Alyzon Whitestarr (24 page)

His brows lifted. “I’m here tae follow your sister.”

“Oh God! You shouldn’t have worried about it. Sarry—”

“Would be the first tae say I should do what I promised,” Harrison said firmly. His eyes narrowed behind his spectacles. “Are you all right, Alyzon? You look a wee bit strange.”

I tried to find something to say, but all I could see was the white cat, struggling and clawing the air, desperate and dying. All at once it seemed that the world I had lived in for fifteen years was an illusion, cracking and breaking away to reveal a strange, dark world in which good-looking young men smelled of rot and girls murdered cats. It was as if the underbears of my childish nightmares had finally escaped.

“No,” I heard myself saying in a thin voice. “I’m not OK. Listen, Harrison, it’s almost an hour before school gets out,
and there’s a cafe just a few streets away. Can we go and get a drink? I really need to talk.”

“OK,” he said equably.

* * *

“So what’s up?” he asked. We were sitting at a sticky plastic-covered table with two glasses of orange juice between us. The girl who had served us was cleaning the counter nearest us meticulously, but I doubted she would hear what we were saying because of the humming and wheezing of the drink fridge.

I took a deep breath. “First, tell me about Sarry Is she OK?”

Harrison said soberly, “She was pretty depressed tae start with. But Dr. Austin is on holiday, and after Raoul pointed out how long it had been since Sarry’s last episode, the doctor taking his caseload is willing tae drop the dose.”

“Did Sarry say anything about me?”

He nodded, frowning slightly. “She is still convinced you can smell the sickness in her, but Raoul managed tae convince her that, even if you could, it was only because the sickness must be in a stronger phase. He couldnae tell her that she had just misunderstood you when she’s half off her head with dope.”

I took a deep breath. “At the hospital you said you and the others had decided to believe Sarry was sick even though she had no way of proving it to you. Can you do the same for me? Believe something even though I’ve no proof of it?”

“I’ll try,” he said calmly, and there was something in the
combination of mildness and firmness that reassured me more than a truckload of words.

I took a sip of the orange juice, which was too sweet, and blinked hard to stop a sudden hot gathering of tears behind my eyes. I wasn’t sure why I had the impulse to cry. Maybe it was just shock at having arrived at the moment of telling. I collected myself and told him as concisely as I could about waking after the accident to find my senses had changed. Harrison did not interrupt to ask questions, and he looked intensely interested. But when I told him about my encounter with Dr. Austin and how he had smelled, Harrison’s brows climbed into his blond fringe and he said, “Are ye saying Sarry’s right and ye can smell wrongness?” His accent was suddenly much thicker.

“I don’t know if it is wrongness that I can smell on Dr. Austin,” I said slowly. “Sarry didn’t say so, did she?”

“Sarry cannae perceive wrongness in anyone but herself,” Harrison said. “And she never said anything about
smelling
wrongness until she was talking about you. She always talks about feeling it getting hungry or strong. But what does it mean that Dr. Austin wanted tae drug you both? He cannae be out tae infect Sarry, since she’s already infected.”

“Is she?” I asked. “Because that’s another thing. She doesn’t smell like Dr. Austin.”

“It could be … But wait, are you saying it was just coincidence that you started talking about the smell of wrongness tae Sarry?” Harrison sounded incredulous.

I shrugged. “Is that any weirder than anything else we’ve been talking about?”

He gave a short laugh, then he glanced at his watch. “Damn, I’ll have tae go, but we need tae talk more about this. What happened just now in school, anyway? You looked upset.”

I told him about Sylvia.

“You actually had a vision when you touched her?” Harrison asked eagerly.

I nodded. “I can’t figure if I was seeing a memory or some kind of wish.” I meant to tell what I had seen when Sarry had grabbed me during her attack, but he was getting to his feet.

“I’d better head back tae the school or I’ll miss your sister.”

“But you believe me,” I said uncertainly.

“Of course I believe you,” he said. I was so relieved that I felt myself blush. He went to pay, refusing my offer of money. When he came back, I got up and we went out together.

