"This better not take long," Spyro says thoughtfully. "I am hungry." I don't say anything aloud, but my stomach does roll hungrily.
"Where did you see him?" Gatsby asks Borden.
"I didn't. I saw his car."
"Helpful," Gatsby comments dryly at the same time that Spyro says, "Of course you did." They both get annoyed glares from Borden. It's still a much nicer look than anything I've gotten from Borden, I notice.
Gatsby stops suddenly and looks at Borden. "You didn't do anything to my dad's car, did you?"
"No," Borden answers. I'm not sure if I'm willing to believe he hasn't done something troublesome, but Gatsby seems convinced, nodding and just looking around the party.
"There he is," Rune speaks up after a few seconds, pointing to a guy our age standing against one of the pillars supporting the second story balcony above us, smoking something that doesn't quite look like a cigarette.
"Every damn time," Gatsby mutters under his breath, stalking away from us and over towards the boy. This must not have been the original plan, because Borden, Rune and Spyro all look slightly unsure of what to do now, but still not at all surprised about the situation.
"This could end badly," Rune says hesitantly.
"Oh it'll definitely end badly," Borden comments, but he looks pleased about that idea. He starts to follow after Gatsby, but I'm still looking around.
"Wait," Rune says as Spyro starts to follow after Borden and Gatsby. Spyro stops, and him and I both look at Rune. Rune's not looking at either of us though – he's scanning the crowd gathered at the party. "I don't see her." I want to ask who, but somehow I feel like it'd be stupid for me to ask. Especially since Spyro seems to already know who Rune's talking about. Now he's looking around too.
"What did we drop off here yesterday?" Spyro asks.
"Clothes," Rune shakes his head. After a moment, his eyes widen and he adds, "And the books!"
Spyro's gone practically before Rune finishes the last word, running surprisingly fast. Rune looks over at Gatsby, Stryker and Borden. All three of them are looking over at us now. Borden and Gatsby clearly haven't realized what's going on yet, because they both look confused and surprised. Stryker seems to know though, because he looks angry, cold and calculating all at once.
His gaze shifts to me and for a split second fear shoots through me – the same kind I always felt when I was around mom's boyfriend. But then that fear settles, because despite the anger and coldness, there's no darkness in his eyes. And the relief of that realization actually makes me smile almost without realizing it. Because I'm not strong enough to fight the darkness, I know that. But it's not that hard to outwit the angry.
Stryker narrows his eyes at me as Gatsby and Borden both shrug off Spyro's sudden flight and turn back to him, and a second later his attention shifts back to them in return.
"Should we go over?" I ask Rune.
"Uh..." Rune things for a minute, looking from Gatsby, Borden and Stryker to the direction that Spyro left in, weighing the options. "You go," he finally says. "Someone should go after Spyro."
Somehow that feels like it should be my job, and it's weird that I'm being sent in the opposite direction. But Rune's been part of this group for a long time. He's the smart one, the strategist. And if I want to be one of them, I have to listen to him. So I go over to Gatsby, Borden and Stryker, going to stand on the opposite side of Gatsby as Borden's on, while Rune goes in the direction that Spyro went – although at a much calmer pace than Spyro had left at.
YOU ARE READING
Anima's Ghost: The Summer Before (Song Line Echoes, book 2)
HorrorAll Anima's ever wanted was to be able to follow the ghost stories she reads. But at 15 years old, unable to drive and living alone with a strict father who just wants her to be normal, it's an impossible task. In the meantime, she runs a blog where...
