Vanished (10 page)

              “Thanks. Where did you learn how to do that?”

              “You’re going to laugh.”

              “No,” I promise him, trying not to smile.

              “We used to have this really old cat and he was always getting sick and dehydrated and I was the only one around to take care of him. One day the vet looks at me and says I’m going to have to learn to start giving the cat IV fluids if I want to keep him alive.  That lasted about two week. Poor old thing, I couldn’t stand to see it suffer anymore.” His face darkens for a minute but then he looks up at me, reaches up to touch his neck, and shrugs, “Plus, I read the instruction manual.” He points at a binder on the table by my bed.

              “I’ve been thinking” he says removing the cotton ball and giving me a band-aid, “I want to move you upstairs before I go get the others. The doors up there can be locked from the inside.”

              My current room doesn’t even have a door, just a blue curtain, slid halfway open but the idea of being locked upstairs in a room, alone in a massive hospital building gives me the creeps. I’m not big on hospitals period. “Why don’t I just come with you?”

              “Out of the question, you need to stay down for a little while. That bite almost killed you.” 

              “Black widow bites aren’t really fatal.”

              “Not to normal people but you’re tiny, you must weigh less than 100 pounds, and people
do
die from black widow bites; specifically children and old people.”

              “Are you calling me a child?”

              “Sort of,” he answers sticking his hands in his pockets and shrugging, “you weigh about as much.”

              I roll my eyes, “I’m sure I can get up and around now.”

              “No.”

              “I don’t want to stay here alone, Logan.”

              “You don’t have to,” a voice says and we turn to see Madison walk into the doorway.  She’s wearing jeans, a black sweater, hiking boots and her hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail.  She glances over at Logan whose eyes are wide with surprise, “We walked out to the road,” she says looking mischievous, “stole one of the abandoned cars.”

              “I’m sorry,” he says, “I would have come earlier but…” he holds his hand out, gesturing towards me.

              “Its fine,” and though I expect to hear coldness in her voice, I hear something that sounds more like concern, “How are you?” she says, looking at me.

              “I’m…better,” I say, sitting up a little in the bed and experiencing a slight wave of dizziness, “where’s everyone else?”

              “Exploring the town, looking for clues about what happened to all the people,” Madison says, stepping into the room and coming over the bedside. She glances up at Logan and he gives her a weak smile.  “Can we talk?” She asks him.

              “Is this really the time and place for
that
, Maddie?”

              “It’s not about us, Logan.”

              “What then?” He says, turning away from her.  He crosses his arms over his chest and glares out the window.  Over his shoulder I see big charcoal colored clouds, another storm.

              I look back at Madison and its plain he’s wounded her.  She sort of hugs herself and takes a step back from me, “I didn’t want to freak
you
out in your condition,” she says, talking to me now, “but if you think you can handle it, I guess you both should see.”

              I frown and Logan, despite his attempt to remain cool and aloof, turns around and looks at her too.  She takes her sweat-shirt off, revealing a loose purple button up shirt underneath.  She turns in place, unbuttons her shirt and slowly takes one sleeve down, with her back to us.
Why is she undressing?

It’s not until she moves her hair over that I see them.  My hand goes to my mouth and I hear Logan suck in air through his teeth.  Between Madison’s perfect shoulder blades two knobby white protrusions are jutting out of her skin. She peeks over her shoulder at us and sees she’s getting the desired effect.

              “Maddie,” Logan says coming around the bed to get a closer look, “What happened?”

              She shrugs and I see the small nubs wiggle a little. “I noticed them first right after you two left.  They were only tiny bumps then.” She reaches over her own shoulder and touches one of them, “I think they’re…” her voice trails off.

              “Wings,” I supply.

              She nods, and I watch as Logan tenderly helps her get the shirt back on, “Does it hurt?” He asks.

              “Not really,” she says, “very sensitive to touch though and uncomfortable when I’m pressed up against something, like the car seat.

              “How is this possible,” Logan says falling down in the nearest chair and leaning his forehead in his hand as Madison puts her shirt back on.

              I silently wonder if what is happening to Madison is going to happen to all of us.  Whatever caused the ringing sound, whatever made the people in this town disappear has obviously had some kind of molecular effect on her, changing her.

              We hear commotion in the outer Emergency Department and Logan immediately stands and leaves the room, holding a hand behind him to indicate that we should stay put. 

              Twenty seconds later he returns with Zayn, a dazed looking Jasmine, and Collin in tow. “It’s dead,” Collin says his eyes taking in me in the bed and Madison standing next to me, “the whole fucking town, not a person to be found anywhere.  We even checked inside some houses.  In one there was a pot of something cooking on the stove with the burner turned on low. There were meals half eaten, wallets, purses and everything else left behind.”

              “Wherever they went,” Zayn interjects, “they were in a hurry.”

              “I want to go home,” Jasmine says softly, and Zayn wraps his arm around her and leads her over to the chair.

__#__

              We move upstairs, or rather they walk while Logan and Collin push my bed.  We settle down in a series of rooms and the rest go scouting to find us a meal while Logan stays with me. 

              “Are you oTrin?” I ask him, after we hear the elevator doors slide shut.

