Chapter 15
"You can have the bed, I'll take the floor," I say as I drop my backpack onto the elaborate tasseled rug in the spare room that Ana had directed us to.
"Are you sure?" Lloyd asks as he steps past me.
"Yep. Go ahead." I grab a pillow off of the bed and an extra blanket that had been folded on a chair, then lay them down on the ground. "I'm so tired, I could probably sleep on a pile of legos if I had to."
Lloyd lets out a small chuckle before he climbs into the bed, and then I slip under the covers of my makeshift one. After he reaches over and turns off the lamp, I ask: "So, we leave in the morning?"
"That's what I was planning," he replies. "We really need to get Spookane soon so we can look for clues there."
I stare straight up at the ceiling, my eyes beginning to adjust to the darkness. "You know, I almost think that we should skip Spookane and head straight for Youngtown. I mean, you heard what Ana said about all those people going missing. I think that's our best bet for catching up with the aliens."
"Yes. . . But I don't think we should skip it. What if there's some important clues there that we would miss? And think about the melodies. They could be anywhere, right?"
I sigh. I guess he's right, but I hate the idea of constantly following in the aliens' footsteps and never catching up to them. By the time they actually do something big, something that could destroy the world, we would be a few steps too late.
"I wonder if Ana will come with us," I say, the thought suddenly popping into my mind.
"I doubt it," Lloyd says in the middle of a yawn. "I don't think she would just leave her dad like that."
"Yeah. . . But I'm really starting to think that her mom has been abducted. And for now, her dad is safe here—"
"Hypothetically," Lloyd interrupts.
"Plus," I ignore him and continue. "Queen Mary said that I would know who the 'other' kids are when I meet them, and I'm getting this feeling that Ana is one of them. Especially because she can use PSI and stuff. And you too. We could never have gotten this far if it wasn't for you."
"Mhm. . ." Lloyd drawls sleepily.
"But I just. . . I don't know about anything else," I continue. "Even though I understand more than I did before, I still don't know how much farther we need to go. And how much longer we'll be away from home." I sigh, remembering the last time I spoke to my mom on the phone back in Podunk, after Pippi left. I'd said I would call as often as I could, but I never did. Now I feel that I've left my family scared and confused, just like I'd been throughout this whole entire journey. I feel my heart sink into a pool of guilt. Maybe it's too late to call now. Perhaps they've actually gotten over being worried about me, and suddenly calling them would stir up all those terrible emotions and questions again. I don't want to do that to them.
"Lloyd, do you feel bad about keeping all of this a secret from your foster parents?" I ask into the darkness. There's no reply except for some quiet snores that my anxious thoughts had blocked out before.
He's asleep. I should be too. But it seems that I've gotten so used to having all these questions running through my mind that they now keep me from being able to relax, or even to concentrate on relaxing. I probably wouldn't even be able to lift a paper clip telekinetically if I tried. Also, it's so quiet here. There aren't any bugs or frogs or anything to lull me to sleep. Everything is silent except for the occasional ghostly howl of the wind. I guess it's close to one o'clock in the morning by now, but I have a feeling that it's going to be a long, wakeful night.
I must have fallen asleep at some point, because just now, I have been brutally roused from my unconscious, yet surprisingly dreamless state, by someone tripping over my legs followed by a few shocking thuds.
"Ow!" The person hisses. "Oh, is that you, Ninten? Sorry, I didn't see you there."
"What the. . ." I mumble, rubbing sleep from my eyes and then shifting positions so I'm propped up on my elbows. "Ana?"
"Oh, where'd the stupid flashlight go?" The shadowy figure whom I presume is Ana moves onto all fours and begins sweeping her hands across the floor, searching for the dropped items.
I do the same, feeling along the blankets and floor boards until I come in contact with a cool, metal cylinder. Feeling a switch, I flip it on and shine the light beam directly in front of me; straight into Ana's squinting face. She's still wearing her pink dress and hat, as well as an unbuttoned coat, but her hair is no longer in pigtails. I hadn't really thought about it before, but with her messed-up hair and sleepy eyes, she actually looks kind of cute. . . a little like my sisters, I guess.
"Waahh! Turn it off! Turn it off!" She hisses, bringing her hands in front of her face and looking away.
I quickly fumble to set the switch back, and afterword, we're left in complete darkness again. As I watch green and purple dots dance in front of my eyes, Ana whispers: "We need to keep extra quiet and careful right now because Dad's a really light sleeper. I already woke him up once on the way downstairs and had to lie that I was getting a drink of water."
"What are you even doing in here?" I ask, my throat sounding scratchy.
"I'm coming with you guys."
"You're what?"
"I was picking up your's and Lloyd's brain waves earlier and heard that you were leaving in the morning. I made up my mind to come with you. If the aliens you're after have my mom," she takes a deep breath, "I'm not going to miss this chance to save her."
I must say that I'm surprised. I mean, I think it'd be great if she came with us, but I can sense a bit of reluctance in her voice. She doesn't even know half of what she's getting herself into because I haven't even told her about Magicant, which seems almost too crazy to describe to anyone. I can't believe I even told Lloyd about it. And picking up my brain waves? Can she do that all the time?
