Radium Halos (9 page)

I turned around
and put my arms around Abi. The tiny waitress stared up with eyes
large and shocked. Her terrified, dirty tear-streaked face burned
an image into my mind.
Never again. We can’t let this happen
ever again.
She fell against my shoulder, sobbing
uncontrollably.

Kieran stepped
over the unconscious guy and gave him a kick in the gut. He walked
over to the group struggling on the floor. He jabbed the broken end
of the pole cue against Dipstick’s neck. Bright red blood began
running and staining his white shirt. The guy’s heart rate exploded
into a rapid rhythm.

I held my
breath. We all did.

Kieran hissed,
his head close enough so only Dipstick could hear…and me. “Give up,
or I’ll shove this up yer ass ’n pull it out the other end.” The
tone and venom in Kieran’s voice scared the crap out of me. College
dude went limp. Kieran straightened. “Funny ’ow things change when
yer on the other end, eh?”

The
bleach-blonde, his pants still around his ankles moaned and pushed
himself onto his knees. “What the hell? You freakin’ high school
pricks think,” he paused to cough blood and something white flew
out of his mouth.
A tooth?
“I’m gonna kill all of you and
then piss—” Without a second thought, I grabbed an almost empty bag
of potatoes and swung. The distinct thunk against his head and back
felt gratifying. He fell face first into the dirt floor,
unconscious again.

I looked at
Skinny. He sat huddled in the corner, hugging his knees, his eyes
bloodshot and terrified.

“The guy by the
door?” Seth called out.

Rylee turned
around, and stared up the darkened stairs. “He must’ve taken off. I
was watching him—”

“You can see in
the dark?” Seth asked.

“Yeah. He was
there a second ago when I checked, barely moving. I turned when Zoe
slammed the guy with the diddlydee potatoes.”

About to ask
her what the heck she meant, I saw the brand label on the bag.
Diddlydee’s? Figures
. A car door slamming and engine revving
distracted my train of thought. I held my breath and focuses on my
ears.
The guy from behind the door
. His car pulled out and
my ears had no trouble catching the sound of squealing tires. “He’s
gone.”
Sirens
. The police are coming.” I shivered, either
from the dampness of the basement or the horrific scene around me.
I didn’t know which.

“What did you
say happened, um…” The policeman flipped back a page in his little
notebook. “Kieran?”

Kieran shifted
and shoved his hands into his jean pockets. “Those college guys
were drunk when we got ‘ere. The waitress seemed uncomfortable
and…and when Heidi didna see her and those losers disappeared. We
got paranoid an’ decided ta check if everything was alright.”

Brent stepped
forward. “We saw the door to cellar open and heard Abi’s cries.” He
shrugged. “We did what we had to do.”

“The door was
open?” The policeman’s eyebrows shot up. “It’s got an automatic
shut-release.”

Oh no.
How’re we going to explain this?
I heard everyone of my
friend’s heart rates speed up.

Seth laughed.
“No shit?” He coughed. “Sorry. I just meant those dudes must’ve
broke it.”

The policeman
crossed his arms over his massive chest. “It’s just surprising you
heard them and noticed
everything
going on. It’s very keen
for…for—”

“For a bunch of
high school kids?” Kieran finished.
Nice one!

The policeman
closed his pad, having the decency to look embarrassed. “If we need
any more information, we’ll contact you.”

After the
police left, Max set us up with on-the-house hot chocolates. He
thanked us profusely for protecting Abi and his bar. We sat in the
same booth again, sipping from our mugs.

“Could use a
beer, instead,” Seth muttered. He sat between Heidi and Rylee,
swirling the dark liquid with a spoon.

“Me, too.”
Kieran sat beside me, Brent on the other side.

“I can’t
believe that just happened.” Rylee rubbed her eyes. “My folks are
never gonna let me out of the house again.”

“Tonight was
probably just a fluke. Nothing ever happens in this town. What are
the chances?” Brent reached over and patted her hand.

“I don’t agree
…” Seth spoke slowly, twirling the liquid in his mug. “I…I think
we’ve an obligation here.” His face serious. “We’ve got these
super-natural senses now. I think we need to do something. You
know, like train and focus.” He grinned, his typical Seth grin.
“Own them.”

“Until they
wear off,” Heidi said.

