Sally Singletary's Curiosity (The Sally Singletary Book 1) (12 page)

“What was that?” Yasif asked.

“It fell off!” Stephanie announced from the back window.

Sally could now see the creature in the side-view mirror. It was gaining on them. “Drive faster!”

“This is a cargo van, not a BMW!” Lani said.

“You’d better do something or that thing is going to tear us apart!” Sally cried.

Lani let out a grunt of frustration, then dropped the van into a lower gear, causing it to surge forward. The engine whined in complaint, and they were all pressed back into their seats.

“Come on, baby!” Lani petted the steering wheel.

Sally glanced in the side-view again. It had worked. The creature began to fall behind. As they rounded the bend, it disappeared from sight, and Sally let out a sigh of relief.

“The gate!” Idric cried.

Lani let out a scream, but didn’t slow the van.

“Oh, my god!” Stephanie hollered and covered her eyes as the van crashed through the iron gates. Sally caught sight of the frightened guard, who’d apparently tried to call in the incident. He’d dropped the phone and ducked behind the counter as they went through. It wasn’t until they were safely down the road before the rest let out a collective sigh of relief.

Sally turned to Idric. “You okay?”

He nodded.

She wasn’t sure how to ask him about what she’d seen. She whispered, “Back there…with the creature…you did something.”

He glanced at her nervously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Idric,” she replied. “I saw you. You did something.”

He shook his head and refused to say more.

“Great,” Yasif said. “We’ve got a drama queen and a freaky kid.”

Sally cast him a reproving look.

Yasif shrugged. “Sorry.”

Idric remained frustratingly silent.

Sally didn’t have time to worry about the kid. She was focused on one thing. “We need to go to my mother’s apartment.”

“Why?” Lani asked.

“She could be in trouble thanks to Miss Loose-Lips back there.” She motioned toward Stephanie.

“Well, I didn’t know what was going on!” Stephanie shot back.

“You still don’t know what’s going on.” Yasif’s hands were shaking.

“I think we have far more important things to worry about right now,” Lani replied, still visibly rattled by the encounter.

“My mom could be in trouble!” Sally shot back, more forcefully than she’d intended.

Lani brought the van to a sudden stop on the side of the road, then turned to Sally. “I need some answers. I know you know what’s going on, and I’m not going anywhere until I know why I’ve just risked my life to escape from some shape-shifting creature. If you don’t start talking, you can get out and walk!”

Sally blinked, taken aback by Lani’s brashness. “I don’t know what’s going on. I started investigating the disappearance and all this happened since. And now Mrs. Padilla is dead.” The reality of Mrs. Padilla being dead had just hit her. Sally tried her best to hold in her emotion, but she teared up. “All I know is there’s something strange going on and I can’t get a hold of my mother. I’m worried they’ve done something to her.”

“What have I gotten myself into?” Lani put the van back into drive. “Okay, I’ll take you to your mom’s place, but if what you’re saying is true, we still have a lot of things to worry about.”

Jake interrupted. “I hate to add one more flame to the fire, but we need to get this server plugged in before the Hi-Li site gets overwhelmed.”

Sally glanced at him. “I need to make sure my mother’s okay. We’ll deal with the server after.”

“I wasn’t suggesting…” He held a hand up. “You just need to understand the longer we wait, the more chance there is of the temporary server collapsing.”

Sally gave him a slight nod.

Lani shook her head. “I can’t believe all this. Shape-shifters? Vanishing students? If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d think you kids were on some serious drugs.”

“What I want to know is how that creature got knocked off the van.” Yasif cast a side-long glance at Idric.

“Whatever it was, it came from the kid,” Jake said.

“Hey!” the kid replied. “I’m not a kid!”

Yasif turned on him. “How old are you again?”

“Fifteen! I’ll be sixteen in a few months.”

“You’re a kid!” Yasif crossed his arms.

“Cut it out!” Sally interrupted. “We’ve got more important things to worry about.”

“What’s more important than Padilla the gorilla back there?” Stephanie asked with a chuckle.

“It was a bear,” Idric corrected.

“Whatever the hell it was, it wasn’t any kind of bear I’ve ever seen,” Yasif explained.

