The Hidden

wanted to think about.

“No,” Mom said. “Our kids don’t get involved in such things.”

“Wonderful, wonderful.” He looked concerned again. “What about other issues? Mental illness? Suicide?” Now Mom wouldn’t look at me, and Dad cleared his throat loudly.

“Do you know anyone who has been personally affected by such a thing, Abbey?” Vincent directed the question to me.

What I wouldn’t give to punch you in your lying smarmy face right now … “Nope. Like Mom said, we’re all healthy, well-adjusted kids. Say, how are things going with the Catholics? They seem to be having problems right now, right? Maybe you could go help them out.”

Mom gasped, and Dad finally looked at me long enough to frown. One side of Vincent’s mouth pulled up in a smirk. And then it was gone.

“I must confess, I do not know how things are handled by the Catholic churches. I’m kept very busy looking after my own flock. I consider myself a shepherd in training, and I find that many of my sheep need … a certain kind of hands-on attention.”

He cracked his knuckles, and the sound made my skin crawl.

Staring at him hard, I made a silent vow. I am not going to let you get away with this. “How long have you been with the church, Deacon Drake?” I said sweetly. “In general. I know Mom said that you were new in town.”

“I fear that I have lost count how many years it has been. Or how many lives I’ve touched.” His smile widened, and he licked the corner of his lips. “And it’s Deacon Dwayne.”

“Oh, did I get it wrong? I could have sworn that you said Drake.”

Mom looked back and forth between the two of us with a slightly bewildered expression on her face. “Would you like some coffee? Tea?” she said to Vincent. “I’d be more than happy to make some.”

“Actually, I have another appointment that I’m going to be late for if I don’t leave now. So I will bid my farewells and say that I hope to meet again soon.”

He stood up and shook Dad’s hand, then turned to Mom. Being sure to angle himself so that I could get a full view, he leaned in to give her a hug with both arms. His hands lined up directly with her throat and he cast me another glance.

Mom! I wanted to scream. Get away from him! He’s the one who attacked me! But I couldn’t tell her. Who knows what he might have done then.

“It was very nice to meet you, Abigail,” he said, pulling away from her. I noticed the use of my proper name. “You have lovely parents here. I would give thanks to God every day for such wonderful people in my life. Our time on this earth is so fleeting. You never know when their time could be up. Even this day might be their last.”

And with that subtle death threat, he walked out the front door.

I flew up to my room as soon as Mom found Sophie’s card, and I dialed the number as fast as I could. Caspian was still asleep on the bed. I was starting to worry about him even more. All those times he’d described being pulled down into the dark place of sleep to make time pass faster didn’t sound like a good thing.

What if he couldn’t find his way back?

I paced beside him, silently willing Sophie or Kame to pick up their phone. It rang and rang and rang, and I was just about to leave an urgent voice mail, when Sophie picked up.

“Sophie?” I exploded. “It’s Abbey. Vincent’s here. Or was here. He dressed like a priest, and was threatening my parents, and Caspian won’t wake up.”

“Slow down. Slow down,” she said. “What’s going on? Vincent is there?”

“Yes. No. I mean, he was here, but he’s not now. He just came by and stopped to talk to Mom and Dad.” I told her what had happened. “I don’t think they even realized what was going on. But I did.”

Sophie swore. “We’ll be right over.”

“Something’s wrong with Caspian too,” I blurted out. “He won’t wake up.”

She was silent, and it didn’t give me a good feeling.

“So-Sophie?” I asked. “Are you still there?”

“Yeah, sweetie. I’m here.”

“What’s happening to Caspian?”

“I think it would be better if we waited until we could talk in person.”

“No! I think it would be better if you told me right now.”

“I can’t-” She exhaled loudly. “Just wait. We’ll be right over.”

The phone went dead, and I stared at it. It wasn’t a good sign that she didn’t want to tell me what was going on. Was this just normal we-cannot-say Revenant stuff? Or was there something more to it?

Ten minutes later Kame, Uri, and Cacey were in my room.

“Is everything okay?” Kame asked. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head. “Everything’s fine. Well, as far as me and Mom and Dad go. Caspian, I’m not sure about. Where’s Sophie? And what are you going to tell Mom and Dad?”

“She’s downstairs talking to them,” Cacey said with a grin. “She’s good at making things up.”

Uri moved toward the bed. He pointed to himself, and I nodded. Then he sat down next to Caspian. He laid one hand on Caspian’s arm, and I desperately wanted to trade places with him. To be the one who could touch Caspian, and wake him up.

But I couldn’t.

“This happened once before,” I said. “He was supposed to pick me up from school and he never showed. When I got home, he couldn’t even remember where he was.”

Uri glanced over at Kame. Then shook his head.

“What’s going on?” I cried, dangerously close to tears. “Please. Just tell me.” I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t take all their secrets and things they wouldn’t say.

“You have to realize that there’s not much we can do,” Kame said. “This is an abnormal situation, and we’re still all learning the best way to deal with it.”

“Abnormal because of Vincent? Because he caused Kristen’s death?”

He inclined his head.

“Or is this the abnormal part? Him hanging around me, stalking me, dressing up like a priest?”

“His … interference … is the abnormal part.”

“So, then, what’s going on with Caspian? Shades don’t sleep, right?”

“It’s not a normal sleep,” he replied.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that we can’t wake him up, Abbey,” Cacey said.

She was standing next to the window, and I looked over at her, stunned. Then I looked at Uri. “She’s making that up, right? Tell me that it’s just her idea of a cruel joke.”

“It’s not a joke. We have no control over this,” he confirmed.

I crossed my arms. “But I thought you guys were these mystical beings who were sent here to help Shades and their other halves. So help us.”

Uri stood up and went to talk to Kame quietly. He kept glancing over at Cacey, and I got the feeling that she was being let in on the conversation too. Eventually Kame said, “Fine. I’m going to let you handle this. I’ll be downstairs.”

He shot them both a final look before he left.

“We think it would be best if we took Caspian with us,” Uri said, turning to face me. “We want to take him someplace safe.”

“That’s fine. Where are we going?”

“Him. Not you,” Cacey said. “You can’t go.”

“Oh, yes, I can.”

“Oh, no, you can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because Vincent doesn’t want the two of you to be completed. We haven’t found out why yet, but it’s what he wants. We need to be able to keep an eye on Caspian for as long as he’s like this, and it will make it easier for