Domino Falls (18 page)

“Where's the shark?” Kendra said, but disguised her giggle as a cough, so convincingly that Sonia didn't even notice, mesmerized by the TV screen above them.

“Located just two miles outside of the gold rush town
of Domino Falls, California, Threadrunner Ranch is my lifetime's pride and joy after a film and television career spanning more than thirty years.” He blinked, expression somber. “But as we all know, those days are past. What we once knew as Hollywood is a burned-out freak zone. Gone are the frontier fantasies about gold twinkling in the hills. Our world has changed in the blink of an eye, and every one of us has suffered personal losses we never imagined our hearts could survive. Now, we only have each other—and the threads that bind us.”

Despite the cheese factor, a tear came to Kendra's eye. Tears were never far.

“My home is now your home,” Wales went on, and Kendra's guard was back up.
Yeah. That also means your home is
his
home.

“Our destiny hasn't brought us together by accident. Soon you'll understand, as I do now, that coincidences are only a myth. How do I know? I saw it in a dream.”

His image dissolved, and suddenly the screen was filled with tiny red tendrils spiraling down from a black, blood-streaked sky.

Kendra's mouth dropped open.

On the screen was Kendra's dreams.

A dream. For Sonia Petansu, that was the only word that fit. For the first
time since Christmas morning when she was four, waking to a wonderland of gifts in her living room, she pinched her arm to make sure she was awake.

It was as if Freak Day had never happened. Erased.

She'd found shampoo, so her hair smelled like hers again.
She was wearing a black cocktail dress she would have bought—or at least swiped—from Macy's. It fit her so well that she'd barely recognized herself in the Motel 6 mirror. And after being stripped of every aspiration, suddenly she was about to fulfill the fantasy she'd talked about with her friends at every ThreadieCon: their pilgrimage to the ranch.
The
ranch.

And now they were here.

Threadville Ranch was nestled in the hills east of Domino Falls, guarded by a twelve-foot gate that stretched like the Great Wall of China. The Threadrunner complex, which looked like about a hundred acres of vineyards and quaint colonial outbuildings, was surrounded by hundreds of acres of undeveloped land. Dozens of Gold Shirts patrolled the fenced perimeter, holding German shepherds by their leashes. Freaks lurched across the distant hillside like lost, hungry cattle, too many to count. They seemed a world away. The ranch was well guarded.

They were hustled through a whirlwind of checkpoints where it seemed every uniform was fancier and more elaborate than the last—culminating with the Gold
Coat
who met them inside the house's gleaming marble foyer. His coat hung past his knees in a princely fashion.

“Like a fairy tale,” Sonia whispered to Kendra, who hadn't said a word since the van ride, when she couldn't stop staring at the DVD playing on the screen.

The sprawling foyer was a museum, the walls covered with lighted display cases, movie posters, and enlarged book covers. A tattered gray raincoat in the nearest display case leaped out to Sonia on sight: Wales's coat from
Threadrunner Apocalypse,
the one that had whipped around in slow-mo when he'd been attacked by the giant grasshopper with the human head. Sonia
had skipped school to see the Threadrunner double feature with her friends, returning home to find she'd been ratted out by her little brother. Tears pooled in her eyes, pricked by deep nostalgia. The past seemed close enough to touch.

“That's from the shoot,” their guide said in a basso whisper. “He wore it.”

“Cool.” Even Ursalina agreed.

When Wales was suddenly in the room, Sonia's weight seemed to vanish, as if she could float away on her dream.

“There you are!” Wales was walking straight to her with a grin as if they had known each other for years. “I hoped you'd come today, Sonia. You and your friends. This is a good time to visit. We're all very excited.”

Yes,
Sonia tried to say,
we're all excited too.
The floating sensation came so strongly that Sonia's ears failed her, so she missed some of Wales's welcome.

“. . . reason for our existence here, after all,” he finished with a good-natured laugh, patting her shoulder. She knew he'd said something vitally important, even life-altering, but she'd missed it because she couldn't keep her thoughts in order when he was in the room.

