Goddess of the Night (11 page)

"You know
who's been following me?" she asked.

"Yes."
Serena's voice was solemn. "I know."

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"Who?"
Vanessa asked. She felt a rising impatience not only with Serena but
with herself. How could she believe this? If Serena knew who it was,
then it was probably Serena who had been following her.

"I can't
tell you."

"Why not?"

"That's
for someone else to do." Serena stood. "I'm supposed to
take you to her."

"You mean
now?"

"Of course
now. Why else would I have climbed up the side of your house and
through your bedroom window to tell you you're in danger? I could
have done that on the phone, or slipped you a note at school. You
have to meet someone, and she wants to do it now, before you say
anything to your mother."

"How do
you know I was going to say anything to my mother?"

"You told
Catty at lunchtime." She started pacing, her shoes made a steady
beat.

"You
couldn't have heard."

"Of course
not, I read the thought before you spoke it. Hurry. My friend
Jimena's waiting

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around the
corner. We've got a car and we'll drive you." She started for
the window as if she expected Vanessa to follow her. She straddled
the windowsill and turned back.

"Come on,"
she urged. "Get dressed. Hurry!"

Vanessa
hesitated. "If you knew when I was over at your house, why
didn't you tell me then?"

"I
couldn't. I had to check first. I had to make sure you weren't one of
them."

"Who?"

"Never
mind," Serena said. "You'll know soon enough if you get
dressed and come.'

Vanessa fell
back on her pillows.

Serena read her
thoughts clearly.

"It's not
a dream, Vanessa," Serena told her. "There's no waking up
tomorrow. This is happening."

"What is
happening?" Vanessa asked. "Tell me.

"I can't
tell you. I can only take you to the person who can explain it all to
you."

Vanessa stared
at Serena, poised on the window ledge like some mysterious fairy. She
could go with her. Her mother would probably never

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know, but there
was something else to consider. Morgan had said Serena had a
reputation for liking the bizarre, and maybe this was part of it. How
could she trust her? Maybe Serena was the person who had been
following her. Of course, she would deny it if Vanessa asked her. And
even the strange feeling that Serena had penetrated her mind could
have been some form of hypnotic suggestion, especially with the way
she had stared at her ... the way she was staring at her again now.

"You need
to trust me." Her voice was taking on a gentle, almost pleading
tone. "Please. "

Vanessa wanted
answers. She needed to know who was following her, but still she
hesitated. "Can't we wait and do it tomorrow?"

"It has to
be tonight." Serena sighed. She stared out at the night sky.
"The moon is up. You'll be safe."

"What does
the moon have to do with it?"

Serena smiled
and stretched her arms. "Doesn't the dark of the moon make you
feel uncomfortable? And the full moon make you feel strong? Do you
look forward to seeing the moon rise the way some people love to
watch a sunrise?"

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Before Vanessa
could answer, she turned to her, eyes on fire, and said, "I do."

Vanessa
hesitated but only for a second. "I'll get dressed."

"Great!"
Serena said too loudly.

Vanessa knew it
was wrong. She thought she would probably regret it, but she hurried
to the closet and yanked a pair of jeans from a hanger. The hanger
fell to the floor and skidded across the room. She almost had the
jeans pulled on when she heard her mother.

"Vanessa,"
her mother called.

There was a
soft padding of bare feet on the runner in the hallway.

"Damn."
Serena quickly climbed out the window as the door to Vanessa's
bedroom opened.

Vanessa
struggled out of the jeans and kicked them back in her closet.

"Vanessa,
what's going on? I heard voices." Her mother walked into the
room. "Did Catty sneak over here again?"

"No,"
she said.

"I told
you, Catty can spend the night

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anytime, but I
need to know." She slammed the window shut.

"But it
wasn't Catty!" Vanessa tried to say. "It was Serena."

"Don't lie
to me, Vanessa. I know it was Catty again. You two just can't keep
running around at all hours of the night. You're on restriction. No
Planet Bang tomorrow night or Friday."

