Creepy Hollow 7

  “Morning, everyone.”

  We all look toward the door. At the sight of Dash, I suppress a groan. “Dash?” Violet says. “Can you use the faerie paths again?”

  “No, but I have other friends here who are happy to help me out.”

  “Don’t you have a job you should be at right now?” Calla asks.

  “Yeah, I’m heading to work in a few minutes. Just stopped by to say hi.”

  Calla places a hand on her hip. Behind her, the jug that was stirring itself with a spoon earlier pours some of its contents into a glass. “You stopped by to ‘say hi?’ Why don’t I believe you?”

  “I don’t know. I’m a friendly guy. I’m not sure why you’d doubt my desire to wish everyone a good morning.”

  She shakes her head as she picks up the glass and moves toward him. “Well, good morning, then. And goodbye. I’m heading out now.”

  “Stay alive,” Dash calls cheerfully after her as she leaves.

  “Stay alive?” I repeat. “Is that a common greeting around here?”

  Violet throws a quick glance at Jack before quietly saying, “It’s a common sentiment, even if we don’t always say it out loud.”

  Dash walks into the kitchen. “How nice of you to welcome Em to the oasis with baked goods.” He leans past Violet and grabs a blueberry muffin. “I approve.”

  “Dash,” I say, deciding to be civil. “Do you know what happened to Aurora after I got away from the Guild yesterday?”

  He leans his hip against the table. “Aurora?”

  “The other new girl from Chevalier House. The one who showed up at the Guild and helped me escape. Guardians got hold of her before she could get into the faerie paths with me.”

  “Oh yeah.” Dash chews and swallows. “They put her in a detainment cell for a few hours. Then they sent her back to Chevalier House after questioning her.”

  Guilt twists in my gut. “Questioning her?”

  “They wanted to know why she’d come to help you. As far as they knew, there was no connection between the two of you.”

  “There wasn’t—isn’t,” I say. “I have no idea why she came to help me.”

  “Who is this girl?” Ryn asks.

  “She arrived at Chevalier House the day before yesterday. She seemed super suspicious of the whole setup. She said she’d heard that people disappear from there sometimes—which I suppose makes sense now that I know Azzy helps Griffin Gifted people.”

  “Do you think this girl also has a Griffin Ability?” Violet asks.

  I lift my shoulders. “No idea. I suppose Azzy will let you know soon enough if she does. Anyway, what’s weird is that she was supposedly a slave to a bunch of witches who never taught her how to use magic. But she somehow got to the Guild on her own, used magic to cut my ropes, and opened a way to the faerie paths.”

  Ryn considers my words. “Maybe she picked up some basic magic skills around the witches. Although,” he adds with a frown, “witches don’t travel through faerie paths.”

  “So witches are real? That part wasn’t made up?”

  Ryn exchanges a look with Violet. “Witches are very real.” He pushes against the table and stands. “I’ll contact Azzy now. She can tell me if there’s anything we need to be suspicious about.”

  We start clearing up then, partly with the use of magic and partly—and least for Jack and me—by hand. He and I are drying the dishes washed by one of Violet’s spells when I realize Dash and Violet have gone into the next room. I think I hear my name mentioned, and my anger flares up immediately. Hasn’t Dash told these people enough about me and my personal life already?

  “… can help her, right?” Dash is saying. “Come on, you can find anyone.”

  “No I can’t, and I don’t want you telling her that. You know how it works. I need to touch something that belongs to—”

  “To her parents, right. I’ve thought about that. She belongs to her parents. So just touch her, and you’ll be able to find them.”

  “Dash, she hasn’t belonged to her birth parents for a very long time,” Violet says. “That isn’t going to work. Besides, she’s not interested in finding them.”

  “Exactly,” I say, loud enough to startle them both. They look around with guilty expressions. “So thank you, Dash, for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, but as you can see, I don’t want your help.”

