Black Bird of the Gallows(32)

Even Deno looks unsure of what to do—he doesn’t want to be bitten by this guy. Luckily, Tom appears behind the man. He plucks up the raving guy and pins him to the floor where he can restrain him. Tom looks up, sweaty, with a fattening lip, and shrugs. “I better get a raise after tonight.”

“I’m so sorry,” I say. “I had no idea—”

“It wasn’t you.” Tom glances around with a grimace. “Something’s just…wrong these days. Been like this every night for the past four I’ve worked.” He rubs a hand over his jaw thoughtfully, and I’m amazed at how composed he is, after just breaking up a six-man bar fight. “Telling you—it’s because our water comes from that lake right next to the old mines. Not good, with all those heavy metals floating about. What are they—arsenic? Mercury? Makes people not right in the head.”

I hadn’t heard of either of those things making people act like this. Deathly ill, yes. But I don’t need to be a doctor to know the water didn’t cause this. Suddenly, the danger Rafette poses to the community feels horribly real. Anyone could be stung. Anyone could be infected with this poison and turned into a dangerous, paranoid person. Even someone I love. “Thank you, Tom.”

The police have arrived. I can’t run away from this one, though. Deno’s phone vibrates. He looks at the screen and turns to Lacey and me. “Let’s pack up and get out of here. Mel’s closing The Strip Mall for a couple of weeks.”

“Weeks?” Lacey asks.

Deno nods. “Seems Tom isn’t the only one who thinks something bad is going on in Cadence.” He shrugs. “Maybe there is something in the water.”





14-the house next door


School is canceled Monday. It snowed a few inches last night before turning to rain. Then the whole thing froze solid and turned the outside world slippery and crystalline.

So, no bus stop. No Reece. Probably a good thing, since I’m still trying to work my head around harbingers of death and Beekeepers. Magic and reality. A hot boy who thinks I’m “adorable” and a possible impending apocalypse.

I sigh over my breakfast choices, longing for Lucky Charms or something equally sugary and brightly colored. The decision goes on hold as my dad flies into the room, iPad in hand. He thrusts the thing at me. “Read this. I think the woman in the article is our neighbor.”

Oh boy. My gaze falls to the news article that got Dad all worked up.

Deadly Crash Kills Three

By Kali Blake, Staff Writer

A four-car pileup in Windsor County has left three dead and five injured. Two of the injured were brought to Fisher Memorial Hospital and are expected to recover. High speed and ice appear to have been factors.

Crash survivor Lucia Fernandez, who was the sole occupant of her vehicle, told The Star Press that avoiding the jackknifed tractor trailer was not an option. “There was no escaping it,” said Fernandez, a forty-four-year-old resident of Cadence, who sustained a broken arm…

I look up at my dad. Keep calm. “This Lucia Fernandez is the lady next door?”

“It could be.” Dad perches on the stool next to me. “That’s about her age. I don’t see their vehicle in the driveway.”

My stomach bottoms out as cold sweat covers my suddenly shivering skin. The sole occupant. So no one else was with her. Those sweet little kids, Paxton and Fiona, weren’t hurt. God, Reece wasn’t hurt, but he could have been. He told me once that death is never far behind him. He was not just being dramatic—he meant it, literally.

Dad pulls back the iPad with a determined look. “I’ve been meaning to go over and introduce myself in person. We’ve spoken on the phone, but this may be a good time to see if they need anything.” He glances at the clock. “It’s nearly ten a.m. Not too early to stop by, right?”

My gaze falls to the other headlines on the screen. My heart jumps into my throat at the headlines alone:

Two Dead in Unprovoked Attack

Kent Taylor, forty-seven, a Cadence resident, attacked Mike Miller, the attendant at Cory’s Cleaners last night in Somerset. Police shot and killed Taylor after he attacked two officers, and Miller died while en route to the hospital. Taylor, a member of the school board and respected businessman, showed no previous signs of psychosis, and witnesses say the attack on Miller was completely unprovoked…

Police Called to Popular Area Nightclub

Police were called when a six-person fight broke out at The Strip Mall, an area nightclub popular with all ages. Another man, Andrew Pence, was taken to Somerset General Hospital after suffering a psychotic break and instigating the fight…

Good thing my father didn’t finish reading the news. I’d be facing a hundred questions right now. And banned for life from The Strip Mall.

“You’re right. We should go over there.” The words rush out, a little too fast.

Dad stares at me in surprise, then nods. “Yeah. Okay. Let me get dressed and…” He narrows an eye. “By the way, is anything going on between you and that Reece kid?”

Whoa. I freeze in the act of closing the web browser. “Going on how?”

“Don’t even start,” he says mildly, brushing crumbs off his shirt. “You know what ‘going on’ means.”

I grin, because he looks so darn uncomfortable. “The other night you seemed pleased that a boy came calling.”