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?”
“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—”
“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 Caffé 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.”
“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 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.
“I heard about Catty.” Serena sat down. “Is Catty different like you? She is, isn’t she?”
“Look, I’m feeling really bad right now about—” Vanessa stopped. She had almost said “about losing a friend.” The words felt too final to say. She thought of Catty spinning down the tunnel for eternity. Hot tears rimmed her eyes.
“You didn’t lose her,” Serena comforted Vanessa. “I hope not yet, anyway—if you’ll come with me, maybe my friend can help.”
“I’m sorry you think this is another chance for a practical joke,” Vanessa spat out. All she could think about was Catty caught in the tunnel. She pushed back her chair, grabbed her bag, and walked to the door.
Serena’s heavy platforms clumped on the wood floor behind her.
“If Catty were my friend and someone told me they knew someone who could help, I wouldn’t hesitate,” Serena called out.
Vanessa paused, chewing on the side of her cheek. Serena was right. She didn’t have a choice. She had to go with Serena if there was any chance the person she knew could help bring Catty back.
“All right,” Vanessa said, but she still felt unsure.
Serena smiled broadly. “Jimena is parked down the street.”
They walked across the small parking lot, then down the block. A blast of music filled the night and made her heart vibrate with the beat. The music came from a blue-and-white ’81 Oldsmobile. The girl she had seen in front of Serena’s house on Sunday night leaned against the car. The wind whirled her black hair around her face. She wore Daisy Dukes, athletic shoes, and a fuchsia T-shirt. Her long dark legs were crossed in front of her.
Serena opened the car door on the passenger side. “Jimena, this is Vanessa. Vanessa, Jimena.”
“Hey,” Jimena called.
“Is she going to drive?” Vanessa asked over the music.
“Sure,” Serena said.
“She looks kind of young to be driving,” Vanessa said nervously.
“Jimena’s fifteen. Her brother lets us borrow his car.”
“You got to know how to drive if you’re going to jack cars,” Jimena said with a wry smile and climbed inside.
Vanessa hesitated.
“Come on, I quit the life,” Jimena yelled back at her. “Te lo juro.”
Vanessa thought of Catty. She really had no choice. She threw her bag in the back and crawled in after it. Serena climbed in the front.
Jimena started the engine. The sound of the mufflers thundered off the road and shattered the night. The car shrieked around the corner and the rear end fishtailed.
Serena and Jimena squealed with joy.
Vanessa wished she had listened to Morgan now. She rubbed her forehead. What was the world coming to when Morgan was offering good advice?
The traffic light ahead turned yellow, then red. Jimena blasted through the intersection as the oncoming traffic started to move. Horns honked. Tires skidded.
“We almost had an accident,” Vanessa shouted above the music, and yanked her seat belt into place with a snap of metal.
“The light was yellow.” Jimena floored the accelerator. The driver of a Jeep honked at her and a woman in a Corvette leaned out her window and screamed profanities.
“Aren’t you afraid of getting stopped by the police?”
“In Los Angeles? Who are the placas gonna pick? Everyone breaks the law,” Jimena said. “Besides, I can outrun them.”
The awful gnawing in Vanessa’
s stomach got worse.
“You’ll totally get used to this,” Serena explained cheerfully.
“No doubt,” Vanessa muttered.
“Don’t be so scared,” Serena said and leaned over the seat. A silver chain fell from her overalls. A moon amulet dangled at the end of the chain. It looked identical to the ones Catty and Vanessa wore. Was it just a weird coincidence? Maybe there was a shop in Venice Beach that specialized in moon charms.
She started to ask Serena where she got the amulet when Jimena slammed on the brakes. There was a terrible squeal of tires. Vanessa gripped the seat and squeezed her eyes, waiting to become a tangle of flesh and metal. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes. Jimena and Serena were both staring at her.
