Radiant (15 page)

"Here you are," Josh said. "Anything else?"

Mary shook her head. "Thanks for your help."

"My pleasure
. Take care," he said and moved on down the hall.

T
he Astronomy door led into a room stuffed with equipment. A few people sat at various stations, focused intently on their work.

"
Um, is there someone named Drew here?" she asked.

A
pimply guy, with a shirt that screamed "BAZINGA" on the front, looked up at her. "I'm Drew. What's up?"

Mary walked over to him
. "I wanted to ask you about alien possessions."

The other people in the room
raised their eyebrows.

Drew stared at her for a moment before laughing uneasily. "I don't think I can tell you muc
h. This is a university lab. We don't do that kind of stuff here."

Mary looked at the piece of paper with her n
otes. "Aren't you JediMasterDrew89 on some of the online forums about aliens and—"

"Ooookay,
" he said quickly. "I think you and I need to step into the office for a minute." Drew got up from his station and ushered her into a cramped little room that looked like it was being used mostly for storage. "Are you
crazy
?" he hissed. "How did you find me?"

"I saw your posts on
some forums," she said. "You got into some flame wars, and you said once that you were a scientist at the university, so you should know what you were talking about. You had an old profile link to your undergrad page. That's how I found you."

Drew sighed. "I thought I'd
deleted all those links. Guess there was still one out there."

"
Are
you a scientist?" she asked.

"Sorta," he said.
"I'm a grad student. I have a double major in biomedical and astronomy, and now I'm working on my masters in astrophysics. But I don't broadcast to everyone that I do research into extraterrestrials and conspiracies on the side. People would laugh at me."

"I see," she said. "I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't have blurted out stuff in there. But the thing is…well, can I just tell you why I'm here?"

Mary recounted what happened since the accident and how Carter had changed. Drew listened intently, and he laughed when she told him about the salt and holy water not working. When she was finished, he leaned against a cluttered table and took off his glasses to rub his eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were screwing with me."

"
I'm not!" she said. "If Carter is being possessed by an alien, I want to know what it would take to get rid of it."

Drew stared at her for a long time. At last, he put on his glasses again and sighed. "Look, the first thing to do is figure out if he's ev
en possessed. I'd need a blood sample. Can you bring him here some time? Or have him go to a clinic?"

She shook her head. Taking Carter to church was one thing. She could use the choir thing that Father Cohen talked about
as a cover. She didn't have any excuses for getting blood from him without raising suspicions.

"What if I got it without him knowing it?
" she asked. "I have a date with him coming up."

"Well, you'd have to be careful not to contaminate the sample," he said. "But you could try."

He told her what kind of blood test kit to buy. They were apparently pretty common at the pharmacy.

"Just follow the instructions in the kit," he said.

"Thanks," she said.

As she headed for the door, Drew asked, "I'm curious about something."

She stopped and looked at him. "What is it?"

"Let's pretend for a moment that we know for sure he's possessed," Drew said. "If he's a better person like you say he is, why are you trying to make him go back to the way he was?"

Mary thought for a moment. And she realized she had no good answer.

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Touch

Mary had one white dress that some relative had given to her a couple years ago. It didn't have a tag or a gift receipt, so she couldn't return it and get something she would actually wear. She almost gave it to charity, but Mom had suggested holding onto it for any rare or random special occasions that might occur. So, Mary kept it, but she never wore it until now.

But she
didn't have anything remotely fancy in the footwear department. Mom had a few pairs of nice shoes, so she raided her closet. Mary must've tried on at least a dozen things, but anything with heels or straps hurt her feet. She finally settled with a pair of slouchy boots. It wasn't technically winter anymore, but they were comfortable. She didn't bother with hair and makeup. Mary's hair had only one option: straight. And while she had a pretty steady hand with a paintbrush, a mascara wand didn't work the same way.

The door buzzer rang at seven on the dot. Mary started to leave, but a glance in the
mirror showed that the dress didn't cover her scar. Quickly, she looked around in Mom's closet again and grabbed a gauzy scarf to wrap around her neck. She also grabbed one of Mom's purses and put her wallet and keys in it, along with the blood testing kit. Finally, she picked up Carter's sweater from her room before hurrying downstairs. Outside, she found Carter talking to Bruce.

Talking to
Bruce
?

Mary had never seen Bruce talk to anyone. But there he was,
holding a conversation like a normal human being. It was rather mind-boggling. Not to mention, she had to think for a moment to realize that that was Carter. He wore a black suit, making him look like a younger and cooler version of James Bond. Mary suddenly felt severely underdressed.

Carter looked up and smile
d. "Good evening."

Mary
blushed. "Um, hi. Was I supposed to dress up, too?"

He shook his head. "First date. I wanted to make a good impression.
"

He succeeded, that's for sure.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"
You kid have good time," Bruce said. Then he did something else Mary had never seen before. He
smiled
and
waved
to them.

Mary
followed Carter down the sidewalk. "What was that?"

"
What was what?"

"
You talked to Bruce," she said. "Bruce doesn't talk. Except to cuss people out in a language they can't understand."

