***
Caridee came to our house for my birthday mani-pedis and facials, but all she talked about was the blackout.
“My cousin Camille knows Gaylene, who knows Chief Sparrowhawk’s sister-in-law. The chief thinks someone went to the substation and threw the switches on the circuit breakers.”
“We’ve never had a blackout before. Who’d want to plunge the town and neighboring county into total darkness?” Mom mused.
I didn’t dare say anything, but a certain jealous exchange student came to mind.
“Kids playing pranks,” Caridee said. “Sally Hunsaker’s little girl got hurt real badly. They had to operate on her last night.”
Mom reached over and gripped my hand. “Raine told me. She and the swim team stayed at the hospital with Kate’s parents until the poor girl was out of the operating room. Trojan swimmers are very supportive of each member, you know. One of them, Eirik Seville, is the one who found the Hunsaker girl, protected her with his body, and carried her to safety,” Mom repeated what I’d told her last night. I was surprised she remembered. “Because of him, that dear girl escaped serious injuries.”
“How brave of him.” I imagined how Caridee would embellish the story in the coming weeks. Eirik deserved a hero’s recognition, even if it was through the grapevine. “I heard they were planning to operate on her again.”
“Why?” I asked.
Caridee shrugged. “I don’t know. Complications after surgery are pretty common.”
My stomach churned. If Kate didn’t make it… No, I couldn’t afford to think like that. “Why does Chief Sparrowhawk think someone was behind the blackout?”
“He found something. Gaylene didn’t know what exactly, but she said it was solid evidence someone messed with the switches.”
After she left, I went upstairs and called Eirik. He sounded like he’d just woken up. “Kate is going in for a second surgery.”
He cursed. “Do you want me to come over?”
“No, I, uh, I’ve tons of things to do. Maybe later.” My eyes went to the box of assorted chocolates and the photograph. “I love my birthday presents. Thank you.”
Despite saying I had things to do, we talked for a while. As soon as I hung up, I curled on the window seat with my laptop and went online to investigate runes.
The amount of information was staggering. Runes had meanings and stories behind them. They were alphabets used in ancient times for writing, divination, and magic by people from northern Europe, Scandinavia, British Isles, and Iceland. Andris, Ingrid, and Maliina were from Norway, which made sense. Did that mean Torin was from Europe, too? It might explain the British accent. Were they witches and wizards? It might explain their use of runes. It didn’t explain why they called us Mortals.
I looked out the window at Torin’s place. The slats were still closed. Maybe I should warn him that the police chief was investigating the blackout in case Maliina was behind it. No, I wasn’t helping her. If she’d messed with the switches, she deserved to pay for whatever happened to Kate and the others. There’d be no journey to Land of Mist, which Torin had threatened Andris with, just good old Oregon prison and an orange jumpsuit.
I researched Land of Mist. There was no connection to runes, just books and online games. Wherever Land of Mist was, it was a horrible place to Torin’s people.
Sighing, I put the laptop down and crawled out the window to the patio. Sometimes I wished I had a door like Mom and Dad. I’d begged them to add one when I turned thirteen, but they’d said no. It was better this way. No boys sneaking up into my room at night, Dad had said. Yeah, like that had ever stopped Eirik.
I leaned on the rail and inhaled. It was warm for fall, but knowing Oregon, the weather could turn chilly any minute. Most of our neighbors were indoors watching Sunday football. I could see inside the Rutledge’s house through the open windows. Mr. Rutledge and Mr. Ross were watching football in the living room while their wives did something at the kitchen counter.
I glanced down and frowned. Had someone vandalized my car? Against the dark-red color, it was hard to tell. I crawled back inside my room and ran downstairs. Mom yelled something, but I didn’t stop. I ran outside and gawked, my anger shooting up at the squiggles.
Who had done this to my poor car? Why?
I walked around and tried to wipe off the graffiti with the sleeve of my sweatshirt, but it didn’t come off. Against the car body and the roof, the colors almost blended. Almost. On the windows and the tires, they looked garish. Maybe a carwash would get rid of them.
I started for the house, paused, and turned. No, they couldn’t be. No freakin’ way. I walked back to the car, but I was too close. I walked backwards to the middle of the cul-de-sac and squinted as I studied the graffiti again.
