Nevertheless, I was not one for letting looks deceive me. I’d seen enough documentaries to know how people like Ted Bundy worked. I did not falter in my caution as I stood there, waiting for him to declare his intentions.
He must’ve been expecting my parents to open the door or something because it took him a minute to respond. “Hi,” he said, injecting a cheerfulness into his voice I was sure wouldn’t typically be there if it weren’t a teenage girl staring at him from the doorjamb. “Are your parents around?”
As soon as he finished the sentence, a bolt of recognition struck me surer than if Zeus had tossed down a shock from heaven. I knew that voice! This was the guy from my sister’s room the night before! My eyes widened, my mouth dropped open, and I felt my heart pounding in my chest. If there were words formulating in my head, they were not connecting with my mouth.
“Cassidy?” he said quietly, “are you okay?”
“Huh?” The mention of my name jerked me back to reality, though I was now even more shocked. How in the world did he know who I was?
“I didn’t mean to… alarm you. My name is Aaron McReynolds, and I’m a friend of your parents’.”
He was still smiling at me, and I knew he was doing his best to try and set me at ease. My fingernails were beginning to etch half-moons in the wood of the door. How did he know my parents? I looked past him, curious as to whether or not that girl was here, too, or maybe the roof people. A very expensive looking motorcycle sat at the curb, but that was it. No other nefarious people seemed to linger in the shadows.
Returning my attention to the man in front of me, I suddenly found courage I hadn’t previously possessed. I cleared my throat loudly. “My parents are here. I can get them.”
“Great,” he said with a nod that showed relief—either that I would comply or that I hadn’t passed out right in front of him.
“One moment please.” He raised his eyebrows, and I thought I heard a chuckle as I closed the door in his face and locked it. He might be able to get through my sister’s window, but he wasn’t coming in here without my parents’ permission.
All thoughts of cautiously approaching my mom and dad had gone away the second I’d realized who was standing on my doorstep. I ran into the kitchen, practically screaming, hoping that Aaron McReynolds, if that was his real name, couldn’t hear the panic in my voice. “Mom! Dad! Some creepy dude’s at the door. He says he knows you!”
My dad was sitting at the table in the kitchen, reading the newspaper and sipping coffee, while my mom was at the stove, likely basting the turkey. When I came in, they both turned to look at me like they were sure I’d lost my mind.
“Calm down, Cassidy,” my mom said, a questioning lilt in her voice.
“Really, Cass, it’s too early in the morning to be so jumpy.” My dad took another drink before putting his coffee down and standing.
“Did he tell you his name?” My mom was following my father to the door now.
I backed up. “Yeah. Aaron.”
“Oh, of course,” my mom muttered, and then, even though I was walking backward and trying not to run into anything as we crossed through the dining room, I saw an exchange of glances that told me they really did know this guy.
“Well, Cassidy, you could’ve let him in,” my mom scolded once we’d reached the foyer and she realized he was still outside.
“You locked the door?” My father looked both embarrassed and confused.
“I… don’t know him.” I didn’t mention that I was afraid he was here to arrest Cadence at first, or that I knew he had been in her bedroom the night before, but as my mom opened the door revealing a patiently waiting, still mysterious, yet dreamy, stranger, I began to feel a little silly.
“Aaron! It’s so nice to see you!” my mother exclaimed, gesturing widely with her arm for him to come in. She hugged him, and he kissed her on the cheek before my father proclaimed a similar greeting and they did that half-hug, half-handshake thing guys do when they’re bros. I stood with my forehead crinkled, staring.
“I guess you’ve met Cassidy?” my mom asked.
“I have,” Aaron replied, smiling at me in a way that said my teenage antics amused him. I wasn’t sure what to make of him, so I said nothing, only narrowed my eyes slightly.
“Aaron used to work with your grandpar…grandma,” my dad said, catching himself and making a course correction. Was he going to say grandparents? As in both my grandma and grandpa? That was impossible.
My expression revealed my confusion. “I’m a little older than I look,” he said with a shrug, and both of my parents chuckled like they were in on a joke I wasn’t privy to. I nodded, but as far as I knew, my grandmother had been retired since before I was born and my grandfather had died years before that. Which means he either started working when he was, like, ten, or he was a lot, lot older than he looked.
“I’m sorry to come by and interrupt your holiday like this,” he said, mostly talking to my parents, though I got the impression he was apologizing to me, too.
