Kingdom Keepers: The Syndrome (27 page)

“The Overtakers,” I whispered, “You said, ‘the Overtakers.’”

Joe froze. Considered and turned to me. “So I did.” He sounded crestfallen.

“The Overtakers,” I repeated. “Who are supposed to be dead.”

“The bones,” Amanda muttered.

“The fire,” said Mattie. “I saw the bones in a fire.”

“Oh dear.” Like me, Joe was struggling for air.

MATTIE

The room was spinning so fast I could hardly breathe. Everything was finally making sense. The images I had seen, of bones in fire, flashed through my mind. Bright, blinding
flames and blackened bones—but there was something else too, something that hadn’t been there before.

I didn’t believe it at first, because my readings weren’t usually accompanied by audio. But the more I focused, the more I heard it. A voice, soft at first, but definitely feminine.
I struggled to discern what she was saying, but her thick accent made it difficult. I narrowed my focus, but just as quickly as the voice had come, it ebbed out of my consciousness.

JESS

At the mention of the Overtakers and the fire, the room faded away, and a vision took hold of me. The tune from the music box rang in my ears, accompanied by an image of a
gold-toothed horse. I watched as its head raised and lowered. Galloping? Nodding? I wasn’t sure. Its stiff mane stayed still, somehow, not moving even as the horse’s head bobbed.

The conference room snapped back into place as the vision ended. Immediately, I clicked open a pen and sketched what I’d seen on the napkin in front of me.

MATTIE

The image of the burning bones sparked a marathon of memories, all the ominous readings I’d collected while in Orlando flooding back in a rush. Among them, most clearly,
was my reading of the tall, gray-haired Imagineer at Hollywood Studios. Compared to the security footage shot in Walt’s apartment, what he’d seen was different.

“Wait!” I held up my hand. “The videos the Imagineer saw and these are slightly different. Is that possible?”

My focus was solely on Joe’s reaction. He looked worn out, like the rest of us. More than that, with our words about the Overtakers, he seemed to have lost the certainty we took for
granted. When he spoke, he did so reluctantly.

“Look, anything’s possible. Right?”

Something fluttered in my chest; a new energy filled me. A sudden hope.

“I’d be up for reading him again,” I said. “But he’s there, and we’re here.” I made sure to lock eyes with Joe. “What if I read you?”

Joe laughed and dismissively waved my suggestion away. “I can’t possibly allow that. Sorry! I know far too many company secrets.”

“I can target my read to something specific. I promise I won’t invade your privacy. Maybe you saw something you didn’t pick up on right away. But the other Imagineer
did.”

I didn’t mention that my powers were growing. I could now recall bits and pieces of my readings, even days later. That was new. I picked up more, faster—it was like I had a faster
processor. I noticed things I hadn’t before, like the eerie voice that accompanied the burning bones.

“I’m not sure we have much choice,” Joe said. He extended his hand.

I slipped off my sticky glove.

AMANDA

Joe moved us all by Pargo to an office building behind Toontown. He offered us power drinks and protein bars. I ate and drank eagerly. Then I washed my hands and face in the
restroom, and felt half human again. I needed sleep, but didn’t have any time.

Joe being Joe, he organized the video viewing quickly. Together, we watched them again. We watched Wayne, the Keepers, and Finn.

And all the time, Joe watched Mattie with an eagle eye. Since allowing her to read him, he’d acted deeply troubled.

MATTIE

As Joe worked with the security footage, I could feel his eyes occasionally burning into me. He’d reacted poorly to my reading. Most people didn’t realize it was
happening, so it had to have been creepy to know a nineteen-year-old girl was prowling around in your thoughts and memories.

I’d targeted the read for anything to do with the videos. As often happened, I got more than I expected.

For one thing, Joe’s mind operated on a whole different level from most people. His was a mind where I could have lingered for hours, a treasure trove of Disney lore, history, park
attractions, and insider information concerning the Imagineers. Films and music occupied him, as did details about the Disney cruise ships, a new Disney Channel TV show, and more. I could hardly
tear myself away. At a time like this, I loved my power to read.

As the video started to roll, I paid attention to every detail. We had a puzzle to solve.