She leaned forward to tell them she had changed her mind, but the car shot out again. Inertia pushed her back with a quick snap of her neck. How had she let Serena convince her to go with them? It only proved to her how absolutely desperate she felt. But overriding all her doubts was a strong foreboding that something important was about to happen that would change her life forever.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE CAR SCREECHED around the corner and stopped in front of a small gray apartment building near Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Waves of disappointment rolled over Vanessa. She thought she was on the verge of discovering something earth-shattering. She had at least expected a dark alley off Melrose and some threatening punker in five-inch platform boots with silver studs jutting dangerously from leather clothes.
Jimena shut off the engine. The music stopped. Vanessa rubbed her head against the silence ringing in her ears.
Serena opened the car door. “Come on,” she coaxed. “You’ll like Maggie.”
Vanessa climbed from the car. The sweet scent of night jasmine enveloped her. Jimena walked over to the security panel and buzzed an apartment. A loud hum opened the magnetic lock.
Vanessa followed Serena and Jimena into a mirrored entrance. She glanced at the reflection, three girls with nothing in common, an odd combination.
“Who am I going to meet?” she asked.
“Maggie Craven,” Serena told her.
“She’s retired history teacher,” Jimena added.
“How can she help me find Catty?”
They smiled and pulled her onto an elevator. The metal doors closed, and the elevator trundled up to the fourth floor.
“Look, maybe I shouldn’t have come,” Vanessa hesitated.
“Too late,” Serena said.
They each took one of Vanessa’s hands and pulled her off the elevator, then walked her down a narrow balcony that hung over a courtyard four stories below. Ivy entwined the iron railing.
Before Jimena could knock, the door opened.
“Welcome, welcome.” A thin, short woman smiled. She wore flowing white pajamas that looked like a kimono. Her long gray hair curled into a bun on top of her head. She hugged Jimena and Serena. Then she touched the moon amulet hanging from Vanessa’s neck.
“My dear, dear child, I’ve been searching for you a long time,” she said. Her warm, caring eyes looked so deeply into Vanessa’s that she thought the woman was inspecting her soul. “You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”
Maggie motioned them to come inside and they continued down a narrow hallway to a living room and kitchen. Candle flames and oil lamps lit the apartment. Simple haunting music of four notes played from a stringed instrument Vanessa couldn’t identify.
“Do you like tea, my dear?” Maggie said.
“Really, I just wanted to ask about Catty and then go.”
Maggie pulled out a chair. “Sit, please.”
Vanessa sat at the small table. The tablecloth caught the light from the oil lamps and candles and gave the impression that it was spun with gold and silver threads.
Maggie scooped five teaspoons of loose tea into a white teapot. The round face of the pot looked like the face of the moon. She added boiling water from a kettle on the gas stove.
“Milk?” Maggie held up a small white pitcher. She didn’t wait for anyone to answer but poured a little into the bottom of each cup.
“Now we’ll wait a moment for the tea to brew.” She looked at Vanessa in a loving way. “I’m so glad you’ve finally come to me. I have so much I need to tell you, but where to start? That’s always a difficult decision.”
“You know what happened to Catty?” Vanessa said.
Maggie smiled at her and set the strainer on top of a cup, poured tea, and handed the cup to Vanessa. She repeated the same for Serena, Jimena, and herself.
Vanessa drank the tea. It tasted of cloves and honey and something bitter.
“This is great tea.” Vanessa sipped again. She hadn’t realized how thirsty she had been until she was staring at tea leaves on the bottom of her empty cup. “Now, what about Catty?” she asked.
“More tea, my dear?”
“Yes, please. What kind is it?” She handed her cup to Maggie. Already her urgency about Catty was melting away. She began to relax.
“Perfect tea for the occasion,” Maggie said.
In the candle glow Maggie’s face seemed to transform. She looked young, and her eyes, something in them looked so familiar. Vanessa blinked. Maggie looked younger still, and her hands were definitely those of a young woman. Why hadn’t she noticed that before? She wasn’t old.
Maggie refilled Vanessa’s cup and handed it back to her. Then she pulled pins from her bun. She shook her head and ran her hands through her hair. Luxurious curls fell to her shoulders. Vanessa could see now that her first impression had been wrong. Maggie’s hair wasn’t gray, but the pale blond of shimmering moonbeams, and silky. Why hadn’t she seen how beautiful Maggie was before?