“Oh, no. It’s not your fault.” My mother let out a sigh that told me all of the joy she’d conjured up to greet this person she allegedly knew through her mother-in-law had been swept away as they all remembered why he was here. Of course, I still didn’t know.
I opened my mouth, ready to ask where Cadence was, thinking he might know, but before I could get anything out, my dad said, “Cass, why don’t you head upstairs for a bit. We need to talk about a few things in private.”
Normally, I would have immediately complied. But everything was just so weird…. Instead, I said, “But Dad, you guys haven’t even told me how Drew is. And is Cadence okay?”
The color seemed to drain out of my mom’s face. She looked at my dad, and he seemed just as lost. My questions lingered in the air as I began to think of all of the horrible things that might’ve happened to my sister and her friend. The only person who seemed to think I deserved answers wasn’t even related to me (as far as I knew. Things were getting so weird!). “Cassidy, your sister is fine. I just came to talk to your parents about that. She’s with your grandma.”This raised a million other questions. Why didn’t Grandma Janette just call? Why would he need to be the one to tell them anything about their own kid? But I nodded. At least Cadence was okay, and someone was answering my questions.“Honey,” my mom said, unfreezing and turning to face me, “Drew… passed away.”Even though I’d been bracing for bad news about Drew all mor
That all came out in one long, drawn out breath, and I knew if I was actually going to answer her before she started talking again, I’d have to act quickly. “You may know more than I do,” I admitted. “My parents won’t tell me much.” I didn’t tell her about the strange man downstairs. Not yet, anyway. “Do you know what happened to Drew?”“I know what everyone is saying. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but every single one of her friends that was with he swears it’s the truth. Except for maybe your sis because she’s not here. She’s not there, right?”“No, she’s at my grandma’s.” That much I did believe, though I wasn’t sure why.“Well, I guess Drew told her parents she was going to spend the night at her friend Sidney Cox’s house last night, but instead they all went out somewhere.” I was positive I knew what Lucy wo
I was a little relieved to hear that my dad was talking to Aaron outside when I came down the stairs with my mother. There was just something about the intensity of his eyes that made me uncomfortable. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their voices seemed lighter than they had a few minutes ago when the stranger had first arrived.My mom led me into the living room, and I followed as if I’d never been to this particular part of our home before, each step feeling a bit like a death sentence. Dr. Sanderson unfolded himself from my mother’s recliner as we approached, and I had a hard time taking in how someone so large could occupy the same space as my dainty mother.“Cassidy, honey, this is Dr. Sanderson.”He extended his large hand to me, and I let it envelop mine. There was something hauntingly familiar about his green eyes. It was like I’d seen them before, frequently, and while I was certain I would remember meeting
Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, even though it was so odd to me that my sister wasn’t there. I really wished she could’ve been, but I understood that Cadence needed to rest. I wanted to know more about her new job, but I also realized there was no reason to ask about it. Everything was just fine.After I helped my mom clear the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher, I decided to head upstairs. I doubted Lucy or Em would have called since I’d already talked to one and the other would be busy trying to avoid her family. Emma really hated crowds of any kind, even if they were related to her, and I was pretty sure the meal this year was supposed to be at her house. I did think maybe Milo or Wes would’ve called, though. They both lived just down the street from Jack Cook, and it was possible they might’ve seen him. They might want to know what was going on, and I’d be happy to explain to them that it was an accident and nothing to worry
A knock at the door interrupted what would’ve been a pretty good buck-toothed rabbit face my dad was constructing on a short stack. “I’ll get it,” my mom said, pulling herself away from blueberry eyes. I could tell by the way she looked at my dad that she was reluctant to see who had come calling. They exchanged nervous glances.Something twisted inside of me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Have you ever had something really terrible going on in your life, and for a few moments you lose track of it, like it’s not consciously on your mind, but then it starts to creep in, and before it even registers in your brain, your stomach starts to hurt, like a sharp knife has been plummeted in from the side, a sneak attack? It was like that. I looked at my dad and he offered a small smile before he, too, pushed back his chair. “Go ahead and eat, Cass. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”I nodded, and he exited the dinin
My parents seemed to buy my routine. My mom looked at my dad and gave him that reassuring smile she makes when she’s certain her children are the most precious creatures in the world. My dad did his complimentary, “I concur,” smile.I took another, much smaller, bite of my pancakes and chewed it slowly. After trying to eat nearly a quarter of them in one bite, they were less appealing than they had been when my dad and I had initially made them.My mom cleared her throat the way she does when something important needs to be said, but she is not sure if she should say it or if my dad should. They were looking at each other making small shrugging motions. Finally, my mom said, “Cassidy, you should probably know that your sister has decided not to go back to school right now.”My fork clattered out of my hand onto my plate. “What?” I asked. I had heard some unusual things recently, I guess—maybe they weren’t tha
I’m not sure what they were talking about when I came back into the room, but their voices got all hushed. I did hear a few words, which didn’t make sense to me. I hurried upstairs to make sure it was okay with Luce if I came over for a while, wondering who Aaron had said probably went “back to Europe.”Upstairs, I sent Lucy a text. “Can I come over in a few?”She answered almost immediately. “Sure! Just about to text. And Em, too.”“Cool. My dad’s driving me, so, maybe ten minutes?”“Whenever. My mom’s shopping and my dad’s at the golf course.”For some reason, I was glad her parents wouldn’t be there. It seemed like there was something important I needed to tell her, though I didn’t know what it was. “What about Daniel?”“Are you kidding? It’s not even 10:00 yet. He’ll be asleep for another hour or two.”