"Are you sure, Ana? I mean, what about your dad?" As soon as these words leave my mouth, Ana lets out a sigh and I can picture the guilty expression on her face.
"I . . . I left a note. . .," she replies in a soft, almost childish voice. "It's the only way I'll be able to do it." Ana pauses and lets out another sigh. "I feel bad about leaving, but I'd much rather take a few risks to bring my family back together than not do anything and have it torn apart. You know?"
I nod, but then remember that it's too dark to see, so I murmur, "Yes. I understand."
Silence ensues before a strong gust of wind sweeps across the window. Being so warm and comfortable inside the house, I'd nearly forgotten about the cold and dangerous world outside.
"Well, if we're leaving, I guess we should probably get Lloyd up." I make a tired effort to stand, but Ana grabs my arm.
"Wait," she whispers. "If you don't mind me asking, who is this Queen Mary person you mentioned earlier, when you and Lloyd were talking? Oh! And the melodies?"
Oh, come on, do I really have to do this now? At what, like three in the morning? "You know, it's complicated and I'd rather not talk about it right now. Maybe later, after we leave."
"Okay," Ana whines, disappointed. "But anyway, you're right. We better get Lloyd up so we can start heading for the train station. I brought you guys's shoes up here. They're still a bit wet, but it's better than no shoes at all." She stands up and approaches the bed where Lloyd is curled up in the blankets like a moth in a cocoon; still lost in the dream world.
"I'd be careful if I were you," I warn Ana as I pull my damp sneakers over my feet. "He's not exactly himself when he first wakes up. From my experiences, at least."
After finding my hat and securing it over my head, I join Ana by the bedside. She lightly prods Lloyd's arm and whispers his name, earning nothing but a stir. I take the initiative and lean over to shake him harder. "Lloyd, wake up," I command.
This time, he groans and rolls over. "Lloyd," I begin, "It's time to leave for the train station, so you need to get up."
"Hmm?" He pulls his arms out from under the blanket and rubs his eyes. "Nuh-uh. Who said we had to leave this early? What time is it, anyway?"
"It's a little after four," Ana whispers. "We have to leave before my dad wakes up, or else I'll never be able to go."
"You're coming with us?" Lloyd asks in surprise.
"Yep."
"But. . . what about your dad?"
"Lloyd," I break in. "We've already gone over that. Let's just hurry up and go." I grab his arm and pull him into an upright position.
"Okay, okay." He slaps my hand away. "Just give me a minute."
"Here are your shoes," Ana says, handing a pair of sneakers to Lloyd, who then sits on the edge of the bed and tugs them on. "And there's some coats over
here." Ana moves over to the wall and slides a closet door open. I hear a small click before a dim light floods the room in an eerie glow.
"They're a bit big," she says apologetically, "but again, they're better than none."
"Thanks," I say, taking a dark brown one from her, and handing the second gray one to Lloyd.
Ana then switches off the light and moves over to the window where she pushes back the curtains, letting calm white moonlight shine into the room as fat, fluffy snowflakes drift gracefully past the glass. She turns back to us, one side of her face illuminated by the moonlight. "Okay, do you have everything?" she asks, pointing the flashlight at us even though it isn't on.
After he finishes buttoning his coat, Lloyd slides off the bed and grabs his messenger bag while I hoist my backpack onto my shoulders. After quickly scanning the room for anything forgotten, I give Ana a thumbs up.
"All right," She exhales. "Just follow me." Bending over, Ana turns the window crank multiple times until it's wide open. A gentle, yet freezing gust of wind blows into the room along with flurries of snow, causing all of us to shiver.
"We're going out the window?" Lloyd asks apprehensively as we join Ana next to it.
"Yeah. . ," she murmurs, gazing hesitantly over the windowsill. "But I didn't think it was that big of a drop." As another gust of wind blows her hair into a wild frenzy, Ana sways a little and turns back to us. "Um, does somebody else want to go first? I don't want to." She pushes past us to stand behind me, and Lloyd hangs back with his arms crossed, trying to look casual.
"Fine, I'll go," I say, since apparently they see me as the brave one. I step forward and put one leg over the windowsill, staring down at the thick blanket of snow. I'll estimate that we are about twelve to fifteen feet up, and there's nothing to shorten the fall; it's just a flat brick wall all the way to the ground.
Holding on to the windowsill tightly, I swing my other leg over and gasp as I almost lose my grip and am left hanging parallel to the side of the brick house. I look over my shoulder at the ground, which now seems a much greater distance away than twelve feet.
"Are you okay?" Ana whispers, both her and Lloyd gazing down at me from inside the room.
"Ask me that once I'm on the ground," I say in a shaky voice, glancing over my shoulder a second time and gulping. I have to admit, this is nerve-wracking. Especially since my hands are the only things keeping me from falling and I can barely feel them anymore due to the cold. However, I'm not going to chicken out like a sissy in front of Lloyd and Ana. Definitely not in front of Ana. I mean, this is nothing compared to what I see the high school kids doing-riding off of roofs on their bikes and jumping off them into pools and stuff. Sure, they've got guts, but Mom told me that stunts like those also require a good amount of stupidity too.
