The portal got bigger every second as my skin tingled and my hair stood up on the back of my neck. I would’ve run for the front door, but it was locked.
I took Penny’s arm and pulled her to safety behind the counter. She’d find out how true our story was soon enough—like a few seconds from now.
Ryan didn’t need persuading. He dove over the counter, knocking a stack of CD’s to the floor with a clatter. He ducked under the counter like a soldier in combat. I joined him, yanking Penny with me by the sleeve of her shirt.
“What’s—” she started.
I put my hand over her mouth, and she stopped.
Ryan’s breath blew in my ear and Penny’s elbow jabbed into my side. I removed my hand and she shot me a look that asked, what’s going on here? But I didn’t dare say anything.
There were a few inches between the bottom of the counter and the floor, so—you guessed it—I was the one who got to duck down and peek under it. Jerry’s shoes stood a few feet away. Purple and black spun on the other side of him. Why wasn’t he getting out of the way? Any second those shadow goons would step out of there.
And they did. At the same time, the radio went dead and silence hung over the building.
I squinted as a pair of black jackboots hit the floor in front of the portal. This guy didn’t look like an ink blot, though. He seemed normal. Well, compared to last night. The guy wore a dark blue pair of pants and a black cape that nearly touched the floor. I couldn’t see his top half from here, but I didn’t need to. This was the same guy who tried to abduct me last night, only now he’d made himself look normal. I remembered the creepy cape all too well. I was willing to bet he had a brimmed hat on, too.
Another set of black jackboots hit the floor, and another. The portal shrunk and disappeared, leaving the back door—our escape—visible on the other side of them. Now three of those weirdos stood out there, ready to confront my cousin. Or me.
I decided I really shouldn’t have come here.
Jerry didn’t move. He stood there like he expected these goons. My stomach tightened at the thought of it.
“A. Gist,” he said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. “Anything else you want me to do to tick off the local kids? Look at what happened to my business.” His shoes lifted and turned. Probably so he could point at the toilet paper—and away from me.
So Jerry knew these guys. Creepy. At least it didn’t sound like he was too chummy with them. That was a big relief. There might be some hope yet.
Then the voice of the leader shadow filled the room. It was the same guy, all right. “That just proves they need to be controlled more tightly. Maybe I’ll give you a new assignment later. I have, um, other things on my agenda right now, like the big mall curfew over in Nevada. I have to make sure they don’t let kids in after five o’ clock. Then I have to go push for a new law over in China that’ll forbid drivers under eighteen from having passengers with them. And of course,” his tone darkened, “I need to find someone. You can help me with that.” The A. Gist guy—well, I think that was his name—took a menacing step closer to Jerry.
A chill raced over my whole body. I didn’t like where this was going. And I hated this guy more every second.
“I’ve done enough for you,” Jerry said, not backing down. “I never asked to work for you.”
Yes. Yes! He didn’t hang up the sign to get rid of me after all. My stomach calmed down a bit. I wished I could say the same about my nerves.
“You’re my servant, whether you like it or not,” A. Gist shoved him back a little. Wow, this guy was cocky. “You do as you’re told or there are…consequences. You could disappear, Jerry. My portals should tell you that.” Then his tone got all smooth, like somebody looking for sympathy. “I need people like you to run my campaign. I can’t roam freely in the human world like you can, and even taking my shadow form is risky. You’re doing me a service. One little rule at a time, and soon I’ll have complete control.”
“This is blackmail,” Jerry said.
Wow. Jerry had some guts. It made me really wish I hadn’t toilet papered the Kool Spot. It wasn’t Jerry’s fault that sign and the shadow people were there to make us miserable. My real enemy was this A. Gist guy who seemed to be waging war on teenagers everywhere. That alone qualified him for Mortal Enemy status.
I squashed the side of my face against the carpet and peeked under the counter, nearly breathing in a dust bunny. Beside me, Penny and Ryan tensed. If I now had a mortal enemy, I at least had to know what he looked like.
Jerry stood there, facing off with A. Gist. Sweat shined on his temples. I understood completely. Mine probably looked the same way.
And A. Gist stood there, facing off with Jerry. His two minions stood behind him.
These people needed a fashion designer. Bad.
A. Gist’s whole outfit looked like the Old West with a touch of Goth and dictator for good measure. Messy red hair stuck out from under his black brimmed hat. Gold buttons lined the front of his dark blue shirt and black cuffs hung around his wrists.
