Authors: Fabio Bueno
When we’re far enough from prying ears, he says, “I knew they would send someone
, but
I never expected you.” He sips his coffee. “Not that it’s a bad thing. Did you ask to come?”
“No!
” I say.
“I asked
not
to come. But it’s my duty.”
Connor
nods. “I
t
actually
makes sense. With your Tr
ue Sight Charm, you can help us.” He’s right. My Charm not only detects magical energy from afar, it also detects traces of it.
I face him, and he examines my eyes.
“
Hey, where are your glasses?”
h
e asks.
“Lost them,” I say.
It’s so odd talking to him after
two years
. We didn’t part o
n friendly terms
. O
kay, that’
s an understatement. We parted o
n horrible terms
and never exchanged calls, texts, or emails since. However, here we are, all civilized.
I
nside
, though,
I’m
a
tornado of conflicting emotions.
If he feels the same way,
it
doesn’t show. “
Have you met Jane already?”
That catches me by surprise. He does know about her. “She’s kind of
unmissable
,” I say.
Connor
pierces me with his look. “Yeah, she’s quite a handful.” He
sips his coffee again. I think
the cup is
just
a prop so he can gain time and examine my reactions. “She’s independent
:
she doesn’t answer to the Mothers,
doesn’t belong to a c
oven,
and I couldn’t get her to cooperate.
And with her attitude and her Intimidating Charm…
”
“Are you sure she’s not the Singularity?” I ask.
“She isn’t,” he says
with authority.
“That’s why you need someone else at
Greenwood
High.” I try to sound business-like, but I can see in his eyes I’m failing.
I carry on
. “Any news about the Singularity?”
He looks away
with a concerned expression on his face
. H
e must take this assignment seriously. “No. She is still blocking her magical energy
somehow
.
S
he
might
have some kind of shie
ld up
. She must be even more powerful than we
’d
guessed, to erase her magical signature
completely
. I hope y
our True Sight
can spot her. I
f she
’s around
your school
.”
A little vulnerability shows
beneath
his controlled façade.
He says,
“We’re almost out of time, Skye.
The Singularity must be
seventeen now. If she’s living a
regular
life, she’s almos
t finishing school. She might
leave soon, to college,
or
a job
. O
r just
to
run away
: s
he knows
we’re looking for her
, or she wouldn’t be hiding her
energy
.
She might even already be gone.
”
H
is sincerity
moves me
,
but
then I remember his other Charm is Trust. Everybody believes him and wants to help him. It’s not his fault
:
he can’t turn the Charm
off
. Still, I can’t help but feel manipulated a little. As I did when we were together.
We
are
back to
Savery
Hall, and I spot t
he girls that surrounded
Connor
when I
arrived. They linger around, like
crows that don’t
scare easily. “Nice harem.” I jerk my chin to his gathering of admirers.
He doesn’t even look at them. “Oh, jealous much?”
He smiles the devilish smile
I remember.
“Oh, come on,” he says
when he sees my face. “It was a bad joke
.
Sorry.
”
Maybe he’s changing. The old
Connor
would never say he’s sorry.
He never did.
I
always assumed it was
over between us
. But his apology sparks something—something I didn’t realize was still inside of me. Is there a chance of us being together again?
I don’t know, and I will not find out today. I
’d
better leave.
“
D
a
-
ad! That’s so unfair!” Mona is chanting her mantra.
My sister is
still in
ninth
grade, and I’m glad in our district this means we go to different schools. Neither of us want
s
the other lurking around. We have nothing in common.
Mona and I came out of different assembly lines: I’m wiry and lanky
like
Dad; she is round and short like
our mother
. The only thing Mona and I share is eye color
:
hazel.
She has gained considerable weight in the last few months. Since she’s so sensitive about everything, neither Da
d nor I have had the guts to bro
ach the subject. We don’t know if the change is caused by stress, a hormonal
thing
,
or
a natural development
.
Dad wants to ask her
about her health and
if
she’s okay,
but he doesn’t want to upset the precarious balance of Mona’s psyche. Me too
.
I mean, of all things I could point out, I imagine this is the
one of the
biggest no-
no
s
in a brother-sister relationship.