“There now, has my tea relaxed you, Vanessa?” Maggie asked. “After centuries of experience I find it works best to give a little herbal tea before I talk the truth, something to help you see with your soul, not your eyes.”
Vanessa blinked. The walls had given way and the apartment was a windswept vault dominated with the classical colonnades of antiquity. She blinked again and the four walls of a small apartment returned.
“Tu es dea, filia lunae.” Maggie glistened when she spoke, as if an aura of pure luminosity curled around her. The words seemed similar in cadence to the words Vanessa had spoken when she was being chased.
“What language is that?” Vanessa said in a drowsy sort of way.
“Latin.” Maggie smiled.
“I know some Latin words.” Vanessa tried to repeat the words as she remembered the sounds, but her tongue twisted sluggishly in her mouth. “Oh, Mah-tare Loon-ah, Re-gee-nah no-kis, Ad-you-wo may noonk.”
“Yes.” Maggie seemed concerned. “You’ve used this prayer?”
Vanessa nodded, feeling bewildered and totally dizzy. “How can I know Latin?”
“You were born with it,” Maggie said. “You know ancient Greek as well.”
“I’m sure I don’t.” Vanessa giggled.
“It seems I’ve found you without a second to spare if you’ve already been forced to use the prayer.” Maggie looked at Jimena and Serena. “It was easy to bring Jimena and Serena to me because their dreams were open. You must have nightmares, Vanessa.”
“Yes,” Vanessa whispered.
“It happens now and again, but I’m afraid it’s not a good sign. It means the Atrox has already discovered who you are and entered your dreams. That’s why it was nearly impossible to speak to you in your sleep and bring you to me. Thank goodness Serena found you.”
“Did you say something about an Atrox?” Vanessa couldn’t have heard her clearly. The tea was making her feel so strange.
“Not an Atrox. The Atrox,” Maggie whispered. “The primal source of evil. Since creation it has been jealous of the world of light and tried to destroy it.”
Maggie considered the shadows clinging to the corners of the room. “The Atrox is always around, sending shadows like tentacles to be its eyes. Tell me, dear,” Maggie continue
d. “Have you noticed any inexplicable shadows following you?”
Vanessa thought of the unnatural way shadows had frightened her when she was a girl alone in her room, but before she could answer, Maggie lifted her hands. Silver tendrils pulsated from her palm to the corners of the room and scattered the shadows hovering there.
Maggie stared at Vanessa. “To put it as simply as I can, Vanessa, there are evil forces in the world. The Atrox controls them and the Atrox wants to destroy you.”
“Destroy me?” she whispered and began to tremble. “Why me? I’m just—”
“Tu es dea, filia lunae. You are a goddess, a Daughter of the Moon.”
“Goddess?”
“Yes.” Maggie smiled. “When Pandora’s box was opened, countless evils and sorrows were released into the world. But the last thing to leave the box was hope, the sole comfort for people during misfortune. Only Selene, the goddess of the moon, saw the demonic creature lurking nearby, sent by the Atrox to devour hope. She took pity on Earth dwellers and gave her daughters, like guardian angels, to fight the Atrox and perpetuate hope. That is why you are here, Vanessa, to keep hope alive.”
“How?”
“By stopping the Atrox, of course.”
“I’m going to fight the Atrox.” Vanessa would have laughed if Maggie hadn’t looked at her so gravely. “What happens if the Atrox wins?”
“The end of the world as we know it.”
Vanessa felt fear spread through her.
“I’m going much too fast for you, my dear,” Maggie said. “Sip your tea.”
Vanessa looked at the tea and felt a flood of relief. It must be the tea. There must be something in it that was making her feel so strange. Drug dealers weren’t all young and streetwise. Hippies aged. The tea must be a powerful hallucinogenic. None of this was real. Hopefully, the effects would wear off so she could walk home. The whole thing seemed silly now.
“There’s something in the tea,” Vanessa declared. “It’s making me see things. It made you look different and the apartment, too. And I’m imagining you saying these crazy things.” She started laughing then, but no one joined her.