The Glass Wall (Return of the Ancients Book 1) (16 page)

“I want to go home,” Harmony hissed through clenched teeth.

“What happened? Did you hurt your hands? Let me look at them!” The nurse tried to grab Harmony’s hands to pry them away from her chest.

“No!” Harmony grated, glaring at the woman. Struggling to her feet, she choked, “Get me home, Sydney. Call Rafael.”

“Did she burn them?” the nurse asked me as she once again tried to grab Harmony’s hands.

“Don’t touch me!” Harmony bellowed. Even though she was gorgeous, looking like a fashion model more than anything else, the way she was glaring at the nurse was quite chilling.

Unconsciously, we all took a step back.

After a moment, the nurse cleared her throat and said, “I think she’s in shock. Sydney, help me get her out of here.”

Feeling remorseful and more than a little scared, I slid an arm around Harmony’s shoulders to assist her out of the classroom.

“Call Rafael!” she repeated several more times as she let me guide her out into the hall.

“I don’t know his number—” I began when she shoved her hand into my sweatshirt pocket and grabbed the small mirror Rafael had given me.

“Bring her to my office, Sydney. Follow me!” the nurse ordered. She seemed quite happy to leave Harmony to me. Moving in front of us, she began shooing gawking students away.

It was slow going because Harmony had difficulty walking. We had only gotten halfway there before I heard Rafael’s voice calling from behind. “Harmony!”

I glanced over my shoulder to see him striding toward us at top speed. His brows knit with concern. He reached us in a matter of moments. Slipping his arm around her, he quickly passed his left hand over her face.

It was then I noticed he wore a ring. It looked like one of those intricately woven Celtic wedding bands. It sparkled, as if sunlight was glistening off it, but we weren’t near any windows.

Rafael looked at me. Our eyes briefly locked and then I glanced away, awash with guilt. I wondered if he somehow already knew that I had caused Harmony’s injury. I truly hadn’t intended to cause her any real harm, and the thought that I had made me sick to my stomach.

“You have done enough, Sydney,” he said sharply.

The way he looked at me was disconcerting. What did he mean I had done enough? Enough
to
her? His eyes drilled through mine, in a very penetrating, intense kind of way that made me wonder if he could read my thoughts.

“I haven’t had a chance to examine—” the nurse began.

Rafael tilted his head to the side, enough to acknowledge her comment but not to actually look at her. “Your help isn’t necessary,” he replied tersely. “We will leave immediately!”

The nurse frowned a little and folded her arms. “Listen, young man! Just who exactly are you?”

“I’m her brother.” Rafael replied calmly enough, but there was a chill in his tone. “We must leave at once.”

“She looks like she’s going to faint! At least let me check her blood pressure first!” the nurse protested.

His gray eyes flashed imperiously. “I already told you that we must leave. There is no time for your test! I’m well aware of her medical conditions and what she requires.”

I was surprised at the sudden change in him. He seemed vastly different. He stood with his feet planted slightly apart, his body rigid, and a dark intensity burning in his eyes. This Rafael was threatening, powerful, and decidedly dangerous. For the first time, I felt a ripple of fear looking at him. Maybe Jareth was right and Rafael
was
the one I should avoid. At the moment, he made Jareth look like a harmless kitten.

I suddenly felt ill. Maybe they did have superpowers.
Could
he read my mind? Did he know I had deliberately shoved the hammer into Harmony’s hands as an experiment?

The nurse was trying to talk to him, but he brushed her curtly aside. “Enough! You are dismissed!”

The woman’s mouth dropped open.

I began to panic.

His lips tightened in a grim line as he pushed back the hair from Harmony’s sweating forehead. Glancing down at me, he said, “I’ll take her, Sydney. You can let go now.”

I was surprised to discover I was still hanging onto her in almost a death grip. Swallowing, I forced my fingers to relax.

Rafael caught her as she collapsed.

“We should call an ambulance!” The nurse was obviously worried as she reached for her cell phone.

