into the dorm room.

“What are you doing? I don’t have a roommate!” the boy said, indignant.

But it was too late. Everett was already flipping on lights and making sure the room’s two windows were well covered. I quietly stepped in and shut the now-abandoned door, locking it for good measure.

The dorm was much smaller than mine with two twin beds, two small desks, and a closet along one wall. The cold tile floor was covered in places by rugs and a nicely framed poster of the Periodic Table of Elements hung on the otherwise bare, white walls. The rest of the room was covered with neat stacks of books and papers. Even the spare bed was piled high with books. The only uncovered part of the room was a small bathroom tucked into a corner, which shined, sparkling white and clean.

“You said I could have the room to myself,” the boy whined.

“Our agreement was that you could have the dorm to yourself unless I needed it in case of an emergency,” Everett corrected. “This is said emergency. Sophie and I are spending the night.”

“Sophie?” He looked up, noticing me for the first time. “Oh my! Sophie Cohen!” he exclaimed, grabbing a sheet off his bed to cover himself. He dashed about the room, trying to find something among his books and papers. Finding gray sweatpants under his bed, he quickly pulled them on. He then squinted at me for a time before grabbing a pair of glasses from his nightstand and pushing them on. “Since when are you two an item? I thought Sophie was dating that crude Hagen Dibrom fellow,” the boy mused as if I wasn’t there, still staring.

Everett was too busy clearing books and papers off the spare bed and floor to answer. Not knowing what to do, I fidgeted in place, watching Everett work while the boy watched me.

The boy nervously blinked a few times through his badly smudged lenses before saying, “Hi, Sophie.” His voice cracked and he audibly gulped.

“Hi—” I paused to think. “—sorry, but what’s your name?”

I felt bad for not knowing, but then again, he wasn’t the type of guy Hagen would ever be seen with, and I had only befriended people who’d been Hagen-approved. I felt foolish, realizing there were many at Brightman whom I hadn’t gotten to know because of Hagen’s disapproval.

“My name is Anthony Moses Moynahan,” the boy answered.

“Nice to meet you, Anthony,” I said, shaking his hand.

“You can call me Andy, Sophie. All my friends do.” His voice cracked again and he cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind me asking, Sophie, what happened to your face?”

“Oh! I face-planted after slipping on some ice,” I explained, fingering the dried blood on my chin. I had yet to look at myself in a mirror and could only imagine what a wreck I looked like. “I’m a total klutz,” I laughed self-consciously.

“You? Really?” Andy beamed. “Me too.”

“Andy, do you have clean sheets for the spare bed?” Everett asked.

“Sure.” Andy set about rummaging through his closet, eventually producing neatly folded sheets covered in chemical abbreviations. “Here, Sophie. You can use my favorite Periodic Table of Elements sheets,” he said, reverently handing them to me. “They’re freshly laundered.”

“Wow! Thanks,” I replied. I went about making the bed, grateful to have something to do.

“No problem, Sophie.” Andy liked saying my name. Turning to Everett he asked, “Where are you going to sleep?”

“In your bed.”

“What? But then… where am I going to sleep?” Andy asked, folding his arms over his chest. “You know, the Brightman Student Handbook clearly states girls aren’t allowed in boy’s dorms after hours. I have no choice but to notify Dr. Smitherson of this rather serious infringement unless you—”

“Save it.” Everett must have seen the creepy look Andy was giving me, for he stepped into his line of vision. “You’re sleeping on Mia Veracruz’s couch.”

“Really!” Andy grew red and flustered. “I’ll be off then. Snacks are in the cupboard. Help yourselves. Oh! And that box you gave me at the beginning of the semester is in the closet. See ya.”

Andy was out the door within seconds. Everett chuckled and shook his head. A knock then came at the door. Everett grabbed Andy’s pillow before answering.

“Hi, again,” came Andy’s voice.

“Mia lives in dorm six of Harmony Hall,” Everett answered the question before it was asked.

“Great! And one more thing?”

“Your pillow.” Everett handed it to him, again beating him to the chase. “And remember, you never saw us here.”

