The Festival of the Moon (Girls Wearing Black: Book Two) (28 page)

They got out of bed well after eleven. Jill grabbed for her clothes in a hurried fashion, suspecting it was time for her to leave, but Zack was having none of it.

“There’s an amazing pancake place two blocks over,” he said. “We’re going there.”

Cameron’s was the name of the little café they went to, and, as described, the pancakes were amazing. Outrageously thick, and somehow still perfectly fluffy, with maple syrup that tasted like it had just come out of a tree and butter that made no pretense of being lite or healthy. As they ate, Jill made fun of Zack for the dance he and his snooze button had played all morning.

“I don’t know why I do that,” Zack said. “I guess it would be smarter to leave the alarm off altogether.”

“I’m just razzing you,” Jill said. “I actually liked it. It was fun to be extra lazy like that.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” said Zack. “Something about having that alarm go off every twenty minutes makes it even more relaxing. I don’t know why.”

“Maybe it’s about control,” Jill said. “Your alarm clock is the world telling you to get out of bed, and every time you hit snooze you’re telling the world to buzz off. You’re doing what you want to do rather than what somebody else wants you to do.”

“Deep,” said Zack. “You’re quite the philosopher.”

They laughed a lot while they ate breakfast, and Jill marveled at the luxury of a wasted morning. She had always thought that her discipline to get up and get to work on whatever project she had going was a sign that she was in control of her own life.

Now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was Zack who really had things under control. Maybe if Jill was being honest with herself she’d be quite happy to live in a low-rent apartment, do whatever she pleased all day long, and sleep all morning if it felt right. Maybe the life she was living wasn’t the life she was choosing. Maybe someone else was choosing it for her. Her parents at first, then the Network.

Maybe even Ryan. Maybe Jill was living her life in some weird deference to him. She was so determined not to be affected by the breakup, not to be the loser who got mopey after she was dumped, that she was being someone she wasn’t.

They finished their giant pancakes as the lunch crowd arrived. The sun was high in the sky when they stepped out the front door.

“I suppose I should go back to Potomac at some point,” Jill said. “My real life wants me back. I can take a cab if you’re too busy to drive all that way.”

“Nonsense. I’m taking you. I’m squeezing every last minute out of this.”

Zack drove her back to her part of the world with the windows down and the oldies playing on the radio. He took her to the auto dealer, where she signed some papers, paid with a credit card, and got her car back. In the parking lot, standing in front of Jill’s newly repaired car, they wrapped their arms around each other.

“I guess this is goodbye,” she said.

“Not yet,” said Zack. “I still don’t have your phone number.”

The words pulled on her, and even though she didn’t want to recognize the reality of her situation, she did. Despite all her daydreaming about taking charge of her life, about hitting her own snooze button, she knew that as soon as she got back to Potomac, she would once again be a secret agent of the Network on assignment. This little side trip with Zack made for a nice vacation, one that she really needed, but what more could it be than that? Zack was innocent, and one day next semester, when Sergio was dead and Jill was long gone, the vampires would be looking for people who might know where to find her.

“Okay, I suppose I can give you my number,” Jill said with a smile.

Zack typed on his phone as Jill recited ten digits. The numbers came out smoothly from her mouth, not at all sounding like the lie they were. She gave Zack her old phone number, one she had given up in middle school.

Zack’s fingers kept typing long after Jill had finished giving the number.

“What are you doing there Mister?” she said. “Writing a novel?”

Zack smiled. “I’m sending you a text,” he said. “That way, you’ll have my number as well.”

“A text? I thought you didn’t like to text.”

“I don’t. But for you I’ll make an exception.” He gave one final push on his screen with his index finger. “It’s sent. You’ll just have to take a look yourself.”

Jill took in two quick breaths through her nose, wondering if Zack’s text would bounce back as undeliverable.

“I had a lot of fun today,” she said. “Last night too.”

“When am I seeing you next?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “My life’s a little bit crazy. Next weekend I…”

Now thoughts of her real life were strangling her like a snake. Brawl in the Fall was last night. The Date Auction was next weekend. Tomorrow morning she’d be back at school doing all the political maneuvering the mission required.

Zack’s phone buzzed. “Hmm,” he said.

“What is it?” said Jill, steeling herself, wondering if his text had bounced and she was about to get caught in a lie.

“Apparently a band who was playing at the Yorktown Pub in Arlington canceled. My band is getting the gig,” he said. “You should come. It’s Friday night.”

“I’m sorry, this Friday…”

Now the lies were getting harder to come by. What she really wanted to say was
I would love to see your band play.
What she actually said was, “…this Friday I have to do a dinner with my parents.”

“Okay, call me then,” said Zack.

“Sounds good,” said Jill.

“But if you wait too long I’m calling you. I want to see you again soon.”

“It’s a deal.”

Jill’s mind was on the many things that awaited her when she returned to school. Then Zack kissed her and she forgot it all again. So long as his lips were on hers, she was back in bed, pushing the snooze button all morning long.

Jill plugged her phone into the charger as soon as she started the car, but it wasn’t until she was on the highway, stuck in a massive traffic jam, that her phone had gathered enough power to come back to life.

There were 15 alerts on her screen.

“Good Lord,” she said. “Miss me much?”

She scanned back to the first text that came through last night after her phone had died. It was from Nicky at 9:00.

On my way to Sutter’s Field now. See you there.

