Revelations (9 page)

“Right,” Yana answered. “What time does this place close, anyway?”

“We’ve got tons of time,” Rae said. “The university library is always open late. So what do you want to read about
next?”

“I’m still thinking about the part where they can ask my principal questions.” Yana pulled another psychology
textbook off the shelf but didn’t open it. “How much do you think that means? Like, if my principal says I’m a bad
seed or whatever, is that it? Do I get locked away?”

“My professional opinion would be no.”

Rae swiveled her head toward the deep voice and saw a guy with sleek black hair grinning at her and Yana
through an empty spot in the bookshelf.

“And we should take your professional opinion because?” Yana asked.

“Because I’m number two in my class. And number one is a complete weirdo who never leaves the library, which I
think is a problem if you want to be a psychiatrist,” the guy said. “I mean, she would always rather deal with a book
than a person. Unlike me. I’m a people guy.” He stuck his hand through the hole. “Lenny Kwan.”

Rae shook his hand, careful not to let her fingertipstouch his. She didn’t like to go fingertip-to-fingertip unless she
absolutely had to. It was an invasion of privacy. And it always turned some part of her body numb. “Rae,” she said
to Lenny. “And that’s Yana.”

Yana shook his hand, too. “So my principal can’t torpedo me?” she asked.

Lenny disappeared from the hole. “My friend’s principal,” he said as he walked around his aisle and into theirs.

“That’s how you’re supposed to say it.
My friend’s.
So that I won’t think you’re a freak.”

“I don’t care if you think I’m a freak,” Yana told him.

Lenny laughed. “That’s very healthy.”

But you’re not healthy, Rae. You’re sick. Very sick. You should be locked away right now. You don’t belong outside

with the rest of us.

“What?” The word escaped from Rae’s mouth in a squeak. Lenny and Yana both stared at her. “What… what else
is important in a psychiatric evaluation, O genius people-guy?” Rae asked, trying to recover.

You can try and act normal . But it doesn’t work. I can see inside you. It’s so easy. It’s so clear. There’s something

wrong with you, Rae. And it’s growing. That’s my professional opinion.

I’m not touching anything. Nothing,
Rae told herself.
But those aren’t my thoughts. Where are they coming from?

What’s happening to me now?
Her thoughts came as shrieks in her brain, so loud, so overpowering that she
couldn’t hear what Yana and Lenny were saying. They were talking to each other. She could see their lips moving.

But she couldn’t hear them at all.

What is happening to me?
The shriek ripped into the soft gray matter of her brain.

Rae, Rae, Rae. You’re going to fall to pieces right here, aren’t you? Little bloody pieces too small to be saved.

The not-her thought was quiet and calm. Nothing like Rae’s frantic ravings. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she
announced. The words must have come out louder than she meant for them to because both Yana and Lenny
looked startled.

“You want me to come with?” Yana asked.

“No, I’m fine. I’m fine,” Rae answered. She rushed down the aisle and turned the corner. Her knees buckled, and it
was all she could do to find an unoccupied row in the stacks. When she did, she sank down to the floor. She
couldn’t take another step.

Rae wrapped her arms around her legs and pressed her forehead to her knees, her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

“Please let me be okay,” she whispered. But she knew her prayer, if that’s what it was, couldn’t beanswered.

Because she wasn’t okay. Something bad had already happened to her. Something very, very bad.

Anthony strode out of Jocks and Jills, yet another sports bar, and headed over to the Hyundai.

“Nothing?” Jesse asked when Anthony got in the driver’s seat and slammed the door.

“Nothing,” Anthony answered. “Guess you didn’t see him going in or out?”

“Yeah, I did. That’s why I’m sitting here like an idiot,” Jesse shot back.

“Okay, dumb question,” Anthony said. Jesse was in a bad mood because he wasn’t old enough to get into a bar.

Technically Anthony wasn’t, either. But redheaded, freckle-faced Jesse looked even younger than he was. And
when you were fourteen, that was rough. “There’s still one more Jocks and Jills we can try.”

“
You
can try, you mean,” Jesse muttered.

Anthony ignored him. “And there are probably a bunch more bars that have a pretty much resident bookie. It’s not
only a sports-bar thing.” He turned the ignition key and pulled out of the parking space.

“But that guy, Mr. Pink, he might be the only one Aiden deals with,” Jesse answered, saying the thing that Anthony
was trying not to let himself think.

“So what do you want to do, Jesse? Give up?” Anthony demanded. He swung out of the parking lot and
immediately had to come to a stop for a red light.

“No, I’m just saying…” Jesse shook his head. “If you take Addison, we’ll get there faster.”

When the light changed, Anthony took the right onto Addison. He wasn’t sure it would be faster-there was less
traffic, but the speed limit was lower-but why not go with Jesse’s suggestion, especially since he’d spent most of
the day sitting in the car? “What’s wrong with the guy behind us?” he complained. “He’s trying to eat my bumper.”

Jesse looked over his shoulder. “Anthony,” he said, his voice suddenly urgent. “It’s Aiden. His hair’s different from
the picture. But it’s definitely him.”

“What?” Anthony exclaimed.

Aiden pulled his car up alongside theirs, driving on the wrong side of the street, then he sped up, jerked his car in
front of Anthony’s, and skidded to a stop.