              He is standing in front of the window, looking out. He’s thrown his leather jacket across the foot of my bed and beneath his white t-shirt I can see his muscles flexing, his body tense.  When he hears my voice he turns and walks over to me. With total ease, as if he’s touched me a thousand times, he puts a warm hand on my forehead, resting it there for a minute, “Course.” He says, “I’m fine, considering everything.  I think your fever is going down, so that’s good news. How do you feel?”

              “You’re changing the subject.”

              He shrugs, “there’s nothing else to say.”

              “I don’t believe you.”

              He removes his hand and stands next to the bed, so close I feel heat rolling off his body in waves.  “I’m worried about you, about all of us, but otherwise, I’m good.”

I can see that there’s something else, something more that he’s holding back. 

              “Logan,” I say, and touch his hand, “You can trust me, you know.” 
Why not?
He can trust me with his secrets.  After all, I’m a pro at keeping secrets. 

              He frowns, looking a bit caught off guard then the line of his jaw sets firmly like he’s made some kind of major decision, “I know I should be focused on what’s happening but…” his voice trails off. He opens his mouth like he’s going to continue, shuts it, then opens it again, “The whole world’s turned upside down.” He takes a step away and settles down into a chair “And all I can think about is almost losing you. Something just clicked yesterday and suddenly it all made sense in here,” he says, jabbing the area over his heart.  He pauses but then goes on when he sees my awed expression, “I don’t expect you to feel the same way. I know it’s totally unexpected,” he says, “but I can’t lie to you. So when you ask if I’m oTrin… truthfully I’m not, Trin, because what I want to do more than anything in the world, right now, is to be able to put my arms around you and tell you everything is going to be oTrin.” 

             
What is he saying?
My heart is racing, my palms are sweating and I have butterflies in my stomach, “Before this trip…you …” I choke on the words, feeling embarrassed just saying them, “you... you said yourself you didn’t even want to be seen talking to me.”

              He flinches and takes a deep breath, “Things change.”

              “But…Madison… and we’re in the middle of something we don’t even understand,” I say, dropping my eyes down to the fabric of the sheet.

              “I agree.  It is bad timing and, not that it makes a difference, but Maddie is cheating on me.”  

             
How can he know that
? Suddenly a series of small details flash through my mind.  Collin’s eyes always following Madison everywhere she goes, his willingness to do anything in his power to please her, the way he always comes to the rescue when Logan says something to upset her. “Collin,” I whisper.

              He nods, “You’re pretty perceptive, Snow.  Took me months to work that one out.  I don’t blame her, though,” he says, “or him really.  As they keep reminding me, I’ve been a real asshole lately.”

              “That doesn’t make it right.” I say.

              He just shrugs.

              I want to tell him all the reasons he shouldn’t want me;
I’m not normal, I’m defective, broken
.  If he knew about my monster, what would he think? I open my mouth to speak but we hear voices and the elevator dings.  “Later,” he mouths and his gaze lingers on my face for a little longer than it should, then he turns and walks out of the room to meet the group. 

__#__

              We pass around a meal of cold sandwiches, chips, and pudding cups.  When I first see the food my stomach growls with hunger but I can only eat half of the sandwich and a couple spoonfuls of pudding before my appetite is gone. 

The soreness from the spider bite is slowly fading and now that I’ve eaten all I want to do is sleep. 

              “I want to go home,” Jasmine says.

              Her plea fills me with trepidation.  I was just getting used to my freedom, how can I walk back inside that cage again?

Chapter Ten

Logan

              It’s grim and overcast outside, like it always is lately, as we load up the Expedition.  Collin stands beside me, looking up at the sky. 

              Last night, late, we decided to go back home and see if it’s abandoned like Clinton. 

              “Everything ready?” Trin asks, on her feet and looking so much better. She comes up next to us, her bag draped over her shoulder, smelling like hospital soap and fresh mint. 

              “I think so.” 

              We hear voices behind us. Madison and Jasmine are coming out of the ER doors.  I’m still not sure how to take in the wings on her back, which have grown over night. They’re covered in tiny, bright white feathers and curl downward at the top.  She showed us this morning how she can move them, folding them inwards and concealing them under her shirt. 

              Zayn emerges last from the hospital doors carrying the rest of the luggage.  He stuffs the bags in the trunk, slams it shut and puts his arm around Jasmine.

              I give the hospital one last look and get into the driver’s seat of the Expedition. Madison sits with Trin, Zayn and Jasmine take the far back-seat and Collin takes shot-gun.

              Its slow going with the cars abandoned everywhere.  We watch out the windows in silence for any sign of life.  

              We stop to look for people in every town but we don’t find anyone.  

              Finally, we see the outskirts of the metro area ahead. We pass Belton, Grandview and finally exit off of 51
st
street, taking it down to the plaza.  I pull up in front of the condo building Madison lives in overlooking Brush Creek and kill the engine.  “I thought I saw something moving back there,” Collin says, thumbing over his shoulder, “but it was just a couple of dogs.”

              We get out and look around.  The plaza, which at this time of day is usually teeming with people jogging, moms pushing strollers loaded with department store bags, businessmen on cell phones, your occasional homeless person, valet staff in red and black uniforms, and all other sorts of people, is devoid of a soul.