“Not at first,” Derek said. “Michael asked Vanessa and Vanessa asked Jimena.”
“Michael did all that to find out where I live?”
“For me,” Derek added as they started up the steps.
“For you?” She stopped at the door and looked at him.
He blushed and didn’t answer her.
“Wait here, Derek.” She went inside and left him on the porch. “I’ll just run upstairs and change and I’ll be right back down.”
“If you hurry, we can stop at Starbucks for a muffin and coffee,” he offered.
“I’ll hurry.” But she had no intention of coming back. She was going to dress, then climb out using the tree and head for the bus stop. By the time Derek realized she was gone, she would be drinking coffee on a Greyhound.
She ran up the stairs, the sheet tangling behind her, and passed Hanna, leaving for work, the same two shopping bags clasped in her hands.
“Morning,” she said, then she tried her door. It was locked.
She heard Hanna’s kind laughter and turned.
“You have to be more careful,” Hanna explained. “It’s too easy to lock yourself out of these apartments. And look at you! What were you trying to figure out? How to fix a sheet for a toga party or something?”
Tianna nodded, but she had no idea what a toga party was.
“I didn’t even think they had them anymore.”
“Mom already left,” Tianna said. “Can you help me?”
“I’ve got an extra key,” Hanna explained, and started to unlock her apartment door. “The last tenant asked me to hold on to it for emergencies just like this. It might still work. I’ll be right back.”
Tianna waited patiently as Hanna disappeared into her apartment. When she came back to the hallway, she pinched a brass key in her fingers.
“I wanted to thank you for last night,” Hanna announced as she slipped the key in the lock. “I hope you’re not too afraid to try it again.”
“No, I’d love to.” Tianna felt bad for lying. She really liked Hanna.
“Thank you,” Hanna answered softly, and worked the key. Then she pushed open the door.
“You’re a lifesaver, Hanna.” Tianna felt like giving her a kiss, but instead she hurried into the room.
“You’d better keep it.” Hanna tried to hand her the key.
Tianna smiled. “I won’t be needing it again. I promise.”
“Then I’m off.” Hanna turned and started toward the stairs. “See you tonight,” she called back.
“Yeah,” Tianna answered sadly, and shut the door.
She quickly slipped into the clean underwear from her backpack and had started pulling on the same clothes she had worn yesterday when a scratching sound made her stop. She looked around, expecting to see a mouse or a squirrel that somehow had gotten into the room from the tree.
But what she saw made her freeze in terror. She watched with alarm as the letter H slowly appeared on the wall above the dresser. Something or someone was writing a message. Instinct told her it wasn’t a ghost. It was someone or something trying to communicate with her from that other realm.
Slowly the words Help me I’m Catty appeared on the wall.
Catty must be the girl she had seen. The name was unusual. It had to be Vanessa’s friend, the one Michael had told her about who had disappeared. Could she have somehow been trapped in that other dimension? It had to be.
Then another scraping sound made her tense. As she stared at the first message other words were scrawled over it. Stay away.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
FOR A MOMENT TIANNA sat dumbfounded, unable to move. She couldn’t leave Los Angeles even if it was dangerous for her to stay. She had to help Catty. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she ran away now because she would always know she had been a coward. She had to act even if she failed. She dressed rapidly, grabbed up her backpack, and hurried outside, her hair still wet against her back.
Derek looked up, surprised. He was sitting on the steps. “That was fast.”
She walked right past him. “Hurry,” she commanded.
He stood and started following her.
“Give me the keys,” she ordered.
“You want to drive?” he asked.
“I’ll get us to school faster,” she said as she opened the driver’s-side door and tossed a stack of travel magazines into the back.
“I brought the magazines for you to look at,” Derek complained.
“Later.” She held out her hand for the keys.
He hesitated. “Do you have a driver’s license?”
“Of course,” she said, not knowing if it was true or not. She was already sitting behind the steering wheel.
He tossed her the keys and she turned the ignition as he climbed into the car.
She pressed hard on the gas pedal and the car shrieked away from the curb. The back end fishtailed. She needed to get to school quickly and find some answers. She had a feeling that Catty wasn’t going to last long in that place.
The light turned yellow ahead of her.
“Slow down!” Derek shouted as the car in front of them stopped for the light.
She didn’t let up.
“You’re going to rear-end it!” Derek cried, and his foot pressed the floor as if he were trying to work an invisible brake.
She jerked the steering wheel, swerved smoothly around the car, and blasted through the intersection, ignoring the flurry of horns and screeching tires.
Derek snapped his seat belt in place. “Why are you in such a hurry to get to school?”
“Geometry test,” she answered, and buzzed around two more cars.
At the next junction she needed to make a left-hand turn, but the line of traffic waiting for the green arrow would delay her too long. She continued in her lane, and when she reached the intersection, she turned in front of the car with the right-of-way. Angry honks followed her as she blasted onto the next street.
“We’ve got time, Tianna!” Derek yelled. “School doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes.”