“Will they?” I
asked. Part of me hoped it’d happen tonight. Another part for some
strange, crazy reason didn’t want it to ever wear off.

“Yer jokin’,
right?” Kieran looked around the table at all of us, his eyes
finally settling on Seth. His eyebrows mashed together. I followed
his gaze. “You wan’ ta do this again?”

“I’m serious.”
Seth straightened, his knees bumping on the underside of the table.
“No one knows we’ve got these skills. We could be…heroes.”

“You read too
many comic books,” Brent said.

“We could
train, and get outfits –”

“Costumes, you
mean.” Rylee laughed.

“I’m not
wearing spandex.” Heidi smiled for the first time this evening.
“It’ll be bagging on me no matter what size.”

“I’m serious,
guys. We --” Seth set his mouth in a tight line when Max walked
over to our table.

“I’d like to
thank you again.” Max’s eyes glistened. “Anytime you come in, the
food’s on me. I can’t believe you got to her in time.” Max wiped
his hands on his apron. “Of all nights I leave the bar for half an
hour. I make it back just as the cops are pulling in.”

Nobody spoke.
It seemed we couldn’t meet each other’s gazes. The silence began to
get uncomfortable. I could hear all our bodys shifting and bumping
into each other erratically. Somebody needed to say something.

“Th-Thanks,
M-Max,” I stuttered. “We…We just saw Abi go down the hall and those
guys following her. It didn’t seem right.” I hoped the excuse
worked. I didn’t want special attention because of this. Abi’s
shattered face flashed before my mind.
Maybe Seth has a
point
. I definitely didn’t want that to happen to someone
else.

“If you hadn’t
been here…” Max heaved an enormous breath out. “I don’t know what
would’ve happened. You saved the day.” He shook his head as he
collected our mugs and returned to the bar.

Seth leaned
forward. “See. We
are
heroes. Tomorrow we need to start
training. Then everyday after school.”

“How’re going
to train? We blind fold you and make you smell things? I do taste
testing?” Heidi said.

“No. We gotta
learn to focus and zone in on it. It’s bigger than just one sense
for each of us. Wayyyy bigger.”

“Where will we
train that nobody in this town is gonna ask what the heck we’re
doing? It’s not like we can hide all us.” Rylee shrugged and shook
her head.

“Back at the
mine?” Seth asked.

“No!” I jerked
by the volume of my voice inside my head. “You couldn’t drag me
back in there. I’m not going inside there ever again.”

“How ‘bout my
place?” Brent said softly. “We’ve got a basketball court outside
and the gymnasium inside. My folks’ll never care. Shoot, my dad
only built the thing so he could have some charity fundraiser once
a year. He’s got offices in the back but nobody but me and Nate go
in the gym now.”

No one spoke. I
heard everyone agree simply by their body language.

“It’s settled
then,” Seth said. “Tomorrow afternoon, at two. Forget saving the
day, we’re gonna save the world.”

Chapter
8

The radar sense
of my hearing seemed to sharpen at night. It kept me waking
constantly. One minute I’d bolt up, terrified by someone moaning
and then gag when I realized it came from the neighbour’s wife with
her husband.
Ick!
Disgusting!
Several deep breathes
to slow my racing heart couldn’t erase the image forming in my
mind. Just when I managed to drift back to sleep, a car screeching,
or a diesel truck flew by. Sirens, horns, animals, laughter,
crying, all of it kept me from sleeping. Ear plugs didn’t help,
nothing did.

Screw saving
people
. After a night of no sleep, I was more interested in
killing them for some peace and quiet. By lunch time I couldn’t
wait to head to Brent’s -- anything to work of the crazy jitters
and figure out a way to get my hearing to focus less. I sent Seth a
text and offered to pick him, silly to drive two cars when I went
right by his place.

I pulled in
Seth’s driveway and killed the ignition. Slamming the Volkswagen’s
door, I grimaced at the rusty creaking of its hinges. As I turned
to walk up the drive,

a motorbike
parked near the house made me pause.
Whose is that?
Seth’s
dad definitely didn’t ride, but it wouldn’t surprise me if his mom
had taken up a new hobby. I grinned. She struck me as one tough
woman. If I ever had kids, I hoped to be just like her.

Seth stepped
out of the two-storey house and onto the covered porch. “Hey!” he
hollered, or so it seemed to me. Resting his hands on the railing
he leaned over.

