flinch and I hear the cop laugh. He moves it over to Henna, who doesn’t look away. She’s frightened, I can tell, as frightened as me, but she’s defiant, too. The accident really has shaken the world loose for her. We may be in big trouble here but if we are, she’s going to look at it square on.
She’s never looked more beautiful. And I’m so afraid for her I can barely keep from throwing up.
“You kids,” he spits at us. “With your impudence and your sex–”
“Our what?” Henna says.
“Thinking no one understands you because you’re young. Thinking only you can see the world as it truly is.” He hits the flashlight, hard, on the door of my car. “You know nothing.” He hits the door again, hard enough to leave a dent. “Nothing at all.” Almost casually, he smashes my wing mirror, shattering it.
“Hey!” I say, and the flashlight is suddenly bright in my face again.
“It’s not safe to be out here at night,” the cop says, amusement in his voice.
Still looking at the cop, I try to sneakily raise my hand to the gearshift, wondering if I can gun it and get us out of here–
“You try it,” the cop says. “You just go right ahead.”
“Mikey,” I hear Henna whisper. She’s looking out the back window.
There are policemen all around us. I don’t see any cars besides the first one but there are at least twenty other cops out there, standing in a wide circle around the car, hands on holsters.
All wearing sunglasses.
I’ve still got my hand on the gearshift. Henna and I both glance down at it, using only our eyes. She gives me a little nod. I’m just about to shift it–
When the voice comes. It’s like a whisper mixed with the whine of a buzzsaw. It seems to come from everywhere at once, miles away but also in your head, too.
“Look closer,”
it says, over and over, in scraping words that make both me and Henna wince.
“Look closer, look closer…”
The sound is like glass breaking against your skin, you hear it and feel it, before it vanishes, making you feel like someone’s touched you in a wrong way.
The cop turns off his flashlight. I hear Henna breathing, and I reach out in the darkness to take her hand. She must hear me breathing, too, because she’s already reaching out to take mine.
The cop takes off his sunglasses.
In the pitch darkness, his eyes are glowing. Glowing blue. Just like the deer.
All around us in the night, the other cops take off their sunglasses, too. A circle of glowing blue eyes watch us in the silence.
“Go,” Henna whispers. “Just go.”
I shift into drive, but the cop’s hand shoots in
way
faster than should be possible and grips my arm, hard enough to hurt.
And he’s pointing his gun in my face.
For a long minute, all I can see is the barrel of that gun.
“You aren’t the ones we want,” he frowns, sounding disappointed. He lowers the gun, puts his sunglasses back on and moves away. Out there, in the darkness, the blue lights disappear two by two.
I don’t wait. I step on the gas and with a burning of wheels, we race off into the night.
“Mike,” Henna says.
“I know,” I say.
“Mike,”
she says again, just saying my name, not asking anything. I don’t even know where I’m going, I’m just driving as fast as I can away and away.
I hear Henna say, “I’ve never been so happy not to be an indie kid in my entire life.”
She starts crying, and we do that for a while, just drive and cry.
Mainly out of relief for being alive.
C HAPTER T HE T ENTH ,
in which indie kids Joffrey and Earth disappear from their homes, their bodies found miles away; Satchel goes into hiding at an abandoned drive-in with fellow indie kids Finn, Dylan, Finn, Finn, Lincoln, Archie, Wisconsin, Finn, Aquamarine, and Finn; seeing a blue light in the night, Satchel meets the boy from the amulet, the handsomest one she’s ever seen; he tells her this isn’t a safe place for her or the others and that they should run; then he tells her
She’s never looked more beautiful. And I’m so afraid for her I can barely keep from throwing up.
“You kids,” he spits at us. “With your impudence and your sex–”
“Our what?” Henna says.
“Thinking no one understands you because you’re young. Thinking only you can see the world as it truly is.” He hits the flashlight, hard, on the door of my car. “You know nothing.” He hits the door again, hard enough to leave a dent. “Nothing at all.” Almost casually, he smashes my wing mirror, shattering it.
“Hey!” I say, and the flashlight is suddenly bright in my face again.
“It’s not safe to be out here at night,” the cop says, amusement in his voice.
Still looking at the cop, I try to sneakily raise my hand to the gearshift, wondering if I can gun it and get us out of here–
“You try it,” the cop says. “You just go right ahead.”
“Mikey,” I hear Henna whisper. She’s looking out the back window.
There are policemen all around us. I don’t see any cars besides the first one but there are at least twenty other cops out there, standing in a wide circle around the car, hands on holsters.
All wearing sunglasses.
I’ve still got my hand on the gearshift. Henna and I both glance down at it, using only our eyes. She gives me a little nod. I’m just about to shift it–
When the voice comes. It’s like a whisper mixed with the whine of a buzzsaw. It seems to come from everywhere at once, miles away but also in your head, too.
“Look closer,”
it says, over and over, in scraping words that make both me and Henna wince.
“Look closer, look closer…”
The sound is like glass breaking against your skin, you hear it and feel it, before it vanishes, making you feel like someone’s touched you in a wrong way.
The cop turns off his flashlight. I hear Henna breathing, and I reach out in the darkness to take her hand. She must hear me breathing, too, because she’s already reaching out to take mine.
The cop takes off his sunglasses.
In the pitch darkness, his eyes are glowing. Glowing blue. Just like the deer.
All around us in the night, the other cops take off their sunglasses, too. A circle of glowing blue eyes watch us in the silence.
“Go,” Henna whispers. “Just go.”
I shift into drive, but the cop’s hand shoots in
way
faster than should be possible and grips my arm, hard enough to hurt.
And he’s pointing his gun in my face.
For a long minute, all I can see is the barrel of that gun.
“You aren’t the ones we want,” he frowns, sounding disappointed. He lowers the gun, puts his sunglasses back on and moves away. Out there, in the darkness, the blue lights disappear two by two.
I don’t wait. I step on the gas and with a burning of wheels, we race off into the night.
“Mike,” Henna says.
“I know,” I say.
“Mike,”
she says again, just saying my name, not asking anything. I don’t even know where I’m going, I’m just driving as fast as I can away and away.
I hear Henna say, “I’ve never been so happy not to be an indie kid in my entire life.”
She starts crying, and we do that for a while, just drive and cry.
Mainly out of relief for being alive.
C HAPTER T HE T ENTH ,
in which indie kids Joffrey and Earth disappear from their homes, their bodies found miles away; Satchel goes into hiding at an abandoned drive-in with fellow indie kids Finn, Dylan, Finn, Finn, Lincoln, Archie, Wisconsin, Finn, Aquamarine, and Finn; seeing a blue light in the night, Satchel meets the boy from the amulet, the handsomest one she’s ever seen; he tells her this isn’t a safe place for her or the others and that they should run; then he tells her
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