Shadow Walker (Neteru Academy Books) (36 page)

They were back, and tonight they seemed particularly agitated. They kept running back and forth along the baseboards, then jumped up and down on Ayana’s desk near the small shelf that held her toiletries. Not a thing appeared to be out of place—until Sarah realized that the toothpaste was there, but the toothbrush and cup weren’t. But with the shadows stretching and popping wildly, she couldn’t really think about that. Knowing Yaya, she had those items stashed in a plastic baggie in a drawer or something.

Just stop. Would you please stop!
Sarah thought, then she looked at her uncle. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t pick up anything other than how upset her roommates were.”

“It’s all right, honey. We’re all working on it. We’ll find her, I promise. Why don’t I walk you back to your room?”

There was nothing left to do but comply. She walked with him down the corridor, and he waited until she knocked on the door, then slipped inside, but not before leaving him with a kiss on his cheek.

“Well?” Allie asked, wiping her nose with a tissue. “Any luck?”

Sarah shook her head no as Allie, Tami and Hyacinth crowded close, eager to hear whatever she had to say.

“I feel sick,” Tami said quietly, then sat down slowly on the bed. “This is Yaya. We should go back to the library tomorrow and sneak into the Shady Path to see if we can feel anything there. We can’t just wait for everyone else to figure it out.”

“That sounds like a plan to me, but right now I can’t even think straight,” Sarah said, resting her forehead against the door. “I know there’s something they’re overlooking, something all of us aren’t seeing.” She looked at her friends and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. Her eyes felt grainy, like someone had shoved sandpaper under her lids. “I wish we’d all stayed home, like Dad wanted, especially Yaya. Then none of this would have happened in the first place. I have to wash my face. “

“I’ll walk you,” Tami said, starting to get up from her bed, but Sarah shook her head.

“It’s just down the hall. Nobody is going to come back in here with all this heat in the system right now, and I really just need to be by myself for a minute. She’s my seer… my sister… my…” Sarah covered her face with her hands and broke down, which made Allie, Tami and Hyacinth wrap her in loving arms. “How could they have taken Yaya?”

Slowly but surely the tears abated, and her compound sisters released her, wiping at their own tears.

“You go wash your face and then get your butt right back here,” Tami said and gave Sarah a quick squeeze.

Looking both ways, Sarah crept down the hall to the girls’ bathroom. How did things like this happen? None of the missing students, except Ayana, even had the benefit of parents, which was horrible enough in itself. All of it was a nightmare, all of it was tragic, but until Ayana had disappeared, the other students who had gone missing were just names to her. Plus two Upper Sphere students had actually died. Now with Ayana and Alexis, that made four missing and two dead. All of it made her shiver.

Sarah’s conscience weighed heavily on her as she stood there in the bathroom. Yes, she cared, but in a removed kind of way. Now tragedy had a face, and that made everything deeply, painfully personal.

She went to the sink, then bent to splash cold water on her face. Was it a sin that she cared more now that Ayana had been abducted? she wondered, then looked up and grabbed a paper towel, staring at her red eyes and nose as she blotted her face dry. There had to be something they could do. Tami was right—they couldn’t just sit and wait for their parents to fix this.

Frustration claimed her as she tossed away the used paper towel and headed back to her room. But the hair stood up on her neck as the shadows that she’d almost forgotten about began moving along the hall in what looked like an agitated little dance, stopping near an exit.

Sarah froze for a moment, then, lured by the shadows, she chased after them. What if they knew where Yaya was or could point her in the right direction? Was that why they’d been in such a frenzy when she walked into Yaya’s room? If they could lead her to a clue, she would risk going after them.

Running down the hall as quietly as possible, she stopped by the door marked exit, slipped behind it and then listened hard. There were voices. Something was going on. She was instant motion, hurrying down the steps as softly as she could, then listening momentarily at the next door down before exiting there, and rushing down the hall to find a service corridor extension. That was when she heard the voices more clearly, both of them familiar.

Sarah stopped, pressed her body into the shadows of an alcove and listened.

“If you ever take anything from me again, I swear you’ll regret it, Melissa!”

It was Stefan, and he sounded pissed.

“I swear I didn’t.”

“And if you mess this up for me, I swear, I’ll—”

“I would never do that!” Melissa said, her voice fracturing as she spoke.

