Paradox - Progeny Of Innocence (bk2) (Paradox series) (25 page)

Andrew and Sonndra were sitting at a table on the footpath with Clair when Grace, Joshua, and Angela arrived. Sonndra had her arm firmly around Clair, and both girls were crying.

Grace frowned and looked from Joshua to Angela. Joshua and Andrew nodded in silent greeting. The deepening creases on Andrew's forehead told them that he was at a complete loss as to what to do.

Grace looked at the bandage on Clair's neck and spoke first. "I heard about you being attacked by a dog last night, Clair. I'm so sorry. Does it still hurt?" she asked putting her hand gently on Clair's shoulder. Clair's cropped, platinum-blonde hair, which was usually teased and spiky looking, was disheveled and flat against her head. It was as though Clair had just climbed out of bed and left the house without as much as looking at a hairbrush. And on further inspection, Grace noticed that Clair wasn't wearing any makeup, either. This of course, Grace knew, was an indication that some catastrophic event had taken place in Clair's world. Perhaps she was still in shock over last night's attack, Grace thought, and she could completely understand that. However, she had seen Clair crying like this in the past over losing a pair of her favorite shoes at a party. So, all in all, Grace could not tell, one way or the other, how serious the situation actually was.

Clair shook her head but kept it lowered. Her lips were pressed tightly together, as though she couldn’t trust herself to open them to speak. Grace looked from Clair to Sonndra. Sonndra's eyes were made up, but they were red-rimmed from crying. Joshua looked at Andrew to search his face for some answers. He gave a questioning shrug, hoping for a response.

Andrew shook his head remorsefully. "It's all over the news; I'm surprised you guys haven't heard anything about it."

"What is?" Joshua and Grace asked at the same time. "What's all over the news?"

Jackson and Amber arrived, pulled up seats, and sat down. "Tony and Eric are missing," Amber said. "They haven't been seen since last night." Grace flinched when she heard Eric's name.

Amber continued. "But it gets worse. Matthew, their younger brother, is dead," she said.

"He died in a house fire last night," Jackson added. "Their parents are dead, too."

"My God… we haven't heard anything," Grace said, looking from one drawn face to another.

"Mathew died when their house burnt down," Sonndra said, putting her arm back around Clair when she let out a burst of fresh sobs.

"Jesus," Joshua said, running his hand through his dark hair. He thought about the fire that they had only just escaped from themselves. And if it hadn't been for the rain…

"I can't believe it... and that's how their parents died, too, in the fire?" Grace asked grimly, but too shocked by what she was hearing to let any tears fall.

Andrew shook his head. "No. The parents weren't there. They died in a car smash."

Everyone sat in silence for a few moments, thinking about the last time they had seen the boys. The last conversation they had shared.

"And that is why they didn’t turn up last night," Sonndra said.

Andrew shook his head. "Whatever happened to Tony and Eric took place sometime after ten. That's when Tony's shift finished and he left
O'Regan's
to go and pick up Eric. But he never said from where. And I never thought to ask."

Jackson frowned and added. "Well they obviously weren’t at home at the time of the fire. Does anyone know what time the fire was?"

Andrew pulled the paper out of his back pocket and began to read.

Disaster strikes family of five. Three dead, two still missing.

Major Crime Detective Superintendent Tim Lennox said emergency services were called to a house fire at 11.45am, which took the life of teenager Matthew Faulkner. His two brothers, Tony and Eric Faulkner, are still missing.

"The house was fully engulfed in flames by the time we got there," he told reporters. "Attempts were made to rescue the boy," Detective Superintendent Lenox said. "However, the fire was too intense. There was very little we could do."

Lennox said police were interviewing surrounding neighbors, but have yet to find anyone that has been able to elaborate on how the fire may have started. Darwin detectives have admitted that the fatal blaze Saturday night was "disturbingly similar" to a house fire two months ago that killed a fifteen-year-old boy, Jack Morrison.

Police are yet to arrest or charge anyone over the death of Jack.

Lennox said police would look at whether or not the two incidents were linked, and that investigations into both fatal fires were ongoing. Lennox also said that there was no link to a fire that swept through forestlands at East Point, around the same time last night.