Would fifteen minutes give her enough time to get the answers she needed? She didn’t think so. She pressed her foot harder on the accelerator. The school was at least a mile away, but if she ignored the next light and the next, then maybe she could get there with enough time to question Corrine. She didn’t think her powers were strong enough to change the lights and she didn’t want to chance endangering other drivers, but she was sure she could at least slow down the cross traffic.
She concentrated on the cars zooming east and west on Beverly Boulevard in front of her without slowing her speed.
“Tianna!” Derek yelled. “You’ve got a red light!”
She squinted and stalled a Jaguar in the crosswalk. Cars honked impatiently behind the car, and when a Toyota tried to speed around it, she stopped it, too. She could feel the pressure building inside her as she made a Range Rover and a pick-up slide to a halt. She shot through the busy intersection against the light.
Derek turned back. “You’ve got to be the luckiest person in the world.”
“Right,” she answered with a smirk. “I have the worst luck of anyone you can imagine.”
“You?” he asked in disbelief.
“Me,” she answered, and glanced in the rearview mirror. Traffic had started to flow down Beverly Boulevard again.
She sped around the corner in a tight turn.
“We’re here,” she said, and pressed hard on the horn to let kids in the parking lot know she was coming through.
She parked with a jerk and slammed on the brakes.
Derek bounced forward, then back. He turned and looked at her with shock in his eyes. “Where’d you learn to drive?”
“I made it up as I went along.” She opened the car door and tossed him the keys. “Thanks for the lift, Derek.” She grabbed her backpack and ran.
She didn’t recognize Corrine at first, sitting outside the geometry classroom, legs stretched in
front of her, doing some last minute cramming. She wasn’t wearing makeup and her eyes looked clear, her skin fresh and beautiful.
“You look good.” Tianna squatted beside her. “Tell me about Catty.”
Corrine stared at her briefly, surprised, then she nervously looked around her as if she were afraid to speak. Finally she closed her geometry book and began. “I was there that night at Planet Bang,” Corrine whispered. “When this girl came running inside. I didn’t know who she was, but she was asking for Vanessa, Catty, Serena, and Jimena. She found them and they all went charging outside. Twenty minutes later they’re back, minus Catty, and you could tell something was really wrong. They hid in the bathroom, except Jimena, who was all tough and lying for them.”
“What do you mean, lying for them?” Tianna asked.
“When the police questioned them,” Corrine confided. “She told the police they hadn’t gone outside, but they had. I saw them. I was too afraid to say anything.”
She paused as if something had made her hesitate. Tianna glanced up. Serena, Jimena, and Vanessa were walking down the hall toward them.
“Go on,” Tianna urged.
Corrine’s voice was lower now. “A few blocks away all these fires had broken out and there were fire engines and police cars and all the people in the neighborhood were saying that teenagers had been playing with firecrackers and explosives.”
“Is that what you think?” Tianna asked.
Corinne shook her head, and her eyes never left Serena, Jimena, and Vanessa. “I don’t think it was explosives. I think the fireworks were from some kind of magical power because they never found Catty’s body. I think they did something to her.”
“Like what?” Tianna felt tense.
Corrine turned and looked at her. “I think they killed her.”
“How?” Tianna glanced back at Serena, Jimena, and Vanessa. They might act strange, but she definitely knew they weren’t capable of murder.
“I think they cast a spell and it went wrong.” Corrine finished. “There, I’ve said too much already.”
Could Corrine be right? Maybe they were witches and they had cast a spell. But that didn’t feel right. Modern witches, like wiccans, were loving and kind. It was only superstition and misunderstanding that made people think they used their charms malevolently.
She wondered if they could have done something to their friend. Maybe it had started out as fun, but a fatal mistake had been made. Then another terrifying thought came to her. Maybe they weren’t witches at all but kids who dabbled with magic of a darker kind. Did they have power enough to conjure up a demon? Was that what the shadow had been?
Tianna needed her memories back now more than ever. If she could go into that other realm, then there must be something she could do to help Catty, but what? If she could only remember.
Corrine touched her arm and she jumped.
“Are you all right?” Corrine looked worried.
Tianna nodded.
“Can I borrow a pencil for the test?” she asked. “I forgot mine.”
“Sure.” Tianna opened her backpack and saw the diary. With everything that had been going on yesterday, she had completely forgotten about it. Now she’d have some answers. Her heart beat fast with anticipation. Maybe she’d even learn about that other dimension and then she could find a way to help Catty.
She handed Corrine the pencil and stood. “See ya.”
“You’ll miss the test,” Corrine called after her.
“Like I care,” Tianna muttered. She charged down the hallway, then ran across the blacktop to the metal detectors. She didn’t want some hall monitor snooping around and sending her back to class. The best thing to do was to leave campus. The security guards at the front gate were too busy checking purses and backpacks to notice anyone running back outside.
As soon as she was away from the campus, she stood near the curb and started to read.
The social worker claims I ran away again. Of course, I didn’t. Mason and Justin found me, so I had no choice but to leave. They almost caught me, too. They’re getting closer. Time is running out—
Before she could read more, a hand grabbed the diary away.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
TIANNA TURNED QUICKLY to see who had stolen her diary.