“You’d better make sure you don’t!” The threat in Stefan’s tone was unmistakable. “Do you know what’s going on? Everything around here is about to get hot, and they’re looking for me. They’ve already got Brent in there, grilling him about Ayana, and now you pull some stupid shit like this? He’ll get a pass, on account of who his parents are—you know that. Me, they’ll expel, and where am I gonna go, you spoiled flake? I don’t have parents and a home compound waiting for me, Mel! What’d you tell them, huh?”

“I didn’t tell them anything. I wouldn’t do anything to get you in trouble, I swear,” she said, beginning to cry.

“Don’t play me,” he said. “You’ve got your new dude, Alejandro—so leave me alone. It’s over!”

“I was only messing with him to make you jealous,” she said, her voice a desperate plea.

Sarah could see them as Stefan stormed out of the alcove they’d been in, Melissa grabbing his arm. As much as she hated the girl, it was still heart-rending to watch her cling to his arm even as he shrugged her off.

“You don’t do werewolf. Remember?” he said, sneering.

Sarah flattened herself against the wall again, but this time with her hand over her heart and listening intently as Stefan walked off. Werewolf? Did the guy say he was a werewolf? That explained the darkness she saw around him. Werewolf blood was so different from Baba’s shape-shifter powers. There was a lunacy that took over, a loss of the human self inside the primal bloodlust of the flesh-eating wolf. That was what Stefan was? Not a shape-shifter but part frickin’ crazy wolf? And Nana had let him into the school? Holy…

Sarah inhaled deeply to calm herself. She had to remember that her nana was a veteran seer. She had to know that Stefan was a werewolf. But then again, sometimes it seemed as though there were things she could see that others couldn’t, even her Nana. Like the shadows. What if he was turning and able to hide it from people? What if he really was dangerous? What if he was abducting students and feeding on them!

The sound of adult voices patrolling the halls shot another wave of panic through Sarah. They were in the same stairwell she had just left. She made a mad dash, following the direction Melissa and Stefan had gone, found another stairway and ran down two flights, then found the service corridor. She ran as though a demon were chasing her and didn’t slow down until she got back to her room.

“Where have you been?” Allie said, racing over to hug her. “We were worried sick and almost called Nana Mar!”

“Yeah, you promised to come right back, and when you didn’t, we got scared,” Tami said, hiding her fear behind anger. She pointed at Hyacinth, lying on her bed. “‘Cinth is so upset she’s ready to hurl.”

Hyacinth just looked up at Sarah with bloodshot eyes. “I can’t take any more, okay?” She turned over and drew herself up into fetal position.

“You can’t go out with Stefan, Tami,” Sarah blurted out, ignoring all the charges her friends had lobbed against her. “Something’s not right about him.”

“What are you talking about?” Tami grabbed Sarah by both arms as Allie stood in the middle of the floor, gaping. “Yaya is missing, and all you can think about is why I shouldn’t be with Stefan? Get over yourself, Sarah!”

“I saw him. Melissa was trying to get him to get back together with her, and he blew her off. It was a disaster.”

“Good,” Tami said flatly.

“Not good. She’s playing Al to make Stefan jealous.”

Tami let go of Sarah. “And…?”

For a moment Sarah didn’t answer. Guilt lacerated her. She hadn’t stepped forward and admitted that she’d also gone into town—she hadn’t, and that fact was damning. She had to do better now. Stefan was clearly into some dangerous underground scene, and his confession that he was a werewolf had freaked her out. Sarah released a breath of frustration.

“Look, Melissa took something from him. I don’t know what, but… Look, all I’m saying is he could be dealing drugs right here in the school, or maybe he’s into something worse. In any event, he told her he was a werewolf—that much I’m sure of. And whatever other stuff he’s into, it didn’t sound good.”

“First of all, you don’t know that for a fact. Melissa is pathetic. She could be lying. She’d do anything to get him back, I bet.” Tami frowned, then her expression slowly changed to one of awe. “I thought Baba Shabazz was the last of the shape-shifters. If you’re right about Stefan, then…cool.”