“Hi, Lucy,” I said with a friendly smile. She narrowed one eye at me. “What’s up?”“Cassidy Elizabeth Findley, get in here.” She stepped out of the way and I entered into a foyer with floors made of marble and a grand staircase with ornate moldings cascaded from the second story behind my diminutive friend.Emma came bounding in from the adjoining living room, straightening her glasses. Her short brown hair was a little frizzy, and I thought about asking her if she remembered to use her conditioning spray this morning. Lucy and I have been trying to get her to understand different products we use, not because we care so much what she looks like but because we feel it is our duty as her friend to explain the purposes behind the things that we do that Emma doesn’t get or doesn’t care about. I pushed the thoughts aside and said, “Hi, Em.”Without looking at my face, she said, “Hi.”
Cadence was glowing, holding both of her babies, one in each arm. I smiled at her and then focused on Josephina. She wasn’t crying now, but her little face was wrinkled as if she might burst into tears at any moment. Aaron had his hand on her back, beaming with pride as he looked at his little family. Jamie and another Healer, Ona, were cleaning up a tray table, but I caught his eye, and he winked at me. I hoped he could tell how grateful I was. If it wasn’t for him and his life saving blue magical healing powers, not to mention his medical skills, Cadence never would’ve come back to life.“Where’s my new favorite lil girl?” Elliott asked beside me.“Hey! I’m your lil girl. You’re going to have to think of something else to call her.” I threw an elbow at him.“Oh, I’m just teasing,” Elliott assured me. “Still, she is definitely lil. And she is my girl.”“I&rsqu
I’ll never forget the day my sister died. Even now, eight months later, sitting outside of Jamie’s operating room with Brandon’s hand in mine, every time I think about what happened that day, I get tears in my eyes. So many things could’ve gone differently, if only one of us would’ve made a different choice. I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on what I could’ve done differently myself that day, and even though everyone tells me there’s no point in dwelling on it, what’s done is done, it still haunts me sometimes when I’m trying to fall asleep at night, when I can so vividly see Cadence hanging there in the air before she plummeted to the ground, the whoosh of power that left my hand just missing its mark.The new Hunter Leader is a guy named Daniel Bower. He came in from California a few months ago. He’s awesome. I’ve known him for a while. He’s the one who helped capture Professor Stewart after th
I continued to beg and plead with her to come back to us. At fifteen minutes, Scarlet’s whispers were loud enough for me to detect what she was saying to Cale. “How long will he give it?”“I don’t know.” Cale seemed agitated and upset, certainly more connected to my sister than Scarlet. “Not yet.”“Please... Cadey, please.” I felt as far and as deep as I could, thinking about how I’d had to go so very far into her brain to plant that dream. The clock continued to tick. Cadence still wasn’t breathing, and Jamie began to sound desperate. At twenty-five minutes, when Jamie said “thirty,” his voice broke. He knew that the chances of her coming back to us now, after this long, were minute at best. He couldn’t give up, though. We couldn’t give up.Aaron blew two breaths of air into my sister’s lungs, and Jamie started counting again.Something was diff
After Aaron finally moved forward, I followed, staying back a little bit. I didn’t want to see her like that. I had never seen a person’s body after they’ve fallen that far, but I could imagine what it was like.Only when I finally did take a few hesitant steps around the trees, Brandon’s hands on my shoulders, she didn’t look like I expected her to at all.Cadence was lying flat on the ground with her hands folded over her abdomen, sort of like Snow White. Her feet were out straight, and her hair was blown out around her. She looked absolutely beautiful. And still. So very, very still.Jamie was doing chest compressions, and when it was time to breathe, Aaron did that for my sister. Some sort of automatic pilot must’ve turned on for him because his movements were very robotic. Jamie would say thirty, and Aaron would breathe into my sister’s open mouth twice before Jamie started counting again.Tears were rolling
