Not that it mattered. The pictures barely even looked like Bo and Lars. They were blurry and distant, which was probably a good thing. If Lucius was right, it would be terrible for another of Bo’s many lives to come back to haunt him. It’s hard to tell how many towns across the country could have him listed as a missing person.
Later, at church, I found that I was becoming increasingly distracted, my mind flitting between missing friends, a crumbling life and the pain of ten thousand questions that surrounded the person that I loved most on the planet.
The sermon was about submitting to the will of God, a subject that was particularly distasteful to me at the moment. Giving up your wants in favor of someone else’s, even if that someone was divine and all-powerful, wasn’t easy. In fact, it went totally against the grain. On top of that, the thought that God would let me love Bo so much, all the while knowing that He’d hand-crafted another girl specifically for him, made me crazy. More than once, I found myself praying that He’d let me be that girl, that somehow, some way, He would cosmically rearrange things so that I could be the one for Bo.
I felt like a basket case by the time we pulled back into the driveway. After changing out of my church clothes and into jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, there was still no sign of Bo, no word. So I decided that, rather than sit in my room and fester, I would go see Lucius.
As I walked out, Mom and Dad were talking quietly in the living room. The television wasn’t on; they were simply sitting on the couch facing one another as if they were making important decisions. I should’ve known that didn’t bode well for me.
“I’m going out for a while,” I said, moving off quickly in hopes of escaping without another word.
“Wait a minute, Ridley. We need to talk to you.”
We?
Rolling my eyes toward the ceiling, I resisted the urge to say aloud, What now? Instead, I turned back toward the living room and leaned against the doorjamb, adopting my most innocently interested expression.
“What’s up?”
“Your mother and I have been discussing this and, I know you’re not going to like it, but for a while, we don’t want you going anywhere by yourself after dark.”
Their timing couldn’t have been worse to start being caring and parental.
“What? But Dad—”
“Ridley,” he interrupted, holding up his hand. “This is not open for discussion. It is getting too dangerous for you to be out there alone after dark. I’m sorry, but this is the way it’s going to be.”
“Well, how long is ‘a while’?”
“Until they either catch whoever’s behind this or things settle down.”
“But that could be months.”
“Well, I’m sorry, Ridley, but you’re just going to have to make adjustments.
You surely can’t expect us to just let you go gallivanting around when your friends are disappearing, can you?”
“Dad, I’m careful. I don’t take stupid chances like they do.”
Even as I spoke the words, I felt the condemnation of having told them an out-and-out lie. I took insane chances all the time by doing things like going into the woods, woods known to be dangerous, by myself to see a vampire. I doubted anyone could argue that there were few activities that were riskier.
Dad shook his head. “I know you’re a good kid, Ridley, and a smart one.
That’s not the point. We’re simply not willing to take the chance that you could be next. Period.”
I started to argue, but Dad had that not-another-word expression that told me I was starting to tread on thin ice. The last thing I needed was to get myself grounded. I silently reminded myself that Dad would be gone tomorrow and Mom would be back off the wagon, so the restriction was temporary—more temporary than they knew.
“Fine,” I huffed. “So what, I can’t be out after dark unless I’m with friends?
Is that it?”
“Well, let’s just start with being home before dark and we’ll take it on a case-by-case basis.”
“Dad.” I stopped myself, biting my tongue and clamping my lips shut in a tight line. “Fine. I’ll be back before dark then.”
I spun on my heel and hurried away before they could start asking questions or give me any more ridiculous limitations. I’d have to make today count, inasmuch as making the most of my time with Lucius and trying to find Bo.
By the time I’d made my way through the woods and was mounting the steps to Lucius’s cabin, I was spitting-mad. It seemed as though life was just bound and determined to work against me at every turn. I was in desperate need of a pity party and today felt like a good day to throw it.
Fortunately, Lucius was home. And fully clothed. Unfortunately, Bo wasn’t there, though he had been. I’d apparently just missed him. He’d spent the majority of the night with Lucius and then run off to “think.” I tried to quell the sense of dread that caused me. Bo running off to “think” didn’t bode well. That had a tendency to end up with Bo wanting to leave in order to save the rest of us from…
everything.
“What did Bo want to talk about?” I asked Lucius as he poked at the flaming logs burning in the huge fireplace in his below-ground quarters.
“As you can imagine, lass, he was very upset about his parents. I’m sure you would be, too if someone told you that everything you thought you knew, everything you thought was real was all just a lie. He’s lost all the people that he loved, all the family he’s ever known.”
“Well, hopefully not everyone he loved,” I said quietly, miserably.
“I was referring to his parents, his entire life.”
“I know, I just…”
“What? What is it, lovely Ridley? You look concerned.”
“I just can’t get that story out of my mind.”
“What story?”
“The one about the girl that’s fated to be with the boy who can’t be killed.”
“Lass, there’s so much we don’t know, don’t bother yourself with things like that now. There are many more important matters to be thinking about.”
“Such as?”
Lucius replaced the poker into its stand beside the hearth and turned to take a seat in an armchair to my right.
“Such as who’s attacking you and why, what’s going on with all these children, and how to control the other creatures.”
“Other creatures? What other creatures?”