“Let me show you ladies around.”

From the outside, Threadrunner Ranch looked like a prison dressed up as
a mansion, which Kendra did not consider a good sign. Still, that wasn't what bothered her most and made it hard for her to keep her thoughts in a single line.

She couldn't stop thinking about the DVD.

How did he know my dreams?

The DVD could have been a bizarre coincidence, or maybe
the dreams were only a false memory, but her mind wouldn't let it go. The déjà vu feeling sharpened once they were in the mansion's foyer, as if she had been here many times before.

No, that wasn't it—she felt like she'd been meant to come, as if it was the sole reason she'd been spared when Grandpa Joe was bitten.

“Kendra, is it?” Wales was standing directly in front of her, and he seemed like a tall oak above her. Kendra didn't remember telling him her name.

“Yes.”

He squeezed her hand with his soft palm, free of work calluses.

“I'm especially glad
you
came,” Wales said. She'd never seen such earnestness in any man's lingering gaze, even Terry's. Wales stared as if they shared a great, wonderful secret. She felt herself leaning toward him, waiting for him to reveal what they both already knew.

Was he hypnotizing her? She'd been to other mansions and met other celebrities when her parents worked in Los Angeles, so she shouldn't be starstruck. But there was
something
about Wales . . .

Something about her . . .

Something about . . .

What?

I've been having Thread dreams since before Freak Day,
she realized.

The thought startled her so much that she nearly blurted it aloud, but she could swear that Wales seemed to know already. He kept glancing at Kendra the way he might a daughter who was expecting her first child, watchful and gentle while he guided them through his museum and library. A large number of bookshelves were dedicated to international editions of
Threadie books, but the library was also stocked with enough classics and DVDs to make her wish she could spend a day exploring.

Kendra fought to pull herself out of her daydreams. She had to listen to try to learn something about Rianne and Brownie's daughter, Sissy. Terry was right: she couldn't just barge in and ask questions, not with an army outside. How could she find out without courting disaster?

“You'll have to come back and spend some time in our Special Collections,” Wales said to her. Secrets played happily behind his eyes, teasing her.

“I thought I might like to be an ambassador,” Kendra said, her voice soft.

“A what?” Ursalina said.

Wales's face changed, his cheeks sloughing off their too-bright smile.

Kendra was sure she'd jumped in too fast, just like Terry kept warning her. But the light in Wales's eyes put her at ease. The smile returned, full of delight after the surprise had passed. “Would you?” he said. “Then you're familiar with our program?”

“Ambassadors to the others,” Kendra heard herself say, full of confidence. “Wherever they are.”

Wales waved toward his attendant suddenly, and the Gold Coat held up a small notebook. “Is that K-E-N-D-R-A?”

Kendra spelled her first and last names, feeling breathless. She might be digging herself deeper into trouble. What if she wasn't allowed to leave with the others? If he said she should start her training right away?

Sonia's face was pinched with irritation. “You don't know anything about Threadie culture,” she said pointedly.

Kendra's face flared. She felt like she was back in high school,
sparring with the head cheerleader to catch the attention of the star quarterback.

“I'm here to learn,” Kendra said, trying to sound lighthearted. “And the ambassadors program sounds like a great way to travel and see what's left.”

“No,” Wales corrected her gently. “To see what's beginning.”

Kendra nodded. “Exactly. I want to see what's next.”

Then she purposely took two steps away from Wales, toward Ursalina, just to show Sonia she wasn't trying to jump in her way. Sonia gave her a grateful smile before she darted to take her place.

“That
does
sound like a great program,” Sonia said, snatching the baton. Wales's face soured just long enough for Kendra to notice. Then he flashed his smile again and seemed to disappear into Sonia.

“There are a host of other jobs here, not just ambassadors,” he told her. “We'll find a place for you, darlin'.”

Sonia's face glowed. Wales was flirting with Sonia, different from the way he had been with her.

