As I watched, Wolfgang started to shake, and a minute later hair sprouted all over his face, his jaw elongated, and sharp fangs jutted from his mouth.
"Wolfgang!" his mother said. "Please control yourself."
"He's so upset," his dad said to the raven-haired woman. "Mr. Davis was his favorite teacher."
The beautiful woman put a comforting hand on his arm. "He's young," she said in a soothing voice. "Controlling a shift takes years of practice. Let me talk to him." She threw her cloak over Wolfgang to hide his condition and led him out of the building.
I had no idea that the Paxtons were shape-shifters. Was the beautiful woman a shape-shifter too? She seemed to know what she was talking about when she spoke of shifting.
I heard someone calling my name from another doorway down the hall. It was Poppy summoning me to the Tranquility Room.
"I should have figured you'd be in here," I said. There was Gage, pacing in front of the fireplace.
"Gage just told me there was a Nightshade City Council meeting here last night," Poppy said excitedly. My ears perked up.
"Was it about Mr. Davis?" I asked.
Gage nodded. "They think they know who killed him. The Scourge."
I frowned. Who or what was the Scourge? Where had I heard that before? "Are you sure that's what they said? They didn't mention a werewolf?" I asked Gage.
Gage nodded resolutely. "I was there the whole time. The Skull with the gavel said the Scourge was involved."
I flopped down on a velvet-covered couch to think. So much for a spy on the inside. Gage's information wasn't much help. But he and Poppy weren't focused on the case anyway—they were flirting in the corner. I had to admit there was something appealing about Gage. He was still sexy, even though he was see-through.
The door inched open and Rose and Nicholas entered. "I noticed you two disappeared," Rose said. "I figured you must be here."
I could hear Elise's voice wafting from the Eternal Rest Room. I couldn't hear everything, but it was clear she was giving a speech about her cousin.
"I recognize that voice," Gage said. "The girl with the amber eyes. She was at the city council meeting." Poppy looked a little annoyed at Gage's wistful description. I didn't want to remind her that she shouldn't be the one jealous of Elise.
I sat up, eager to hear more. "So if the Wilders are part of the city council, that must mean there's something ... different about them," I observed. I looked to Nicholas for confirmation.
"Yes, Daisy, the Wilders are shifters," he admitted.
"So Mr. Davis was a werewolf?"
He shook his head. "There are many kinds of shifters—wolves, big cats, even fluffy little bunnies."
Fluffy little bunnies? I swallowed a giggle.
"Well, do you think it was a Were that killed Mr. Davis?" Poppy asked, tactful as usual.
Nicholas looked stung. "No, in fact I know it wasn't," he said. "But whoever did it went to great lengths to make it look like a Were attack."
"How do you know?" I asked.
"I thoroughly inspected the body before my father prepared it for burial," Nicholas said. "Those marks were made by a human, probably using some sort of metal instrument to make it look like he was clawed. We Weres have excellent olfactory senses, you know." With that he swept out of the room.
"I hope we didn't offend Nicholas," Poppy said. Rose shot her a sharp look and followed after him.
I didn't feel like being a third wheel on Poppy's date with the dead, so I returned to the Eternal Rest Room, which was clearing out after the service. Ryan wasn't there. Neither was Elise.
My mom was still there, talking quietly with Chief Mendez. Were they flirting? It was hard to tell. "I'm telling you, Pete," I heard her saying as I got closer. "I can't help that. It's what I see. A cup. Nothing more."
The chief's brow was creased in concentration, but he snapped out of it and smiled when he saw me approaching.
"There you are, Daisy," Mom said. "Let's get going. Are your sisters coming?"
"I think they want to hang out here a little longer," I said.
We said good-bye to the chief. "Daisy, Ryan told me to tell you good night for him," he said. "He's sorry that he had to go without talking to you, but something came up."
I shrugged. What else was new?
In the car, Mom asked me if everything was okay with Ryan and me.
"He's avoiding me," I admitted. "Something's wrong, but I don't know what."
Mom looked sympathetic. "Oh, don't worry about it so much, Daisy," she said. "It's probably just temporary. A hormonal thing."
A hormonal thing? What was she talking about? It's not like guys had to worry about that time of the month. Besides, she of all people should understand why I have abandonment issues. I decided to change the subject.
"Mom, what's the Scourge?"
Her eyes widened and darted away from the road and onto me for a second. "What did you say?"
I repeated my question. Mom pulled into our driveway but left the car running. She seemed relieved not to be on the road anymore—obviously what I had said had her distracted, though I didn't know why.
"Daisy, how did you hear about the Scourge?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"Let's just say a ghost told me," I said.
Her expression was grave. "Don't joke around about them," she said. "They're very, very dangerous."
"Them?"
She hesitated a fraction of a second before explaining more. "They're a group of people who have sworn to eradicate all paranormals."
"Eradicate? You mean..."
"Kill? Yes, that's exactly what I mean." She shut off the car engine and spoke to me in her most serious tone. "Daisy, I know you've got the makings of a great psychic detective. But this is way over your head. You do not want to get mixed up with the Scourge. They can make people disappear if they want to."
