CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It was December twenty-first, four days before Christmas and thirteen days before my eighteenth birthday: otherwise known as the day of my death. Mom and Dad called to check on me and said they’d be back by Christmas day. They also admitted that Ms. Ryken, or Colleen, was a Pure like them and that she had reinforced my shield. Even though they thought Tavion had been wounded enough to give us a reprieve, they ordered me not to leave the house. But when I told them about Veronica and a vigil Infiniti had prepared for her, they said I could go because they knew I would anyway.
Infiniti had planned the candlelight vigil at our neighborhood lake. Even though Veronica wasn’t my favorite person, she didn’t deserve to die. Nobody deserved to have their life cut short.
Just before the gathering, I went to Infiniti's.
"I should’ve been there for her," Infiniti said. Her face was pale, her hair a thick tangly mess. Dark circles hung from her eyes. She smelled like she had spent most of the day in the garage.
I took a brush from her dresser and started working on her thick, wavy, black hair. "You were there for her, Infiniti. You were a good friend to her, and wherever she is, she knows it."
She dotted concealer under her eyes and began rubbing it in. "You think so?"
"Yes, I do." Of course, I wasn’t exactly sure if I was right or not, but I had to believe that I was. Veronica was an innocent victim of Tavion. Wherever she was, she had to be at peace. Infiniti sat silently while I tried to make sense of her knotted hair.
"Hey, how about we put your hair up? That might be easier," I said.
She handed me a rubber band. "I hate my hair," she said sullenly.
When I pulled it up, it actually looked pretty good. "Are you crazy? Your hair is gorgeous. Women pay hundreds of dollars to have hair half as beautiful as yours."
She looked at me through the mirror with her puppy dog brown eyes. "Thanks, Dominique. I don’t know what I’d do without you."
I avoided her eyes. If Tavion had his way, I’d be dead soon, and then she’d have to live through the death of another friend. It wasn’t fair—none of it was fair. I glanced at my clock. "It’s almost seven. Ready to go?"
With a nod she got up, put on her black coat, grabbed a box of candles and together we headed to the lake. Halfway down the street, Billy showed up, Veronica's boyfriend. He parked and came over to us. His normally bright and freckled face had lost all its color. He hugged Infiniti and cried on her shoulder for just a minute. Then the three of us linked arms and continued on to the lake.
Infiniti had texted as many people as she could about Veronica’s death and candlelight vigil. When we got to the lake, we found a huge crowd of people. Infiniti and Billy made their way through the crowd hugging and crying with all their friends. And then I saw Trent. He looked…great. Like nothing had happened to him. I had no idea how much of his memory Farrell had erased, but apparently he didn’t remember that I was supposedly dating Farrell, or that we had kissed and I had run out on him at Infiniti’s party because he came right over to me.
"Man, I can’t believe what happened to Veronica," he said. "How’s Infiniti taking it?"
I shivered, and not just from the cool December air that plummeted with the setting sun. "She’s holding up okay. You know—as well as can be expected."
Infiniti handed out candles to those who hadn’t brought any. The glowing sea of lights light up the entire area. She stood on top of the bench and started talking about how she and Veronica had been friends since kindergarten. She highlighted all the fun times they had. Guilt settled in me. Did their friendship suffer because of me? I hoped not. And then I thought of Tavion. Her death was his fault. Not mine. He had killed her. At least, that’s what I told myself.
When Infiniti finished, Billy took the bench, followed by others who shared their Veronica memories. I tried to pay attention, but a figure on the other side of the lake caught my eye. It was getting dark, but the setting sun cast out streaks of light that revealed a tall woman with a long skirt and shoulder length blonde hair—it had to be Jan. I slipped through the crowd and walked in her direction.
Please, Jan, let that be you. As soon as the path curved to the right, I saw a white feather on the ground, standing right in front of it, Jan. I exhaled, relieved to find her okay and alive.
"Jan, it’s so good to see you. I thought you were…" I didn’t want to say that I thought she was dead. "Never mind, I’m just really glad to see you."
"My dear, I said I would come back," she said in her vibrating voice. "Come, let’s walk."