Police are also investigating a fatal car accident that same night which killed the parents of Matthew Faulkner who died in the house fire. It is alleged that the vehicle owned by the parents was seen being driven away from the vicinity of the family home only minutes before the fatal fire was reported to authorities by a neighbor. Both parents died on impact when the vehicle they were traveling in hit a street pole head-on at high speed. Police are unable to elaborate at this stage. However, they will say that suspicious circumstances have not been ruled out. They are also asking for any persons to come forward that may know the whereabouts of Tony and Eric Faulkner, the missing teenagers.

The fatal car accident brings this year's road toll to 173, 18 more than the same time last year.

"Well, that still doesn't explain why they didn't turn up last night," Andrew said. "Tony left
O'Regan's
just after ten. The fire was an hour and a half later. He had enough time to get home, pick Eric up and leave again."

Jackson shook his head. "So where did Tony go after he left
O'Regan's…
did he even pick Eric up? We were at East Point right on ten thirty, and Tony said they'd be right behind us." Everyone remained silent for a few moments, thinking about Jackson's words. Grace's mind kept shifting back to Eric. There was something nagging at her thoughts. Something she ought to remember, but couldn't. Whatever it was, it kept slipping away, just out of her reach.

"Has anyone tried ringing them, see if they pick up?" Amber suggested.

"I have, a ton of times," Andrew said. "No answer, it goes straight to message bank on both their phones."

"Well they weren't in the fire and they weren't with their parents, and they weren't with us, so they have to turn up eventually, right? Jackson said.

Everyone nodded. "I guess so," Amber said, holding Jackson's hand under the table.

He squeezed her hand. "But if they were okay, wouldn’t one of them have called us by now?"

"I guess the funerals will be next week sometime," Sonndra said.

"But what if they don't turn up; does that mean something has happened to them, too?" Amber asked, and they all raised their heads to look at her. Only Clair's sobs punctuated the somber silence that fell around the table. "I mean they wouldn't miss the funerals, would they?"

"The Goths!" Andrew said, startling everyone and silencing Clair's sobbing. "Where were they? They knew we were meeting at East Point at ten thirty, and they never turned up."

Jackson sat bolt upright in his chair. "Yes, remember how they called us chicken shits and how Lyssa glared at Eric."

"I think she made his nose bleed," Sonndra added in a hushed voice.

"Don’t get carried away, Sonndra," Andrew said. "You can't make someone's nose bleed by just looking at them. It isn't like she's a witch or anything."

"Well she looks like a witch, so I bet she could if she wanted to," Amber said, agreeing with Sonndra.

"Well, it's something to think about," Jackson said. "Not the witch stuff," he clarified. "The fact that the Goths didn't show up and neither did Tony and Eric. That could be more than a coincidence…"

"Do you think we should tell the police, about the Goths?" Amber said.

"We don't have any proof that it isn't just a coincidence," Joshua added.

"Well it can't hurt to tell the police. I could say something to Wade. He'd know what to do," Grace suggested.

"Wade's that cop friend of your Mom's, isn't he?" Sonndra asked. Grace nodded.

"That's not a bad idea. You should do that. Let's know what he says, okay," Jackson said. "Now, who else is hungry?"

"Hell, Jackson," Clair said, speaking for the first time. "Tony and Eric are missing, they could be dead, and all you can think about is your frigging stomach?"

"Well, starving isn't going to change anything," he said, raising his hand to summon a passing waitress.

"Hey, guys, Zach said, pulling up a chair next to Angela. She glanced at him and he nodded. "I have some news about your friends, Tony and Eric," he said, glancing from one set of eyes to another as they stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

Clair's hand went to her chest involuntarily. "They've found Tony and Eric," she said in a tiny whisper. "Thank God."

Zach nodded. "It looks like they may have been the ones that started the fire at East Point last night, when you guys were there."

"Why would they do that?" Clair asked, relieved that they had been found. "I mean they'll get into trouble, I know, and that was a stupid thing to do, but at least they are okay."

"Probably trying to start a camp fire," Jackson said. "And it got out of hand, obviously."

Joshua slammed his fist down on the table, making Clair jump. "Frigging idiots',
we
were damn lucky to get out of there alive!" he said, looking at Angela. She offered him a quick smile, then turned to look at Clair.