“Is Mia aware of the lovely slumber party you’ve arranged?” I asked as Everett shut and locked the door.

“No. But she owes me,” Everett said with a mischievous grin. I gave him a disapproving look. “What? Andy is perfectly harmless. I’m doing him a favor. He has a huge crush on Mia and her couch is bigger than his bed anyhow.”

“Yeah, but what about Mia?”

He laughed as if I’d said something funny. “Mia is quite capable of defending herself. Besides, Andy is a gentleman.”

“And what about you?”

“I assume you’re referring to me holing you up in this tiny dorm room. No, it’s not the most gentlemanly thing to do, but it’s the safest. Which reminds me… ” Everett shuffled through Andy’s closet. “Here it is!” He set a large high tech safe on Andy’s bed.

“What’s in there?” I asked, eyeing it.

“Necessities,” Everett replied, pushing a code into the safe’s key pad. A heavy door popped open with a beep. “I doubt any of Divaldo’s men would dare return to Brightman tonight, but if they are stupid enough to, no one would think to look for you here as only Dr. Smitherson and Andy know I’m an occupant of this dorm.” He produced a remote from the box. “And if they were to happen across our whereabouts… ” He pushed a button and the corners of the room silently gave way to metal plating that spread out over the walls like window blinds before shifting into one solid piece. “… they’re out of luck because this room is a steel-enforced safe room.”

“Wow!” I breathed. “So I take it we’re stuck here for a while.”

“Only until morning, which is why I packed some other things.” He named items as he unpacked them. “An electric kettle. Teabags. Packets of instant oatmeal. Water bottles. Disposable coffee cups and bowls. Plastic silverware. Cans of peaches and pears. And an overnight bag for me.” He shut the box. “Be right back.”

Taking his bag to the bathroom, he soon reemerged wearing sweatpants and a clean undershirt.

“So now you’ll explain everything?” I asked.

“Not until after you’ve cleaned up. You could use a mental break before taking in everything I’m about to tell you. In fact, you can even take a shower if you want to. Andy’s a germaphobe so the bathroom is spotless. Besides, I doubt you want to sleep in that,” Everett said, pointing to my shirt with a grossed out expression.

Looking down, I noticed the blood spotting my white shirt for the first time. Grabbing the bag I had packed, I made my way to the bathroom. Catching my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I stifled a scream. I looked like a character from a scary movie. Blood was dried down my chin and neck, matting in my hair. After rinsing out my shirt and hanging it to dry, I decided a shower sounded enticing after such a hectic night. Getting the water nice and hot, I undressed and hopped in, watching the blood and dirt — and my awful night — circle the drain a few times before washing away. It felt good to clean up and by the time I came out in my pajamas, Everett had finished making the spare bed up with pillows and blankets and was making hot tea.

“It’s mint tea. I know it’s your favorite,” he said, extending a mug to me. “Hagen isn’t the only one your instincts have been right about. I’ve lied to you a lot, but only because I felt it necessary for your safety. I know more about you than you probably think.”

“I knew it!” I lit up before fear sobered me. “But how?”

“That comes a little later.”

“Get started then,” I said, undeterred.

“There’s so much to tell that I don’t exactly know where to begin.” Sitting on his bed, Everett sighed before asking, “What do you know about PORTAL?”

“Nothing. What’s PORTAL?”

“Your parents didn’t tell you anything?” Everett sounded amazed. I shook my head. “Wow. Well, PORTAL stands for Paranormal Research Task Force and Anti-Warfare League. In a nutshell, it’s an underground agency responsible for controlling traffic through Earth’s portals to other realms.”

I laughed. “It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie.”

“Sort of,” Everett admitted. “But it isn’t aliens we chase.”

“We?”

“I work for PORTAL, as well as Mia, my parents, and several staff members here at Brightman, like Dr. Smitherson and Maddy. My brother, Benson, and your parents used to work for PORTAL, too.”

I didn’t know what surprised me more: that Earth had active portals or that my parents had worked for the organization that oversaw them. “What do you do?”