Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 5

gull was still muttering as he rounded the backcorner of the house. What was he regular(a) doinghere?It wasnt easy to get into the garden area fromoutside. He had to bushwhack through the oergrownrhododendron bushes and blackberry canesthat formedadense hedge all around it. And yetwhen heemerged from a tunnel of leathery greenleaves, the scene in front of him didnt immediatelyregister. His impetus kept him passing play for a fewsteps before his brain caught up.Hey, wait. Theresa girl here.A pretty girl. Anextremelypretty girl. He could seeher clearly by the back porch light. She had hiplengthwhite-blond hair, the color that commonly onlypreschoolers have, and it was as fine as a childs hair,too,whipping around her wish pale silk when shemoved. She was smallish. Little bones. Her hands and feetwere delicate.She was wearing what give eared standardized an oldfashioned nightshirt and dancing to what sounded care arent-to-own commercial. There was a battereddock radio on the por ch steps. There was also a blackkitten that took one look at Mark and darted away(p) into the shadows.Baaad cred-it,nooo cred-it, dooont wor-ry,weeell suffer you. the radio warbled. The girldanced with her arms above her head-light as thistledown,Mark thought, staring in astonishment. Really,actu ally that light, and so what if it was a clicheAs the commercial ended and a country western song began, she did a twirl and saw him. Shestopped,frozen, arms still above her head, wristscrossed. Her eyes got big and her mouth sagged open.Shes scared, Mark thought. Of me. The girl didnt look graceful now she was scrambling to seize thedock radio, fumbling with it, shaking it. Trying to find an Off switch, Mark realized. Her desperation wascontagious. Before he thought, Mark dropped the dress shears and swooped in to grab the radio fromher. He twisted the top dial, cutting the song short. Then he stared at the girl, who stared backwith widesilvery-green eyes. They were both breathing tim eing place ing quickly, as if theyd just disarmed a bomb.Hey, I hate country western, too, Mark utter aftera minute, shrugging.Hed neer talked to a girl this way before. besides then hed neer had a girl look scared of him before.And so scared-he imagined he could see her heartbeating in the pale blue veins beneath the translucentskin of her throat.Then, suddenly, she stopped flavor terrified. Shebit her lip and chortled. Then, still grinning, she blinkedand sniffed.I forgot, she verbalize, dabbing at the corner of her eye. You dont have the same rules we do.Rules close country western music? Mark hazarded. He liked her voice. It was ordinary, noncelestial. It made her seem more human.Rules round any music from outside, she utter. And any TV, too.Outside what? Mark thought. He said, Uh, hi. Im Mark Carter.Im wear out Redfern.Youre one of Mrs. Burdocks nieces.Yes. We just came utter intimately night. Were going to livehere.Mark snorted and muttered, You have my condolences .Condolences? Why? Jade cast a darting glance around the garden.Because living in Briar Creek is just approximately moreexciting than living in a cemetery.She gave him a long, fascinated look. Youve lived in a cemetery?He gaveher along look. Uh, actually, I just meant its boring here.Oh. She thought, then smiled. Well, its interest to us, she said. Its different from wherewe come from.And just wheredo you come from?An island. Its sort of near She considered. The state of Maine.The state of Maine.Yeah.Does this island have a name?She stared at him with wide green eyes. Well, I cant tell youthat.Uh-okay. Was, she making fun of him? But at that place was nothing like mockery or sly teasing in herface. She looked mysterious and innocent. perchance she had some kind of kind problem. The kids atDewitt High School would have a field day with that. They werent very tolerant of differences.Look, he said abruptly. If theres ever anything I can do for you-you know, if you ever get introub le or something-then just tell me. Okay?She tilted her head sideways. Her eyelashes actually cast shadows in the porch light, but her verbiagewasnt coy. It was straightforward and assessing,and she was looking him over