“Your mom buy a
bike?” I asked, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

A deep laugh
erupted behind him. I tried to catch a glimpse of whoever sat on
the cedar chair. It was impossible to see because of the brick
pillar and Seth’s big muscle body. The laugh made my stomach twist
and flip. It echoed against my head making my body tingle and warm.
Weird.

“Yer mum would
ride a bike?” Kieran laughed again. He appeared at the top of the
steps wearing a white tee shirt and a pair of shorts with a
Scottish logo near the bottom. He stood two steps above me so the
Rangers Football Club emblem hit me eye level.

“Probably,”
Seth scoffed, “after she sees yours. Wanna know where she is
today?” He rolled his eyes at me. “Bungee jumping! What forty-five
year old woman does that?” He tried to sound embarrassed but the
right side of his mouth turned up and he pretended to stare off at
nothing to show indifference.

I knew him too
well, he loved him mom and her sense of adventure. “What’d your dad
say?”

“He’s video
taping it!”

As Seth rambled
on and walked past us towards the car, Kieran winked at me.

I smiled back.
He totally gets it.

“My car’s a bit
of an antique.” I pointed to the Bug, like I should apologize for
her. The yellow paint and rust blended in so well together now, you
couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. It looked like a
tree in Autumn, and I still loved it.

“Yer parents
buy it fer you?” He strolled beside me, his knuckles brushed
against my hand as our arms swung with walking.

“Nope.”
Momentarily distracted by his touch, I stuttered, “I-I bought it
with money saved from a paper route I’d had since I was, like, ten.
After passing my driver’s license, my dad took me to this old farm
out of the city and I paid cash for her.” I patted the hood, unable
to hide the pride in my voice and or to stop myself from babbling.
“I know it’s kinda old.”

“It’s
eclectic,” he said.

My heart
swelled.
Cute and a sense of humour.
I realized I was
staring when Kieran’s heart shifted it’s rhythm. “So…anything going
on with you? You know…with the sensation-thing?”

He shook his
head. “Nothing, but it’s okay. I’m here ta watch, and cheer you on.
I’m yer biggest fan.” He rubbed his shoulder against mine. “I’ll be
your guys’ groupie.”

“You comin’ or
what?” Seth stood behind the open passenger door, one leg already
inside the car. “I call shotgun.”

Kieran crawled
into the back behind the driver’s seat. I hopped in and started the
engine. I shoved the stick shift into reverse and popped the
clutch. Our eyes met in the review mirror as I backed out the
driveway. He was smoking-hot. I loved his slightly messy dark hair
that my fingers begged to let me run themselves through it. Thin
and soft, but any girl knew there had to be power behind them.

I made a mental
effort to focus back on the road, wondering if Kieran or Seth could
hear my thoughts. They seemed to shout so blatantly inside my mind.
Crap, I probably had a neon sign above my head: “I’m hot for the
Scot.”

“Brent’s place
is perfect,” Seth said, interrupting my thoughts. He threw his arm
over my seat and turned back to look at Kieran. “His folks are
loaded. His granddad left a crap-load of money to his dad.
Actually, I think he left a crazy amount to Brent and his brother,
Nate, as well. Anyway, his dad’s some kind of genius and invested
the money to make a shit-load more. I think they use hundred dollar
bills to line their coffee filter every morning.”

Kieran laughed.
“I’ll check the toilet paper roll while I’m there, as well.”

Appalled to
hear Seth talk like that about Brent, I threw him a dirty look and
thrust my hand out and thumped him across the chest. “He’s your
best bud, and you dis him?”

“Hey!” Seth
blocked his upper body with his arms, expecting me to hit him
again. “I was braggin’. Brent’s totally cool. He doesn’t act like
big money.” He turned again to Kieran. “I can’t say it doesn’t suck
being his buddy, though. Dude’s always footin’ the bill, always got
my back. The only other thing he spends money on is his guitar
collection.”

I glanced at
the review after turning into Brent’s long driveway. “He’s an
awesome guitar player. He’s played at PHP a couple times.”

“Cool.” Kieran
turned his head to the window and whistled. “Nice pad.”

The huge red
brick house sat on too many acres to count. It was one of those
monstrous old, estates Brent’s dad had moved from somewhere near
Niagara Falls and brought here. The entire thing had been redone,
with an awesome white porch you wished you had, except it would
never fit on your own house.