I can't understand why I'm even scared. If I break a leg, Ana can always heal it, right? If I'm supposed to be the brave one, then I might as well start proving it to myself.
Without even taking a deep breath, I push off the side of the house with my right foot and within two seconds, hit the ground. Much to my amazement, I first land on my feet, and then fall backward and roll through the snow. My feet throb for a few seconds, but I get my bearings and stand up, brushing snow off my coat.
"You okay?" Ana asks again. "That looked like it hurt."
"I'm all right," I reply after regaining my balance. "It didn't hurt at all, and I'll be down here to help you."
"Okay. . ," she murmurs. "Here, catch this." She tosses the flashlight out the window and I lunge forward to grab it. After I place it temporarily in my pocket and step back a ways, Ana turns around and copies my moves, letting out a small cry once she's left dangling from the windowsill. "No! I can't do it! It's-It's too high!"
"Yes you can! It always looks higher than it really is, and your feet are closer to the ground than your head, of course."
"This was a bad idea. . ."
"It'll be over in a second. Come on, I did it, and I'm fine!"
She keeps her head turned straight toward the side of the house and doesn't move an inch.
"Really, it's only-" I cut myself off when Ana suddenly pushes away from the wall and falls in the same fashion that I had. Her dress poofs out slightly during her short descent, and puffs of snow spray upwards upon her landing. She falls backwards into the snow, but I'm there to catch her before her head hits the ground.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
She immediately pops up on her feet and starts brushing snow off of her dress and flattening it down, her cheeks flushed in a look of embarrassment. "You didn't see anything did you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, good," a look of relief flashes across her face. "It's nothing, really! Never mind!"
I'm genuinely confused. I'll never be able to understand girls.
"How am I supposed to get the window closed?" Lloyd calls down to us, trying to maintain a whisper.
"You're just going to have to leave it for now," Ana responds. "Dad will close it in the morning."
We both wrap our arms around ourselves in an attempt to retain warmth while watching Lloyd begin to climb out the window. He sets one leg out, then pulls it back in, and then appears to study the side of the house and the ground below. Ana shifts her weight from foot to foot and hops up and down a few times. I just stand and shiver.
"Hurry up, Lloyd! We're turning into snowmen down here!" I yell impatiently.
"All right, all right!" I hear him hiss, then he mumbles something inaudible. Reluctantly and awkwardly, he performs his descent out the window and lands in the snow the same way Ana had. He readjusts his glasses, then stands up to brush snow from his khakis.
"Still in one piece?" I slap him on the back.
"Yeah."
"Great!" I hold the flashlight out to him. "Want to carry this? There's no room in my backpack."
"It's weird for the moon to be so clear on a snowy night like this," Ana says, finger-combing her shoulder-length hair and tying it back into low pigtails. "I thought for sure that we would need the flashlight out here, but I guess not."
"We'll probably need it eventually," Lloyd remarks, placing the flashlight neatly into his messenger bag. "So it's good that we have it, just in case."
"Right. Now let's head out." I don my backpack and prepare to start walking in any direction.
"Just follow me," Ana says, turning her back to us. "We'll take a shortcut through the fields and move back into town on the far side." She starts walking and Lloyd and I are quick to follow.
We gradually cut away from civilized Snowman, and are left with a great expanse of rolling hills set before us—blemished only by a few evergreens and old farmhouses. It's almost like a frozen lake; a frozen, hidden lake concealed by the mountain peaks rising up on the horizon. My eye traces the edges of the surrounding slopes, black with pines against the light of the moon. For the first time since arriving here, I've realized how high up we are, and how much of a pinpoint the mountains, meadow, and tall trees make me feel.
We stay rather close to town and merely walk along it's edge, but I can't stop staring across that great blanket of untouched snow. I marvel at how perfectly even and smooth it is, but I also feel the desire to streak across the meadow as fast as I can with the frozen air racing through my windpipe. I want to stomp, throw, and roll around in that snow, not caring at all if I am wet and cold. I don't necessarily want to destroy such a perfect spectacle, but I feel like it would all be wasted if no one did anything with it.
I cut my gaze from the meadow to stare up at the sky, watching the cloud of my breath rush across the dark backdrop. The moon peeks out from between two wispy gray clouds, a little less than a perfect circle, yet appearing so much larger than it does at home. I wonder if Neil Armstrong felt the same way when he set foot on the moon nearly twenty years ago, able to explore it's craters and leave footprints in the previously untouched moon dust.
"So, you care to tell me about Queen Mary now?" Ana's voice interrupts my thoughts and I snap back to reality.
"Huh?"
"I asked if you want to tell me about Queen Mary."
"Oh. Do I want to? No."
"But Ninten, you said—"
"Besides, can't you just read my mind to find out?"
"But I don't want to do that. I hate that."
