Клаудия Грэй - Afterlife

Mrs. Bethany remained in her carriage house. Once or twice I saw her silhouetted against her windows. Although I doubted she was scared of the wraiths. or of anything. she had apparently decided to remain in a structure that was completely safe from ghostly invasion.

Had she discovered that her traps were missing yet? If so, she gave no sign. In the meantime. her absence from the school building gave us a brief window to meet without worrying about being observed.

Everyone gathered in my parents’ apartments. Vic sprawled on the sofa, a slight fuzz on his cheeks from where he’d failed to shave. Next to him, Ranulf and Patrice drank cups of the coffee my mother had made for us. Lucas took the chair at the farthest end of the room, like he thought my parents might chuck him out at any second, but Mom brought him coffee, too. I stayed near him, and Maxie dared to materialize right at the doorway, where everybody could see her.

“Next weekend will be our best chance,” Mom said as she set the coffeepot down. “Mrs. Bethany sometimes takes advantage of Riverton trips to leave the school for a couple of days. We can encourage that.”

Vic brightened. “Yeah, and with the rest of the humans in town on the Friday trip, less chance of us getting found out, right? Oh, man, I just called people humans.”

“Actually, no,” Dad said. “The vampire students throw their biggest parties of the year when the humans are gone. Which is he!J on the chaperones, but more to the point, makes it hard for us to get something done. But if we wait until the next night, that Saturday — a week from today Mrs. Bethany won ‘ t have returned yet, and we’ll have freedom to work.”

Lucas and I shared a look. He said, “We were going to talk to some former Black Cross friends of ours in Riverton.”

“Black Cross,” Mom muttered, in the same tone of voice she used when she swore.

“It’s Raquel, Mom,” I said. “And Dana, who helped us get away when we were nearly caught last year. They’re our friends, plus they’re fighters, and they have a little experience in capturing wraiths. We should make them a part of this. They could help, both with the wraiths and with getting you and Dad and Lucas away afterward.”

Mom and Dad clearly weren’t sure what to think, but they nodded. I turned to Maxie. “Okay, when the wraiths are freed, they’re going to. . freak out.”

“You got it,” Maxie said. “We’re talking about fireworks, like the fourth of July. Energy and light and frost going in every direction. Bianca will 21o have to guide them where they need to go, whether that’s back to their original homes or on to the next realm, whatever. Away from here — that’s the main thing. I’11 help if I can.”

“Awesome,” Vic said, and he and Maxie shared a quick look before she ducked her head, which hid her smile.

Patrice nodded. “So, once the traps are emptied, we destroy them. That’s not easy, though, given that adds up to, like, a couple hundred pounds of metal.”

“A great cataclysmic force will be required,” Ranulf said. “I shall handle the explosives.”

“Whoa, there, cowboy,” Lucas cut in. “We don’t have to break them down to atoms. All we have to do is make them useless as traps. Mrs. Bethany can’t have an infinite supply of these things.”

My father said, “Our bigger issue is the magical element within the traps. I don’t know much about that — I don’t think any of us here does — but it’s not as simple as demolishing scrap metal. I should be able to come up with a chemical solution that will work, but the results will still be.. how did you put it, Maxie?”

“Fireworks,” she replied.

“I do not see how this is different than explosives,” Ranulf said.

That won a round of laughter, and then people began talking animate — dly about the plan and our chances of success. For some reason, it hit me then how extraordinary it was that these people had come together. The only obvious thing they had in common was that they each knew me, but they weren ‘t here for me — at least not only. or not mostly for me. They were here because they’d learned to look past their old prejudices and fears and see each other for who they were. Maxie’s willingness to engage again with the living world, the vampires’ acceptance of wraiths and humans as their equals and allies, Lucas taking what was good from his Black Cross training and leaving behind what was bad, Vic’s ability to deal with the supernatural world as easily as the natural one — that was what bonded us now.

For a moment, our plan seemed easy. If we’d managed to come together like this, surely we could do anything.

“HOW DOES A TOWN THE SIZE OF RIVERTON KEEP a classic movie house going?” Lucas said, standing before the red — and — gold blinking lights of the marquee.

“It’s a very small town with very good taste,” I whispered into his ear.

Behind us, in the town square, the charter bus from Evemight Academy was emptying out the last students who had come along to Riverton fewer than before, due to fears of “gang violence.” There Wasn’t much to the city — a pizza place, a diner, a couple of vintage shops, and this amazing movie theater. This week, they were showing An Affair to Remember, my favorite Cary Grant movie ever. It made me wish we’d actually come here to see the film.

Lucas had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. In one of those pockets was my jet brooch, but I didn’t think he was checking to make sure he had it. He looked more like he was attempting to stay calm.

“You’re nervous,” I said, keeping my voice low. “Dana was right about 13lack Cross not coming here again, right?”

“That sounds right. But, yeah, I’m nervous anyway. Can you blame me?”

He still had trouble believing that Dana would accept him as a vampire. Maybe he still doubted that he would be able to keep himself from attacking her. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

Lucas bought a single movie ticket, and I floated invisibly in along with him. He half grinned as we went up the steps to the balcony. “Can’t say you’re not a cheap date.”

“Shut up, or I’ll make you buy me dinner after.”

“You don’t even eat!”

“Doesn’t matter.”

We took our seats just as the film began, with loopy cursive text for the credits and the lush theme song. Although there were other viewers on the bottom floor, we were alone in the balcony, so I went ahead and materialized; Lucas pressed my jet brooch into my hand, so that the process became effortless for me. I pinned the brooch to my camisole, and Lucas offered me his coat, so it Wouldn’t be totally obvious that the girl he was sitting next 212 to was wearing pajamas.

I felt weird being away from the school when so much was going on. My parents were keeping tabs on Mrs. Bethany; if she left tonight, they would have to find out how long she’d be gone, and if not, they’d have to come up with a way to get her to go, at least for a day. Meanwhile, everyone else was smuggling the traps to the Great Hall, preparing for tomorrow night’s efforts. Going to a movie — one of my all — time favorites — felt a little like playing hooky.

Enjoy it, I told myself. Everything’s about to change.

As Vic Damone crooned about a love affair, a couple of other people edged their way onto the balcony and sat by us: Raquel next to me, and Dana on the other side, next to Lucas. “I got popcorn,” Raquel said.

The two of us grinned at each other, and for a moment it was like nothing had ever happened — no, I corrected myself, it happened. And we got through it anyway.

Next to us, Dana and Lucas didn’t seem to be able to find words. Lucas leaned back in his seat, as though he were exhausted and couldn’t go any further; despite the darkness in the theater. I could see that Dana’s eyes were filling with tears.