"Well we did make it out of there, and the important thing is that they are okay," Clair said. "That's all that really matters now." Her hand reached up and touched the bandaged wound on her neck. When can we see them? Do they know about Matthew and their parents?"

Zach remained silent for a moment. "They found them in the forest about an hour ago. They didn't make it. They're dead, too," he said apologetically to Clair.

Everyone around the table gasped. Sonndra and Clair began to cry again. Amber leaned across and rubbed their arms in an attempt to try and console them. It was a useless gesture, and only encouraged the girls to cry even more. The boys squirmed awkwardly and stared emotionlessly at their hands. Grace and Angela looked at each other, as though sharing a secret to which only one was privy.

Grace heard Eric's voice in her head.
"After I'm finished with you, bitch, I'm going to watch you burn…"
She still couldn't cry.

Angela turned to Zach and silently said, '
well done. You must thank Damon.'
Zach nodded, stood up, and walked away.

However, they both knew that the truth would be discovered as soon as autopsies were performed on the bodies of the two boys. Tony with a stab wound and a broken neck and Eric with a stab wound through his heart, and both having died prior to the fire. And that Eric's body had been set alight after the fire, not during… They would have to make sure that the true cause of death was never revealed.

Matthew's death though, and the death of his parents, was still a complete mystery to everyone. Well, almost everyone. The culprit most certainly knew the truth about those deaths.

A waitress, with shocking pink hair that spilled long and lank over her shoulders and a nametag that read 'Estella', waltzed up alongside their table. With pen and notepad in hand she said, "I can take your orders now." She positioned her pen, ready to write, and looked from one vacant expression to another. No one replied. "Okay then," she said, shrugging her shoulders, pocketing her notepad and walking away. "Morons," she muttered under her breath. Only Angela, with her trained ear, heard her, and she turned to watch the girl disappear back into the café to wait on other patrons.

"Angela, Grace…" Joshua called from the far side of the school car park in a jovial manner. He jogged over, about to grab a handful of the books Angela had piled in her arms, and then thought better of it when she glared at him. "Great weather for the Medieval Masquerade Ball this weekend… Hope it stays this way," he said, looking skywards, and then at Angela.

Grace nodded in agreement, and then added, "It's only Wednesday. Anything could happen between now and then." She scanned the car park, hoping for a glimpse of Damon. Nothing, she sighed. She was hoping that sooner or later he would talk to her again, call her, and maybe ask her to the Masquerade Ball. But as another day passed, the likelihood of that happening was moving further away.

"That is so very true," Angela said gravely. "Anything could happen between now and then."

"I'm going as Sir Lionel," Joshua blurted out. Grace smirked at him with a sideways glance. Only yesterday he had learnt that Angela was going as Joan of Arc. Sir Lionel, according to Hollywood's version, had been Joan of Arc's love interest.

"Well, what a surprise, Josh," Grace said. "How ever did you come up with that idea, I wonder?" Joshua gave her a sly smile and shrugged.

The Masquerade Ball, postponed for two weeks out of respect for Eric's, Tony's, and Mathew's deaths, was exactly what the students needed, the school board had decided. Time to put the past behind us and get back to normal, they'd said.

The siren rang, announcing the commencement of the new school day. A horde of students from all directions headed toward A and B blocks, with jammed backpacks slung over their shoulders. Glossy posters promoting the Medieval Masquerade Charity Ball lined the walls and were the topic on everyone's lips.

"Do you want to catch a ride with us on Saturday night, Zach’s taking us?" Grace asked Joshua as the three of them tromped up the stairs to their first floor classroom. Joshua shoved the door open and ushered the girls in ahead of him. "I’ll be ready and waiting outside with my sword by eight."

"Oh well, you never know when a sword will come in handy at a ball," Grace said, as a fleeting vision of a long silver sword flashed through her mind. Just remnants of a dream, she told herself. She and Angela took their usual seats toward the front of the room. "First lesson history, then math. I hate math," she mumbled, dragging her seat out and sitting down.

Josh chuckled and made his way to the rear of the classroom to join Jackson and Andrew. Two seconds later he was back. "Angela, I nearly forgot. Will you go as my date, Saturday night?" he asked in a hushed voice.

Angela smiled at him with the sweetest of smiles, softly stroking the strings of his passionate heart, but refrained from answering. Joshua gave Grace a gentle nudge. A gesture designed to inform Grace that he believed Angela was eventually succumbing to his perseverance and charm.