“Your assistance isn’t needed.” Again, Rafael inclined his head her direction without bothering to look her way. Hefting Harmony over his shoulder, he studied me for a moment. “We will speak later, Sydney.” A chill hung on the edge of his words.

He didn’t look at me again. I watched him carry Harmony down the hall with the school nurse at his heels.

I shivered.

He would speak to me later? About what? About my role in Harmony’s collapse?

It was hard to concentrate on schoolwork after that. I felt overwhelmed by guilt and fear. Guilt because I had hurt Harmony and fear because I was convinced Rafael had read my mind and hadn’t liked what he’d learned.

Everyone kept asking me what had happened. Stories of Harmony collapsing in class were running through the school like wildfire, and I was immensely relieved when the day finally ended.

Grace and Betty were shocked when I told them what had happened.

“I didn’t think she was still in school,” Grace muttered.

“There must have been something on that hammer, Sydney,” Betty stated with finality as she pulled into the driveway. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m sure they know that. Maybe you should go check on Harmony and see how she’s doing.”

I glanced across the street at Rafael’s car in the driveway.

“Why don’t you make a plate of cookies and take them over. Yes, that’s what you should do.” Betty decided as she handed me a bag of groceries. “I just bought chocolate chips.”

“Yeah,” Grace agreed. She seemed unusually reserved. “It’s better to not go over there empty-handed.”

Looking back at Rafael’s car, I again felt a mixture of fear and shame. I really hoped Harmony was ok, but I wasn’t sure it was a bright idea to go marching over there. Cookies were hardly a good defense against aliens, not unless I delivered them on a cast iron plate.

Chapter Thirteen - Aliens and Tinfoil

Al had come home early from work. He’d been fighting a cold the past few days, and it had taken a turn for the worse. As I walked into the kitchen, I found him sitting at the kitchen table, scowling at his surveillance tapes and nursing a cup of hot tea.

“I’m telling you, Betty,” he was saying. “It don’t make sense!”

“Doesn’t
, dear,” Betty corrected as she kissed the top of his bald head. “You should just turn that over to Sydney and go rest if you want to get over that cold. I’ll make you a bed on the couch and you can watch
Glee
. There’s a new episode tonight.”

I smiled a little. Al really loved
Glee
. He was always singing the songs. And now that I thought about it, he actually had a good voice.

His eyes lit up when he caught sight of me. “Check this out, kiddo. Tell me what you think.” He pointed to the monitor.

I stared at the video monitor apprehensively. I was hardly in the mood to see what weird thing our neighbors had done this time. I knew it wouldn’t be normal, but I couldn’t let Al down. Suppressing a sigh, I moved closer.

“Watch,” Al grunted, hitting the play button.

Because Rudolph kept swinging his head, the picture was constantly moving and viewing it made me a little seasick. But it revealed Zelphie and Marquis parking their white sports car in the driveway. Zelphie got out in what looked like eight-inch high heels and a tight leather skirt. It was amazing that she could even walk to the porch as Marquis trailed a few feet behind her. I thought they made an amusing couple. She was already taller than him, and with the extra height added by her shoes, he barely reached her shoulder. He unlocked the front door, and they both disappeared inside the house.

I looked at Al.

“Just wait, kiddo,” he murmured, tapping the screen with his thumb.

Marquis opened the front door again and returned to the car. Unlocking the trunk, he removed a small bag. He glanced up and down the street and even leaned back to look at his house for a minute before hunching over the bag. It appeared as if he didn’t want to be seen, but it made little sense because he was standing out in the open, right in front of his house and practically in the street.

“Now, really look at this part,” Al snuffled, blowing his nose on a tissue.

Marquis thrust his hand into the bag, and pulled out a glowing red, tube-like container. It was oblong, about six inches long, and it reminded me of a red fluorescent light bulb. He curved his shoulders, blocking my view somewhat as he placed his palm over the top of the tube.