Disappear? Now who did that remind me of? I nodded, chilled by my mom's words. Sure enough, she was fiddling with her wedding ring. She only got this emotional when Dad was involved. But what was my father's connection to the Scourge?
"If you know something, please tell me," Mom said.
I wished, more than anything, that I had the answers she wanted. But the truth was, I was more confused than ever.
Chapter Eleven
Despite warnings from Mom and Chief Mendez not to get involved, I couldn't help myself. I had to find out what happened to Mr. Davis. I figured the best way to proceed would be to start where he started. So the next day after school, when Mom was still at work, I said to my sisters, "I'm going to go check out Mr. Davis's house. Want to come with me?"
Rose sighed, but she grabbed the keys. "Let's go," she said. I guess she figured coming with me was better than my going alone as soon as I could give her the slip.
Rose drove, Poppy rode shotgun, and I got stuck in the back.
One advantage to living in a town the size of Nightshade was that every girl in school who had even a slight crush on Mr. Davis had gushed about his house, a quaint little cottage on Hart Street, which meant that I didn't have to try to get his address. It wasn't as if any student had actually made it inside his place, because Mr. Davis was always proper and aboveboard about that sort of thing, but many a lovesick girl had driven past his house night after night.
We parked around the corner and walked as casually as possible down his street. The air was still and hot, and there was nobody around.
The cottage reminded me of something out of a Beatrix Potter book, complete with a picket fence and roses on a trellis. Several flowering bushes with pink blooms framed his front door. I half expected to see Peter sneaking into Mr. McGregor's field, but all I saw was a small vegetable garden with no sign of the famous rabbit.
The police had obviously been here before us, judging from all the yellow and black crime-scene tape. Part of me was relieved that they'd already been through and swept the place for clues, but part of me worried that there wouldn't be anything left for me.
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"Let's go around back," I suggested. "Maybe there's a door that can't be seen from the street."
"How are we going to get in?" Rose wanted to know. "We shouldn't leave any fingerprints."
Good question. We both looked at Poppy, who grinned.
"Okay," she said, "but if we get caught, it was already unlocked."
She stared at the door, her forehead wrinkling only a second, and then the door flew open.
We stepped inside gingerly, careful not to touch anything.
The cottage was just four rooms: a kitchen, a small dining room, a living room that evidently had also served as Mr. Davis's bedroom, and a bathroom so tiny that the three of us could barely fit in there at once.
"What are we looking for?" Rose asked.
"A clue. Something out of place," I said.
We checked the kitchen first. My powers weren't under control enough for me to try to use them at a crime scene, so Poppy had to use her powers to open every cupboard in the room. Once she finished, she wandered into the dining room.
" That china is beautiful, and it has to be over a hundred years old," Rose exclaimed. "Too bad there's a missing piece."
"Look at all these pictures," Poppy called from the living room/bedroom.
Rose and I moved to where Poppy stood in front of a wall of framed photographs.
There were several photos of Mr. Davis with Elise Wilder, Mrs. Wilder (I almost didn't recognize her without the black veil), and other family members.
"Mr. Davis was in drama club," Rose said.
I looked over to where she was pointing. In it, a younger Mr. Davis wore a suit and tons of stage makeup, and he stood next to three other guys. One of them looked familiar, although I couldn't place him. He had blond hair and thick black glasses.
"He looks so young," I observed.
Rose agreed. "Nice costumes, though."
"Arsenic and Old Lace," Poppy commented.
"How do you know that?" I asked.
"I dated Sam Tsai, the drama king, for three weeks during last spring's production. Penny Edwards played one of the little old ladies. Don't you pay attention to anything that goes on at school?"
"I must have missed Penny's stellar performance," I said. My sarcasm was lost on my sister. "He must have gone to an all-guys school," I commented, since the cast of this production appeared to be exclusively male. I peered closer. There was something familiar about the guy in the photo, the one with glasses and the case of bad acne that showed even through his makeup.
"It looks like a private school," Rose said. "Charles Fey College." She pointed to an orange and navy scarf that was draped over a chair and was stamped with the school name.
I noticed a leather-bound date book on the desk below the photos. Hoping I wouldn't mess up and break anything, I picked it up telekinetically and flipped to the date Mr. Davis had died. He had jotted, "Tea with HH."
"These Wilders sure love their tea," I observed. "Samantha mentioned to me there's a tearoom at the mansion."
"I wonder who HH is," Rose said as the datebook wobbled from side to side as it hovered in front of her. "I can't think of anyone in Nightshade with those initials."
"Maybe it was a date," said Poppy.
Our discussion was interrupted when we heard a car pull up and a door slam. I dropped the datebook and froze as I heard the click of high heels coming up the walkway. I couldn't resist a peek through the peephole. Elise Wilder was only feet from the front door. She stopped and sniffed the air. Her nose twitched as if she smelled something bad. I jumped back. I could have sworn that her strange yellowish eyes could see me through the heavy oak door.
"We've got to get out of here," I whispered.
Poppy and Rose nodded to signal that they understood, and then as quietly as possible, we went through the back door. We broke into a jog and didn't stop running until we'd reached the car and pulled away.