“I feel like I’m caught in the middle of the
X-Files
,” Lani stated. They all looked at her with puzzled expressions. “
X-Files
? Really? The TV show?” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, my god, I’m with a bunch of kids!”

“Oh yeah! I watched a few of those on Netflix. I think this is more like
Fringe
,” Idric offered.

“No doubt!” Yasif agreed. The rest nodded, except Stephanie, who seemed to have no clue what they were talking about.

JAKE FIDGETED IN HIS SEAT,
the urge to light up gnawing away at his nerves. It was bad enough he felt completely out of place, but the things he’d seen since he joined this little group were stranger than anything he’d ever imagined.

He stared blankly at a swinging camera strap hanging from a shelf, its motion matching the movement of the vehicle. What would he be doing if he weren’t there? Drinking? Smoking? Sitting in his filthy house, listening to music on his phone? Was his life really that pathetic? He knew the answer even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself. It was fear. He’d carried the idea in his head that he was somehow broken and it was all because of that one day.

It was him. Daniel had been the one thing in his life that was supposed to go right. Jake had never felt so close to anyone before—or ever again, for that matter. And what did he do to repay Daniel’s kindness? He turned on him, blamed him for what had transpired between them, and all because Jake panicked when his father burst in on them. It didn’t matter that he took the blame. His father still sent him to that damned camp where they tried to make him “normal.” He was only allowed out when he convinced his father that he was a “chick-banging straight boy,” but no matter what, the truth was he’d only suppressed his true self, buried the pain of his past. Here, he had a real chance, a real opportunity to do something good for Daniel—maybe even help find him, and that gave him something he hadn’t experienced in a very long time—hope.

A whiff of cigarette smoke called him from his thoughts. The smell was like a magnet. He inhaled deeply, then turned to see Lani taking a drag. He nearly began to salivate. “Mind if I have one?”

“Sure.” She retrieved the pack and then removed a cigarette.

“I really wish you wouldn’t do that,” Stephanie said. “You know it’s bad for you, right?”

Yasif glared at Stephanie. “Can I have one too?”

The blonde crossed her arms and threw him a dirty look.

Lani lit Yasif’s cigarette and then one for Jake. She offered one to Sally, but Sally shook her head.

Jake inhaled, dragging in a lungful of nicotine, his eyes closing as a wave of relaxation and calm washed through him.

“Can I have one?” Idric’s mousy voice broke the silence.

“You’re too young, bud.” Yasif dragged on his cigarette.

“Seriously?” Idric crossed his arms, pouting.

“The ‘kid’ found Padilla’s body.” Lani looked up from the rearview mirror. “I think he’s earned a bit of adulthood today.” She held out the pack.

A big smile grew on Idric’s face as he pulled out a cigarette, staring at it with fascination. Yasif lit it for him, and Idric inhaled. And promptly began coughing violently. “Easy there, kid,” Yasif goaded with a grin.

“I’m…” Cough. “Not…” Cough. “A kid!”

The others laughed. It was the first light-hearted moment since the attack. Even Jake managed a chuckle.

AS THE ATLANTA SKYLINE
became visible, Sally felt a growing sense of urgency. Dark clouds loomed over the buildings, their outlines punctuated by flashes of lightning. It had only been two days since her last visit, but never before had she gone to her mother’s with such trepidation—she really hoped she wouldn’t have to add her mother to the list of missing people.

She had nearly rubbed a hole through her pants drying her sweaty palms. She’d called her mother a few more times, hoping she’d just been in the shower or her phone was on silent. Getting no response at all was driving her mad.

Just as before, people walked along the lamp-lit streets wearing coats, this time adding umbrellas to the mix. The storm was already upon them, rain falling in sheets onto the busy streets.

“That’s all we need,” Idric commented.

Stephanie whined, “My hair’s gonna get all wet.”

“Can we leave her somewhere?” Yasif asked.

Sally threw them both an impatient look.

Idric was antsy. He’d been fiddling with various things the whole trip. Lani pulled the van up to the building, and Sally instructed her where to enter the parking garage. Sally showed her ID to the night guard and then they descended beneath the structure.