Grace shook her head. "Give it up, Josh," she said, hurling a ball of screwed-up paper at him as he strutted victoriously back to his seat. She had to smile, though; his cheerfulness was exactly what they all needed after the last two weeks of sadness that had shrouded the whole school.

"
Pantene
, Grace," Joshua said over his shoulder. "It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen."

Andrew and Jackson cheered loudly in encouragement, egging him on. Angela, who had her head deliberately in a book, ignored the whole ordeal with a straight face.

The paper ball that Grace threw at Joshua missed her intended target and landed on the floor beside a pair of white runners. Grace’s vision narrowed, then crept slowly upward along a pair of washed-out denim jeans with a frayed hole at the knee, then further still until her eyes stopped and rested on the somewhat familiar face of a fair-haired boy. She tried to think where she had seen him before. As soon as he smiled back at her, it came to her. The pizza delivery boy! He raised his hand and waved, and soundlessly he mouthed, "Hi."

Angela elbowed Grace, jolting her. "I am of the understanding that it is still considered rude to stare, Grace," she said.

"I wasn't staring. I know him," Grace said, turning around to the front of the class. "He's a delivery boy from the
Pizza Place
."

"Well then, that clears everything up," Angela said, returning to her book.

Ambrosia walked into the classroom, without her usual glowing smile. All the boys followed her with their eyes. Some whistled under their breath and nudged the friends closest to them. She ignored the usual attention she drew, and quickly deposited her bag on the front desk and began to scan the classroom, searching. She ended her search when she found who she had been looking for. "Come on down to the front of the class, Riley," she said, smiling for the first time, "so I can introduce you to the class."

"We’ve already met," Grace muttered under her breath. She heard a chair screech excruciatingly across the tiled floor behind her. She felt a swift brush of cool breeze on her skin as he moved past her.

He turned, looked directly at Grace, and gave her a crooked smile before returning his attention to Ambrosia. Grace felt her face redden, and dropped her eyes. She heard Angela let out a painful sigh beside her and say. "Here we go again..."

"Shush," Grace replied quickly. "He might hear you, and it's not like that." Angela just shook her head.

Ambrosia introduced Riley to the room of only partially interested students. His family had been transferred with the Army to Darwin from Cairns. She hoped he wasn’t like all the other ‘Army Brats’ that made up the 'In Crowd'.

Riley, thankful that the introduction was quickly over, returned to his seat without another glance at Grace.

The history lesson started just as her head began to pulsate in time with the ticking clock suspended on the wall. She put her pen down and kneaded the acute throbbing at her temples. She squeezed her eyes tightly closed as the ache turned quickly into an intense, blinding pain. Her head felt as though it was being pulverized by something deep inside her skull. She grasped her head in her hands, let out a pain-filled moan, and then rested her head on her folded arms on the desk.

"You should go," Angela whispered urgently to Grace. "I will take you to the infirmary."

"Sickroom," Grace muttered.

"Pardon?" Angela whispered.

"Sickroom. It’s called a sickroom. No one calls it an infirmary anymore. Not in my lifetime, anyway."

"Okay, I’ll take you to the sickroom, then."

Joshua sprang up, shoving past Riley, who had just stood up too, and rushed toward Grace.

Ambrosia, noticing Grace's discomfort, helped her to her feet. "Let me help you. Do you need to lie down?" she asked gently. Grace nodded and closed her eyes again, the throbbing in her ears garbling Ambrosia's words. The class fell quiet for a moment, and then whispers began spreading around the room. "You had better take her to the nurse, Angela," Ambrosia said, opening the classroom door.

"Okay, quiet…" Ambrosia said in an unusually stern voice. She clapped her hands together, "Everyone settle down, back to your seats, and take out last night’s homework, ancient philosophers," she said, sitting down on the edge of her desk.

Joshua returned hesitantly to his seat beside Jackson. "It's one of her migraines. She's been getting them for years."

Jackson nodded. "That sucks…"

Ambrosia continued. "Okay then. We were discussing the philosophers' thoughts about reincarnation, the afterlife. Orpheus and Pythagoras, for instance. Pythagoras believed that after death the spirit of a living creature might pass into the body of another living creature. That a human soul might pass into another human body, or that of an animal, a dog, for example. I wonder if this is where some of our fiction writers came up with the idea of shape-shifting."

