Don't Die Dragonfly (11 page)

Someone dangerous was out to get me.

That was the only thing I knew for certain. No matter how hard I tried to summon a name or visualize this faceless person, I got nothing. And apprehension crept into my soul.

It was Thorn’s idea to remove the basketball trophy, staplers, and other stolen stuff from my locker and leave them with the chair in the woods. Manny agreed right away, and I was so touched at their concern for me that I didn’t know how to thank them.

“No prob,” Manny said with a wicked grin. “Always happy to transport stolen goods for a friend.”

Despite everything else that could go wrong, nothing did. The substitute janitor never even saw us—although we spotted him sleeping in the teacher’s lounge. It was almost midnight by the time I reached home.

Lights glowed from within the house, a good sign Nona was still busy at her computer. When she closed in on a perfect match, she lived in another reality. If I interrupted her, she’d look at me like I was a stranger. She felt so guilty after this happened a few times that now she did most of her work late in the evening.

A flap of wings made me glance up. Caught in the glare from the porch light, a solitary bird glided low in a silent flight across the pasture. The bird circled over the barn, then swooped down and disappeared through an open barn window. Footsteps on gravel made me turn. In the dim light from the chicken coop, I could see a slim, muscular figure.

I hadn’t imagined it—Dominic had followed me.

Instead of being afraid, I was angry. It was bad enough someone was out to get me at school; I didn’t have to put up with this crap at home.

“Dominic!” I shouted. “You are such a jerk!”

He stopped by the barn and slowly turned toward me.

I strode over, fuming. “You followed me tonight.” I stabbed my finger at his chest. “Don’t deny it.”

“I won’t.” He faced me; his blue eyes were narrowed and far from friendly.

“Why’d you do it?”

“To help.”

“Help?” I snorted. “Like I believe that.”

“I don’t care what you believe,” he said with disgust. “I was wrong about you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“How could you let Nona down like this? Did you do it for the thrill? To show off to your friends?”

“Huh?” I scrunched my forehead. “Do what?”

“Steal.” He spat out the word.

“But I didn’t!”

“You had those things in your locker, then you hid them in the woods.”

His words slammed into me. “It’s not what you think.”

“What else can I think? I know what I saw.” Sadness hooded his eyes as he looked at me. Dagger shrieked from the loft, and Dominic turned and started toward the barn.

“Wait!” I called.

He paused. “Why should I?”

“Because we both care about Nona. I don’t owe you any answers, but I’ll tell you anyway.” I glanced at the soft light still shining from my grandmother’s office. “Only not out here.”

“Inside then.” He led me into the barn.

Bales of hay climbed to the ceiling on half of the large wood-floored building, and a cow mooed from one of the stalls lining the opposite wall. Dominic moved toward the staircase, flipping on a light that illuminated a flight of steep stairs. My heartbeat quickened as I climbed.

Entering Dominic’s private loft apartment felt like stepping into the enemy camp. I didn’t even like him, so it shouldn’t matter what he thought. Yet it did, and I felt compelled to set him straight.

As I stood uneasily on an old braided rug, Dagger fluttered on a wooden post by an open window. Except for some candles and crystals on a dresser, there were no photographs, books, or knick-knacks. There was little evidence of Dominic’s personality, as if he’d locked himself away in secrecy and hidden the key.

“Make it quick,” Dominic said sarcastically, mimicking my own bitchy tone of a few days earlier, when he was in my room.

“Someone put those things in my locker. I was framed.”

“Why would anyone do that?”

“I have no idea.” I sank into a chair. “I wish I did.”

“Can’t you figure it out?” he asked, pulling up a stool across from me. “With your powers?”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried? But I never can get visions about myself. It’s scary knowing someone hates me. If it happened at my last school, I’d understand. But people here don’t know about my … my abilities.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve only told Manny and Thorn.”

“And you trust them?”

“Yeah. Tonight they came through for me in a big way. But I’m not so sure about you.” I regarded him suspiciously. “How did you know I was at the school?”

“A friend told me.”

“Who? Not Penny-Love?”

He turned away and walked over to his falcon.