Anthony had to jam on the brakes, and he still tapped Aiden’s car. “Wait here,” he told Jesse. He jumped out of the
Hyundai and hurled himself toward Aiden’s car. “What in the hell are you doing?” he demanded as Aiden climbed
out onto the street.

Aiden strode straight toward Anthony. “He’s got a stun gun,” Jesse shouted. Before Anthony could react, Aiden
pressed the taser against Anthony’s shoulder and set it off. Anthony went down hard.

Immediately he tried to stand back up. But it was like he’d forgotten how. He knew it involved moving his legs in a
certain way. But how? How did you get your legs to move? How?

“Get away from him,” Anthony heard Jesse shout.

Anthony wanted to order Jesse to stay in the car. But when he opened his mouth, a spasm went through his jaw.

His lips twitched, and all he could get out was a grunting sound.

Aiden knelt down beside Anthony and rested his knee on Anthony’s chest. “You get close, and I’ll have to stun
you, too,” he warned Jesse. Then he lowered his head until his face was only inches away from Anthony’s. “You’re
not going to be feeling too good for at least five minutes. The taser upset communication between your brain and
body. So I want you to be good and lie there and think about whether you want me to shock you again or whether
you want to tell me why you’ve been tracking me all over town.”

Anthony managed to swallow. Then swallowed again. “Rae,” he choked out. “Call them off Rae.”

Aiden slid his knee off Anthony’s chest. “Rae Voight? This is about Rae Voight?”

“Yeah, it’s about Rae,” Jesse burst out.

“What exactly happened?” Aiden demanded, his eyes never leaving Anthony’s.

“Don’t know… who for sure. But somebody’s… trying… to scare her.” Aiden helped Anthony sit up. A moment later
he was able to continue. It was getting easier to make his lips and tongue do what he wanted them to do.

“Somebody painted the word
unclean
on her locker,” he got out. He coughed. “Tried to make it look like blood. We
thought it could be the work of your goons.”

Aiden’s frown deepened. “Sounds like a prank. It’s not the way an agent of the government works,” he answered.

He glanced at Jesse. “And by the way, they aren’t my guys. Not anymore.”

Anthony didn’t care about Aiden’s life story. “Who is it, then? Who’s still after Rae?”

Aiden’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know,” he admitted.

Rae and Lea Dessin hit the door to the locker room at the same time. Lea got this deer-in-the-headlights
expression on her face, and Rae was afraid her face had gone all panicked Bambi, too.
We used to be best friends,

she thought.
How unbelievable is that?

“So, um, what are you in this session?” Lea asked, holding the door open for Rae.

“Volleyball,” Rae answered. “Can’t you see the bruise on my forehead?” She lightly touched the tender spot.

“Don’t you remember what I used to tell you? You’re supposed to use your hands. Your
hands,
” Lea teased as she
followed Rae inside.

“I know. But I hate that rule. I find it so mucheasier to catch the ball with my head,” Rae joked back. And they both
laughed.

Weird. Does this little encounter mean that some day Lea and I might actually be friends again?
Rae wondered. It
was kind of happening with Yana-the whole friendship repair. And Lea had never done anything to hurt Rae. Except,
yeah, get freaked out whenever they were within two feet of each other. But she’d never intentionally gone after Rae
the way Yana had. So maybe there was hope.

“See you later,” Lea said, turning off at her locker row.

“See ya,” Rae answered. Was that “see you later” real? Did Lea really hope she’d-

Enough,
Rae told herself. She absolutely was not going to let herself get all gooey and hopeful over three words.

Although at least the three words were real. They’d been said out loud by another person. They didn’t just appear in
Rae’s head like the words had in the university library yesterday. Or the hospital the day before.

Rae turned down her own row. When she reached her locker, she grabbed the lock, a coat of wax protecting her
fingers, and started to twist in the combination. The lock clattered to the floor. It had been cut open.

“No. No. This is not happening,” Rae whispered.

She slowly swung open the door, her eyes shut. With a deep breath she forced her eyes back open, then winced
when she saw what was waiting for her.

Red letters slashed across the metal. Rae blinked, trying to get the letters to come into focus.

Unclean blood.
That’s what the letters spelled out. What was that supposed to mean?

Maybe the words aren’t even there,
Rae thought.
Maybe it’s just like the voices. Just a little…

A little psychotic episode. Now, that’s comforting.
Rae gave her left hand a hard shake to get rid of the tremors
racing through it, then reached out and ran her fingers over the letters. They were still the slightest bit wet, sticky,
really, and when she pulled her hand away, the wax on her fingers had been stained red. Bloodred.

I don’t know if I should be happy the letters are real or not,
Rae thought as she got a whiff of the nail polish that
had been used as paint.
It’s not like it proves I’m sane, since there’s still the voices thing. But it does prove that

somebody is very interested in me.

Just the government guys making sure I remember that I’m supposed to keep my head down and my mouth

closed,
Rae told herself.
That’s all. No biggie. No biggie,
she repeated in her head, hating that she didn’t feel totally
convinced. Rae took a glance tothe left and the right to make sure that none of the other girls had seen the message
in her locker. It looked like they were all busy with getting out towels and hair dryers and makeup bags. Good. She
definitely didn’t want the love note in her locker to be the newest gossip item. She moved closer to the door,
completely blocking the message with her body.

I won’t bother with a shower,
she decided. Volleyball the way she played it was not an aerobic activity. And if she
hurried, she might get in a Marcus sighting before geometry. More than anything, that’s what she needed right now.