  He opens his mouth as if to argue, but then he sighs and raises his hands in surrender. “Sorry. I thought I was helping. I’ll stay out of it.”

  “Probably best,” Violet says quietly.

  “Cool, well, I guess I’ll head to work then.” He raises his hand and makes a fist, holding it in the air in front of Violet as he grins at her. “Have a good day saving lives.”

  She rolls her eyes and bumps his fist with hers. “You too.” She watches him leave, then turns to me. “I’m sorry about that. I hope you know I wasn’t going to do anything without your permission.”

  I nod hesitantly, wanting to believe her. “What were you guys talking about? Being able to find someone … Is that your Griffin Ability?”

  She nods. “Yes. I can find people. If I know the person I’m looking for, it’s easy. The connection’s already there. If I don’t, then I need to be holding something that belongs to that person.”

  “That’s so weird,” I murmur. No less weird than being able to speak things into being, a tiny voice reminds me. “Hang on,” I add as something occurs to me. “Is that how Dash found me yesterday after I escaped the Guild? And the other night when I ran away from Chevalier House? Did you tell him where I was?”

  She nods, looking guilty once again. “Azzy sent a message to say you’d run. I searched for you, then told Dash where to find you.”

  “That’s …” I shake my head. “I … I don’t even know how to feel about that.”

  “Like your privacy’s been violated?”

  “Kind of, I guess. Like I can never truly hide anywhere, even if I want to.”

  She nods. “I know. I hate making people feel like that. I only do it when it’s necessary. In your case, we were worried for your safety.”

  “Wait, how did it work if you didn’t have anything that belongs to me?”

  She closes her eyes for a moment and rubs the back of her neck. “Now you’re really going to think we violated your privacy.” She opens her eyes. “I have a hairband that belongs to you. Dash took it off your wrist the night he brought you home after you passed out at that party. He figured we might need to find you at some point.”

  I cross my arms and stare at the floor. “Yeah. This is all very weird.”

  “I should probably tell you about Ryn too. Get all the weirdness out of the way in one go.”

  “Oh dear. That doesn’t sound good.”

  “And just so you know, none of these abilities are a secret. We don’t want people to think we’re hiding things from them, so we’re very open with those who live here.”

  “Okay, so what can Ryn do?”

  “He can sense your emotions.”

  I blink. “That’s … not cool. At all. What if I don’t want him knowing what I’m feeling?”

  She shrugs. “Try to not feel what you’re feeling?”

  “Is that even possible?”

  “Not really. Trust me, I have years of experience in this area.” She looks briefly over her shoulder as Jack calls for her. Something about a book he can’t find. “Anyway,” she says, turning back to me. “It isn’t such a big deal. Most of the time, people’s emotions are evident in their expressions and actions. Ryn’s ability just makes him a little more intuitive than most, that’s all.”

  I bite my lip and frown some more at the rug on the floor. Perhaps she’s right, but that doesn’t make me feel any more comfortable about being around him.

  “I’m sorry, Em. I know this is all quite overwhelming. There’s plenty more I want to explain, but I need to help Jack get ready for school, and then I’ve got some work things to deal with. I thought
you could take today easy—just look around, hang out in the hammocks, practice whatever Azzy taught you before you left Chevalier—and tonight we can talk about the best way to teach you everything you need to know, including your Griffin Ability.”

  Fabulous. Sounds like you’ve got everything perfectly worked out. I push my sarcastic, bitter thoughts aside. “Okay. I guess that’s a plan. And … can I ask one more thing?” Now’s probably the best time, while she’s still feeling guilty about using her Griffin Ability on me. I swallow and peel my gaze from the floor. “Can you take me to visit my mother?”

  Seventeen

  “It’s been almost a year since I saw her,” I rush on, suddenly feeling like I need to convince Violet this is a good idea. “I saved up—I was going to take a bus—and then my aunt found my stash and took it. And then everything went to sh—I mean, um, everything got messed up.”