Vanessa moaned
in protest.

Her mother
turned off the light and left the room as quickly as she had come.

Vanessa climbed
back in bed and pulled the covers around her.

Outside the
roar of a car engine filled the night. The pounding beat of hard
music followed. She wondered if that was Jimena and Serena, mission
failed, on their way to wreak havoc in some other part of Los
Angeles.

It took her
hours to fall asleep. Did Serena really know someone who could answer
her questions? Or was Morgan right? Was Serena just odd? When she
fell asleep, she dreamed of a woman riding the moon across the sky.
Her pale hair caught the light of the sun, and the long curls

145

became
iridescent rainbows that wrapped the world with love and peace.

"There's
someone you have to meet," the woman in the dream said. "Hurry."

But Vanessa's
feet were frozen. Shadows seeped into the dream then. Opaque clouds
hid the moon, and Vanessa found herself trapped in another nightmare.

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Chapter 14

LEAF BLOWERS
AWAKENED Vanessa early the next morning. She dressed quickly in
yellow drawstring pants and a lacy camisole over her bra, then pulled
on a sheer blouse with dragons crawling down the shoulders. She
slipped into sandals with butterflies, grabbed her messenger bag, and
hurried downstairs. She left a note on the kitchen counter for her
mother. She apologized about last night and told her she had changed
her mind and decided to go to school.

Then she walked
to Catty's house. She told Catty about Serena's late-night visit
while they made breakfast burritos with red and green chili

147

peppers, eggs,
and cheese, and drank
champurrados,
a frothy mixture of water,
cornmeal, chocolate, and cinnamon. When they were done, an early
morning breeze flapped the white curtains over the soap suds and
dirty pans in the sink.

"No wonder
Morgan calls Serena the Queen of Weird," Catty said. She sat
cross-legged at the breakfast counter, still in her pajamas, and
twisted the ear on her bunny slipper.

"Maybe she
has the answer." Vanessa spooned more hot sauce onto her
burrito.

"How can
you trust her? You don't even know her."

"She seems
nice enough." Vanessa took a bite of burrito.

"You say
that about everyone."

"Well, she
does."

"Look,
Vanessa, everyone likes you because you're so nice to them, but I
think this is one time when you should be less nice and not so
trusting. What if Morgan's right?"

Vanessa sighed,
then tossed the last of the burrito into her mouth. A jalapeno pepper
burned its way down her throat. She reached for

148

the
champurrado
to put out the fire. "Get dressed," she ordered. "It's
getting late."

"You go
on," Catty said. "I'm not feeling well. I think I overdid
it with the time-travel yesterday."

"You want
me to stay with you?"

"No. Get
notes for me, okay?"

"Sure."
Vanessa picked up her bag.

Catty followed
her through the living room to the door.

Vanessa started
to leave, but apprehension made her stop. "Maybe I should stay
with you." She spoke over the rising smoke from sandalwood
incense that burned near the door.

"Go on,"
Catty urged. "I'm going back to bed. I wouldn't be much
company." She held her head down and stared at the bunny
slippers, as if she didn't want Vanessa to see her eyes.

"You
sure?" Vanessa said.

"Yeah,
go."

That was the
last time she saw Catty.

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Chapter 15

VANESSA DIDN'T
KNOW how she got through the rest of the week. How could she do
homework, take tests, or even flirt and smile with Michael when Catty
was missing? The teachers said Catty fit the profile of a runaway.
How could they say that when they didn't really know her? None of
them did. A policewoman had come and gone. So had a
protective-services worker from the county. Each had questioned
Vanessa at school and then slapped their notebooks closed as if to
say, just another runaway.

On Friday,
after school, Vanessa sat on the cement bench where she normally
waited for

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Catty. The day
had been hot and now the smog was as thick as tar, and made sky and
trees a hazy yellow-brown. The air smelled metallic. She lifted her
hair off her neck, hoping the stagnant air might evaporate the sweat.