Before I took a step, I noticed the white feather had vanished. Or maybe it really wasn’t there? I wasn’t sure, but I was glad to have Jan back. We walked in silence for a while along the gravel jogging path. A gust of wind swept through the tall pines and flowed right past us. When it did, vanilla filled the air.
"So how was your trip?" I asked.
Our shoes crunched on the gravel. Her eyes drifted up to the sky. "It was…fine," she answered.
Her answer didn’t sound very reassuring. "That’s good. Did you find out anything about my mark? About what’s happening to me?"
She stopped in her tracks. The cool wind that whipped around us faded. "No. I’m sorry, dear."
My hopes crushed. "But I can tell you this," she said. "You must go to midnight mass with Trent."
My skin crawled with shivers. Had I told her about his invitation? I couldn’t remember. I was about to ask when I heard my name in the distance—Trent. "Sounds like someone’s looking for you," she said.
My eyes stayed on Jan’s. "But Jan," I pleaded. "I need your help."
"I know my dear, and I’m truly sorry. I wish I could offer you more assistance, but I just can’t right now. Perhaps later, okay?"
Later? Later I could be dead. Didn’t she even care? Again, Trent called out my name. My stomach tightened and I forced the lump in my throat to stay down. I couldn’t speak, so I settled on a nod.
She reached out to touch me, but stopped short. "I must go now, but I will see you again." Her emphasis on the word will puzzled me, but then again, much about her puzzled me. "I wish you well, Dominique."
"Thank you, Jan."
She walked away, leaving me in a daze. I started back toward the crowd when I thought of the book Abigail had given me, the journal of Julian Huxley. I wondered if Jan knew something about it. I spun around to ask, but she was gone. She should have still been on the path, but wasn’t. Goose bumps ran up and down my spine.
I wrapped myself in my jacket and made my way back to the vigil. The ceremony had ended, but several people stayed around, including Trent. When he saw me, he relaxed. I didn’t see Farrell, but knew he had to have been close.
"Hey," he said. "Where’d you go?"
"Just down the path chatting with one of my neighbors."
He sat on the bench, the bench where he had found me the night my parents had told me that they were Transhumans and my life was in danger. It wasn’t long ago, but it felt like forever. Exhausted, I sat beside him.
He put his arm around me and noticed my bandaged hands. "What happened?" he asked.
Scenes from the confrontation in the red desert flashed through my head. I could smell the thick, hot dirt and feel the blood dripping from my fingers. "Nothing. Just cut myself cooking."
"Seriously?" he asked, half smiling at me. "Cooking?"
"Yeah, cooking," I answered with a small laugh because it was such a lame excuse. "I’m not much of a cook."
"Well, I’m a great cook," he said, hugging me. "So if you ever need to cook, don’t. Just call and I’ll come over."
Everything about Trent made me comfortable. Just being near him made me think I could be normal even though I knew I really couldn’t.
“Hey, you can still come with me and my grandmother to midnight mass, right?’
I had forgotten all about his invitation to mass. As much as I wanted to go, I knew Mom wouldn’t go for it since I had almost died in
that red desert. But his grandmother had said that mass was where the Pures go. Using those words couldn’t have been a coincidence. Maybe going could help me somehow. Maybe I could convince my mom to let me go. “Yeah, I can go. If you still want me to.”
“Of course I want you to come.” He gave me a squeeze. The fresh scent of soap filled the air and relaxed me. "Listen, I gotta go to work. How about I pick you up on Christmas Eve at eight?"
"Sure, see you then."
When he left, Infiniti joined me on the bench. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, her face pale. She leaned her head on my shoulder, and we sat in the cold staring out at the lake. It was now completely dark. Stars sprinkled the sky. A sliver of a moon hung overhead. The fountain in the middle of the lake lit up with different colors: green, purple, and then red. The water cascaded out and splashed into the rippling lake. It made me think of the beach back home and the place I had been transported when I touched the feather and then again when Tavion had almost killed me—the place with Farrell.
I looked around for him, but didn’t see him. Everyone had left except for Infiniti and me. I was about to suggest we go in when her phone beeped. A text. She sat up and read it. When she finished, she dropped her phone. Her body froze. She stared straight ahead and didn’t say a word.
Fear came over me. "Infiniti, what is it?"
"Jan…is dead."