Carter shrugged.
"He was fixing the front step when I arrived. While I was waiting, I asked him how he was, and we just started talking. His name isn't really Bruce. Did you know that? It's Bourey. But he's a big Bruce Lee fan. So, when he came to America, he started telling people to call him Bruce. He has a daughter named Chavy."

"
He has kids?" Mary asked. She thought he was too mean to reproduce.

"
Just one," Carter said. "He said she's still in Cambodia with her mom. He's trying to save enough money so that they can come live with him here. He said Chavy means 'little angel.' She sounds like a nice person."

Mary stared at him.

"What?" he asked.

She shook her head.
"Nothing. Well, it's just that all this time, he's worked in our building and I never knew anything about him. But he told you all that just now."

"
He probably saw me waiting and just wanted to talk," Carter said.

Mary d
idn't say anything for a moment. Then, she remembered his sweater hanging on her arm. "I forgot to give this back the other night."

"Thank you," he s
aid. "I hope you don't mind walking a little. I had to park a bit far away."

"I don't mind," she said. "You got a new car?"

He shook his head. "I borrowed one for the evening."

They
turned the corner, and Mary stopped when she saw it. It wasn't a car. With a sleek body gleaming like fresh black paint and pleasant lines, it was like a piece of art on four wheels. Cars were not uncommon on the streets around her apartment. But cars like
this
definitely were.

"
What...is this?" she asked.

"
I believe it's called an Aston Martin," he said.

The name sounded familiar. Didn't James Bond drive one, too?

"Are you sure it's all right for you to drive this?" she asked. "How were you able to get this anyway? Did your parents rent it for you?"

He smiled and
opened the passenger door for her. "You ask a lot of questions."

When he didn't elaborate, she had little else to do than slip
into the soft leather seat. It even smelled expensive. Carter went around to the driver's side. He started the ignition and the engine purred to life.

The
Aston, in the midst of traffic, was like a black diamond in a barrel of coal. Mary was still speechless for a while, taking it all in. She'd never ridden in a car remotely as beautiful as this one. "Can I turn off the stereo?" she asked.

"Sure," he said. "You don't like the music?"

She shook her head as she switched off the sound system. "I just want to listen to the engine. It sounds really cool."

Carter s
miled and gave it some throttle. He maneuvered through traffic with surprisingly little effort. When they got onto the open road, he really opened the taps and the engine sang. Part of Mary wondered if the cops would stop them. The other parts didn't care.

A little while later,
they arrived in a nice shopping and restaurant area. Carter pulled up to the curb, where a team of valets ran out to meet them. One opened Mary's door for her and greeted her with a pleasant, "Good evening, ma'am."

Mary
looked around. Club-like music played on outdoor speakers. Some of the people on the crowded sidewalks stopped to look at and take pictures of the Aston with their smartphones.

Carter handed the valet the keys before meeting Mary on the sidewalk.
"Have you been here before?"

She shook her head.

"Good," he said. "This will be new for you, too."

They walked into
a restaurant with a sign that said "Spice" on the door. It was pretty packed, and a wave of aromatic spices and exotic music assaulted them at once. Several people waited in the front and at the bar. Towards the back was a stage, where a team of dancers in colorful costumes performed.

A young Indian woman at the host podium greeted them. "Welcome! How many
are in your party?"

"Just two," Carter said.
"I think I'm supposed to ask for Raj. Is he in?"

She nodded. "Are you Carter?"

"Yes ma'am," he said.

She grabbed a couple menus and smiled. "Right this way please."

Mary looked back at the other people who had gotten there before them. She wondered if "Raj" was a code or something.

The young woman led them upstairs to the balcony and seated them at a table
that had a "Reserved" sign on it, with a perfect view of the stage. After she left, a boy about their age came to their table. He was Indian also, and he had a smile that Hollywood would cry for.

"Carter!
" he said as they shook hands. "Glad you could make it, man."

"Hey
Raj," Carter said. "Thanks for inviting us. This is Mary."

"Glad to meet you, Mary,"
Raj said.

"Same here," she said, smiling.
His grin was infectious. "You two know each other?"

"We live in the same neighborhood," Carter said. "He goes to
St. Mark's."

Mary knew about
St. Mark's, the all-boys school. Kids who went there were pretty much guaranteed to get into an Ivy League college after graduation.

"Yeah,
we've practically been neighbors for years and never said a word to one another until a few weeks ago," Raj said. "This is my parents' restaurant. Well, one of them. I told Carter that he should come by some time. Plus, tonight's Bollywood night."

Mary laughed. "Sounds awesome."

"Have either of you had Indian food before?" Raj asked.

They shook their heads. "What do you recommend?" Carter asked.

"Do you like spicy stuff?"

They both nodded
.

He
flashed his winning smile. "Lemme see what I can do. I'll send a server over to get your drink orders."

He left, and Mary turned her attention to the dancers. They stomped their feet and hopped in rhythm with the music.
They were exciting to watch, like a chaos of color and sound that somehow managed to move in an orderly fashion. When they finished, everyone applauded.