The thought
that had been pushing at her all day finally entered her mind. Catty
wasn't powerful enough to leapfrog a week into the past. If she had
successfully made the journey back, then Vanessa wouldn't be sitting
here in the sticky air. She'd be back at the Bowl reliving her date
with Michael. Catty wasn't coming back because she couldn't. Vanessa
had a sudden flash of Catty floating in the tunnel, unable to break
free.

She heard
footsteps and looked up. Michael walked toward her.

"I heard
Catty still hasn't come back," he said. "Are you okay?"

She shook her
head. "We've been best friends for so long I can't even believe
all the ways I miss her."

He sat down
beside her and his arm circled her back. "Do you want me to give
you a ride over to Catty's house just in case she's come back?"

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"Thanks."

She picked up
her messenger bag, and they drove over to Catty's house. No one
answered the front door. She and Michael went around to the backyard.
Wind chimes and hummingbird feeders hung from the eaves, and pink
oleander blossoms brushed lazily against the redwood fence. She
crossed the patio and knocked on the sliding glass door, then held
her hands around her eyes and peered inside. The sun set behind her
and the last rays colored the dining room with fire.

They walked
back to the van, holding hands.

"I wanted
to take you to Planet Bang tonight," Michael said, "but I
didn't know if you'd want to go."

"I'm
grounded. My mother won't let me tonight, but even if she said it was
okay, I'd feel funny going out, not knowing where Catty is."

"I thought
that's what you'd say, but I wanted to ask anyway." He didn't
hide the disappointment in his voice. "Come on, I'll give you a
ride home."

"I
promised I'd meet Morgan at Urth."

"I'll give
you a ride."

"Thanks,
but I need--"

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"Time
alone." Michael put both arms around her. "Catty didn't
like rules much. I think she's run away. Maybe she didn't tell you
because she didn't want you to talk her out of it." His tone
implied that Catty wasn't coming back. "I'm sorry."

"I know,"
she said. She was grateful for the understanding she saw in his eyes.

"If you
change your mind and your mom will let you go out, then give me a
call, okay?"

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"I
promise." She smiled. Michael made her feel so good.

He climbed in
his van and she watched him drive away. Then she walked over to the
Urth Caffe near the Bodhi Tree book store.

Morgan sat
alone at a small table near the window. She sipped tea from a huge
cup. The steam curled around her face.

"Hi."
Vanessa sat down.

"Any luck
finding Catty?" Morgan said. She took another sip of tea.

"No. She
wasn't home."

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"She
wasn't at the rose garden at Exposition Park either."

Vanessa must
have looked surprised, because Morgan answered her. "Well, I
thought maybe she had boy trouble and went someplace to think."
She shrugged. "I ditched afternoon classes and took the bus. I
like to go there."

Vanessa
wondered if she had gone there to think about Michael. She didn't
think she really went there looking for Catty.

Morgan stared
at her hands. "I can't believe her mother didn't even call the
police. That's so like Catty's mother."

"The
school called them." Vanessa spoke defensively. Catty's mother
had probably driven over to Griffith Observatory again this evening
to see if she could spot a spaceship and wave goodbye to her
daughter.

"We should
do something." Morgan caught Vanessa's look and shrugged. "So
maybe I didn't like Catty, but I hate what's happened to her. I'd
want everyone to keep trying to find me."

Serena walked
into the cafe. She was wearing gold platform shoes and overalls
spray-painted

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with graffiti.
Serena saw them, waved, and came toward their table.

"Why is
she always following you?" Morgan said, exasperated. "You'd
better watch out for her."

"Hi,"
Serena greeted them. "I was just picking up some books at the
Bodhi Tree. I'm glad I saw you here. I've been trying to catch you
all week, Vanessa."

"I've got
to go." Morgan stood abruptly. "If I'm going to Planet Bang
tonight, I've got to buy something to wear." She gathered up her
things.

"Bye,
Morgan," Serena said.

Morgan ignored
her and hurried out.