home.”
“What? Why? You can’t just leave. What about the after-party?” Molly said, but I had already started running.
I found Gabriel and Ivy seated at the teachers’ table and pulled them away. “We have to leave,” I said, tugging at Gabe’s sleeve.
I wasn’t sure if he already knew what had happened or if he just sensed the urgency in my voice, but he didn’t ask any questions. He and Ivy silently collected their belongings and led me out of the pavilion and into the Jeep. They listened wordlessly on the trip home as I explained what had happened with Jake and repeated his parting words.
“I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid,” I moaned, putting my head in my hands. “I should have noticed… I should have realized.”
“This is not your fault, Bethany,” said Ivy.
“What’s the matter with me?” I replied. “Why didn’t I feel it? You felt something was wrong, didn’t you? You knew it as soon as he set foot in our house.”
“We felt a dark energy,” Gabe admitted.
“Why didn’t you say something?” I asked. “Why didn’t you stop me from going with him?”
“We couldn’t be sure,” Gabriel said. “His mind was very guarded; it was nearly impossible to glean any information. It might have been nothing, and we didn’t want to worry you for no reason.”
“Troubled humans can also have dark auras,” Ivy added. “The result of any number of things, tragedy, grief, pain. ..”
“And evil intentions,” I added.
“Those too,” admitted Gabriel. “We didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but if this boy knows what we are then there is every chance that he may be… well, stronger than your average human.”
“How much stronger?”
“I don’t know,” Gabriel replied. “Unless… you don’t think Xavier might have…” He trailed off.
I shot an angry glance in his direction.
“Xavier would never tell anyone our secret,” I said. “I can’t believe you’d even think that. You should know him by now.”
“Okay. Say Xavier has nothing to do with this,” said Gabriel. “There is something unnatural about Jake Thorn — I can feel it and so can you, Bethany.”
“So what do we do now?” I asked.
“We have to bide our time,” replied Gabriel. “These events will unfold naturally. We mustn’t rush into anything. If he is truly dangerous, he will reveal himself in time.”
When we got home, Ivy offered hot cocoa, but I declined. I went upstairs and took off my dress, feeling as though a great weight had just descended onto my shoulders. Things had been going so well, and now it seemed this one boy threatened to destroy it all. I tugged the pearls out of my hair and wiped off my makeup, feeling suddenly like nothing more than an imposter. It was too late to call Xavier, although I knew that speaking to him would make me feel better. Instead I put on my familiar pajamas and crawled into bed, clutching a stuffed toy Xavier had given me for comfort. I let the tears leak from my closed lids and soak into my pillow. I didn’t feel angry or frightened anymore; I just felt sad. I wished so much that things could be straightforward and simple. Why was our mission fraught with so many complications? I knew it was childish, but all I could think was how unjust it all was. I was too weary not to allow myself to drift off to sleep, but I did so knowing that all too soon a storm was about to rage.
I didn’t hear from Xavier all weekend. I assumed he hadn’t heard about the incident at the prom, and I didn’t want to stress him. I was so preoccupied worrying about Jake that I didn’t even stop to wonder why Xavier hadn’t called. We rarely went more than a few hours without talking.
On the other hand, I didn’t have to wait long to hear from Jake Thorn. Monday morning at school when I opened my locker, a slip of paper fell out and drifted slowly to the ground, like a crinkled petal. I picked it up, expecting it to be a note from Xavier that would either make me sigh adoringly or giggle like a schoolgirl. But the handwriting didn’t belong to Xavier; it was the same skillfully sharp calligraphy that I knew from my literature class. When I read what was written on the paper, I felt my blood freeze:
I showed the note to Gabriel, who read it and then crumpled it in frustration without speaking a word. I tried not to think about Jake for the rest of the day, but it wasn’t an easy task. Xavier wasn’t at school, and I desperately wanted to speak to him. It felt like an eternity since Friday, so much had happened.
The day passed in a gray haze. I came alive for about five minutes during lunchtime when I borrowed Molly’s cell phone to call Xavier, but I descended back into grayness as soon as it went to voice mail. Not having any contact with him made me feel lethargic and heavy. A cloud seemed to have filled my mind, and I couldn’t catch any of the thoughts that skidded through my head because they disappeared too quickly.
At the end of the day, I went home with my brother and still hadn’t heard anything from Xavier. I tried calling him again from home, but the sound of the voice mail only made me want to cry. I sat and waited all afternoon and all through dinner for him to call or for the doorbell to ring, but there was nothing. Didn’t he want to know how the prom had gone? Had something happened to him? What was the reason behind his sudden silence? I didn’t understand.
“I can’t get through to Xavier,” I managed to choke out over dinner. “He wasn’t at school, and he won’t answer my calls.”
Ivy and Gabriel looked at each other.
“There’s no need to panic, Bethany,” said Ivy kindly. “There are plenty of reasons why he might not be answering his phone.”
“What if he’s unwell?”
“We would have sensed it,” Gabriel reassured me.
I nodded and tried to swallow my dinner, but the food stuck like glue in my throat. I didn’t want to speak to Ivy or Gabriel anymore; I just dragged myself up to bed feeling like the walls were closing in on me.
When I realized Xavier was absent from school the following day, my eyes burned and I felt hot and dizzy. I wanted to crumple to the ground and just wait for someone to carry me away. I couldn’t make it through another day without him; I could hardly make it through another minute. Where was he? What was he trying to do to me?
Molly saw me sagging against my locker. She walked up and put a hand gingerly on my shoulder.
“Bethie, are you okay, hon?”
“I need to speak to Xavier,” I said. “But I can’t get in touch with him.”
Molly bit her lip. “I think there’s something you need to see,” she said softly.
“What?” I asked, panic edging into my voice. “Is Xavier okay?”
“He’s fine,” Molly said. “Just come with me.”
She led me up to the third floor of the school and into one of the computer labs. It was a dull room with gray flecked carpet, no windows, and rows of computers, their blank screens staring at us. Molly flicked one on and pulled up a couple of chairs. She tapped her acrylic nails against the desk, humming in irritation. When the computer had finished loading, she clicked on an icon and rapidly typed something into the toolbar.
“What are you doing?” I asked and she turned to face me.
“You know how I told you about Facebook and how awesome it is?” she said.
I nodded blankly.
“Well, there are some parts that aren’t so awesome.”
“Like what?”
“Well… it’s not very private, for one thing.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
I knew she was getting at something, but I couldn’t figure out what, and judging from the look on her face, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. She was staring at me with a mixture of concern and dread. I knew Molly had a tendency to overreact so I tried not to panic. Her idea of disaster and mine were completely different.
Molly took a deep breath. “Okay… let me show you.”
