The Broken

could at least get some practice by taking pictures of some interesting ones. That way his trip would not be a complete waste of time. Link surveyed the street for something familiar.

  A few houses down, green, metallic signs marked the cross section of two streets. The intersecting signs read, "Presidential Rd." and "Psycho Path." "Very funny!" he shouted up at the sky. "That's not the kind of sign I meant, and you know it!"

  Like a toddler who'd been refused another cookie, Link stormed back to the colonial house he'd just passed. He lifted the camera, focused the lens, and took a shot. Then, for good measure, he clicked off two more in quick succession.

  When he had finished, an icy breeze whipped past, causing his breath to catch. For some reason he had a grim suspicion that he'd just committed the biggest blunder of his entire life. But he quickly shook it off. Who was he fooling? He'd taken a few pictures of a house. He had loads of time to make bigger mistakes than that. All the same, he really needed to stop making decisions when he was angry.

  24

  Apology and a Monster

  The darkness fell faster than expected that night, reminding Link that he needed to get home. He had managed to take seventeen pictures. He only had one picture left. With so little light, Link knew there was no way he'd be able to take any more photos, so he switched the camera off and headed home.

  The dining room light was on at his house. He saw the veiled outline of movement from behind the curtains. With a deep breath he entered the front door then promptly grimaced as he read the silver clock on the wall. It was later than he had expected. His father was not going to be pleased.

  "Link?" his dad called from the other room. "That you?"

  "Yeah, Dad," Link responded, dreading the avalanche of anger certain to follow. Instead, his dad surprised him with a cheerful welcome.

  "Good. I'm glad you're home," he said in a voice devoid of any of the anger or accusation Link had expected. "Ayden and I were getting worried. You hungry? We're about to eat. Come join us."

  Without saying anything, Link pulled a chair up to the table. Freshly tossed salad with a light vinegar dressing sat beside a recently carved honey-glazed chicken. The presentation was remarkable considering his dad's limited culinary abilities. A thin layer of steam clung to the chicken and sent occasional ripples of ecstasy through Link's nostrils.

  "It smells incredible," Link said as he ripped into the chicken he had put onto his plate. The taste was heaven. Despite Link's sudden ravenous hunger, he couldn't bring himself to take another bite because his tongue refused to let go of the tasty morsel still in his mouth. "When did you learn to cook like this?"

  "Oh no, no, no. It wasn't me. I only wish I cooked this well. It was a gift from one of our wonderful neighbors. A belated housewarming present. Nice old lady. Can't recall seeing her around here before. Must live a couple streets over." He shrugged. "Who cares? What a cook, right? This food is amazing!"

  Link's chewing suddenly came to a stop. He had little doubt about who had made the meal. His mind flashed back to the equally delicious aroma of molasses cookies and realized it was too late to avoid possible food poisoning. Besides, if she had wanted him dead, she would have done it this afternoon.

  "How was your day?" his father asked.

  Link looked up in surprise. He'd been so engrossed in the food that he had completely forgotten that this was supposed to be an awkward situation. Somehow, after all that had happened throughout the course of the day, their argument had lost much of its previous magnitude.

  "Good," Link said, not wanting to commit too much emotion into an explanation. As long as he stayed vague, his dad would be less likely to ask any follow up questions.

  "Celia called. Sounded a bit concerned. She didn't go into detail, but I think she was checking up on you. Are you sure everything's okay at school?" His dad shoveled another bite of food into his mouth then looked up and waited for a response.

  "School's fine. I took those pictures you needed. I'm not sure how they'll turn out, but I can get them developed tomorrow if you want."

  "Developed?" his dad seemed to notice Link's new camera for the first time. "When did you switch to the dark side?" Then, looking at the camera, he said, "That's not your mother's, is it? You know how I feel about-"

  Link raised his hands. "It's not Mom's. My digital is spazzin'. I'm just borrowing this one."

  "Who from? That Celia girl? She seems nice. Why don't you invite her over sometime?" His dad took a sip of his water.

  Desperate to change the subject, Link turned to his brother and said, "Hey, Bug, how was daycare?"

  Ayden, who was oddly quiet for this time of night, didn't even look up from his meal. "Okay," he said.