“Is it someone I know?”

“Maybe, but not exactly.”

“You’re not making any sense.” I studied him, trying to pick up on his aura, but his colors were as nondescript as his room. I concentrated on his energy.

The room faded out, and I was suddenly outside in a drizzling, icy rain that sliced into my skin. My stomach ached with a raw emptiness. Hunger. And when I looked down, I saw a shackle chained to my leg. No, not my leg. A scrawny young boy in bloody jeans. Rain whipped against his frail, battered body, and he huddled against a tree trunk. There was a hollow anguished sound, more animal than human, coming from the boy. So much pain, too much to bear.

As quickly as it came, the vision passed. I sucked in a breath and grabbed on to his dresser to steady my trembling legs.

“I’m so sorry,” was all I could say.

“What for?” he demanded. “Something just happened, didn’t it? What did you see?”

“A boy.” My heart ached. “Chained outside in the rain—like an animal. He was starving and cold and scared. And he—he was you.”

His expression hardened. “You don’t know anything.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. It was a long time ago.”

“But the pain is still there.”

“Forget about it.” His brow furrowed. “Don’t waste sympathy on that boy—he survived.”

“Who—who did that to him, to you?”

“An uncle.” Dominic’s eyes glinted dangerously. “A sick person who felt powerful if he was beating on someone smaller than him. He eventually got what he deserved, and I realized I’d had more power than him all along.”

“What power? I know Nona invited you here because you have some sort of psychic ability.”

“I’m not psychic.”

“Then what are you?”

“A communicator—but not with ghosts or people.”

“What’s left?”

“Can’t you guess? Lillybelle warned me you were going out tonight.”

“My cat?”

“Yeah.” He slid his hand across Dagger’s silky feathers.

“You can communicate with—” it shouldn’t have shocked me, but it did.

“—with animals. Yeah, I can,” he said.

The next morning I awoke from a strange dream where Dominic stepped out of the pages of my childhood collection of Dr. Dolittle books. Only instead of being pudgy and middle-aged, Dominic was a young, hunky animal doctor, and I was the mythical two-headed llama called a Push-Me-Pull-You. Dominic pulled me in one direction, while Josh pulled me in another. I couldn’t remember the details, but when I woke up, I ached all over.

It was tempting to ignore my clock alarm because that meant going to school—where I had an unknown enemy.

A lavender fragrance and soft breeze stirred my blankets, despite my closed window. Peering around my room, I whispered, “Opal?”

Good morning, my dear Sabine.

“It’s not that good of a morning. I want to stay in bed and hide. Everything’s so confusing—can you help?”

I do hope so—helping you is my avowed mission and fervent goal.

“Then tell me why somebody put stolen stuff in my locker.”

You already know the answer, if you trust your instincts and examine the situation.

“But I don’t know anything! I had those visions about Danielle and tried to help her, which got me into worse trouble.”

These troubles will seem insignificant in the fullness of time. If I gave you the answers, that would cheat you out of valuable life experiences and cheating is always wrong. The truest answers lie in the test.

So this was some kind of test, I realized—then groaned. I hated tests. But a flash of insight hit me, and I understood why someone might target me. “Was that stuff put in my locker because I’m trying to find the vandals?”

Vandal,
she corrected.
Singular.

“Is it someone I know?”

We all know each other at some level. Examine all relationships closely and set something right to avoid tragic consequences.

“Why do you always talk like a fortune cookie? Can’t you just give me a name?”

No,
she replied in that maddening literal tone.

“Then how will I find out?”

Enlightenment appears in many forms.

“And your point is?” I asked sarcastically.

You were blessed with a clever mind that is in sore need of critical use. Don’t assume watching you muddle through your journey is a slice of sunshine. Not even—as you like to say. You frustrate me to the ends of Jupiter! Nevertheless, you are making excellent progress, and I have confidence in you.

“Gee, thanks,” I grumbled as her energy pulled away to return to spirit-land or wherever she hung out when she wasn’t nagging me.