Cindy piped up from the back of the class and said, "What about the story of the princess who kisses a frog?" she said, glancing at Caleb. "Hoping to turn the frog back into a prince. Is that like shape-shifting? Because I’ve kissed a frog, and guess what, no prince." The room broke into laughter. Caleb lifted his lips into a half-smile and blew her a kiss. Cindy had eventually forgiven him, as he had known she would. She was predictable, like most humans. But he liked having her around, most of the time. She was always reliable when it came to his need for blood. Although he still lusted for the outright kill for the buzz that it gave him, he still needed to keep his hunter instincts alert and finely tuned.

Emily added, "Maybe the frog was a toad, and you were meant to kill it, not kiss it." Some jeers whipped around the room, but as soon as the students realized who Emily was referring to, the room quickly fell silent. Cindy reveled in the attention she received just by being known as Caleb's girlfriend. She likened it to being feared almost as much as he was. No one ever gave her any trouble. In fact, most usually went out of their way to be nice to her. She knew they saw her more as an insurance policy than as a friend. However, that didn't concern Cindy in the least. It only served to make her feel even more important.

"Okay, I think we're getting a little off track," Ambrosia said. "Socrates & Plato’s ideas about reincarnation eventually became quite influential in medieval times. Plato believed that one's soul is immortal, that it pre-exists before birth, and is reborn many times. Each soul chooses its next life, guided by previous experiences in past lives."

Cindy, still pushing for her prince said. "Okay, so what you are saying is that the frog has to choose to come back as a prince."

"Yes, the frog would have to choose to come back as a prince." Ambrosia said.

"Stupid prince," Cindy said. "Why would he have chosen to be a frog in the first place?"

Ambrosia held up her hand. "Okay, Cindy, I think you should give up on your prince. Perhaps he has been a frog all along, never a prince."

Emily smiled triumphantly. "Toad," she added.

"Now," Ambrosia continued, "can anyone tell me about the two rivers that the Greeks talk about? Yes, Riley?"

"Drinking from the river Lethe, meaning forgetfulness or oblivion, they believed that souls were made to drink from the river before being reincarnated, so they wouldn’t remember all the pain and suffering from their previous lives."

"Correct, thank you Riley. And some also believed there was another river." Ambrosia stood and scrawled the word ‘Mnemosyne’, across the blackboard. "Can anyone tell me about that? Riley?" she asked.

"Some believed in the existence of another river, the 'Mnemosyne'. Those who drank from that river would remember everything and attain omniscience, total knowledge."

"Thank you, Riley. Now for tonight’s homework, I would like you all to write a paper on which river you would drink from and why."

"Well I would drink from the river vodka," Cindy said. "That way you could attain just short-term memory loss."

Ambrosia folded her arms. "Oh yes, and it’s all fun, until you have the hangover to contend with the next morning. Okay, five hundred words on my desk tomorrow. Would you choose to forget, or to remember, your past lives?" Ambrosia said, collecting up her books.

Downstairs in the sickroom, the nurse gave Grace two Panadol tablets and a glass of water. "Here you go, dear. Just lie down for as long as you need. If your headache gets any worse, you just let me know and I'll call your mother to come and pick you up." She took the empty glass from Grace and smiled at Angela as she left the room.

Grace curled herself up into a ball on the bed. "Thanks, Angela. I'll be okay now. I just need to sleep it off," she said, trying to blink away the searing pain.

"I'll be back after history and math class to check on you," Angela whispered, and Grace nodded. The pain behind her eyes snowed her vision until the room, and Angela, slowly disappeared into the foggy white haze, and she slept.

"Grace, are you okay?" a voice asked, as fingers brushed strands of hair softly from her face.

She squinted, trying to focus on the face leaning down close to her own. "Riley!" she blurted out, sitting up, checking her clothing, relieved to find all of her clothes still where they should have been. She blushed, embarrassed by the vivid visions in her dream, a dream she had dreamt before, many times. Each time a little different… but always the same boy… Riley, she realized. But how was that possible, she'd only met him a few days ago? And yet when she thought about it, he had been in her dreams for years.