“Did Sarry ever say how she got infected? I mean the actual process?”

Harrison shook his head. “It’s like I told you and your da at the hospital. It happened when she was too young tae take it in clearly, but she always connects it with her mother’s death. She would have been too young tae resist anything then, so I guess it must take a while before the sickness becomes contagious. From what Sarry said, it seems tae get stronger in cycles, so maybe it is only contagious at certain times.” He looked at me, hesitating. “How would you feel about telling Raoul and Gilly?”

“I mean to tell all of you. But speaking of Gilly, you don’t happen to know why she didn’t come to school today, do you?”

He shook his head again, then told me I had better not come back to the school with him in case Serenity saw us together. I agreed to go another way and we said goodbye. But just as I was about to leave, Harrison stopped me and suggested we meet the next night.

“I can tell you what happens with your sister, and maybe we can talk more about your extended senses.”

“That’d be great,” I said, meaning it.

I cut through backstreets until I came out along the bus route. I could have walked home, but I felt really tired, so I boarded the late bus, which I knew would be half empty. It wasn’t until I got off that I realized Mirandah had also been on the bus.

“How come you’re getting home late?” I asked.

“Art,” she said. I stifled a yawn as she launched into a description of a printmaking process she had been learning. “So?” Mirandah suddenly turned and poked me in the arm.

“Pardon?” I asked, realizing I had phased out completely.

Mirandah gave a huffing sigh of exasperation. “Honestly, Alyzon. You are as bad as Serenity.”

That woke me up, because it made me realize that none of us talked to one another about how Serenity had changed. “How come you’re so down on poor Serenity?” I asked to provoke a reaction.

“I’m not down on poor Serenity,” Mirandah said indignantly. “She’s down on us, or hadn’t you noticed? We’re part of the great silent mass who fail to act decisively to stop injustice.
Or are you telling me you haven’t had the ‘we are as guilty as the guilty if we don’t act’ lecture?” Mirandah said sardonically. “Or what about ‘cruel times need cruel measures,’ or maybe the most recent? ‘The sleepers awake’ diatribe? That one’s a doozy.”

I stared at her. “Serenity doesn’t lecture me. She doesn’t speak to me.”

Mirandah gave a short laugh. “Yeah, well, maybe she thinks you’re too far gone. Lucky you.”

“So what does she expect us to do? Does she say?”

“Who knows. Blow up the government, maybe.”

We came around to the back door and I stifled a groan at the sound of Rhona Wojcek’s voice. Mum was in the kitchen placidly feeding Luke a shiny blob of mushed-up banana in his high chair, her head swathed in clouds of blue and silver.

Mirandah dropped her bag and sat down to watch Rhona with apparent devotion. I had to suppress a smile, because I knew that she was merely gathering material for an increasingly accurate and hilarious Rhona imitation she was developing.

I slipped out the kitchen door, intending to go upstairs and change, but to my surprise, Da was sitting on the bottom step, his coffee-ground scent overlaid with a confusion of other smells—new rope, tobacco, perfume, pine needles, detergent—but stronger than all the rest was the heavy reek of ammonia.

“Rhona?” I said sympathetically.

“She wants your mum to exhibit in a gallery that will cost an arm and a leg.”

“I thought galleries just took a percentage of what sells.” I sat down beside him.

“They do, but Rhona wants a big opening, and we’ll need to pay for it.”

“So don’t do it. Mum won’t care.”

“She won’t, but maybe Rhona’s right about the need to attract buyers and gallery owners ….”

I clamped on my senses hard enough to see the effect Da had on the air. Somehow it didn’t surprise me that the distortions were weaker than usual. “Are you OK, Da?” I asked.
Tell me what is wrong
, I thought at him.

He turned his handsome face to me. “I guess it’s that for once I have the potential to earn the money we need. Only …” He shook his head.

“Only what?” I pressed.

“I did that big charity function for Aaron Rayc this after noon, and it turned out not to be a solo job after all. I ended up fronting another band, and afterward Aaron asked if I would like to do a second gig with them. So what we’re talking about now is a gig fronting another band.”