His minions, a short little man and a dark woman, had it worse. They wore the same blue shirts and pants, but instead of capes and hats, they wore these silver armor vests. And they both had blue hair. No joke. The guy had spots of it through the gray stuff on his head and the woman had bright stripes in hers.
No wonder they couldn’t walk around in the human world. I wouldn’t, if I looked like that.
A. Gist didn’t seem to care. He just held Jerry with his squinty-eyed stare and said, “Back to business. The person I’m hunting for. I’m sure you know of her, as she’s the one who did this.” A. Gist pointed outside to the toilet paper. “Girl. Long brown hair. Oval face. Hangs out with a kid who wears airplane goggles around his forehead. Obnoxious.”
Gulp. Jerry knew me better than A. Gist thought. And A. Gist was way, way too close to finding me. If he did, then what? I didn’t want to know what Procedure Number Twenty-Eight was.
A. Gist took a step closer to Jerry, waiting for his answer. His two minions flanked him like mindless slaves, expressionless, armor shining under the light.
Jerry shook his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell. There’s about a hundred girls around here who fit that description.”
A. Gist leaned closer with a sneer. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m sure. I’ve seen the kid with the goggles a few times, but he always has a couple of other boys hanging out with him. Maybe the girl’s from another school district. Kids from all over the area come here. Well, they used to. By the way, I open in five minutes. You may want to make yourself scarce.”
Wow, I owed Jerry. I’d help him clean up the toilet paper. Or mow his horrible lawn the rest of the summer. Just as long as he got rid of these people before they found me.
A. Gist sighed and took a step back like a whiny little kid. “For your sake, I hope you’re not lying. Just remember. The Shadow Regime is ten thousand strong and growing. We have friends everywhere. We are immortal. We are ageless. And we strike when no one can hear your cries for help.” His black jackboots turned away from Jerry and carried him towards the back of the Kool Spot. His armored minions followed behind him like dogs on leashes. “We’ll speak again, Jerry. Perhaps then you’ll remember who it is I’m looking for.”
He snapped his fingers, and purple swirled again at the mouth of the hallway, making my hair stand on end. I had to hold in my sigh of relief. The portal. In other words, they were leaving, hopefully for good.
Jackboots rose and fell as the three of them disappeared into the portal. Only when it shrunk and closed did I let out my huge sigh.
At the same time, the radio came back on and blared a commercial into the room.
After what felt like an eternity, Ryan faced Penny with enormous eyes. “B…believe me now?”
Without a word, she nodded. Even she couldn?
??t deny the evidence right in front of her face.
“Out,” Jerry demanded, voice loud and way more serious than I’d ever heard it.
I climbed out from behind the counter—practically pulling Ryan behind me—and nearly slid on the CD’s he’d knocked over. Jerry stood there, breathing heavily and staring at me as my friends stood.
I had about eight thousand questions swirling through my head, but I could force out only one: “What?”
Jerry’s frightened gaze matched mine. “He’s the Ruler of Ageism, Rita. That means he pretty much controls age discrimination. He’s waging a war against young people all over the world and he wants you to practically live in a prison. He’s doing it slowly, so you don’t even know what’s happening. Don’t ask me why. I don’t know his reasons for it. But you saw. He’s got a whole army behind him and people like me everywhere.”
“Why’s he after me?” I asked. Ryan, Dan, and Sean helped me last night, but A. Gist sure hadn’t mentioned them. Not that I wanted him to, of course. I just wanted to know why he’d singled me out.
Jerry shook his head. “If I knew, I’d tell you. Now go. I open in two minutes. If you’re still in here without your parents, he’ll know about it and come back to skin me alive later.”
That got me moving towards the back door about as fast as I could, for Jerry’s sake as much as mine. Ryan tore past the boxes and out the back door, yanking Penny with him.
“Rita,” Jerry said.
I stopped and turned around. My cousin stood there and swallowed. “Sorry, but you have to stop calling me. We can’t hang out anymore. He’s got some of his Shadow Ones screening my phone calls. I think they’re watching my house, too.”
I know my face fell. Jerry hadn’t betrayed us, but it didn’t matter. He was gone anyway. “Look, I’m sorry about the toilet p—” I started.
Jerry lifted his arm to show his watch. “Go!”
I turned and ran out of the Kool Spot as if the seat of my pants were on fire.