* * *

As I was rinsing off my cereal dish and putting it in the dishwasher, Penny-Love showed up. I was surprised she’d come way down our driveway instead of waiting for me on the street. But one look at her snug, sheer top over a new pair of jeans and I connected the romantic dots. She’d even taken the time to iron the kinks out of her red hair so it fell in a long, silky wave around her shoulders.

“Is Dominic around?” she asked coyly.

“No.”

“Too bad, but there’s always after school. Is it okay if I come over again?”

“Of course. You don’t have to ask.”

“Good!” Penny-Love said with a bounce in her step as we left the house and started down the driveway. “I came up with the perfect way to get Dominic to notice me. He’s into birds, right?”

“Actually all animals.”

“Which includes birds, so I’m going to tell him my canary is sick and ask him to come over to look at it.”

“You don’t have a canary.”

“Details, details.” Penny-Love waved away my words. “When I want something—or someone—nothing stops me.”

“Why would you want Dominic?” I asked, hoping to talk some sense into her. “He’s rude and likes animals better than people. I can’t see how you’d want a grump like him when you could have any guy at school.”

“Except Josh,” she said teasingly.

“Right.” I smiled at his name.

We were laughing as we reached the school. Waving goodbye, I headed for my locker, eager to see Josh. Only when I neared the lockers, it was too crowded to find anyone. Students and even a few teachers were gawking at something.

A locker banged and bodies shifted, and I saw Dunlap. Moving closer, I saw the principal in conversation with an olive-skinned custodian I didn’t recognize. The custodian wielded some kind of tool or maybe a key. He opened a locker, slammed it shut, then opened another.

I stared in horror, afraid to breathe and give myself away. Locker 124. Closing in on mine. They wouldn’t find anything more than books, a sweater, and a half-eaten Snickers bar—but last night they would have found plenty.

Shaking inside, I whirled around—and smacked into a dark-haired girl with a dragonfly tattoo on her wrist.

“Danielle!” I exclaimed. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking.”

“I was coming to talk to you.” Her face was tear-streaked and her voice cracked as she added, “I don’t know what else to do.”

“What is it?” My thoughts flew back to Sunday night. “Did the police find out about us?”

“No, nothing like that. No one even questioned me. It’s—It’s Evan.”

“Oh.” I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, but I’m not. He—” She broke off with a sob.

“What is it?” I put my arm gently around her.

“He dumped me!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” I wasn’t really, but I couldn’t admit that. I tried to summon some sincerity.

“I love him more than my own life. I’d do anything for him—anything at all—except let him go. But he doesn’t want me.”

“It’s his loss,” I soothed. “You’ll find someone better.”

“There is no one better. “

No one better at being self-centered and arrogant, I thought.

I led Danielle over to a bench and tried to calm her down. “I don’t know much about love. Uh … This will seem insignificant in the fullness of time.” I wanted to bite back my words when I realized I’d repeated what Opal had told me. “I mean, you’ll be okay.”

“Not without him. You have no idea what it’s like—how much it hurts without him. Like bleeding on the inside.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “I feel all panicky, like I’m falling apart. I
need
Evan.”

“You only need yourself,” I insisted. “Give it some time, you’ll get over him.”

“Never!” She clutched at my arm; her eyes were wild. “You’ve got to help me. Josh will listen to you and Evan will listen to Josh. Get Josh to convince Evan to take me back.”

“I can’t ask Josh something like that.”

“But Evan loves me, I know he does. He just has a lot of needs and I let him down. But I can try harder, if he’ll just give me the chance.” Her voice cracked, and she looked ready to collapse. “Talk to Josh. I’m begging you!”

“Danielle—I can’t … ” my words trailed off as I shook my head.

“I’m desperate. Please, please!”

I hesitated, remembering the vision of a bloody dragonfly. Danielle was like a frightened child and the vision tied me to her in a way I didn’t understand. Yet I couldn’t turn her down, even if that meant reuniting her with Evan.

“Okay,” I said reluctantly.

“Thank you! Thank you!” She hugged me, then whirled around and left.

Barely a minute later, Josh showed up.

* * *

Josh was outraged when he realized my locker had been searched.

