that's why Celia talks so fast. If she didn't, nobody would ever hear her. Two women like that under one roof? No surprise her dad attends so many out-of-town conventions. Probably the only way he gets time to hear himself think."
"What do you want, Link? I'm trying to rest." Tom rolled over onto his side so that his back now faced Link.
The doorbell rang.
Tom never moved. For someone who was supposedly concerned about the end of the world, he was awfully relaxed.
Link stepped over a small pile of nails that he had pulled from the door frame earlier that morning and hurried to the front door, making certain it wasn't another polar bear returning from the grave. He knew it was a stupid precaution. After all, why would a polar bear take the time to ring the bell? The last one certainly hadn't.
The first thing he saw was one of Celia's pigtails. It bobbed up and down as she waited on the front porch, unable to stand still even for that long. Link swung open the door and said, "Welcome back, Celia. And might I say, you are in for a rare treat. Today, I have invited a lioness to visit us for lunch. She should be here shortly. Said something about needing to pick up a few friends first."
"Not funny," Celia said. Her face was unusually grim. For one of the first times he could remember, Celia did not appear to be in the mood for jokes. "If anything else plans on attacking us, it better be small, furry, and adorable. No ravenous dogs, no polar bears, and nothing else big and scary. I want to be able to stop it with an angry stare, not ten rounds to the back of the head."
As Link ushered her inside, he pointed out a few piles she should avoid along the way. "So, I take it you had a good chat with your mother last night after you left?"
Celia tensed. "That woman is impossible! She never shuts up. And I mean never. Can you imagine what that's like? Do you have any idea? Do you? Do you?"
Link wasn't sure if he should answer.
"Just picture yourself listening to that irritating voice for two hours straight and imagine what sort of mood you'd be in." Celia rested her bag by the hall table. Then she said, "I swear, the only time that woman ever thinks of anybody other than herself is when she's thinking of ways to criticize them. Why can't she listen to someone else for once? Would that be too hard?"
When there was a pause, Link said, "Good thing we didn't tell her about the dog." Link giggled inwardly as he watched Celia fume. It was nice to see Celia angry for once. Link had been starting to wonder if it was even possible to make her mad.
"First off, the dog thing wouldn't have mattered. She never would've believed us." Celia waved her arms like she was conducting her own symphony of frustration. "I probably would have been grounded for lying. Are you going to ask if I would like a drink, or what?"
"Oh, sorry." Link double-checked the front door to make sure it was bolted. Then he hurried to the sink and said, "Can I get you a drink?"
"No. And another thing... She acted like the polar bear was just more gossip, like I was some oddity for a freaking grown up show and tell. I could've died." Celia suddenly folded her arms and sniffed the air. "What's with the candles? Is it some sort of religious thing?"
"Not that I know of," Link said. "It's just lemon basil scent. It's not the best, but it's a whole lot better than burning hair and spoiled meat."
"Do they make that in a scented candle?" Celia grinned.
"Sure do. Go smell my room."
"Why, Link, I hardly think that would be appropriate given the circumstances. Do you?" She smiled at Link's discomfort and playfully rested her hand on his. It was only for a second, but Link felt an undeniable jolt of warm tingles where her fingertips had touched his skin and experienced a sudden shortness of breath.
Regaining his composure, Link said, "So you're telling me your mom could believe you'd been attacked by a polar bear in my kitchen, but she wouldn't have believed the part about the dog or Raythuse?"
"Did you actually watch the news last night?" Celia asked.
"No. Dad doesn't believe in it."
"He doesn't believe in the news?"
"He usually believes the news. He just doesn't believe in listening to it. He says it focuses too much on the negative. I guess it messes with his positive mojo or something. Why? What did I miss?"
"Nothing. They didn't even show the bear. The whole thing was basically an interview with the hero of the hour, Officer Dansby."
"Hero?"
"He did save us, Link. If it weren't for him, we would have been bear kabobs."
"Yeah, but hero? Did they float any ideas about why the bear was dead and still walking?"