  “Almost a year?” Violet repeats with raised eyebrows. “Em, that’s horrible. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how hard it is to be separated from her for so long.”

  “But now I don’t have to be, right? Traveling through the faerie paths is quick and easy. But I can’t do it myself yet, so I need someone’s help.”

  Her expression becomes conflicted, and I can sense that tiny voice inside me getting ready to yell, See? I knew it! They don’t really want to help you. “I understand how desperate you must be to see her,” Violet says carefully, “but you have to understand that it will be risky. The Guild knows all about her. They probably already have someone watching to see if you’ll go there.”

  “Wait, seriously?” I hadn’t considered that. “You really think someone’s hanging out at Tranquil Hills just in case I show up?”

  “Yes. Your power is valuable to the Guild. They’ll want to get it back if they can.”

  “But they think I’m dead.”

  “Do they? You might not know this yet, but it’s hard to kill a faerie, Em. Our magic can help us survive a great many things that would kill a human. If the Guild doesn’t find your body, they’ll assume you survived somehow.”

  “Mom! I still can’t find the book,” Jack shouts from somewhere in the house.

  “Just keep looking,” she calls over her shoulder.

  “Okay, this is bad.” I can’t keep still so I start pacing. “So the Guild is probably watching my mom. Do you think they’d hurt her? You know, try to use her against me?”

  “I highly doubt it. I know they seem like it, but they’re not the bad guys.”

  “Really?” My voice is laced with sarcasm. “They certainly seemed like the bad guys when they were trying to kill me yesterday. And if my magic is so valuable to them, why would they think twice about threatening a sick human woman who means nothing to them?”

  “Em, one of the major purposes of the Guild is to protect humans. They don’t mean—”

  “And what about the Unseelies? They somehow knew about me and my Griffin Ability, so they probably know about Mom too. Won’t they try to take her? That’s villain move number one, right? Use a person’s loved ones against them. They’ve probably taken her al—”

  “Em, calm down.” Violet grips my upper arms and gives them a reassuring squeeze. “We’re one step ahead of you. I already sent someone last night to check that your mother’s okay. That’s why I asked you the name of the hospital yesterday. He reported back that she’s fine. He couldn’t go into her room in case someone was watching, but he saw her from a distance.”

  “Oh. Okay.” My rising doubts shrink back down. “Thank you.” I tuck my hair behind one ear as she lets go of me and steps back. “So, can I visit her? I mean, I know someone from the Guild might be watching, but I can disguise myself. I’ll be really careful.”

  I expect her to argue about it not being safe—that’s what grown-ups do, right?—but instead she nods. “Yes, we can help you do that, but like I said, it will be dangerous. If your mother has no other family or friends that regularly visit her, then the Guild will expect that anyone going to see her now is associated with you. So even if Calla creates an illusion that makes you appear entirely different, the Guild will likely be suspicious. That’s her Griffin Ability, by the way. Casting illusions.”

  “Wow. Oh yes, she made us invisible yesterday.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Can she make me appear invisible to everyone except my mother?”

  “She can, although it tires her out much faster to project an illusion onto some while keeping it from others. So as long as you understand that you may have to get out of there on short notice, we can make this work.”

  I nod fervently. “I can do that. A short visit is better than nothing.”

  “Okay. Later, then? Calla’s schedule’s full for the day, but she’ll be able to take you late this afternoon.”

  “Thank you.” Excited anticipation rushes suddenly through me. I’m going to see her. I’m actually going to see Mom.

  Jack appears in the doorway, hefting a heavy book. “Look, Mom, I found it.”

  Violet claps her hands together. “See? I knew you could do it. Come on, let’s get you to school.”

  Late in the afternoon, when I’m tired of practicing pulling magic out of myself, and my brain is almost bursting with all the things I want to talk to Mom about, I wait for Calla in the pavilion. As people I don’t know wander past, I slide a little lower on one of the couches and avoid making eye contact. I watch Jack running by in the company of several children. They slow near the hammocks and jostle as they try to decide who gets which one. Jack tries to jump onto one, but it ends up flipping over and depositing him on his stomach on the ground. I stand quickly, unsure if I should run over to check he’s okay, but he pushes himself up a moment later, laughing along with his friends.