JESS

Joe didn’t seem worried to me—he seemed sad. Everyone had private thoughts. Letting Mattie roam the library of his mind had bothered him. I totally got that. I
certainly had my share of secrets, and I wanted to keep them to myself. They were mine and mine alone. I wasn’t letting Mattie anywhere near me.

Joe called up the security video on his laptop and angled the screen so all of us could see. Once again, we watched Finn walk into the apartment, fiddle with the music box, and leave. Joe
rewound it. We re-watched. Same thing.

“Wait.” I called out. “Rewind it, please. There’s a tiny bump.”

Joe rewound. We watched the video for a third time.

“There!” I said.

Two more viewings of the same few seconds.

“I see it! It’s like the camera moved,” Amanda said.

Next to her, Mattie nodded. “But the camera can’t move, can it, Mr. Garlington?”

“I see what you’re talking about, but it looks more like a digital speed bump to me,” Joe said.

“Something causes speed bumps,” I argued.

“Look. We—the Imagineers—have watched more footage than what you all are seeing, and we have it boiled down to just these important pieces. I wouldn’t worry about
it.”

“You would if you were us,” Amanda said brazenly. “Anything unusual has to be studied carefully. Is there a time stamp on the original?”

Joe looked impressed. “I’ll tell you what: I’ll check the master. No stone unturned.”

He left the room. The three of us didn’t say much. Not with our voices. Amanda’s eyes showed fatigue and worry. I studied sketches and random pieces of paper in my journal, hoping to
find a clue. At some point, I lost track of time, caught up in my attempts to dream or imagine what we’d missed on the video.

I didn’t get anywhere.

Joe returned. I looked up at the wall clock and realized twenty minutes had passed. It shocked me.

“You were right! You won’t like it, but here we go,” Joe said. “Your missing two minutes.” He pushed Play.

My throat caught. Amanda gasped.

On the computer screen, a figure entered the camera frame. A short woman. Seen in black and white, she was dark, her feet bare, her head a wild mass of hair. She wore multiple earrings and
necklaces. She had tattoos.

“That’s Tia Dalma,” Amanda said, barely audible.

The creepy figure followed the route Finn had taken earlier and made a beeline for the music box. Reached around the side. Then, almost as if she sensed she were being watched, Tia Dalma turned
and threw a spell at the camera.

The screen went black.

“I almost wish we hadn’t seen that,” I croaked out, my throat constricted and dry.

AMANDA

Joe ran from the conference room, leaving the freeze-frame of Tia Dalma on the screen. Mattie, Jess, and I exchanged glances.

Jess said, “The voice. The bones burning. That was her. I just know it.”

“You’re scaring me,” I said softly.

“You didn’t hear this from me,” Mattie said. “But my reading of Joe didn’t go exactly as planned. I saw stuff I’m sure he wouldn’t have wanted. Not on
purpose! I want to make that clear. It just happened. I don’t know exactly what this means, but I think I can guess: the DNA test on those fragments of the burned bones came back as belonging
to some prehistoric lizard.”

I shook my head. “What does that even mean?”

Mattie lowered her voice again. The air duct was louder than she was. “The word in his head was
dragon
.”

I clamped my hand over my mouth and let out a muffled yip of terror. Then I cast a look at Jess and saw her eyes rolling back in her head. I reached out instinctively, caught her as she fainted.
Mattie helped me get her onto the floor. We put her knees up, and Mattie put Jess’s head in her lap.

Jess continued to breathe steadily. After a moment, her eyes fluttered open, and she sat up.

“I don’t know that I can face her again. If that…thing…comes back, comes for me, for us, for the Keepers, I have no idea what I’ll do.”

Mattie stroked her hair. “It’s only some burned bones. That’s all.”

“She got them from Mexico. It’s a spell of some kind.”

“Conjuring,” I said. “Technically, it’s conjuring.”

“You’re a big help,” Mattie said, scolding me.

Jess took a deep breath. “Whatever Finn and the Keepers are doing, wherever they’ve crossed over to, she wants to follow. That’s the only thing the missing video can mean. We
have to warn him—them!—somehow.”

“Good luck with that,” Mattie said. “They’re holograms, right? Lost holograms.”