"Well, I'm sorry," I say. "I don't think it's safe to talk about it right now, anyway."
"There's nobody out here, Ninten. It's just us, and you already told Lloyd."
"Yeah, well, I regret doing that. I wasn't thinking. I mean, the aliens could be listening."
"But if the aliens are trying to take over the world or whatever, then I'm sure that they have better things to do than eavesdrop on our conversations. Especially since we're way behind them."
"She's with us now, Ninten. I'm sorry, but I think she deserves to know," Lloyd mutters.
I huff and slump my shoulders. "But even I don't understand everything. Queen Mary was nothing but cryptic, and a lot of the things in my grandpa's diary don't make any sense. It'll sound so stupid."
"It doesn't matter, just tell me," Ana says.
I let out another sigh. "Okay, fine, just remember that I'm not crazy. It will seem like it, but I'm not. So Queen Mary's this lady who rules over a place called Magicant. It's like a dream world kind of thing, with clouds that you can walk on, animals that talk, and a bunch of weird elf—no—wizard-like people. Anyway, Queen Mary used to sing a song that contained eight melodies, but she's depressed because she can't remember them, and she asked me to find them for her and help her remember." I pause and take a deep breath. "Apparently the song is the key to some special power that I'm supposed to use to fight the aliens. She's the one who told me I would find you guys—well, she didn't say it would be you two specifically—and that we would work together to use the power of the melodies and destroy the greatest evil. There, I said it."
There's complete silence except for the sound of snow crunching beneath our shoes. At last, Ana speaks. "But. . . I don't get it. How does one go about finding melodies to a song?"
"Ugh. See? I told you it's stupid." I roll my eyes.
"No, not stupid. Just confusing." Ana says thoughtfully. "And when you say she spoke to you, do you mean in a dream? Sort of like how I dreamt about you?"
"Uh. . . yeah! Sort of like that." Yes! A perfect reason that doesn't make me sound like a total idiot. However, out of the corner of my eye, I see Lloyd shoot me a look. After all, he knows that this whole Magicant business was more than a simple dream. He knows that I had actually, physically, been there. I shrug my shoulders at him. It was hardly a white lie, and it really won't make much difference in the end if it had been physically real or just a dream, because I'm psychic. That means it was real no matter which way I experienced it, right?
Besides, by the end of this journey, if we happen to find all of the melodies, we'll all go back to Magicant, anyway. At least, that's what Queen Mary said we would do. So then, Ana will just be able to see it for herself, rather than having to be convinced by me that it's real. Physically real.
"Hmm. . . Okay, well, thanks for telling me," Ana says in a hushed, rather disconnected voice. It seems as if she's trying to make meaning of it all, and possibly rethinking her motives for joining us on this mission. I consider walking up to her, apologizing, telling the truth, and explaining even further about how I don't understand any of it either, and how she shouldn't worry about it. However, telling her that it hadn't merely been a dream might confuse her even more, and since she's not showing any physical signs of wanting to turn back and run home, I'm just going to leave the matter as it is for now.
All of us are silent until we reach the train station. The lights buzz and flicker above us, illuminating the nearly vacant platform. There's only about seven other people waiting to board the four-thirty train. All of the ticket windows are shut except one, behind which sits a lady wearing her dark hair pulled up in a ponytail and earmuffs. I start sliding my backpack off my shoulders to get some money, but Ana stops me.
"Don't worry," she says, holding out a wad of bills. "I got us all covered."
"Huh? Are you sure? Where did you get all that?"
"Birthday money from last year. I forgot that I'd put it all up for saving. I don't know what else I'd want to spend it on, so it's perfectly fine with me."
"Okay. Well, thanks."
"It's no problem."
Lloyd and I hang back as Ana approaches the window to buy our tickets. Just as she begins heading back to us, the train chugs into the station and the doors all swing open.
"Wow, perfect timing!" Ana exclaims as she approaches us and passes out our tickets. "Come on, let's get out of this cold." She grabs my hand, I grab Lloyd's, and we all make a dash for the closest coach. Heat is there to meet us as we climb on board and sit down together.
A few minutes pass before the train starts moving. There's barely any noise. Only a few voices can be heard throughout the train coach, and we certainly aren't contributing to them. Across from me, Ana is staring blankly out the window at the mounds of snow and town buildings, and Lloyd is fiddling with the adjustment buckle on his messenger bag. I suppose that this is a good chance to catch up on sleep. I don't know how far away Spookane is, but it would be nice to pass the time.
I lean my head back and pull my hat down over my eyes, fully intent on escaping the world for a while.
"Hey, Ninten, don't go falling asleep on us," Ana scolds.
I push my hat back up, a little annoyed. "Why not? We aren't doing anything."
"Well, we're supposed to be a team. We should talk about something."
"Like what? We already know what the plan is; to go to Spookane and then Youngtown so we can track down the aliens and possibly find more melodies."
"Yeah, but I think the plan needs to be more organized than that." She shifts in her seat. "Like, what exactly is there in Spookane that will help us out?"