  “Hey, it’s Emerson!” he shouts suddenly, grinning and pointing my way. They all start running toward me, which I find a little alarming. “Emerson,” Jack says when he reaches the pavilion. “Remember you were saying you know how to fall the right way?”

  I stare down awkwardly at five young faces. “Fall?”

  “Yeah, when you and your friend do that park stuff.”

  “Oh, parkour. Yes.”

  “So can you teach me how to fall out of a hammock the right way? So that I look cool?”

  I can’t help laughing at that. “I’m sorry, Jack. I don’t know if there’s any way to fall out of a hammock that looks cool.”

  “See?” says a girl whose eyes have vertical pupils like the guy I saw yesterday when I arrived here. “Such a dumb idea.”

  “Hey, don’t be such a witch,” another boy says.

  She gasps. “That is so mean.”

  “You can’t talk about witches in front of Jack, remember?” a second girl says.

  “It’s fine,” Jack tells them with a dramatic sigh. “It’s just my mom and dad and Aunt Calla who don’t like talking about witches.”

  “Why not?” I ask, wondering what terrible blunder I made when I spoke about Aurora and witches earlier today.

  “They killed my sister,” Jack says, so matter-of-factly that at first I wonder if he’s making a terrible joke. But the other four children nod, their expressions serious.

  “That’s—oh my goodness. That’s horrible. I’m so sorry, Jack.”

  “Yeah.” He looks down. “I didn’t know her. It happened a long time ago, way before I was born.”

  “Hey there, guys.” Calla jogs up to the pavilion steps. “What happened way before you were born, Jack?”

  “Nothing.” He gives her a wide smile. “We’re gonna go back to the hammocks.” He runs away, followed closely by his friends.

  “Okay then,” Calla says, watching them for a moment. “So.” She turns to me. “Ready to go?”

  I suck in a deep breath, trying to figure out how to answer her. She probably doesn’t realize what a loaded question that is. “Yes,” I say eventually, despite the fact that I doubt I’ll ever feel ready.

  “We need to leav
e from outside the oasis,” she says. “And I want to talk to Ryn quickly before we go.”

  “Okay.” I fall into step beside her as we leave the pavilion behind. “Are there a lot of people living here?” I ask, glancing up at a faerie couple walking hand in hand in the other direction.

  “Yes, quite a few. Most end up leaving if we can help them live safely somewhere else, but there are individuals and families who decide to stay. We now have over a hundred fae who call this place home.”

  “All Griffin Gifted?”

  “Not all, but mostly, yes.”

  “Okay here’s something I don’t understand: How are there so many fae who ended up with Griffin Abilities? I was told it started with magical discs someone created long ago, but weren’t there only six of them? I know they were passed around to various people, but seriously? How did those discs get into the hands of so many?”

  Calla pushes her gleaming gold hair over her shoulder. “It may seem like a lot, but the number is small in comparison to the population of our world.”

  “Okay, sure, but still. All these people from six discs of magic?”

  “Think about the fact that those discs were around for centuries. They granted power, which means others coveted them, which means they were frequently stolen. Add to that the fact that two Griffin Gifted can possibly pass on Griffin magic to their offspring, and you wind up with even more of us.”

  “I suppose when you take into account the fact that you guys live so long, it makes more sense. I’m still having trouble accepting that part. Or at least, applying it to myself. I can’t imagine still being alive in a few hundred years time.” And I can’t imagine how I’m supposed to deal with all my human friends and family growing old and dying while I still look like a twenty-year-old. “Is Jack Griffin Gifted?” I ask, forcing my mind in a less depressing direction.

  “No, thank goodness. If he wants to leave here one day and join the rest of the world, he can do so without having to hide a secret ability.”