Something weird started crawling out, or I guessed it was something crawling out. It was hard to describe. Long, wispy red tendrils, like long, spindly spider’s legs came out of the top of the tube to drift upwards and into his nose, ears, and eyes. It looked like something straight out of a horror movie, but it was hard to see because the video kept moving back and forth, and he was bending closer over the trunk of the car.

I gulped.

“I think it’s just a reflection of the lights,” I heard Betty say as she puttered around the kitchen putting the groceries away. “Al, you know that Rudolph has those red lights all over him.”

I frowned, looking back at the tape. It didn’t look like a reflection to me.

The video was still playing. Zelphie opened the front door and Marquis jumped. He hurriedly shoved the tube back into the trunk of the car, shut it, and moved to join Zelphie on the porch.

Al reached over and hit the pause button.

“What
was
that?” I asked in a choked whisper.

Laying a finger on his lips, he frowned at me as he nodded Betty’s direction. Then he said, a little louder than necessary, “Must be a reflection, kiddo. I’ll just drink the rest of my tea and head off to watch
Glee
.”

“Good idea!” Betty heaved a sigh of relief. “Sydney, I’ve set all the ingredients out for you. I’d help make the cookies, but I’ve got to check my bid.”

Al nodded vigorously. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to communicate, but I knew he didn’t want Betty to hear.

“That’s ok,” I replied. “I’ll make them.”

“Come relax, honey!” Betty smiled at Al before she disappeared into the living room.

As soon as she was gone, Al leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “It has to be drugs.”

“Or maybe aliens,” I muttered and slammed the cookie bowl on the table.

To his credit, he didn’t laugh at me. Instead, he frowned thoughtfully, as if giving it due consideration before wondering aloud, “The supernatural? Why would aliens come to our neighborhood to do drugs?”

“Alien druggies?” Grace chortled from the kitchen entrance.

Both Al and I jumped. We hadn’t noticed her come in.

She moved to the refrigerator, poured herself a glass of milk, and sat down at the kitchen table eyeing my cookie dough bowl. When we didn’t continue talking, she raised her brows. “What? Is this some sort of secret spy cookie meeting or something that I’m not invited to?”

We didn’t have to answer because the phone rang.

“I’ll get it,” Grace offered. Raising amused eyebrows at us, she hissed in a dramatic whisper, “You two can continue your top-secret meeting discussing the alien drug addicts taking over the neighborhood!”

Giggling, she answered the phone, and peered out the kitchen window.

I looked at Al. He was chuckling as he sipped his tea. I didn’t know what was so funny. The entire thing sounded plausible to me.

I grabbed a couple of eggs, listening to Grace’s conversation.

“Sure! Ok, I’ll bring her. No problem!” Grace was saying on the phone, still staring out the window. “Yeah, I know, it’s funny. Yeah, sure. Ok. We’ll be right there.”

As I cracked the egg, she hung up.

“It’s an emergency. Samantha needs you at the shop until 9:00 p.m.,” she said, reaching for the truck keys hanging on the hook. Hitching her thumb over her shoulder at the window, she added, “No point in making the cookies for Harmony, she just left with Rafael in his car. She looked perfectly fine to me.”

I put the eggs down.

“Don’t forget to wear your special T-shirt!” Betty called from the living room. “And we’ll pick you up around 9:15, Sydney. I have an errand to run, anyway.”

“I’ll finish the cookies when I get back,” Grace volunteered, walking to the door.

It only took me a few minutes to slip on my shirt and grab my backpack. I had a test tomorrow. I could study while I waited for them to pick me up, providing I could calm my mind enough from the events of the day.

Grace pulled Tigger out from behind the truck and hopped into the driver’s seat. She didn’t say anything on the short drive, but she did pop a Jareth CD into the player with a teasing grin. I was glad she didn’t want to talk. I just wanted to think. It had been an unnerving day. She dropped me off at the back of the shop, waved, and left.