“You guys stay here. I’ll be right back.” Sally opened her door.

“Like hell.” Yasif pulled the sliding door open.

“Where are you going?” she asked him.

Yasif insisted, “You’re not doing this alone. Not with all this weird stuff going on. We’re all going with you.”

“That’s really not necessary, Yaz.” But as she glanced toward the entrance, a wave of fear moved through her.

“He’s right.” Lani had gotten out and now stood in front of her. “I don’t think any of us should be alone right now. At least not until we have a strategy.”

Sally conceded.

“Is this safe here?” Sally heard Jake ask Lani, his hand motioning toward the bag with the server inside.

“As safe as anywhere I suppose.” Lani locked the doors.

“Good, ‘cuz I really don’t want to carry it again right now.” He put a hand on his back. “It was killin’ me.”

Sally led them into the building, swiping her card to open the door to the elevator vestibule. As they waited for a lift, her chest became tight, her neck feeling as though it was slowly turning to stone.

The building was eerily empty as though all the residents had left. Probably all watching TV, but it didn’t help Sally’s apprehension. The walk to the apartment was surreal as if the hall itself were trying to keep her from the truth. By the time her hand touched the door handle she felt as though she were generating her own electric field.

She rang the doorbell impatiently as she fished in her bag for her keycard. A soft curse came from her as the search for the card became more frantic. She couldn’t find it and she was beginning to panic. Her mother still hadn’t answered. She rang again, this time pushing the button harder as though that would make it ring louder and force her mom to answer. Still no card, and no answer. “Mom? You there?” Sally’s voice became more urgent. “Mom? Please answer.”

Finally, her fingers found the card and she swiped it through the slot. A green light came on, and she pushed the door open and stormed inside.

She froze. Her stomach sank and her mouth went completely dry. The apartment was completely empty.

“Mom?” Sally dropped to her knees, unable to hold back the dread and tears as she searched the vacant space.

“Everything’s…gone.” Yasif stepped around her.

Idric, still by the door, flipped a switch to turn on the lights. Nothing happened.

“Sal, I don’t think she was taken.” Yasif kneeled next to her, his hand on her shoulder.

She looked up, his face swimming in her tears. “What?”

He placed a hand on her arm. “Everything’s gone. Even the furniture. If someone took her, why would all the furniture be gone?”

Her mind felt sluggish, his words making no sense. He helped her to her feet, but her knees were weak. She looked around at the empty space. The carpet had been cleaned, the wine stain that had been there since her mother first moved in was gone. Indentations in the carpet marked where the furniture had been.

Sally moved to the bedroom to find it just as empty. No bed. No dresser. Nothing.

Yasif was right, there was no way someone would have gone through all this trouble. If someone had wanted to use her mother as leverage, why take all her furniture? The only logical explanation was her mother had moved.

This left her with an emptiness deeper than anything she’d ever felt. Was something wrong? Was she sick? What possible reason could there be for her to run off and not tell her?

Sally felt tears streaming down her cheek. She wiped them away, but couldn’t stop more from forming.

“Let’s not leap to any conclusions.” Lani approached. “There’s not enough information to guess what happened to your mother. Okay?” The reporter’s straight dark hair was silhouetted by the storm outside. Lightning flashed across the sky, followed a moment later by a rumble of thunder that shook the glass.

“It’s getting bad out there,” Stephanie said.

Sally tried her best to make sense of it all, but it was too much. Her brain and emotions were overwhelmed She could feel her mind shutting down as if it could no longer handle more input. She couldn’t remember a time where she’d ever fainted before. She thought it an odd sensation to watch things fade away around her.

AT FIRST,
Sally was very confused. She blinked in the afternoon sunlight. She couldn’t for the life of her remember how she’d gotten there. It was as if she’d just woken up on the park bench on which she now sat. Kids played nearby, people walked their dogs, it seemed like a normal day. She felt a strange sense of calm.

Then, she noticed a familiar face, a tall slim figure walking toward her with his hands in his pockets.

“Daniel?” Her voice sounded strange as though it hadn’t actually come from her.