“It also means,” I said, heaping more fears on our pile, “that an Imagineer, or someone even higher up in Disney, edited the security tape.”

Mattie went white. “If that’s true, that’s horrible.”

“Why do you think Joe took off like a rocket?” I said.

“He must be freaking out.”

“I know I am,” said Jess.

We both consoled her. My phone fell out of my pocket, and Jess picked it up. “You have two missed calls from Willa’s mom.”

“Willa’s mom?” I said. I remembered the calls. “I was a little busy when she called. How do you know it’s Willa’s mom?”

“Duh! Because I know the number from calling her house. You know me and numbers. So call her back,” Jess said indignantly.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“No fighting, you two!” Mattie’s outrage echoed off the walls of the soundproofed conference room.

“What is it with us lately?” Jess sounded heartbroken.

“We’re just stressed,” I said. “I’ll try harder.”

“Me too.”

I called Ms. Angelo back, and told her she was on speakerphone with the girls. As she spoke, her voice sounded a little desperate. My skin flushed.

“I did what you asked. The imaging work on the photo of the crowd. Putting whatever faces I could up onto Facebook and trying to face match. I got a surprising number of hits. Surprising
to me, anyway. Always on the kids, the younger faces. Sadly, not on many on the adults. Are you there?”

“I’m not sure any of us are breathing,” I said.

“Front row. Well, first or second. The head is clearly visible, and because it’s close to the front, there’s more image to work with. Past about the fourth row, there’s
no way to work with those images in terms of Facebook matching. I improved the resolution throughout, but that’s the best I could do.”

“I’m serious,” I said, “I’m not sure we’re breathing.”

“It’s a teenage Wayne Kresky,” she said. “The face recognition program doesn’t discriminate for age. Wayne Kresky is definitely front and center in the second row.
His daughter’s Facebook page has all sorts of pictures of him, and it was a solid hit.”

“Opening day,” Mattie whispered.

“I’ll text you a link to the enhanced image. It should come through on your phone. If you can get to a computer, you’ll see more. It’s improved a great deal.”

I thanked her and we ended the call, promising to be in touch.

Joe entered and shut the door brusquely. “My team is in agreement,” he said, not allowing us to speak. “Tia Dalma’s presence in the apartment can mean only one
thing.”

“She’s trying to follow Finn’s crossing over,” Mattie said.

He looked at us as if we weren’t there, as if he must be dreaming.

LUOWSKI

I couldn’t tell if the Suits were the same guys from the church, but either way, I glowered at the thought of them defeating me. No one touches Greg Luowski! I was
unbeatable! A tank.

And yet…

Looking around, I realized I sat in a van decked out like a military-like vehicle. Suits to my left and right, and three positioned across from me. My chest, as I inhaled, met with resistance.
Metal restraints held my arms and legs to the side of the vehicle, while crossed heavy-duty polyester belts strapped my upper body to the wall and my legs to the seat.

I could imagine her cold, unforgiving laughter before it turned to rage over me allowing myself to end up like this.

I had to get out of here.
But how? I could barely turn my neck to the left, let alone take on the Suits in the back of the van with me.

We’d been driving for hours. I’d heard the Suits mention Baltimore more than once, but I hadn’t done great in geology, or geography, and couldn’t remember if that was the
capital of Idaho or where or what that was.

Apparently I’d been traded for the Freaks, which threw me into yet another tantrum. One of the Suits threatened me with by displaying a Taser, and I calmed back down.

The guy said, “Take it easy, kid. Where you’re going there’ll be other kids like you. Not exactly like you, but close enough. Most of the testing is easy. It hardly hurts at
all.”

I grunted. That didn’t sound too reassuring.

Then a bolt of terror sent shock waves through me. Sweat prickled my skin. Did they consider me a freak like the Freaks? Seriously?

I tried to explain it to them, but they had a gag on me.
They had to listen!

I had to get out of here, now!

I wouldn’t make the mistake of trying something as soon as they took me out of the restraints. They’d expect that. No, I’d play along for a time. Greg Luowski didn’t take
to the idea of imprisonment lightly.

While they listened to the radio and looked at me like I was some kind of stray dog they’d collected from the side of the road, I made a plan.