They weren’t random drawings. They were runes, written in groups of threes, some across, others vertical. Who could have done this? Maliina, of course. But how had she found where I lived? What was her problem? Just because she hadn’t hurt me last night didn’t mean she had to put a whammy on my car. What were the runes supposed to do? Make my car flip, burst into flame while I was inside it? Torin needed to control that girl. It was obvious Andris couldn’t.
I marched up to Torin’s porch and rang the doorbell. No answer. He could still be sleeping or in the shower again. I banged on the door. Not a sound came from inside. Instead, I caught the reflection of Mrs. Rutledge and Mrs. Ross as they watched me from the porch. They gave me a look that screamed stalker. Bet they knew the number of times I’d talked to Torin since he moved in.
“He’s gone,” Mrs. Rutledge called out.
My stomach dropped. “Gone where?”
“Portland. He said he had a weekend job.” Mrs. Rutledge smiled as though she enjoyed knowing something I didn’t. I sighed. Cougar crush was so sad.
“Thanks, Mrs. Rutledge.”
Back in the house, Mom was folding laundry. She frowned when I grabbed a brush, threw it in a bucket, and reached for a bottle of cleaning detergent.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I turned on the water and poured a generous amount of the detergent in the bucket.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to clean my car.”
“Now? Why don’t you just drive it through a carwash?”
And play straight into Maliina’s hand? I shuddered at the thought. I didn’t think so. “No. I need to burn off some energy.”
She studied me. “What’s going on, Raine? I saw you go next door.”
“We have a new neighbor. I went to, uh, say hi.”
“That’s sweet. Is it a nice family?”
“I only met their son, Torin. He’ll be going to our school.”
Mom grinned. “Is he hot?”
“Eew, Mom. He’s…” Superhot, mysterious, and magical, and he confuses me. I turned off the water.
“He’s what?”
“He’s just a guy. I gotta go, Mom.”
Outside, I scrubbed my car until my arms hurt. Using a water hose to rinse it off, I stepped back. I had done it. The squiggles were gone. Feeling better, I took the bucket and brush inside and came back with my keys.
No! My heart sunk. They were back. The water had just hidden them briefly. How the heck was I going to get rid of them? I kicked a tire.
“What happened?” Mom said, hurrying toward me. “I heard you scream.”
“Someone vandalized my car, and I can’t get rid of the drawings.”
Mom stared at the car then me. “Oh, sweetie.”
“Just look at it.” I waved toward my car, so frustrated I wanted to cry.
Mom put her arms around my shoulders. “Raine, your car is spotless. In fact I’ve never seen it this clean.”
“But…” Then realization hit me. She couldn’t see the runes, while I could. Why?
“Did you get hurt last night at the club and forgot to tell me? You’ve been acting strange today.” Mom pressed the back of
her hand to my forehead. “You don’t have a fever.”
“I’m fine. I guess I’m just worried about Kate. I mean, if she hadn’t come to the club for my birthday party, she’d not have been…” My voice shook to a stop, tears rushing to my eyes.
“Oh, honey.” She gave me a tight hug. “You can’t think like that. Things happen, and most of the time, they’re beyond our control. Come on. Go lie down while I warm us something for dinner.”
I cooked whenever I could, especially on weekends, but I didn’t have the interest and I wasn’t hungry. In fact, I hadn’t felt like eating the whole day.
Back upstairs, I texted Eirik. “Can I get a ride to school tomorrow?”
“Sure. What’s wrong with your car?”
“It won’t start for some reason,” I fibbed, the urge to cry washing over me again.
“I’ll come over and take a look at it.”
“No, it’s… the truth is I just don’t feel like driving myself anywhere.”
There was silence; then he said, “I’m coming over.”
It was hard not to tell him everything I’d overheard and learned about Torin and the others. He would think I was crazy. He couldn’t see the runes on my car, so I had no proof.
My worries about Maliina and her plans for me escalated when Eirik showed me the pictures he’d taken last night and I realized something. Kate Hunsaker had worn a dress similar to mine, except hers was white and blue.
Could Maliina have mistaken her for me?
CHAPTER 6. MARKED