Lloyd suddenly jumps in. "Well, I know that there's always reports of supernatural occurrences—poltergeists, for instance—that may be able to give us some clues."
"Yeah," I say, unconvinced. "but those are more like ghost stories. Not aliens. Besides, I think a lot of that stuff is fake."
Suddenly Lloyd straightens up. "Oh no! That may be true for some, but just wait until I tell you about what happened in the old Rosemary house. This was for real, and it's quite unnerving!"
"I don't like scary stories," Ana murmurs, fidgeting in her seat.
"Oh, it isn't scary like that," Lloyd assures. "It's creepy, but I wouldn't say that it's something that could give you nightmares or anything."
"Well. . . All right, then." She sits straight forward again with her hands under her thighs, staring solemnly down at her lap.
"You don't have to listen if you don't want to," I say.
"Thanks, but it's okay, really. I guess it would be a little hard not to." Ana lifts her head and forces a smile at me, then turns to stare out the window.
"So," Lloyd begins, "It all began back in the '30s. 1936 to be exact. Beaumont Rosemary was this young man who had become a very successful business person. He established his own casino in Spookane, which back then was dry countryside with nothing but a trading post and a single road running through it. You'd think the new casino wouldn't get much attention, being out in the middle of nowhere. However, the single road just so happened to be one that many people traveled by to get to Ellay, which was a booming city even then. Gambling had become a big thing back in those days, and not many travelers would pass up the opportunity to do so closer to home. As the casino gained popularity, Beaumont Rosemary got his name in the paper, and the news of his success attracted even more people.
"Before too long, there were so many visitors that a town began to develop, beginning with the Beaumont Hotel, which was the second place to be built. People from all over came to stay there. Even movie stars from Ellay! People moved, built homes, ran drug stores, and one thing just led to another.
"Beaumont met his future wife Clara in 1939, and he had Rosemary Manor built as a wedding gift for her. They had two daughters and lived a rich, healthy lifestyle in the thriving, beautiful town for many years. They lived happily ever after. . ."
"How is that scary?" I interject after the pause.
"Hey, I'm not done yet!" Lloyd snaps at me, then clears his throat loudly and continues. "They lived happily ever after. . . is what I wish I could say. However, the burden of owning so many businesses began to have an effect on Beaumont. He became so stressed out that he started to go crazy. He would never leave his house or accept any visitors, not even his business colleagues."
Lloyd glances around the train coach, then leans in close and whispers, "They say he went so insane that one night in 1948, he murdered his wife and daughters in their sleep with an axe and hid their bodies in the walls. . . All the while chanting a death curse in Latin."
Visibly disturbed, Ana shivers across from me. I, however, am not buying anything Lloyd just said about the murders.
"Okay, I think you're making this up," I remark.
He leans back in his seat. ". . . Yeah, well, I made up the chanting part," he admits, "That was merely for added effect. What did you think? Did it scare you?"
"Not in the slightest." I look back to Ana, who's sitting stiffly and facing her lap again. "Although I think some others might say differently. Anyway, did anything happen after that?"
"Yeah. Supposedly after he'd done that, Beaumont fled into the desert to escape suspicion and accusation, and to live out the rest of his insane life. For all those past years, the Rosemary's were like the governors of Spookane, and without them, the town fell apart. Businesses shut down, people moved out, and as of now, it's not far off from becoming a ghost town. The Rosemary house is rumored to be haunted by Beaumont's wife and daughters, so it serves as a haunted historical attraction. About five years ago, the Beaumont Hotel was going to be renovated so that tourists could stay there, however, the Rosemary house began to lose it's popularity over time. It was decided that it wasn't worth the money to fix up the hotel if no one was going to stay there, so it remains neglected and run down."
"That's really too bad," Ana whispers, glancing up. "I've seen pictures of Spookane now, but I can only imagine how nice it must have been before. It's sad to think that people would just let those old buildings go to ruin."
I nod my head in silent agreement, but my thoughts quickly wander back to Beaumont Rosemary.
Going crazy. Wanting to be alone. Fleeing from society. It could just be a coincidence, but the whole story, aside from the murders, reminds me so much of what Grandpa had gone through. Both him and Beaumont Rosemary had been popular, successful people, and then everything tumbled downhill for them. I just don't understand how, in Beaumont's case, it led to murder. However, that may not be true. Just because the rumors say that Beaumont Rosemary murdered his family doesn't mean he actually did. Who knows what really could have happened.
My grandmother had been abducted. I suppose there might have been rumors about Grandpa having murdered her too, but that wouldn't make any sense, because the whole town had been aware of what was really going on, and nearly all had experienced the frightening events that had occurred during the first encounter with the aliens. Maybe Beaumont's family had actually been abducted, but society couldn't think of any better excuse than to say that they were murdered. A lot of things match up, except that Grandpa had spent the rest of his life researching PSI and trying to get my grandmother back. What had Beaumont been doing besides running away?