carefully, as if she neededto figure him out. She took her time doingit. Then she smiled, making little dimples in her cheeks, andMarks heart jumped unexpectly.Okay, she said softly. Mark. Youre not silly, even though youre a boy. Youre a just guy,arentyou?Well. . .Mark had never been called upon to be a good guy, not in the TV sense. He wasntsurehow hed measure up if he were. I, um, hope I0am.Jade was looking at him steadily. You know, I just decided. Im going to like it here. She smiledagain,and Mark found it hard to breathe-and then her sort changed.Mark heard it, too. A wild crashing in the overgrown tangle of rhododendrons and blackberrybushes atthe back of the garden. It was a weird,frenzied sound, but Jades reaction was out of all proportion. Shehad frozen, frame tense andtrembling, eyes fixed on the underbrush. She looked terrified.Hey. Mark spoke gently, then touched hershoulder. Hey. Its all right. Its plausibly one of thegoats that got loose goats can jump over any kind of fence. She was shaking her head. Or a deer.When theyre relaxed they sound just like people walking.Its not a deer, she hissed.They come down and eat peoples gardens a. night. You probably dont have deer roamingaroundwhere you come from-I cantsmellanything, she said in a kind of whispered wail. Its that stupid pen. Everything smells likegoat. She couldnt smell ? Mark did the only thinghe could bet of in response to a statement like that. Heput his arms around the girl.Everythings okay, he said softly. He couldnthelp but notice that she was chill out and warm at thesame time, supple, wonderfully alive underneath the nightshirt. Why dont I take you deep down now? Youllbe safe there.Leggo, Jade said ungratefully, squirming. I mayhave to fight. She wriggled out of his arms andfaced the bushes again. Stay behind me.Okay, so sheis savage. I dont care. I conjecture I sleep together her.He stood beside her. Look, Ill fight, too. What doyou think it is? Bear, brush wolf ?My brformer(a).Your . . . Dismay pooled in Mark. Shed just stepped over the line of acceptable craziness.Oh.Another thrashing sound from the bushes. It was definitely something big, not a goat. Mark was just enquire vaguely if a Roosevelt elk could have wandered down the hundred or so miles from WaldoLake, when a scream ripped through the air.A human scream-or, worse,almost human. As it died, there was a wail that was definitely inhumanitstarted out faint, and then suddenly sounded shrilland dose. Mark was stunned. When the drawn-out wailfinally stopped, there was a sobbing, moaning sound, then silence.Mark got his breath and swore. What in thewhat wasthat?Shh. Keep still. Jade was in a half-crouch, eyes on the bushes.Jade-Jade, listen. Weve got to get inside. Desperate, h e looped an arm around her waist,trying to pick her up. She was light, but she flowed like water out of his arms. Like a cat that doesntwant to bepetted. Jade, whatever that thing is, we need agun.I dont. She seemed tobe speaking through herteeth-anyway there was something odd abouther diction. She had her back to him and he couldnt see her face, but her hands were clawed.Jade,Mark said urgently. He was scared ampleto run, but he couldnt leave her. He couldnt.No good guy would do that.Too late. The blackberry bushes to the south quivered. Parted. Something was coming through.Marks heart seemed to freeze solid, but then he found himself moving. Pushing Jade nearly aside.Standing in front of her to face whatever the thing in the dark was. Mary-Lynnette kicked her way through the blackberry canes. Her arms and legs were scratched, andshe could feel ripe, bright-black berries squishing against her. Shed probably picked a bad place to getthrough the hedge, but she hadnt been thinking a bout that. Shed been thinking about Mark, aboutfindinghim as fast as possible and getting away from here.0Just please let him be here, she thought. Let him be here and be okay and Ill never ask for anythingelse.She struggled through the last of the canes into thebackyard-and then things happened very fast. The scratch linething she saw was Mark, and she felt a rush of relief. Then a flash of surprise. Mark was standing in front of a girl, his arms displace like a basketball guard. As if