“That’s unconstitutional!” he ranted as we walked to our first class. “I can’t believe you allowed this to take place without protesting. They had no right to invade your privacy.”

“The lockers are school property; we’re just borrowing them.”

“But the things inside are your personal belongings.”

I’d never seen Josh so worked up, and I was secretly pleased he was acting protective. Like a hero coming to the aid of his lady. I wasn’t about to spoil this moment by bringing up Danielle.

“A lot of lockers were searched,” I pointed out. “Not just mine.”

“That doesn’t make it okay,” Josh insisted. “You should call a lawyer.”

“What sixteen-year-old has a lawyer?”

“A smart one. If the school pulls more stunts like this, I may get one.”

By the end of our first class, Josh had calmed down, but only after I agreed to let him write a letter of protest on my behalf to the school board.

When we met at lunch, he had the letter composed in a spiral notebook and couldn’t wait to show it to me. I tried—I really tried—to bring up the topic of Danielle and Evan, but it just didn’t happen.

That afternoon, a news flash rippled through the school. Stolen items were found hidden in the woods. No one could figure out why the stuff had been dumped in the woods. Rumors placed the blame on the Regis High kids, again. But no one really cared anymore.

With the missing things recovered, there was a sense of closure, and by tomorrow it would be old news.

Except to me.

Someone had invaded my locker, and I couldn’t forget that. The lock hadn’t been forced, so either someone picked it or knew the combination. But I’d only revealed it to two people: Josh and Penny-Love.

When Penny-Love came over to my house later, I asked her if she’d told the combination to anyone else.

“How can you even ask such a thing? I’m mortally wounded!”

“Sorry,” I said, ignoring the melodrama. “But with all that commotion about lockers being searched, I guess I’m a little paranoid.”

“Your combination is safe with me.” She moved away from the window where she’d been spying on Dominic. “I’ve never told another person. And I keep it safely written on a Post-It in my locker.”

“You
wrote it down?”
I exclaimed.

“Well, sure. I have so many numbers to remember, I have to write them down or my brain sinks in number soup.”

“So you left my combo in the same locker you let your cheerleading friends use because it’s closer to the gym? The same locker you shared with your last two boyfriends? The same locker you left wide open for a full day last week because you were in a hurry?”

She nodded, and I groaned.

I might as well have announced my combination in the
Sheridan Shout-Out.

* * *

Saturday morning, when Josh showed up for our date, I didn’t recognize him. And who could blame me? He came to the door wearing a rainbow shaggy wig, floppy chicken feet, and a green nose.

“Squeeze my nose,” was the first thing he said when he saw me—not exactly the romantic words a girl wants to hear.

“Won’t that hurt?”

“Nah. Give my nose a big squeeze.”

Feeling kind of dumb, I reached out and pinched his plastic nose.
Squawk!
The nose erupted with a thundered honk and fake snot dribbled out of the green nostrils. “Lovely.”

“It’s just fake slime.” When he laughed, more snot oozed from his nose. “Kids love it!”

“Ha ha,” I said, staring with disgust at the green gunk on my fingers. Then I hurried to the bathroom and scrubbed my hands.

On the way to Valley General Hospital, we received strange looks from other drivers on the road. Hadn’t they ever seen a clown driving? Instead of being embarrassed, I found myself grinning. Josh was such a wonderful mix of silly and serious. And underneath all the greasepaint and fake snot, he was one gorgeous guy who—amazingly—cared about me.

At the hospital, I was impressed by how many people greeted Josh. Nurses, doctors, patients, and even maintenance workers. In floppy clown clothes where no one could even see his face, he was loved.

Especially by the kids.

He sang goofy songs, picking up a broom and strumming it like a guitar. Then, instead of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, he pulled Silly String and stuffed toys out of a bedpan. Kids in wheelchairs, connected to IVs, and wrapped in bandages laughed and begged him for more. It was great.

I hadn’t completely forgotten my promise to Danielle, but finding the right moment to talk to Josh about it wasn’t exactly easy. I didn’t want to distract him from his performance. So I waited until we were on our way back home from the hospital.