“No!” My scream echoed across the mountainside as I watched in horror as my sister fell. I cannot guide what I cannot see, and I didn’t have a chance to get a grip on her before she plummeted. My hands shot out in her direction, but the surge of power I’d sent to grab her went over her head. I saw a streak of blue do the same and knew Jamie had missed as well.Fumbling through Cadence’s stream of consciousness, I tried again, hoping I’d be able to figure out how to get my powers around her before she hit the ground, but she was moving too fast, and without my eyes on her, I wouldn’t be able to get a grip.Part of me wanted to at least jump into her head, to be with her, to let her know she was okay, but then, the thought of what she was about to endure, when she hit the tops of the trees and then cascaded down through them to the earth, I couldn’t bear the thought, and I knew she wouldn’t want me to see it.I
“Brandon!” I shouted, floating over to where he had disappeared. He didn’t answer, and I realized he must’ve fallen all the way in. “Dang it.” I looked around the battlefield. I knew he was safe down there, but I hated that he was in that miserable place. Cadence was firing at Daunator now while Christian moved in, to place the grenade, I assumed, so I thought perhaps she’d be safe for a few minutes. I decided to help Brandon.“Are you all right?” I asked, using my telepathy.“Thank goodness,” he thought, probably not even to me. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just really dark in here.”“I know. Hold on, and I’ll get you out.”“If I hold on, won’t it be harder for you to get me out?”“All right smarty pants.” I needed to focus all of my energy if I was going to do this
“You okay?” Brandon shouted to me as he moved a little closer to where I was standing. The holes in the ground were not shaking now as much as they had been before, but they were still an obstacle we had to consider. I didn’t want him to get too close because of my tornadoes, but I was glad he was nearby.“Great,” I called back, sending another pile of creatures over the side of the mountain.Aaron was fighting his way through the crowd of black creatures, working his way to Cadence. The path was getting clearer, as far as the minions were concerned, but once he got within about a hundred yards of Cadence’s location, one of the Vampires that had been engaged with our forces closer to the top of the mountain broke off, clearly on his way to intercept the Guardian Leader.Whether he liked it or not, Aaron wasn’t alone now. I wasn’t sure where she’d come from, but Eliza was running parallel to him, fighting off
Moving the black creatures off of the ledge worked well, and I was just starting my second round when I realized my sister had taken off running toward Daunator. Christian had reached him already, a grenade in his hand. I prayed he didn’t get sucked down into another hole. The fact that Cadence was so far away from Aaron was worrisome, but he was busy with the creatures. While Cadence was slowed a few times by the minions sinking their teeth into her arm or grabbing at her heels, for the most part, they seemed to be letting her through, which seemed like a bad sign to me. Did Daunator want her to fight him?A blast of light illuminated the mountain, and then a wave of smoke obscured my view of Christian and Daunator. He’d thrown a grenade, the old kind, the ones he knew wouldn’t work. When the smoke cleared, Daunator’s laughter echoed through the air, and Christian went flying twenty feet in the air.Paul’s voice came over the IAC as I tos
Christian’s eyes widened. “Get out of here? We can’t. We have to get Daunator.”“We will. But for now, we need to go back and regroup. The most important thing is that you’re safe now,” Cadence explained to him.Christian was starting to freak out again. “No, Cadence, you don’t understand. We can’t just leave from here! We can’t just let him go!” His eyes were wild, and he reached forward and grabbed my sister’s shoulders. That lasted about half a second before Aaron grabbed him and pulled him off.“Listen, Christian, I agree. It’s important we come back and end this, but you need medical attention. And a good visit with Hannah.”And a shower, I thought to myself. But I was staying out of this one for the moment. I felt a stirring in the ground and a shift in energy somewhere further up the mountain. The argument was about to be moot.“No,