Pure (Book 1, Pure Series) (17 page)

           
Simon's concern for me warmed me, and it made me feel brave enough to go on.
 
"Simon, strange things have been happening to me.
 
And I think there may be a connection between what I've been going through and the people who have gone missing, including James."

           
"Go on."
 
Simon's tone was encouraging.

           
I plunged into my tale, starting with the night calls, the visions in the mirror, and the fact that the visions had become real and I had met William – I omitted some of the details about William, though.
 
I told him about the fact that two visitors from Russia, Galina and Aleksandr, had shown up suddenly on Sunday night.
 
I told him that Galina believed my mother had been killed by a man named Gleb Mstislav, and that Gleb was dead.
 
I also told him that both Galina and William seemed to believe that Gleb had returned from the dead.
 
And I told him that I believed that Gleb was behind the disappearances.

           
While I was speaking, Simon had sat quietly, listening.
 
From time to time confusion and disbelief flickered across his face, but he didn't interrupt.

           
"So, that's everything," I concluded.

           
Simon sat back in his plastic cafeteria chair.
 
"That's quite a story, Katie."

           
"GM can back me up," I said.
 
"On parts of it, at least.
 
Simon, you and I have to work together.
 
We have to investigate this.
 
You and I are the only people who know about Gleb Mstislav – apart from GM and William.
 
GM refuses to believe there is a problem, and William insists on doing whatever he is doing on his own.
 
We have to help James and the others because no one else can."

           
Simon rubbed his chin.
 
"You say you've been seeing things, and these things have become real."

           
"Yes," I said firmly.
 
"I'm really not crazy.
 
And the only reason I'm bringing this up at all is so that we can help the people in this town."

           
Simon looked down at his hands.
 
His face was unreadable.

           
I waited nervously.
 
He had yet to say whether he would help me.

           
"If I understand you correctly," Simon said slowly, "you believe there's a man out there named Gleb, who died and came back to life in Russia.
 
And he may have killed your mother there, for reasons which are not very clear, but may have something to do with visions or some kind of powers.
 
Gleb may be here in the U.S. now, looking for you so he can destroy you, too.
 
And he may have taken everybody who's missing so far in this town while looking for you.
 
And you believe all this because two strangers named Galina and William told it to you."

           
"Yes."
 
Simon's skepticism was not lost on me.
 
At the same time, a chilling thought struck me.
 
"Simon, you've explained it well, and you've made me realize something – I know everyone who's disappeared."

           
"So do I," Simon replied.

           
"You don't know Mr. Del Gatto."

           
"I know who he is, even though I've never had a class with him," Simon countered.

           
"You don't know Mr. Hightower," I said.
 
"He was a sub, and I've never seen him before as a sub in any other class.
 
He may be completely new to our school district."

           
"It's true that I don't know Mr. Hightower," Simon said.
 
"But Charisse does and so does Branden.
 
They also know Mr. Del Gatto, Irina, and James.
 
So do a lot of other people in your English class."

           
"But Charisse and Branden haven't had visions," I said in frustration.
 
"And my visions led me to a specific person who gave me information – though it wasn't much, and he was reluctant about it.
 
From what I've heard, the police don't have any suspects or any lines of inquiry.
 
I've at least got a place to start from.
 
Let's forget the supernatural stuff for a moment.
 
Let's just say my mother knew a bad guy back in Russia.
 
Even GM acknowledges that he was real and a criminal.
 
She said, too, that my mother tried to stop him.
 
Maybe he didn't really die – maybe he just hid out or something.
 
Maybe he didn't kill my mother and she did just die of a fever.
 
But maybe she knew something, and this guy Gleb thinks I know it, too.
 
Galina and Aleksandr did come all the way from Russia to warn me."

           
Simon stared at me for a moment, then he looked away and sighed.
 
"When you put things that way, it does sound more likely."

           
Simon thought for a moment and rubbed his chin again.
 
"But if this Gleb guy is after you, why is he taking other people?
 
Why hasn't he come for you?"

           
"Maybe he doesn't know where I am," I replied.
 
"My mother's married name is Wickliff, and my last name is Wickliff.
 
But GM's last name is 'Rost'
 
If you looked in the phone book, there would be no Wickliff listed.
 
I don't think there are even any other Wickliffs in this town.
 
And if you did a search online, you certainly wouldn't find me.
 
You know I'm allergic to social media."

           
"Then why did Gleb, if he is here, even come to Elspeth's Grove if he doesn't know for sure that you're here?
 
And like I said, why take other people?"

           
"Maybe he followed Galina and Aleksandr when they came here to warn GM and me."
 
As I said the words, doubt tugged at the back of my mind – Galina and Aleksandr seemed to believe that Gleb had preceeded them, not followed them, but I pushed the doubt aside.
 
I didn't want to ruin my argument.
 
