Secrets in the Dark (18 page)

“
What do trolls do?” I
asked her hesitantly. “If they catch someone.”

Ronny was clearly
distracted as she answered, “They eat them.” She didn’t seem to
notice Faith’s horrified gasp as she continued, “I do not
understand why they should be the only creatures you have
encountered. Other than your strange familiars of
course.”

Faith had practically
chewed a hole through her lip while Ronny was speaking. She said,
“I’m not okay with getting eaten. No way am I going back
there!”

Ronny smiled at her. “I
would not be okay with you being eaten either. But you do not need
to worry. You cannot be hurt by anything in Chimera as long as you
stay on the roads. The roads are enchanted — I promise you will be
safe.”

She continued in a low
intense voice, “I am of course grateful, but I am curious how you
were able to find your way back to the road. How did this
happen?”

“
You’re not gonna believe
it.” I grinned at her puzzled look. “I wished for a sign. And our
familiars, which you say shouldn’t exist, led us back to the road.”
I laughed at the expression on Ronny’s face.

“
This is very puzzling,
but I am thankful you are well. You could have been lost for days.
Or worse. Much worse. I never want you to risk your safety for me.
Promise to be careful.”

She looked at us, an
apology clear in her eyes as she said, “I fear I have put you at
risk, and I will think hard whether there are other things you must
know. I take everything in Chimera so much for granted. I may not
think of everything I should tell you.”

She looked back at Faith.
”And if you decide you cannot continue, I will
understand.”

I believe Ronny meant
that, but her relief was
obvious when
first Faith, then the rest of us, told her we’d
continue.

Chris came in then. He
walked over to Ronny and placed his hand on her shoulder. I watched
as she reached up and touched his hand. There was nothing sappy
about it, but I had to turn away. It looked…private.

Chris said, “Sorry again,
Kitty-Kat.” I ground my teeth at the hated nickname. “I didn’t tell
you about everything because I didn’t want to risk having you
forced to live in Chimera.”

I sighed, “I know. I told
you I forgave you.”

“
I just wanted to make
sure we were okay before I left.”

“
You’re leaving
again?”

“
Yeah. Ronny will stay
here until we know what has happened to her mother.”

That made me sad. I knew
Chris had been looking forward to traveling with Ronny. They both
had been excited about it. Ronny looked at him, and her smile
looked brave and sad at the same time. This time, when he stroked
her cheek and bent to kiss her, all of us looked away. That is, all
of us except Olivia. I saw her watching them, looking wistful, like
when she read those stupid romance novels she liked now.

Her mom would kill her if
she knew about them. Well, not literally, but she
really
wouldn’t like
it.

Chapter 21

Well, What Do You
Know…

Over the next few weeks,
Ray, Andrew and Polly made it clear how mad they were. Only Carly
hung back.

“
Why are they so ticked
off? They’ve always been mean, but now it’s like they hate us,”
Olivia complained.

We’d had to duck into the
girl’s bathroom to get away from Ray and Andrew three times that
week. Today, one of them actually shoved at the door like they
planned to follow us in. It took the three of us leaning all our
weight on the other side to keep the door closed. We finally
relaxed when Mrs. Adams reminded them the boy’s bathroom was
farther down the hall. Andrew gave her a lame story about joking
around with Ray’s cousin Carly.

“
Well, you need to stop
playing in the halls and get to class.” Mrs. Adams told them. I
ground my teeth at the indulgent “boys will be boys” sound in her
voice.

After that, we stuck
together at school
and
around town. Doug refused to join us most of the time. He
said he’d feel like a sissy. The rest of us weren’t too surprised
when Doug showed up at school on Wednesday, a week before Chimera
would open, with a black eye.

“
That looks bad. What
happened?” I said, feeling my heart beat faster.

“
Don’t fuss, Kat.” Doug
flushed red and he wouldn’t meet my eyes. He sounded irritated.
“I’m fine. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“
Doug! We need to know
what to watch out for.” I hadn’t been making a fuss. Why was he mad
at me?

He shuffled his feet and
muttered, “Ray cornered me after school. He blames us for the
trouble he’s in. For getting home so late last time. His story
about getting lost in the hills didn’t go over with his dad.
He—”

Faith interrupted hotly,
“That’s
so
unfair. If they didn’t keep following us all the time, they
wouldn’t have gotten lost. It’s their fault! Why don’t they just
leave us alone?”

“
Why don’t you go ask
them,” Doug snapped, and then took a deep breath. It looked like he
was counting. “Look, it’s not just Ray. Andrew’s parents grounded
him, Polly’s in trouble for lying, and Ray’s mad at Carly because
she
didn’t
get in
trouble. Her parents told her she had to stay with her cousin, so
they’re mad at Ray too.”

“
But why are they angry
with
us
?” I
asked. I closed my eyes and felt my shoulders slump. The Rejects
had been bad enough before. What were they going to be like
now?

“
They all blame us. They
think we got them lost on purpose. To get them in
trouble.”

“
But we
didn’t—”
Faith
began.

I grabbed her hand.
“Faith, think about it. It’s something
they’d
do. They probably think
everyone would be like that.”

“
Yeah, that totally sounds
like them,” Olivia said, sounding disgusted
ehH
.

Doug didn’t say so, but I
thought Ray had scared him this time. I asked again what
happened.

“
Look, I’m okay. I got a
few bruises, that’s all. Just forget it.”

“
Fine,” I told him curtly.
I turned my nose in the air and stomped away. He might not always
get sarcasm, but no way could he miss that I wasn’t
happy!