  Ayden's persistent lack of emotion was disconcerting. Had aliens sucked out the soul of his vivacious little brother and replaced it with a lethargic facsimile? The new Ayden had seemingly lost his smile along with his ability to laugh. Ayden refused to look up from his bowl, even after he finished his meal.

  When no answers appeared to be forthcoming, Link motioned to his dad, a questioning look on his face.

  His dad only shrugged. "Don't ask me. I have no idea what's going on. His daycare workers told me today that they are concerned that he won't play with the other kids, but he seems terrified to be left alone."

  "Did something happen?"

  "Not that I know of. Anytime I ask him about it, he starts talking nonsense, like he did the other night."

  "You mean about the moving dark?"

  "Exactly."

  Link thought for a second then said, "He won't talk to me either. It's not like him. He always talks to me."

  Link walked over and knelt beside his little brother. He tenderly pressed his index finger below Ayden's right armpit and said, "If you don't tell me what's wrong, the tickle monster is going to attack."

  Link wiggled his fingers in warning. Surely the tickle monster couldn't fail two times in a row. But it did. Ayden refused to even lift his head. "If me not wook, he go away."

  Link decided to play along. "Okay, Bug. Tell you what. How about I use this special camera to take the dark away? How's that sound? Would that make you feel better?"

  Ayden gave a slight nod in response.

  Link raised the camera and pointed it toward the wall. Not even bothering to focus the shot, he held the camera at arm's length and made a series of clicking and whirring noises to make the camera appear more special than it was.

  Ayden's hand suddenly shot up and clasped Link's wrist. "Not there. There," he said, redirecting the camera to the other side of the room, though still unwilling to raise his head.

  "Oh, yes, of course. I knew that. I was adjusting the moonbeam spectrometer to a higher frequency, that's all." Link redirected the shot to where Ayden had pointed and clicked. The flash popped. Then the film began to rewind. Link heard a high-pitched whine reminiscent of a stifled scream from a distance far away.

  He glanced up at his dad. Still focused on Ayden, his dad showed no signs of having heard anything unusual. Then Link studied the camera. The noise sounded as though it had come from within it. He returned his attention to Ayden.

  "There you go, little buddy. Coast is clear. No more dark in here! We got him for good."

  Ayden lifted his head, still consumed by reservation but wholeheartedly trusting his beloved big brother. After a quick scan of the wall, Ayden's face erupted into a smile so big it nearly consumed his face. He was back. Ayden leapt from his seat and hugged Link's neck as hard as he could. "Tanks," he said, refusing to let go. "Tanks. You da best!"

  "He sees tanks now?"

  Link raised his head and found his father smiling.

  "I'm only kidding," Mr. Hartkins said. "Even I know that he just thanked his big brother. And just so you know, I'm sorry about what I said this morning. It was pretty unfair of me to take everything out on you. You're a good kid, Lincoln. Ayden couldn't ask for a better big brother. It's just...I panicked when I saw Ayden on top of those boxes. It's
silly, I know. But you guys are all I have left."

  "I should have been paying more attention," Link said.

  An awkward silence followed, consuming everyone's ability to speak. It was such unfamiliar territory that nobody knew what to say next. Eventually, Ayden broke the silence. "Let's pay Tittywinks."

  "Say what?" his dad said, shocked by the suggestion. "What kind of game is that?"

  "It's all right, Dad. It's not what you think."

  "Good thing. Hey, you think you could develop that film for me tomorrow? It'd be a huge help." Link's dad drew near and gave Link the sort of bone-crushing hug he'd given him as a child. Still holding him tight, he whispered, "I do love you, son. I have no idea how to show it. But I do. Sometimes I just miss your mom so much I forget how to be a good father." With that he left the room and headed in the direction of the study.

  25

  The Fortune Cookie

  Link picked up the phone then crashed onto his bed. He scanned the caller ID. When he found Celia's name, he pressed redial and waited for her to pick up.

  Celia answered on the third ring. "Hello?" she said.

  "Hey, Celia. It's Link."

  "Link, are you all right?" Her voice oozed with concern. "What happened? When that dog came, barking like it wanted to eat young children, everything went nuts. Panch and I made it into the gym, and then we realized you weren't with us anymore. We searched the crowd, but we couldn't find you. I wasn't worried until Panch noticed that Fade was also missing. Where'd you go? And what were you