“A real
pendejo,
” Ursalina muttered to Kendra. “But what's he selling?”

Kendra hoped they were out of earshot of the Gold Coat who was walking slightly ahead of them. But maybe not.

“He's selling hope,” Kendra said. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth.

“Don't jump into the fire to get warm,
chica.
”

Kendra nodded, but she had already jumped.

“. . . in the kitchen . . .” Wales's voice prattled. “You wouldn't be interested in housekeeping or groundskeeping, but we have decorators . . . radio operators . . .”

“Yes, I've been to the radio station!” Sonia said, as if they were soul mates.

Kendra was admiring Sonia's poise when she felt a steady burr, a pulsing thrum that seemed to shake the floor. The feeling grew stronger as she trailed Wales, Sonia, and the Gold Coat through the vast hall.

Was it an earthquake?

Kendra grabbed the wall for balance, but the others walked steadily on, unaware. Sonia never stopped asking questions about the ranch, and Ursalina never gave her a glance to say
Did you feel that?

Her nervous breakdown must have arrived. What had taken so long?

Wales threw a gaze at her over his shoulder. His lips were moving, talking to Sonia, but his eyes were talking to her again.
We're the only ones who feel it, Kendra,
Wales's eyes seemed to say.
Don't be afraid
.

Then Wales smiled at her. It was the closest Kendra had come to believing she knew what was in someone else's mind.

“If you have special skills, of course, I'd love to know what they are,” Wales said to Sonia, not missing a beat.

Kendra felt dizzy. Had someone drugged her? But when? What was going on?

Her legs stopped walking. The pulsing tremors stole the strength from her knees, forcing her to rest her palm against the wall.

And her palm met another's. Kendra was certain that someone else stood on the other side of the wall, palm pressed to hers. She could almost feel the heat of the fingers splayed open on the other side of the block of marble, a perfect mirror.

Someone was there—a massive presence, like a lodestone concealed behind a sheet of paper.

Was this where the pulsing was coming from?

There are no dogs in here,
Kendra realized, such a random
thought that she was
sure
she'd been drugged. A sign in the van had banned dogs, she remembered. Scores of dogs patrolled outside, but she hadn't seen one inside.

But Threadville Ranch needed more dogs. Any dogs in the library or this vast hall would have been barking themselves hoarse. There was no actual
smell
in the air, but every fiber of her being said that the hall, the foyer, maybe Wales's entire mansion . . . reeked of freaks.

K
endra's
shaking didn't stop until she was back at the Motel 6, knocking on Terry's door. A glance inside, and she saw Piranha lounging on his bed. She didn't want to hear jokes about virgin sacrifice, so she kept her mouth shut.

“What?” Terry said, concerned.

Kendra shot her eyes toward Piranha, and they both understood.

“Give us a minute?” Terry said to Piranha.

“Thought we were heading over to dinner,” Piranha said. “I'm hollow.”

Terry gave him a look that could melt iron, so Piranha shrugged. “Ya'll have five minutes. Sonia back in your room?” Piranha asked Kendra on his way out.

Kendra nodded, but it felt like a lie. Sonia was back in the room physically, but she was nowhere Piranha would find her. At the ranch, Sonia had said that she would stay behind, since Wales had offered guest bungalows for the night. They
had practically dragged Sonia back to the waiting white van. Sooner or later Sonia would go back to Wales's mansion; she was probably already laying plans.

The memory of the ranch danced across the hairs on Kendra's arms. Her hand still seemed to vibrate from touching the wall—from
something
on the other side. She had thought the feeling would go away once Threadville Ranch was in the van's rearview mirror, but she had brought it with her.

And it would never go away. She didn't know how, but she knew that too.

“Good luck,” Terry said to Piranha.

“Gonna take more than luck,” Piranha said. The depth of his sadness surprised her.

And he was gone.

“What happened?” Terry said. “What's got you so worked up?”

Now that she was free to talk, Kendra didn't know what to say.