“He lied about today’s gig,” I said.

“Well, no,” Da said. “The lead singer was ill, and Rayc asked me to fill in. It made no sense to switch halfway through to a solo act, so we did the whole show together. Afterward Aaron offered another gig with the band because the singer is going to be out of commission for some time. It’s a big gig with a good paycheck ….”

“Didn’t you like the band?”

“It’s not that,” Da said. He laughed. “I guess I just feel that by taking these gigs, I’m slipping further and further away from Losing the Rope. In the end, I told Aaron I’d pass, but he told me to think it over. Then I get home and find Rhona talking about a big, expensive gallery opening.” He winced as the agent’s laughter rang out.

“Oh, Da,” I said.

He smiled fondly at me. “I don’t know why I’m so down, really. It’s just one gig, after all.”

Rhona exploded out of the kitchen and into the hallway, trailing fringes and silk draperies. She stopped and stared at Da and me sitting at the bottom of the stairs. But Mum, coming along behind her, only smiled at us both and ushered Rhona the rest of the way out.

* * *

I went up and lay on my bed, wondering if Aaron Rayc was really out to separate Da from Losing the Rope. Did he truly believe Da would be a better property if he was a soloist or played with some other band?

I fell asleep and dreamed one of those chaotic and troubling dreams that metamorphose slowly but spectacularly into a nightmare. I was at one of Losing the Rope’s gigs, only the band seemed to be missing half their instruments. Mel went to find them, and when he didn’t come back, Neil and Da sent me to get him. I ended up blundering into some sort of nightclub, peopled horribly by animated corpses.

Finally one of them noticed me and leered, baring sharpened teeth. It was Aaron Rayc. “I see you,” he hissed. And
suddenly the air was full of tiny creatures biting and tearing at me. I staggered back in terror, but he grabbed me and shook me and shook me.

* * *

“Alyzon! Come on. Dinner’s ready.” It was Jesse shaking me hard. I sat up groggily heavy-eyed and jittery.

Over dinner, I studied Serenity, looking for clues that she might know she had been followed, but she was exactly the same as usual: pale, silent and withdrawn, pushing food around her plate. After dinner she went straight up to bed.

I didn’t want to go up with her, so I hung around downstairs listening to Da and Jesse jam. Then I had a shower. As I was coming out of the bathroom, Jesse told me Gilly had phoned earlier in the afternoon. “I meant to tell you right away when you got home, but Rhona came and you know how she obliterates consciousness.”

I laughed, relieved. “It’s too late to call her back now. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

* * *

I woke to the déjà vu experience of Jesse shaking me, but it felt too early and too dark for school.

“Phone,” Jesse said softly. “It’s your friend Harrison, and he says it’s urgent.”

I dragged on a robe and slippers and hurried downstairs, my heart yammering. “Harrison? What’s wrong?”

“Gilly just called,” he said. “Her grandmother’s house burned down on Sunday night.” I gasped. “It’s OK. No one got hurt. Her grandmother was at the opera, and Gilly was
with me and Raoul, visiting Sarry. She only found out after she left us and went home in a taxi. She didnae call straightaway because it was totally chaotic. Her grandmother was in shock, and there were police asking questions, and they had to get some clothes and find somewhere to stay.” He paused for a moment. “Whoever did it threw gallons of gasoline around to make sure the fire was hot.”

“Someone did it on
purpose?”
I asked, horrified. “What about the housekeeper and the driver?”

“They have a house separate from the main residence, but they were out as well. The movies. The police think that’s why it happened. Unfortunately, it also means that no one saw anything.”

“But why would anyone do such a thing?”

“It could have been a robbery and someone wanting tae make sure it would be hard for anyone tae figure what had been stolen. Or vandalism. A sort of payback for the rich. There is a lot of that happening, apparently. Anyway, I’m sorry I called so early, but I didnae know what time you left for school and I thought you’d want tae know. Gilly won’t be at school again today, of course.”