House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)(2)
Michael’s freckled face lit up, hazel eyes shining with excitement as he shifted to see me better. “Astoria is it … the one! I think we really have something this time, Em. There have been multiple eyewitness accounts. Multiple. And they’re from legitimate sources.”
My guardians were two of the nicest people I’d ever met, but they were crazy. Complete batshit crazy. They believed there was something other than humans out in the world. They referred to themselves as supernatural chasers. I had no real idea what exactly they were searching for, but they spent their lives scouring the internet, hunting down leads, and moving all around the country. Which was why we had no money for a new car. Michael was very good with computers, and had an online tech-support business that made just enough to sustain their lifestyle – but their focus was definitely not on making money or settling down in one place.
I had been born and raised in California. At the time of the fire, Sara and Michael were living in Vegas, so my first move was to their small place there. Then we moved to New Mexico for five months. And now to Astoria. I hadn’t been back to school since the fire, having taken some time off to grieve before eventually homeschooling to finish my junior year. Astoria would be my first new school ever. Senior year. To say I was nervous was an understatement, but I was a tiny bit excited about it too.
I returned Michael’s grin, trying to adopt some of his enthusiasm even though I didn’t believe a word of his insane theories. “I still don’t know how you guys have moved so often. Was there ever a time you just stayed in one place?”
I leaned forward, elbows resting on my knees. Sara’s smile was gentle as she exchanged a lingering look with her husband. “When we first got married, we lived in California for five years. That’s how we met your parents.”
My heart tightened. Sometimes the pain just hit me like a bullet. Grief was a strange thing, ebbing and waning without any reliable pattern. Some days I was okay. I could talk about them, think about them. Other days I was a mess.
Today was somewhere in the middle, so I was brave enough to push for more information. “I know Mom and Dad missed you both when you started moving around. Your visits were always a highlight in our house.”
Sara’s light brown eyes got shiny then; her throat worked as she swallowed hard. “It was a highlight for us too, honey,” she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. “We miss Chelsea and Chris so much.” She cleared her throat and spoke again, louder this time: “And this time we will be staying in Astoria for your entire senior year. We promise. It might be nice for us to have some stability for a while too.”
That was a relief. I didn’t want to have to navigate two schools during my senior year. Still, Astoria seemed like an odd choice.
“It’s a fairly small town, right? Are you sure there could really be much supernatural activity?” It was hard to phrase these questions without letting my skepticism show. Even the word “supernatural.” What did that refer to? Was it ghosts? Vampires? Werewolves? What exactly did they think was out there? Any time I asked they just said, “Other than human…”
So basically it could be anything.
Michael lifted one hand off the steering wheel, waving it animatedly. “I can’t wait to find out, but so far all the signs look really positive. Unusual activity is picking up in the area. Reports of energy spikes. Missing people. Strange occurrences with natural landscape formations. This is definitely the one!”
I smiled, but internally I was shaking my head. It was hard to actually believe that my accountant father and science teacher mother had put aside their level-headedness to become best friends with the Finnegans. That in itself was bordering on the crazy, but I wasn’t going to complain. This kooky pair had saved my life and I would owe them forever.
Turning back to the window, I let the scenery capture me again. I expected the natural landscape to really thin out before we hit Astoria, alert me to civilization approaching, but one minute it was trees and the next … we were in the town. I sat up in my chair, moving closer to the window. The back seats were old and threadbare, springs digging into my spine if I shifted too far out of the center, but it was worth it to catch a glimpse of this picturesque little place. Despite the grumbling skies and rolling clouds, there was something truly beautiful here. Something which almost felt familiar … homey.
“What do you think, Emma?” Sara twisted again, her teeth bright against the dark of her skin. She looked happy and more energized already.
I didn’t reply straight away, choosing to focus on the world flashing by the window. Tiny fishing shacks gave way to large mansions scattered along the water. A huge bridge could be seen far off in the distance, looking like it disappeared out over the water. Fishing boats shared the water with huge barges. And so much greenery. Everywhere I looked it was lush and natural, pockets of forest scattered among the city. Eventually I had to say, “It’s perfect. Just perfect.”
From the corner of my eye I could see the Finnegans exchange beaming smiles, but I was too enthralled to care. I never believed I’d ever feel at home anywhere again after losing my parents. They had been my home. But Astoria was definitely special; maybe this was the place to heal a little of the heavy ache in my heart and soul. It would be nice not to hurt so much all the time.
When we were passing through what looked like the main town of Astoria, Sara started trying to direct her husband toward our new house. She was terrible with maps, which was comical considering how much they traveled. I’d asked them if they’d ever like a navigation system in their car. I had gotten a solid no from both of them. Apparently they trusted their paper maps more, saying electronics could be manipulated.