to protect her from Mary-Lynnette.And then, so quickly that Mary-Lynnette could barely follow the motion, the girl was rushing at her.And Mary-Lynnette was throwing her arms up and Mark was shouting, No, thats my sisterThe girl stopped a foot away from Mary-Lynnette.It was the little silvery-haired one, of course. Thisdose Mary-Lynnette couldsee that she had green eyes and skin so translucent it almost looked like quartzcrystal.Jade, its my sister,.Mark said again, as if anxiousto get this establis hed. Her namesMary-Lynnette.She wont hurt you. Mare, tell her you wont hurther.Hurt her? Mary-Lynnette didnt know what he wastalking about, and didnt want to. This girl was asweirdly beautiful as the others, and something abouther eyes-hey werent ordinary green, but almostsilvery-made Mary-Lynnettes skin rise ingoose pimples.Hello, Jade said.Hello. Okay, Mark, cmon. Weve got to go. Like right now.She expected him to agree immediately. He wasthe one who hadnt wanted to come, and now herehewas with his most dreaded phobia, a girl. But instead he said, Did you hear that yelling? Could you tellwhere it came from?What yelling? I was inside. Come on. MaryLynnette took Marks arm, but since he was asstrongas she was, it didnt do any good. Maybe I heardsomething. I wasnt paying attention. Shed beenlooking desperately around the Victorian living room,babbling out lies about how her family knew whereshed gone tonight and expected her back soon. How her father and stepmother were such good frie ndsof Mrs. Burdocks and how they were just waiting at home to hear about Mrs. B.s nieces. She stillwasnt sure if that was why theyd let her go. But for somereason, Rowan had finally stood up, givenMaryLynnette a grave, sweet smile, and opened the front door.You know, I bet it was a trencherman, Mark was saying to Jade excitedly. A wolverine thatcame down from Willamette Forest.Jade was frowning. A wolverine? She considered. Yeah, I guess that could have been it. Ive neverheard one before. She looked at MaryLynnette. Is that what you think it was?Oh, sure, Mary-Lynnette said at random. decidedly a wolverine. I should ask where her auntieis, she thought suddenly. Its the perfect opportunity to catch her in a lie. Ill ask and then shellsaysomething-anything, but not that her auntsgone up north for a little vacation on the coast. And then Illknow.She didnt do it. She simply didnt have the courage. She didnt want to catch anyone in a lie any longershe just wanted to get out.Mark, plea se He looked at her and for the first time seemed tosee how upset she was. Uh-okay, he said. And toJade Look, why dont you go back inside now?Youll be safe there. And maybe-maybe I could comeover again sometime?Mary-Lynnette was still tugging at him, and now, to her relief, he began to move. Mary-Lynnette headedfor the blackberry bushes that shed trampled coming in.Why dont you go through there? Its like apath, Jadesaid,pointing. Mark immediately swerved,taking Mary-Lynnette with him, and she saw a comfortable gap between two rhododendron bushes atthe back of the garden. She would never have seen it unless she knew what to look for.As they reached the hedge, Mark turned to glance behind him. Mary-Lynnette turned, too.From here, Jade was just a dark silhouette againstthe porch light-but her hair, lit from behind, lookedlike a silver halo. It shimmered around her. MaryLynnette heard Mark draw in his breath.You both come back sometime, Jade said cordially. Help us milk the goats like A unt Opalsaid. She gave us very strict orders before she went on vacation.Mary-Lynnette was dumbfounded.She turned back and reeled through the gap, her head spinning. When they got to the road she said,Mark, what happened when you got into the garden?Mark was looking preoccupied. What do you mean what happened? Nothing happened.Did you look at the place that was dug up?No, Mark said shortly. Jade was in the gardenwhen I got there. I didnt get a chance to look atanything.Mark was she there the whole time? Jade?Did she ever go in the house? Or did either of theother girls ever come out?Mark grunted. I dont even know what the othergirls look like. The only one I saw was Jade, and shewas there the whole time. He looked at her darkly. Youre not