" That was close," Poppy said.
"I wonder what Elise was doing there," I said.
"He was her cousin," Rose said. "She was probably just checking to make sure the cottage wasn't totally trashed after the police left."
"Oh no!" Poppy said.
"What?" Rose and I exclaimed together.
"I didn't have a chance to shut the cupboards. They're still wide open."
"Maybe Elise will think the police left it that way," I reassured her.
"I hope so," she replied.
But that night, I dreamed I was a frightened rabbit being chased through a forest by Elise, who had morphed into a killingly beautiful wolf.
Chapter Twelve
The next day at school, I yawned my way through my classes.
At the prom committee meeting after school, Samantha reminded me that I still had to apply for the permit to have the after party in the park, so I stopped by the police station on my way home and talked to Chief Mendez.
"Are you sure the park is the best place for the party?" he asked, looking over the application.
"Why not?" I said. "You said yourself that the citizens of Nightshade are perfectly safe. And I'm sure you'll have your investigation into Mr. Davis's murder all squared away by the time prom rolls around."
Chief Mendez smiled. "You're right, Daisy," he said, but his smile seemed forced. "Even so, I'll put some extra officers on duty in the park that night."
He handed me our approved permit for the party.
It was getting dark by the time I headed home, but I decided to cut through the park anyway. I wanted to check out the layout and try to envision how we would set things up on prom night. Plus, maybe I'd find something to give me a clue about Mr. Davis.
I walked to the fountain at the center of the park. The diamond in the crown.
I avoided a dark splotch on the path near the fountain. It looked like blood. I bent down to examine the area. It turned out to be nothing more than melted chocolate from an icecream cone. Gross. I was about to get up when I spotted a couple on a bench several feet away from me.
I saw the back of a tall guy's head. It was Ryan, sitting with Elise. They were engrossed in conversation and didn't notice me.
The tight, miserable feeling in my chest didn't leave me. My legs were shaky, so I sat down on the ground and leaned against the fountain. The last time I'd had this sensation had been in sixth grade, when Kyle Vendajas, a boy I had a mad crush on, picked me last in dodgeball.
I put my head down on the cold, smooth surface of the fountain and just sat there. I wanted to cry, but forced the tears back. I don't know how long I stayed like that, but when I finally looked again, they were gone. Who was Elise to Ryan, and why had he been spending so much time with her?
It was getting darker, and I needed to get home. Ever since Mr. Davis's murder, rumors had been flying around about wolves roaming the park in packs.
When I stood up, I felt a tingle and I realized my foot was asleep. I stomped it once to get the circulation going, and that's when I heard a noise coming from the bushes. I moved closer.
Meow. A tiny face peered out of the leaves. A black kitten stared up at me, still meowing plaintively. She took a hesitant step forward and then batted something toward me. It was a bit of greenery covered with pink blossoms. I knew some plants were harmful to animals, so I took it away from her and put it in my pocket.
She seemed miffed at being deprived of her plaything and let out a plaintive meow.
The kitten wasn't wearing a collar. I inched closer, not wanting to startle her. She edged back toward the shelter of the bush.
I looked at the darkening sky. Definitely time to head home, but I couldn't just leave her there. I remembered that the remains of my lunch were stuffed into my backpack. I hadn't felt much like eating, and the bell had rung before I could dump it.
I dug through my pack and found the untouched roast beef sandwich. I gutted the sandwich and waved a slice of meat in front of her enticingly. Somehow I was sure the kitten was a she.
"Here, kitty, kitty."
She moved forward cautiously. I dropped the roast beef a few feet in front of her and then stepped back. Cats didn't like to be crowded, I knew. Or picked up by strangers. I didn't relish getting scratched, but if the roast beef didn't work, I'd have to grab her and scoot out of the park.
The kitten used a claw to hook the meat and drag it closer to herself. I dropped another, smaller piece a few feet down the path. She froze and stared at me with huge sapphire eyes. At this rate, we'd be here all night.
I tried again. She inched forward slowly, on her belly. I dropped a tiny piece of roast beef for her every few feet. I thought she'd gulp it down, but instead she ate daintily.
When she was through, she meowed again, as if to say "More, please." She wound herself around my legs. We'd become friends, but we'd run out of time. I heard a far-off howl. " Time to leave, kitten."
I took off at a brisk pace. The howling grew closer. The kitten bristled, all her fur standing on end, and then trotted after me.
I wondered exactly how many werewolves there were in Nightshade. I didn't want to find out tonight. Evidently, neither did the kitten. We practically ran the rest of the way home.
I didn't stop until we reached the white picket fence that enclosed our yard. I opened the gate. "Are you coming in?" I asked.
The kitten walked through the gate with a swish of her tail. She paused on the front porch and meowed. Suddenly, I had a cat, or she had me.
I wondered what Mom would say about having a pet. I unlocked the door and opened it wide. The cat entered with the regal walk of a queen deigning to receive her subjects.
"Guess what I found today?" I called out. No time like the present to find out Mom's current stance on pets.
There was no answer.
"Poppy? Mom? Rose?" I checked my watch. It was past seven. Where was everyone? "It looks like it's just you and me, kitten."