Dad and I also didn’t mention the black mini-skirts. Her body changed but she still
wears
her old clothes, which causes the mini-skirts to look… mini-
er
. Nor
have
we asked about the excessive highlights that look more
like
yellow stripes than blonde, giving the impression she’s going for a tiger motif. Nor the heavy make-up.
Nor the oversized jewelry.
But, hey, no piercings yet!
So, through the
gift
of silence, Dad and I keep harmony in our house.
T
hat’s why
Dad
is so cautious when explaining things to her.
“You
can’t even
get
a permit yet
, Mona,” my father says patiently. “Maybe you’ll get the car when Drake is done with it.”
“You said we don’t have money!” My sister
has a point.
“I said we don’t have money
to
burn
,” my father says and then looks quickly
at me,
alarmed
. Any mention of
fire
-related words
around me
makes him nervous, because he thinks
I’ll get
upset. And he’s right.
I’m the reason we don’t have money to… spare. About two years ago, I accidentally burned our old house down, with the help of
a
cigarette
—
my first and only. Our insurance wasn’t the greatest, and Dad lost most of
our
savings.
We rent
a
small
er
house now.
And that’s not the worst that happened:
I almost lost Mona
. When I realized the house was on fire, I ran to her bedroom and found her unconscious
. T
he smoke had already gotten to her. The paramedics that ultimately saved her said I was a hero, but I knew better.
I still can’t believe I did it. I watched ou
r house
and everything inside
,
even
our
old pictures
of Mom
,
vanish before
my eyes. A haunting memory that wi
ll stay with me forever.
Dad’s confidence, already shattered when Mom left, broke in
to
tiny pieces. Since then he’s
been
jumpy and scared, afraid of
losing us
and of losing money for our future.
It’s surreal that
I have a car. We live modestly:
no
iThings
for the Hunters. Just your basic computer and cell
,
mor
e out of necessity than luxury
.
He’s a computer engineer, whatever that means. Mona and I guess he’s not very good
. H
e works really long hours, including a murderous commute from Seattle to Renton, but the pay, albeit good, is not great. With the two of us all grown up, he spends less and less time with us
.
My encounter with the falling tree didn’t help things.
My father, Mr.
Worried-In-Chief, didn’t take it well.
His
knee-jerk
reaction was to
trade his reliable four
-year-old
Camry
for a
slightly
less
reliable seven
-year-old Corolla for him and a
n
—
I’m not kidding
—
old
brown
Volvo
wago
n
for me. According to him, it’s the safest car we can afford
, but I can’t stop mocking myself in my head.
Even though I’m laughing inside,
I’m grateful; I had zero cars before.
Now, the guilt of almost
killing
my sister and
destroying
our finances
is
compounded by the guilt of putting myself in danger
again
, and scoring my first ride in the process. It
almost makes me side with Mona o
n this one. Almost.
“Mona, I’ll be your driver, what do you say? I can take you to
R
ain’s house and—
”
“Her name is
P
ain, you moron!”
“T
o
P
ain’s,
to the piercing parlor,
to the crack den,
to
that human sacrifice
place—
”
“
D
a
-
ad!”
“That’s enough, Drake,” Dad says. “He’s
got a point
, though, Mona. You’re having some strange company. You remember…”
“We have to police
ourselves.
I know
,
” Mona repeats
Dad’s
mantra. Since he’s not around much, he tries to instill responsibility on us via overused
catchphrases
. Kind of futile after I almost got killed in the woods, but I
get him
.
“Good,”
Dad says, as if his job is done. “Now, I have to go to work. Oh, Drake, I got you a new cell phone too.”
“
Arrrrrgghhh
!” Mona yells. She pulls
on
her hair
theatrically
and slams the door on her way out.
I know I shouldn’t, but I get a kick out of it. I’m shameless.
***
I skip school since the doctor said I should rest, but I show up
on
Stone Ave
a few minutes after the bell rings.
As I expected, I find
Skye
coming back from school. Naturally, she avoided the trail, even though it’s the shortest route and the weather’s nice
today
.
For Seattle, I mean.
I
pull over and open my window
.
At least I don’t have to
roll
it
down
.