still on this Rear Windowthing, are you?Mary-Lynnette didnt answer. She was trying to gather her scattered thoughts.I dont believe it. Butshe said it. Orders about the goats. Before her aunt went on vacation.But Rowan didnt know about the goats be fore I told her. Id swear she didnt know. And I was so sureshe was winging it with the vacation business.Okay, maybe I was wrong. But that doesnt mean Rowan was telling the truth. Maybe they didfigure thestory out before tonight, and Rowans just a lousy actress. Or maybe 0 Mark, this is going to sound crazy but Jade didnt have, like, a cellular phone or anything, didshe?Mark stopped dead and gave Mary-Lynnette a long, slow look that said more dearly than wordswhathe thought of this. Mary-Lynnette, whatswrongwith you?Rowan and Kestrel told me that Mrs. B. is on vacation. That she suddenly decidedto take avacation just when they arrived in town.So? Jade said the same thing.Mark, Mrs. B. has lived there for ten years, and shes nevertaken a vacation. Never. How couldshetake one starting the same day her nieces come to live with her?Maybe because they can house-sit for her, Mark said with devastating logic.It was exactly what Rowanhad said. MaryLynnette had a sudden feeling of paranoia, like someone whorealizes that everyone around her is a pod person, all in on the conspiracy. She had been aboutto tell himabout the goats, but now she didnt want to.Oh, geta gripon yourself, girl. Even Mark is beinglogical The least you can do isthink about this rationallybefore you run to Sheriff Akers.The fact is, Mary-Lynnette told herself, savagely honest, that you panicked. You got afeelingaboutthosegirls for some reason, and then you forgot logic completely. You didnt get any kind of hard shew.You ran away.She could hardly go to the sheriff and. say that shewas suspicious because Rowan had creepy feet.Theres no evidence at all. Nothing except She groaned inwardly.It all comes down to whats in the garden, shesaid out loud.Mark, who had been walking beside her in frowning silence, now stopped. What?It all comes back to that again, Mary-Lynnettesaid, her eyes shut. I should have just looked atthatdug-up place when I had the chance, even if Jadesaw me. Its the only real eviden ce there is so Ivegot to see whats there.Mark was shaking his head. Now, look-I haveto go back. Not tonight. Im dead tired. But tomorrow. Mark, I haveto check it out before I goto Sheriff Akers.Mark exploded.Before youwhat?he shouted, loud enough to raise echoes. What are you talking about, goingto the sheriff?Mary-Lynnette stared. She hadnt realized how different Marks point of view was from hers. Why, shethought, why hes -240 You wanted to check out where Mrs. B. was-so we checked where Mrs. B. was, Mark said.They told us where. And yousawJade. I know shes a little differentits like you said about Mrs. B. sheseccentric. But did she look like the kind of personwho could hurt somebody? Well, didshe?Why, hes in love with her, Mary-Lynnettethought. Or at least seriously in like. Mark likes a girl.Now she was reallyconfused.This could be so good for him-if only the girl werent crazy. Well, maybe even if the girl wascrazyif itwasnt a homicidal craziness. Either way, Mary-Lynnette couldn t call the police on Marks new girlfriendunless she had some evidence.I wonder if she likes him, too? she thought. They certainly seemed to be protecting each other when Iwalked in.No, youre right, she said aloud, glad that shed had practice lying tonight. She doesnt looklike thekind of person who could hurt somebody. Ill just let it drop.With you. And tomorrow night when you thinkIm starwatching, Ill sneak over there. This time bringingmy own shovel. And maybe a big stick to fend off wolverines.Do you really think you heard a wolverine over there? she asked, to change the subject.Um maybe. Mark was slowly losing his scowl. It was somethingweird. Something Ive neverheard before. So youre going to forget all this crazy stuff about Mrs. B., right?Yeah, I am. Ill be safe, mary-Lynnette was thinking. This time I wont panic, and Ill make surethey dont see me. Besides, if they were going to kill me, they would have done it tonight, wouldnt they?Maybe it was Sasquatch we heard yelling, Mar ksaid.