I asked Ronny if we could
stop by after school. It hadn’t taken much to convince the others
we needed more information about Chimera.

When we got there, Ronny
welcomed us in. As we were seated she said, “I have been giving
much thought to this. I am afraid I may have forgotten something
important, but I will tell you what I can.”

She sat forward and looked
at me intently. “First, remember to stay always on the
road.”

She shifted her gaze to
Olivia. “Second, never go into the center of Chimera.”

Olivia looked startled,
“How will we know we’re near the center?”

“
It is covered by a thick
gray mist.” Her eyes became distant. “I should explain that most
inhabitants believe the center holds the source of our magick. It
must never be entered. No one — not even beings of great magick —
have come back once they enter the mist.”

“
Let me tell you about
Chimera as
I know it. There are many
hundreds of us living there, so Chimera is
always busy. It is enchanted so that the air smells of
flowers and the sun shines every day. Rain happens only at night,
and then just enough to keep the plants strong.”

She fell silent for a
moment, and I thought she was remembering the home she’d given up
to be with my brother. She rubbed her arms absently, and then
continued, “I grew up in our village, called Mystic. It is filled
with thatched cottages and houses made of stone. Like something
from your stories. There are even areas that would be very
attractive to your paranormal investigators. Did I say that right?
Like Chris?”

When I nodded, she
continued, “The abandoned farm and the mansion in the south are
both said to be haunted. I have not told Chris. He would have
wanted me to find him a way in. That I cannot do since I am
banished.” She shuddered, then smiled weakly. “But I will get to
see much of your world. Chris has great plans to travel to haunted
locations.”

I could see the effort it
took for her to keep the sadness off her face. It sounded like a
fairy tale when she first told us how she’d left her home, knowing
she could never go back, in order to be with the person she loved.
Even if that person
was
my brother.

But now, seeing how sad
talking about her home made her, it didn’t seem like some
happily-ever-after fairy tale anymore. It felt too real. I knew how
I’d feel if I had to move away from my home and family. Knowing I’d
never be able to go back.

My thoughts must have shown
all over my face. Ronny grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Do not
feel sad for me, Kat. I love your brother and will never regret my
decision. I just miss my home.”

She glanced around the
room. “Let me start over again. Stay on the roads. Do not go across
the fields or near the center. You can tell where that is because
of the fog.”

She looked at Doug. “I also
recommend you avoid the swamp. It is filled with dangerous paths to
nowhere. And will-o-the-wisps will lead you to drown.” In the short
pause Ronny took, I could actually hear the sound of Faith
swallowing.

Ronny continued, “The right
half of the forest should be safe, but the left half has always
attracted beings of evil. I do not know what kind of spells may
exist in there. Please remember, you may have enough magic to
trigger spells, so think before you wish for anything.”

She gave an encouraging
smile to Faith. “Ghalynn should be able to help if anything has
changed. That is all I can think of.”

Each of us thanked her,
with varying levels of enthusiasm, as we agreed to meet again after
our next visit to Chimera.

“
The thought of
will-of-the-wisp things and evil creatures living in the forests
makes me more nervous.” Faith chewed on her lip. “Who knows which
of those creatures are still roaming around in there.”

“
You heard Ronny,” Doug
scowled at her, clearly impatient. “We stay on the roads and we
stay safe. I’ve gotta go now. See ya tomorrow.” He gave a quick
wave, then hurried ahead as
the light
changed.

Faith mimicked in a high
nasal voice, “Stay on the roads and stay safe.” Her voice dropped
to normal. “Yeah, right.”



Time passed slowly the last
week in May. Why does waiting for something good make time take
longer?

One week before the full
moon, I sat alone in my bedroom, thoroughly bored. Olivia had to
watch her sisters and couldn’t have company, Faith was at soccer
practice and Doug was at Math Club. It seemed like we were doing
more and more stuff separately these days, and I didn’t like
it.

I threw myself backward on
my bed and growled. “Why does everything have to keep
changing!”

My mom chose right then to
walk by my room, and listened to what I said. Even though it was
obviously meant just for me! A good reason to keep my door closed
in the future.

She looked at me through
the for-the-very-last-time open doorway. “You shouldn’t feel that
way, Kat. Change is inevitable. Well, except from a vending
machine.” She grinned at her own joke and I rolled my
eyes.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

“
Really. You’re going to
love turning sixteen and being able to drive. There’s so many
things to look forward to, and none of them are possible if things
don’t keep changing.”

She sighed at the mutinous
expression on my face. “I’ll remind you of this conversation next
year. You’ll see.”

“
Yeah, we’ll see how much
I
change
my
mind.”

Note to self — Get ready
to enjoy it. How often do you get to prove your mom is
wrong?

Chapter 22

And Then There Were
Five

The next morning, Doug
called me. He sounded strange. “Something’s come up and we’ve got
to talk. Mom and Dad are gone, and you need to get over here. Right
now.”

“
Um, okay. I guess,” I was
confused by his intensity. “What’s up?”

“
Tell you when you get
here,” he said, ending the call.

I stared at my phone a
moment before putting it in my pocket. Doug had sounded so…odd.
After telling Mom where I was going, I hurried to Doug’s. It didn’t
take long — he only lived two houses away. Though I only took a
couple minutes, Doug was on his porch, pacing.

“
There you are!” After
ordering me over, he didn’t sound glad to see me. In fact, he
wouldn’t look me in the eye. I stood there waiting, and he finally
grabbed my elbow and towed me into the house. I was shaking my arm,
trying to make him let go when he stopped abruptly in the living
room.