“Cool.
Cool
? Do you hear yourself? A shape-shifter is one thing, but somebody who gets crazy and eats people when the moon goes full is something way different.” Sarah began to pace. “Like, I think you need to know a lot more about Stefan before you get all caught up, especially before you ask Jessica for anything—you know what I mean? And especially since we don’t know if he was involved in opening portals and—”

“Hold it. Now you’ve crossed the line, Sarah,” Tami said, kicking off her slippers and climbing up onto her bunk. “I didn’t say anything to you about Wil and the fact that something’s obviously going on with him and Patty, so don’t you judge me! Not to mention, I already admitted where I was. I might have gotten the poor guy expelled for doing nothing more than a lot of kids are doing. He’s certainly not a kidnapper or a… a… I don’t know what.”

“I’m not judging you, Tami. I’m just—”

“Back off. It’s my choice! I like the bad-boy types, so sue me. This hasn’t got anything to do with Ayana being gone. This is about you not liking my choice and not respecting it! I have always had your back, Sarah—when are you going to start having mine, huh? It’s always crazy Tami’s fault, isn’t it?”

“Well, at least cut Al a break in public, then, all right,” Sarah said, feeling her face getting hot. “You almost got my brother beat down by a real live half-were at the luau.”

“First of all, you’re one to talk!” Tami shouted. “What was that thing with you and Wil after dancing up close and personal with Val? I guess it’s okay for you to let Val be ready to punch out some guy’s lights over you, but when—”

“What the hell has any of this got to do with you staying safe, Tami? You always try to change the subject when you’re dead wrong! Tonight I’m not in the mood for it!”

“I am so sick of your holier-than-thou crap, Sarah!” Tami shouted back, veins standing out in her neck. “Everything is always about what you’re worried about, what you think, what you’re scared of, you and all your little problems! Everything always revolves around you, Sarah! Well, who made you the center of the frickin’ universe? Who made you the leader of our group? I bet your parents had a nervous breakdown when they found out you were a Blend like me and Donnie. Don’t even try to deny it—they were sitting on the edge of their seats at the ceremony praying for a last-minute change, just like you were. Admit it! But the sick joke is that you got stuck in Blends with me, so now you’re trying to suck up to Mrs. Hogan in the library and do extra work, hoping somebody will finally rank you higher. Don’t speak to me or try to tell me how to live! For once I have somebody who likes me waaay more then they like you, and I don’t have to stand in your stupid shadow!”

Pure hurt made Sarah’s words explode past her dropping fangs. “You really feel that way about me, Tami? And you call yourself my best friend?”

“Why are you two arguing?” Allie shouted, coming between them as Hyacinth placed her pillow over her head. “Just stop it!”

But Sarah couldn’t disengage from the emotions imploding within her, and she leaned past Allie’s small frame to get in Tami’s face. “Net compound sticks together, like we should be sticking together over this horrible thing that’s happened to Ayana. I’m telling you about Stefan because I care! I don’t want anything to happen to you! If Al had swung on Stefan trying to protect you, he might’ve gotten hurt. So give him a break—”

“What?” Tami pushed Allie out of the way and squared off with Sarah. “Since when do you give a crap about your brother? I thought I was your BFF, through thick and thin. When those two are too chicken shit to go on an adventure,” she said, pointing at Allie and then Hyacinth, “who’s got your back? Me, that’s who. Who always stood up to Al when he was in your face? Me. And now, just because I’m interested in a guy you’ve decided not to like…now I’m wrong? Puh-lease! Plus, I don’t like your brother like that—never have and never will!”

Sarah held her hands up in front of her. “You said you’re my BFF, then run me down like you just did, actually sounding like a hater? And however you feel about my brother, just on general principle, not to care if he’s totally humiliated…okay, now that’s deep.” She shook her head as tears rose in her eyes. She let her arms drop to her sides and walked to her bed, then spoke to Tami with her back turned. “I shouldn’t have to take that from anybody, but from one of my compound sisters, especially from you… Wow.”

“Whatever.” Tami stalked away to climb back up into her bunk on the other side of the room.

Yeah, whatever,
Sarah thought as she climbed into bed and tried to make her mind stop whirling. Sleep would be impossible. She could barely force her eyes to stay shut, so instead she stared at the wall. Ayana was missing, but somehow she also could feel that her beloved Yaya was still alive. None of this bull with Tami meant anything compared to the need to find their compound sister. Tami was so self-absorbed that Sarah could almost scream. In this moment, hurt quietly collided inside of her with fear and anger. Why, of all times, would Tami be worried about some stupid maniac dude and not focused on the serious fact that Ayana was missing! And then to pick some ridiculous fight?