I want there to be a connection. I could just be over thinking this whole thing, but the stories are so close. I wish there was a way to find out more. Are there people we can contact that might know something? It's probably a little odd for a twelve year old kid to want to arrange a meeting and discuss something like this, a case that has been dead for such a long time, but if it helps us in the end, to me, it's worth the risks. But, assuming that what Lloyd knows is true, Beaumont has no living descendants or other known connections. . . Unless. . . Unless he, himself, is still living.
Suddenly struck with this possibility, I do some math in my head. It's been roughly forty years since the supposed murders, and assuming that Beaumont had been somewhere in his thirties, he'd have to be about seventy-something now. If he had truly fled into the wilderness and never returned, then it isn't very likely that he is still alive. It's not impossible, though.
"Is something the matter, Ninten?" Ana's voice interrupts my thoughts.
"Hm?" I suddenly realize that I'm staring sideways out the window and chewing my thumbnail. I immediately jerk my hand away from my face. "No, sorry, I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"About a lot of things."
"Oh." She appears curious. "Do you want to talk about them with us?"
"Nah. . ." I give a short wave of my hand and lean back against the seat. "I don't mean to be rude, but I would really just like to rest right now."
Ana's gaze falls downward. "Well, okay, I guess. I'm not tired, so Lloyd, if you want to sleep too, you can. I'll stay up and wake you guys when we get there."
I mumble an "okay," but I don't know for sure if I actually said it aloud or in my head. Either way, Ana probably heard it. I will probably just pretend to sleep, since it's nearly impossible with so much on my mind, but I'm grateful for any rest at all. If I do end up sleeping, maybe some answers will come to me through my dreams. Maybe, but probably not.
Oh well. I should know that by now, anyway.
Chapter 16
"Hey, wake up Ninten. We're here."
After being gently prodded a few times, I slowly open my eyes to the bright lights of the train coach; my ears filling with the sounds of chatter and continuous rhythmic tapping. Is it raining?
Having been slumped low in my seat, I sit up straight and squint groggily out the window. Sure enough, raindrops are hitting the glass and running off in shimmery little streams. It's dark, too, like the beginning of nightfall. Jeez, did it seriously take us all day to get here?
"Is it night already?" I ask, incredulous.
"Nope," replies Lloyd, "Believe it or not, it's eight o'clock in the morning. But the rainclouds take up the entire sky and block out the sun." He moves out of his seat to stand next to Ana in the aisle.
"Are you sure they're all rain—," I begin, thinking that the dark cloud could be present.
"Let's figure stuff out once we're off the train," Ana suggests. "They're waiting for us to get off."
"Right," I agree, still recovering from my stupor.
I stand up and follow the others through the coach and out onto the platform, where we stand to take in our surroundings. Soon, the train whooshes steam, blows it's horn, and chugs off, abandoning us.
"We're the only ones here," Ana says after a minute of silence.
"It sure seems that way," I reply, scanning the empty station. Gray walls, a bulletin board covered in old propaganda, overflowing trash cans, a capsized yellow caution sign outside of two bathroom doors, a line of five pay phones on the wall, and a succession of ticket booth windows. None of these were open; their graffiti covered shutters are all pulled down and locked in place.
We're safe and dry under the roof of the station, but outside, the rain is pouring down in heavy sheets of fat droplets. The monstrous gray clouds hang low in the sky, stretching on for what seems like miles into the distance.
"I must say that this rainy weather is quite odd," Lloyd says thoughtfully. "Usually, Spookane experiences hot and dry weather, for it is out of the mountains and bordered by Yucca Desert to the southwest."
"I think we should stay here until the storm passes." Ana starts walking toward the nearest bench set against the brick wall. "It's no use venturing out and getting lost in the rain."
"Oh, we won't get lost! We all know where we're going. Straight to Rosemary Manor," Lloyd declares.
"But do you know exactly what route we need to follow?"
"Those brochures over there probably have a map we can look at." Lloyd gestures to one of the ticket windows, and jogs over to pull a thin brochure from a pamphlet holder. He unfolds the faded looking paper, studies it for a few seconds, and then runs back to me.
"Yeah, see? We're here," Lloyd points at dull gray rectangle on the map. "and the Rosemary house is over here," he drags his finger diagonally across the map to a black dot labeled "Rosemary Manor Historical Site."
"So, we can follow these roads through town to get there. It's a bit of a walk, but not too bad."
Ana approaches behind us and stares at the map, a frown beginning to appear on her face. "But it's all the way on the other side of town. We'll catch cold if we walk all the way there in the rain."
"If we get sick," I begin, "wouldn't you be able to heal us?"
Instead of answering, Ana just turns her head and glares at me incredulously, as if she is shocked at what I'd said, and surprised that I'm not backing her up. "I'm not a mobile hospital, you know. Healing takes a lot of energy and you should understand that, Ninten. Most importantly though, it's too dangerous to go wandering around in a storm, whether I can heal sickness or not."
"Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound that way. Anyway, I get what your saying, but by looking at those clouds, it could be hours before this weather clears up. I think we should just go."