Celia hopped onto the kitchen counter. "No way. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't. Nobody in their right mind would believe a dead polar bear came back to life and broke into someone's kitchen. If, for even a second, people thought such a thing was possible, there would be mass hysteria. We're talking complete pandemonium, Dawn of the Dead-style freak out. People would be lining the streets with everything they could carry in a hurry to leave town. The freeways would be backed up for miles with traffic, and riots would break out all over the city. Have you never seen a zombie movie? Hello."
"You watch zombie movies?" Link was stunned.
"Why wouldn't I? Because I'm a girl? Is that it? Don't get me started, Link. I'm not in the mood for your narrow-minded male chauvinism." She swiped her finger across the countertop and examined it. "Ever thought about dusting?"
"Dust?" Link still couldn't believe that she liked zombie movies. Didn't people who liked zombie movies wear all black? Celia never wore black if she could help it. Link watched her lips move as she continued to talk. Had they always been so soft?
"Earth to Link. You're doing it again," Celia said.
"Doing what?"
"You're staring at me, but you're not saying anything. It's kind of stalkerish." She opened a cabinet and retrieved a glass. "I can give you a school picture if it would help. Does your ice maker still work?"
Suddenly aware that her lips were not just moving, they were talking to him, he snapped into the present and tried his best to play it off. "I was just thinking about something."
"Obviously. Mind sharing?"
"Panch," he lied. "I was just thinking about Panch and our plan to rescue him. That's all."
Celia eyed him suspiciously. "You're acting kind of weird today. And given your usual behavior, that's saying something. You sure you're all right? Is your head still bothering you?"
"I'm fine. Just a little cross-eyed from a lack of sleep." Link walked over to the refrigerator and punched the ice dispenser just long enough for a single cube to fall into his hand. "Still works. Did I tell you that Panch's parents called us last night?"
"And..."
"And his condition hasn't improved any. He's been unconscious ever since he woke up and talked to Dansby. The hospital wasn't sure what to do for him, so they decided to airlift him to the Harrington Complex over in Baselton."
"What's wrong with the hospital here? I'm sure you probably told me this morning, but by the time you called, I had already begun tuning things out. It's a bad habit I know, but you heard my mom last night. Can you blame me?"
"You'll have to ask Dad. He was the one who talked to them. It had something to do with poisons. The zoo officials panicked when they figured out that the dead polar bear had broken out of their lab. Talk about a PR nightmare. The only explanation the zoo officials have offered is that some sort of heavy sedative must have made the bear appear to be dead."
"Let me guess," Celia said, growing more agitated by the second. "They think some of the poison in the bear's body might have entered Panch's bloodstream when the bear bit him. That's logical, especially when you consider how toxic a polar bear is. Who are they kidding? Do you think we should tell them a dog bit him and not a bear?" She poured some milk and quickly downed it before pouring another glass.
Link shook his head. "It doesn't matter where they think the bite came from. You're right. The whole thing is ludicrous. But when you think about it,
doesn't the truth sound even more insane? Before today, which story would you be more likely to believe? The alternative involves an evil soul that robs the dead of their dying flesh, so he can take over the realms of Ap?l?g??mai by securing powerful talismans that alter both time and space. Wouldn't you rather believe your son was sick because a polar bear bit him?"
"I guess we do sound nuttier than squirrel poop, don't we? It's kind of amazing your dad believes us." She jumped off the counter and peeked into the living room. "Is Ayden in here?"
"He's watching TV upstairs. Anyway," Link continued, with a dramatic pause, "the zoo is owned by an umbrella corporation based in Baselton. There is supposedly a cutting-edge medical facility there. It may be a long shot, but Panch's parents agreed with the doctors that it offered the best possibility of uncovering some answers."
"So why does your dad believe us?"
"Who knows? He just does." For some reason, Link still wasn't sure what to think of his mother's journal yet and until he was, he didn't want to tell Celia about it.
"There has got to be more to it than that, Link. What are you not telling me?"
"Ayden found this," he said with a sigh. He held up his phone.
"He found your phone?"
"No. Look at this." Link turned it around to show a picture he'd taken with the phone's camera. It was a snapshot of his mother's journal entry.
"Raythuse is coming, Harrington Complex 1317? I don't understand. Where did you get this? Was it from one of those e-mails that you