Derek opened it, then glanced up at her with a sly smile. “Does it say anything about me?”
“Give it back.” She leaned her head to the side and started walking toward him with her hand outstretched.
“I want to see if you’re as good at keep away as you are at soccer,” he teased.
“I’m not in the mood,” she snapped, and charged after him. She leaped for the diary as he started to hand it back, and accidentally knocked it from his hand. It skidded across the sidewalk. She tried to use her power to stop it before it slid into the street, but she was too flustered, and instead she made the gutter water slosh against the curb and slop onto the sidewalk.
She dove into the oncoming traffic, trying to retrieve it.
Derek grabbed her arm and pulled her back as a huge UPS truck rolled over the diary and smashed its binding. Pages soared in a circle, then fell into a pothole filled with muddy water.
“That could have been you under the truck wheel,” Derek said. “What’s wrong with you, anyway? I was going to hand it back to you. You’re acting like it was a matter of life or death.”
“It was.” She sighed and watched the wet pages flap and tear apart as car after car whizzed by and rolled over what might have been her life. She could use her power to bring the pages back, but they would be unreadable now.
She and Derek fell into a strained silence. Then he spoke. “Why did you run away from me back at the parking lot?”
“Geometry test,” she mumbled, and watched the soggy pages become no more than a soft, pulpy mass under the steady stream of tires.
“For someone so worried about her geometry test, you’ve already missed the first bell.” He looked at her. “Why did you lie to me?”
“You’d never understand.” She shook her head. What was she going to do? That was her only chance of finding a way to save Catty. Her only hope now was to get her memories back. No chance of that.
Derek started to say something and she stopped him.
“Derek, I just need some time alone, okay?”
“I think we need to talk.” There was a seriousness in his eyes that she didn’t understand.
“Not now.” She started walking away from him. She hadn’t gone half the block when footsteps ran after her and someone grabbed her shoulder.
“Derek,” she said angrily. “I need to be alone.” She turned with a scowl.
Michael stood behind her.
“Hi, Michael.” She hoped there wasn’t too much eagerness on her face. Just looking into his dark gentle eyes made her feel better.
“Were you looking for Derek?” His lips curled in an infectious smile.
“No.” She grinned foolishly. “Are you cutting school today?” And then she added too quickly, assuming that he was, “Want to hang out?”
“I don’t start until second period,” he explained.
“Oh.” She didn’t bother to hide her disappointment. She would have loved some time alone with him.
“I saw you walking and I wanted to remind you about Planet Bang tonight.” He stepped closer.
Her hands went automatically to his chest and played with his shirt button. “I’ll be there.” She looked at his lips. She bet he was a great kisser, and she was determined to find out for herself. She breathed deeply and took in his spicy aftershave. What would he do if she put her arms around him right here and pulled his face down to hers? She looked up at him, wondering if she could use her power to bend his will to hers.
“See you tonight, then.” He pulled away. Was there promise in his eyes, or had that only been her imagination?
She watched him walk toward school. She loved the way his black hair fell in curls around his neck. She sighed. M
ichael was the only thing going right in her life. No matter what else happened, she was resolved to have some fun tonight. She was going to get that kiss. She didn’t care how bold she had to be.
But first she had to do something.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
TIANNA CREPT THROUGH a patch of ivy and hid in the shadows near a stone wall. It was past dusk, and cars were pulling into driveways. She watched with yearning as children raced up to porches to escape the cool air, their backpacks and school papers clasped in their hands. Soon the dark windows swam with warm golden lights and acrid smoke filled the air from hearth fires in the homes up and down the street. She stared at the thin gray wisps circling from the chimneys and envied the people who lived inside. She imagined them cozy in front of blazing flames.
Her eyes went back to the two-story Tudor home. It stood alone, back from the street, its entry porch dark. The windows indifferently stared back at her, reflecting the amber color from the streetlamps.
She didn’t think Mason or Justin lived there, but she prayed whoever did might have the answers she needed. A car turned the corner. The beams from its headlights swept over her. She pressed back into darkness as it spun into the drive of the Tudor home and the automatic garage door opened. The car went inside and the door slowly closed after it.
With quick, even steps Tianna crossed the street. She didn’t go up the front walk but to the side of the house. She glanced behind her. If anyone happened to look out their window and see her, they would think her movements were furtive and probably call the police.
She scurried into the shadows along a wall and crept to the back, then scaled the fence and fell into the yard of the Tudor house, trampling a bed of red gladiolas. She hurried around a swimming pool, shaded by Mexican fan palms, then stepped quickly across a long patio crowded with potted plants.
Her breath was too loud now. She waited until it came in slow, even draws again. Then she found a rock and hit the plastic covering on the sliding door latch. She wondered how she knew so much about breaking and entering, but she never questioned what her hands were doing. She had discovered in the past two days that if she didn’t think and just let her body act, there were a lot of surprising things she could do.