Suddenly, a bright flash lights up the sky, and huge clap of thunder follows, causing Lloyd to jump and Ana to let out a small shriek as she throws her hands up to cover her ears. As the noise rumbles off into the distance, she pivots around sharply and marches over to a bench, plopping herself down with certainty. "I don't know about you guys, but I am staying right here until this storm passes," she says matter-of-factly. "If you really want to get struck by lightening, then go ahead without me."
"No, we can stay—" Lloyd takes a step toward the bench where Ana is seated, only to be stopped by me.
"We aren't going to get anywhere by just sitting here," I remark towards Ana.
"Well, we aren't going to get anywhere if we're all dead, either," she argues.
"If we wait, the world is going to be destroyed, and we'll all die anyway."
"I'm staying here."
"No you're not. Like you said, we're supposed to be a team, and I thought you wanted to find your mom."
"I do want to find my mom."
"Then let's go."
"No."
"Then Lloyd and I will go to Rosemary Manor without you."
"Fine."
"Fine."
"Fine!"
"Fine! Come on, Lloyd, let's go." I grab Lloyd's arm and march toward the end of the platform.
Lloyd trips over his feet as he's dragged awkwardly behind me, and I finally let go. However, he regains his footing and rushes up to stand in front of me. "Ninten, wait! Are you seriously just going to leave her behind like that?"
I just stare at him hard and don't say anything. Then I casually step around him and continue heading to the end of the platform. Lloyd hesitates, but then chases after me and grabs my shoulder. "Stop, okay? We can't just leave her. There's stray dogs and gangs that hang out around here and something bad could happen. Obviously, she's afraid of thunderstorms, and that's why she doesn't want to go."
"I caught that, smarty-pants. It's just that we're already going up against something dangerous, so she needs to stop being a girly-girl drama queen and learn that thunderstorms are the last things she needs to be worrying about."
I'm actually a little taken aback when Lloyd scowls at me, because I'd never seen him look like that before. "You know?" he says, his violet eyes narrowing. "I really want to find more clues too, but I'm not going until the whole team is ready. Someone once told me that I need to stand up for myself and be more confident, and I'm going to take their advice." He raises one pale hand into the air. "I vote for staying here with Ana until the storm passes."
Lloyd looks defiant as he holds his hand up in the air, then slowly lowers it and turns around, heading back to the bench that Ana is hunched over on. I'm left boiling, and I clench my hands into fists. What a smart-ass! It's annoying as hell knowing that it was my own advice that he'd used to spit in my face. He was supposed to act like that to the bullies at school, not to me! I'm no bully!
I huff and slide down to sit against the wall, continuing to stew in my pot of annoyance and anger, staring hard into the downpour. What do they think this is? Just a silly game where you can take a break and start over whenever you want? Where it's okay to be scared of lame-o things like thunderstorms, and not try to prepare yourself for things that are a million times worse? I doubt Grandpa was scared of anything as stupid as that. And he'd done this all on his own. I'm going to try my hardest to be like him: fearless and determined. I feel like everyone's going to have to be like that if we are to accomplish anything.
After a while, the rain becomes almost hypnotic, and I soon cool down a bit. I lean back more and relax against the wall, turning my head and spotting a dented 7-Up can lying on the ground next to me. Without thinking, I pick it up, and turn it around in my hands. Suddenly, a huge brown cockroach darts out of the opening onto my arm and I gasp, chucking the can away from me and brushing the bug off my arm. It lands on the cement and wags it's spindly antennas for a few seconds. Then it quickly scuttles into a thin hole under the brick wall.
I shudder involuntarily and move away from the wall, brushing my clothing to check for any more unwelcome hitchhikers. That was the first time I'd ever seen—and felt—a real live cockroach, and it freaked the heck out of me. Shuddering again, I stand up and look over to the bench where Lloyd and Ana are sitting together. I suddenly feel left out, but also unwelcome to join them. Now that I really think about it, Lloyd had every right to stand up to me. I was being a real jerk, and I don't even understand why. I want Ana to like me. She'd been so excited when we had first met, and I feel like we could become really great friends. But I wasn't treating her like a friend at all. I was being selfish and unfair to her. To both of my friends.
From where I'm standing I hear Ana laugh. My stomach sinks and a small wave of jealousy washes over me. It could be me over there making her laugh, but no, I had to go off and be a total butt-head.
I make up my mind that I'm not going to let the "jerk" me take control any longer. I'm not going to let Ana or Lloyd come to hate me.
With this mindset, I stride over to the bench and plop down next to Ana, staring off ahead of me and acting as if nothing had happened. They'd been laughing again as I approached, but now both Lloyd and Ana are silent.
I turn my head towards Ana, and she turns away in response. I hesitate. ". . . Look, Ana. . . guys. . . I'm sorry," I force the words out.
There's a few seconds of awkward silence. "Is that really all you have to say?" Lloyd asks.
I huff and throw my hands in the air. "I'm sorry for being a big fat jerk, okay?!" I yell. "Satisfied?!"
"Sheesh, are you sure?" Lloyd laughs. "It seems like you're still being one."
Why in the heck is he laughing? I jump up and jab a finger in Lloyd's face. "Since when did you start being such a smart-ass?!"