"Maybe once they were all here, Gleb lost track of them and didn't know which house they went to.
 
And even though I know everybody who disappeared, I don't know why Gleb is taking other people.
 
That's why we have to investigate."

           
Simon continued to look skeptical.

           
"Simon," I said, "the disappearances started right after Galina and Aleksandr came to my house."

           
Simon smiled a little.
 
"Okay.
 
You've made a good point.
 
I'll give it to you that your visitors and their news do coincide with the beginning of the disappearances.
 
It's possible that you may be onto something."

           
I felt hope flicker in my heart.
 
"So, you'll help me investigate?"

           
Simon sighed.
 
"Yes, I'll help you investigate.
 
And for what it's worth, I don't think you're crazy.
 
At least not all the way.
 
At least not yet."

           
"Oh, Simon!" I jumped out of my chair and leaned over to hug him where he sat.
 
"Thank you, Simon!
 
Thank you!"

           
Simon looked up at me.
 
"I don't like the sound of this William guy, though.
 
I think you should stay away from him."

           
My stomach did a little flip at the mention of William's name.
 
"I really haven't seen him all that often."

           
"Good," Simon said firmly.
 
"You should keep that trend going."

           
I sat down again.

           
"So where do we go from here?" Simon asked.

           
I felt some of my earlier nervousness returning.
 
I had to ask Simon to do something that I knew would be difficult for him.
 
"It's possible the police aren't telling us everything," I began carefully.

           
Simon snorted.
 
"It's more than possible, Katie.
 
It's certain.
 
The police can't tip their hand if there's a psycho out there."

           
"Yes, exactly," I said.
 
"Simon, I need you to find out everything you can about James's disappearance – everything the police may not be telling you."

           
Simon's brows drew together.
 
"I don't know about that, Katie."

           
"Simon, I know this won't be easy for you, but I'm only bringing it up because I want to get James back.
 
I want to save him and Irina and the teachers.
 
And I want to stop this from happening to anyone else."

           
Simon ran a hand over his face.
 
"What do you need me to do?"

           
"Talk to your parents.
 
See if there's anything they know that they haven't told you.
 
Talk to the police.
 
Talk to Travis Ballenski, even.
 
Find out if he's heard anything.
 
Anything at all.
 
Maybe there's a clue in there somewhere."

           
Simon smiled.
 
"Okay.
 
I'll go looking for clues.
 
I assume you're hoping I'll find something that will point toward this Gleb What's-his-name?"

           
"Yes."

           
"And what about you?
 
What are you planning?
 
Nothing too dangerous, I hope?"

           
I took a deep breath.
 
"I'm going to talk to Irina's parents – carefully, of course.
 
I'll see if they've heard anything.
 
It sounds like Mr. Del Gatto lived alone, and I don't know anything about Mr. Hightower.
 
I don't know how to investigate them at the moment."

           
"That's probably a good thing," Simon replied.
 
"I think you should stay away from the teachers.
 
Talking to other students and their parents is one thing, but asking questions about men you don't know very well is probably not a good idea.
 
What do we do after we're done asking all our questions?"

           
"We meet up and share everything we've learned," I said, "and I do mean everything – no matter how disturbing or unimportant it may seem.
 
Any little piece of information may turn out to be the key to the whole thing."

           
"Okay," Simon said.

           
"Simon, Katie, what are you two still doing here?"

           
A new voice broke in on our conversation.

           
I looked up to see Mr. Hodges, the gym teacher, standing beside our table.
 
He was wearing sweats in the school colors of blue and white as he often did, and he was holding a carton of milk and a banana.

           
"Hi, Mr. Hodges," Simon said.

           
"Hi, yourself," Mr. Hodges replied, incredulous.
 
"The bell ran a little while ago.
 
The two of you are late for homeroom."

           
I felt myself coloring.
 
"Sorry, Mr. Hodges.
 
We were talking, and I never even heard the bell ring."

           
I glanced around.
 
The cafeteria was empty except for the three of us.

           
Mr. Hodges sighed in exasperation.
 
"It's no big deal, Katie.
 
I know you two are good kids.
 
And everybody's distracted and on edge lately.
 
If you give me a sheet of paper and a pen, I'll write passes for you both."

           
I quickly furnished Mr. Hodges with pen and paper.
 
He tore the sheet in half and wrote out a pass for each of us.

           
He handed the passes to Simon and me.
 
"Now get to class.
 
You're going to miss all of the announcements if you don't hurry."

           
"Yes, Mr. Hodges," Simon said.

           
"Thanks, Mr. Hodges," I said.

           
Simon and I quickly rose and pulled on our backpacks.
 
Mr. Hodges followed us out into the hall, and then turned off, heading in the direction of the gym.

           
Simon and I hurried on through the empty halls toward our respective homerooms.

           
When we came to a parting of the ways, Simon stopped and smiled at me.
 
He stood for a moment, not saying anything.