Jill could only imagine how Nicky must have felt when she got no response. Nicky probably thought Jill was ignoring her on purpose. It wasn’t far from the truth. At the time Jill took off for Riverwinds, she was of the mind that Nicky Bloom and the whole Network could stuff it. Had she really wanted to be in contact with them, she could have gotten the charger from her car. She very conveniently forgot it overnight and had no way to speak with them.

The line of traffic lurched ahead. Jill stepped off the brake and let her car coast forward a few feet before coming to another stop. She looked at the next message, at 9:22, also from Nicky.

Are you with Annika? She’s not here and she’s not answering her phone.

“Annika was late to the Brawl?” Jill whispered to herself.
How completely unlike her.

The traffic still inching ahead in starts and stops, Jill went to the next text from Nicky, this one at 10:48.

Where are you? It’s important that you contact me right away. Let me know that you’re okay.

Yikes. What was that one all about? The next text, at 10:56, was even worse.

XO

The emergency text. Melissa was here.

“Shit!” Jill said. Her hands were shaking now. Gia had told her to write a program to track Melissa’s movements and she hadn’t done it. She had been frustrated and angry at the world, had stormed out of her house and gone to Riverwinds to work on it, and she hadn’t worked on it at all.

Jill looked around her. Bumper to bumper in all directions. The nearest turnoff was at least five minutes ahead. Her heart was racing. She was breathing hard. She scrolled to the next text, this one from Gia at 12:10.

XO
.

Both of them had been screaming at Jill to get someplace safe. What the hell happened last night?

She dialed Nicky.

“Hello?” Nicky whispered.

Why was she whispering?

“Nicky, it’s me,” said Jill. “What’s happening? I got Gia’s texts. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Where the hell have you been?” Nicky hissed. “We were panicked that we couldn’t find you.”

“It’s a long story,” Jill said.

“I can’t talk right now,” said Nicky, still speaking so quietly Jill could barely hear her. In the background Jill thought she heard a robin chirping. “I’ll call you back later. Please call Gia right now and tell her where you are.”

“Umm…okay, but, can’t you tell me….these texts I got...” Now a grackle started squawking in the background. “Where are you?” Jill said. “It sounds like you’re in a giant birdhouse.”

“Never mind that. Gia will tell you all about it. Goodbye.”

“Nicky wait…is it Melissa?”

There was no answer. Jill pulled the phone away from her ear to see that Nicky had ended the call.

“Not good,” she said.

She dialed Gia.

“Hello.”

“Gia, it’s me. What’s going on?”

“Are you safe?”

“I don’t know, am I? Last night I got emergency texts from you and Nicky.”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m stuck in traffic on River Road near Wilson.”

“Where were you last night?”

“I was out with a friend. My phone died. I’m sorry. I--”

“We’ll talk about all of that later. Right now I want you to tell me you’re okay.”

“I am. I mean…why wouldn’t I be?”

“Jill, this is important. Search your memory starting last evening at dusk and going through the whole night. Are there any gaps at all?”

“No,” she said, running through the night in reverse, suddenly feeling thankful that it was one of the most memorable nights in her life. “I can account for every minute.”

“Are you sure?” Gia said. “Melissa Mayhew’s in town and is picking out Nicky’s closest friends one by one. We know with certainty that she’s already gotten to Annika.”

“Annika,” Jill said. “Oh no. That’s terrible.”

“Annika’s fine. Melissa let her go,” Gia said. “Our larger concern has been you. You can imagine what we thought when we realized Melissa was going after Nicky’s supporters and you went missing. What friend were you out with again?”

“A new friend. A guy I met at a coffee shop.”

Silence on the other end of the line. Jill was starting to feel very small. What terrible timing. The one night they really needed to get in touch with her and her phone was off.

“And you were with this boy….all night?” Gia asked.

“Yes,” Jill said, her face flush, her brow sweating.

Gia laughed. “Well whoever this boy is, he might have saved your life. He might have saved everything. I don’t need to tell you what danger we’re in now that Melissa has decided to come poking around in people’s heads.”

“No, you don’t,” Jill said, feeling like she might need to pull off the road and vomit. She had known since the first day she went fooling around in the forbidden chatrooms on the Internet that she might get herself killed, but somehow she’d managed to push those thoughts aside and get deep into the Network. Now she realized how naïve she had been to think she ever was safe.

A vampire was looking for her last night. If she allowed herself to be found….

She couldn’t bear to think of what might happen if she allowed herself to be found.

“Here’s what you’re going to do,” Gia said. “Go home. Tell your parents you’re spending the night at Nicky’s. If they question you about any of this--”

“They won’t,” Jill said. “My dad left town this morning and my mom doesn’t care.”

“Okay, but make sure your mom knows you’ll be at Nicky’s. If Melissa comes to your house looking for you, we want all signs pointing her at Nicky’s house.”

“Got it,” said Jill.

“Wait until about 5:30 to leave, then come to the mansion for a sleepover. Drive slowly in case anyone is watching. If anyone follows you, don’t try to lose them. Let them see exactly where you’re going.”

“I understand,” said Jill. “I’ll see you at Nicky’s tonight.”

She ended the call with Gia just as traffic started moving again, and she let out a loud, heavy sigh. Her blissful escape from reality was over, and as far as she knew, she might never have another one.

Chapter 25

Jill pulled into her neighborhood at two in the afternoon. A beat-up green station wagon, the same that had followed Nicky all week, was parked under a tree a block away from Jill’s house.

They’ve been waiting for me
, she thought.
Melissa Mayhew has been looking for me
.