Lloyd has exploded into full-blown laughter, and he hold his hands up in defense. Ana stands up between us and lightly pushes my arm down. "It's okay Ninten, I forgive you."
I'm still glowering at Lloyd, but then forget about him as I realize what Ana just said. "You do?"
"Of course I do! You know, the Bible says that one is supposed to forgive someone seventy times seven times. I'm sure Lloyd does too." We both glance at him.
He's recovered from his fit of laughter and gives us a short nod. "But you better be careful," he says solemnly, "because once you've been a jerk 490 times, we can never forgive you again."
"Oh, just shut up!" I scowl at Lloyd.
"That isn't true," Ana says. "I don't believe that it's supposed to be taken literally at all. It means that you're supposed to forgive someone infinite times!" She sits back down, and pats the spot next to her. "Now, friends aren't supposed to argue, so let's just sit down and pretend this never happened."
"Sounds good to me," I say, sitting back down. "And as soon as the rain stops, we'll be on our way together."
So, we sit there, staring out at the dark gray storm and willing it to end. Ana leans her head toward me for a second and murmurs, "Thanks, Ninten."
"Mhm." I nod.
I don't know for sure how long we've waited. All I know is that Ana's asleep, and Lloyd looks like he will be within a few minutes. The rain has died down to a sprinkle and the thunder has stopped, but the clouds remain dark and heavy, threatening to open up at any second into more torrential downpour. Maybe it's calmed down enough so that Ana would be willing to head out. I guess the fact that she's fallen asleep says enough.
I'm about to shake her awake, but one of the telephones lined up on the wall does it for me. We all start as the shrill ringing blasts out and pierces through the sullen quiet that the station was a few seconds before.
"Ugh, someone make it stop!" Ana yells groggily, appearing disoriented.
Quickly hopping up from the bench, I dash toward the row of pay phones, then stop in front of them, trying to determine which is the one ringing. I make a guess, and thankfully, am correct.
"Um, hello? Spookane train sta—aaahhh!" I jerk the receiver away from my ear, my face turning sour. "The heck?"
"What? Who is it?" Ana asks from the bench, wearing a worried expression.
"More like what is it." I remark in disgust, slamming the phone back in its place. From the other end, there had been an earsplitting, metallic squealing, like when someone holds a microphone too close to an amp.
I turn around and start walking slowly back to the bench, shaking my head.
"That shouldn't be possible," Lloyd declares. "Pay phones cannot be called."
"Aah! What?!" I whip around as another one of the phones starts blasting. I lunge forward and grab it, holding it far away from my head as a precaution. Sure enough, the obnoxious screeching comes blaring out the receiver. I hold it out towards Ana and Lloyd. They appear curious as they stand up and take a few steps closer. Suddenly, Ana stops.
"Jeez, I can hear that from all the way over here!" She exclaims.
"That is incredibly irksome," Lloyd adds.
I nod and place the phone back. As soon as I do, another one starts ringing, and then another, and another. Even the ones that are out of order start blasting away.
Ana is visibly frightened and she sprints a small ways back to the bench before pivoting back around, her hands over her ears. Lloyd takes a few steps back as well. I'm staring wide-eyed at the line of phones, feeling flustered as I begin reaching for one after another and slamming them all back into place.
After this, there's no more ringing. With my hand still on the last receiver, I shut my eyes and take a breath. Then I turn around and stare at Lloyd and Ana. None of us have any words at first.
". . . I still don't see how that was possible." Lloyd swallows. "Maybe the station is. . . haunted?"
Ana shuts her eyes tight. "Don't even start that!"
I shoot him a look. "No Lloyd, let's be real here."
"I am being real!" He looks offended. "Who's to say that the station's not haunted?"
I roll my eyes. "Look, I'm not saying it isn't, okay? Ghosts just aren't our problem right now."
"So. . . what was it, then?" Ana asks timidly. "Could the thunderstorm have messed up the phone lines or something?"
"Maybe." I want to believe that this is the answer, however, it seems almost too logical. "But I think it was something a lot worse."
"Poltergeist." Lloyd whispers. Bingo.
"This kind of stuff always happens when that dark cloud is present," I say. "But it's impossible to tell if it's here with all these rain clouds." I gesture to the sky.
"But, I thought the aliens were ahead of us. . ." Ana says.
"Could be that we were wrong," I surmise. "Or they could've come back."
"Or, Ana could be right, and it really was just the storm," Lloyd adds this speculation back into the pile.
I sigh. "Right." I guess I should consider the logical explanation a bit more. I could just be jumping to conclusions again, like I always do.
But I just can't drown the feeling that it wasn't the thunderstorm, and it definitely wasn't a ghost. I just can't get rid of the thought that it was the aliens. I feel that they are the ones that caused this little incident, and whether they had just arrived or were coming back didn't matter. Because either way, they're here.
So yeah, here it is finally! Thanks for being so patient, everyone :)
I'm sorry that not a lot happens in these chapters, but I still hope it was at least kind of worth the wait. And if not, at least you can rest assured that I'm still working on it!