I spent the next day at home and Nell played hooky and hung out with me. Around three o’clock, she got up from the kitchen table. “Come on, we’re going to be late.”
“Late for what?” I asked.
“Do you not read your texts? Or listen to Harriet or—”
“The fact I’m asking, ‘late for what,’ should be your answer.”
Nell rolled her eyes. “There’s a town meeting about the vandalism and the murders.”
“Wait. Now?”
She nodded.
I stood and turned to Serge. “You coming?”
“Definitely,” said Serge.
I texted Dad and Nancy to let them know where I was going—and that Nell the Enforcer was with me. Then we headed out to the meeting.
“Whoa, this place is packed.” Nell’s gaze swept the gym.
Town hall hadn’t been large enough to contain the crowd, so the meeting was moved to the school. The bleachers were full, so people lined the walls or sat in chairs by the podium.
My cell binged. Technically, Dad’s cell. He’d leant me his until the weekend, when we’d go and buy a second-hand one for me. With the way I shorted them out, he’d said there was no point in buying me anything new.
I took it out and read the text. “Dad says he and Nancy are on the north side of the bleachers, which means they’re…” I opened my compass app.
“Stop before you hurt yourself, Johnson,” said Nell. “They’re over there. Is Craig coming?”
“No.” I pushed through the crowd. “He’s still looking for The Family.”
We found them and Nancy hugged me then pulled away. “I wanted to bring popcorn. Your dad wouldn’t let me.”
“You know she’ll throw it,” said Dad. “And when law enforcement goes rogue, what hope is there for the rest of us?”
“This is the kind of stuff that creates relationship baggage,” said Nancy. “You’re restricting me as an individual.”
“Ignore her.” Dad gave me a hug. “She’s been grumpy all day because of the city police.”
“Still?” I asked.
She snorted and shook her head. “Getting a straight answer from those people—”
“Let’s go for a walk.” Dad took her hand. “Outside, in case your head explodes. Maggie, text Nancy when the meeting starts.”
“Don’t,” said Nancy. “Council made a last minute decision to have me head the meeting, which is politician speak for let’s get the sheriff to take all the heat.”
Dad pulled her away. “Let’s get you some air…”
I tracked them as they left and in the mass of humanity, I spotted Dr. Pierson, alone. “Do you think Rori’s here?”
“No dice,” said Nell. “Last I heard, Mrs. P was packing them up to leave town.”
“Seriously?”
“A couple nights ago, I tried again to see Rori. I phoned but the whole thing was a hot mess. Mrs. P said I broke her trust. And that she and Rori need to concentrate on healing the family. Which is just crap. She’s just mad because Rori would rather be with me.” Her eyes misted. “It got worse from there. Mrs. P and the doc started screaming at each other. He was yelling that I should be able to come over, she was yelling about him being an absent father and husband.” She took a long breath. “The worst was hearing Rori crying in the background, begging them to stop fighting...I may have said some things that I don’t regret saying, but do regret the way I said it.”
“Oh boy. I can imagine.”
“Mrs. P got off the phone pretty quick.” She winced. “She slammed the phone down on me.”
“What are you going to do? Can your folks help?”
She snorted. “The adults are smart enough to stay away from a couple on the brink of a bitter divorce.”
“But you on the other hand—”
“Am planning to stop by and see Rori tomorrow. Wanna come?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
The gym went suddenly quiet. I followed the direction of everyone’s gaze and saw Principal Larry striding into the gym and toward the podium.
Nell groaned. “They’re having him open the meeting? He’s never going to give up that mic.”
“I guess because the school’s hosting the meeting. Anyway, that works out great for Nancy.”I tuned out as he did the usual spiel of acknowledging the staff, students, and the townspeople.
Nell crowd-watched, then grabbed my hand pulled. “Isn’t that Mr. and Mrs. Meagher?”
I followed the direction of her gaze. “Yeah, those are the Meaghers.”
“Last month,” Principal Larry said as the crowd collectively leaned forward. “We suffered a tragedy. Actually, we suffered many tragedies. But this school has now seen the loss of not just one but two of its students. Sergei Popov and Kent Meagher.”
Ignoring the principal, going on my tiptoes, I scanned the area around the Meaghers for Kent. “But I don’t see Kent…”
“Hey, guys.”
“Hey, I was just looking for you.” I swung around to face Kent. “Holy crap!” I pedalled back. Then forward. “Nell, quick. Stand here.” I pointed to the spot directly behind the ghost.
“—Today, however, we focus on the graffiti and damage to public property”—The principal stumbled over his words —“and, of course, the tragic deaths of our young men.”
Serge, his attention on the principal and not the drama unfolding to his left, snorted. “Yeah, cause he really cares about my murder.”
“Serge.” I tugged the sleeve of his sweater. “Look alive.”
Serge turned to see what was going on. “Damn! Kent, what the hell happened to you?”
The ghost turned his focus from me to Serge, then back again. “What are you talking about?”
I dropped my voice so only my friends could hear me. “Something’s wrong with your skin.”
“It is?” He reached up, touched his face, and I tried to keep my food down. His flesh had gone opaque, not enough to reveal bone and muscle, but enough to make his blue veins stand out against his skin like a 3D rendering of a topographical map.
He pulled at his skin and it came off in one, long, thin, transparent layer. “Is that supposed to happen?” Pieces of it hung off his jaw and forehead.
I shook my head.
“What’s going on?” asked Nell. “I can see the conversation but not the action.”
“You don’t want to know,” said Serge. “I better text Craig and get his opinion on this.”
In the background, Principal Larry droned on.
My senses told me the crowd had lost interest. There was the shuffling of feet, the crinkle of candy wrappers opening, people looking around, glancing at their watches.
“How are you feeling? Does it hurt?” I asked Kent.
He shrugged. “I’ve been sleeping all day. When I got home, I was so bagged, I just crashed out in bed. I only woke up because Mom and Dad were fighting. I got up to get out of the house for a bit. When I realized they were coming here, I figured I’d come along.”
Nell elbowed me. “What does he look like?”
“An albino snake shedding its skin.”
“Has he eaten?” she asked. “Developed any taste for human flesh?”
“I’m not going ghost-zombie.” Kent stepped away from her. “I can’t even feel hunger.”
Craig materialized beside me, looked at Kent, and swore.
“Yeah, so I’m hearing,” said Kent. “But I don’t feel bad—”
“That’s bad,” said the ferrier. “You’ve been infected. Didn’t you feel it in your stomach? You should’ve called us—”
“I thought it was the flu—”
“I have to get you out of here—”
“Wait. Infected? With what?” Kent’s face went even whiter. “Oh, God. The Family,” he said. “It’s in me.”
“Which is why we have to get you out of here,” said Craig. “There are too many people and too many of us with psychic energy to be in one spot—”
“How did it infect me without me knowing?” asked Kent. “Without you guys knowing?”
Craig, Serge and I made eye contact. We all knew the why and how, but now wasn’t the time to talk about it.
“Let’s get you somewhere safe,” said Craig, “we’ll talk about this later.”
The mic screeched and put Principal Larry on pause. Another screech.
Crap. Too late.
Static hissed through the speakers, The Voice began to weep.