The Medusa Deception

Chapter 10

DURING A MID-AFTERNOON break from the seminar, Seth looked up a convenient electronics shop where he could buy headphones on the way back to his hotel. A small seed of concern had been planted with Mandy's extended absence in the bathroom. He was ninety nine percent sure she'd just been sick, but what nagged at him was the boy's reaction. What was he so worked up about? It was odd. It needed explanation.

Seth arrived back at his hotel room at 4 p.m., giving him a good two hours before he was expected at the downtown restaurant. He unwrapped the headphones and plugged them in. He didn't need to listen to all the video files, just the last one.

He double-clicked the file. Mandy was in the bathroom and the boy paced the floor of his office. Seth turned the volume to max. He made out a few of the boy's utterances, "what the hell" and "can't be real" followed by more incoherent muttering. There it was again, that odd sensation making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something was off.

After a while, the boy gave up and entered the vault. Nothing much was happening, so he fast-forwarded to the part where Mandy came out, disheveled, from the bathroom. The boy sprang to his feet and rushed to her.

Seth listened with rapt attention as their conversation unfolded.

"...you mean, Bam, I blacked out."

"No, I mean you ACTUALLY disappeared..."

"That's not funny, Ryan."

"...Where the HELL did you go?"

Seth's palms were sweaty; he began to hyperventilate. He rose to his feet and paced the floor. His thoughts raced. Could it be? He'd always thought Mandy was special, somehow. Was this an incredible opportunity or an unbelievable threat?

He'd reveal the mystery to his Brothers tonight, wondering how it'd affect their plans.

A pit grew in his stomach. He was nervous, but at the same time filled with anticipation and wonder. The power to apparate was extremely rare. He cursed being away from his library vault. He was sure he'd seen a reference to it somewhere in the ancient literature. He wanted, needed, to know more.

He didn't think it was a hoax. Such things were not outside the realm of possibility if you had an open mind — a necessity of belonging to the Brotherhood.

Seth's mind began to scheme.

* * *

THE NEXT MORNING, Mandy stood on the front step of the dilapidated single-story house amidst the incessant barking of a neighborhood mongrel. Almost every other house on the street was in a similar condition — front lawns unkempt with old tires and discarded furniture cluttering the landscape.

Her parents' house was surrounded by what was left of a white picket fence, many of the slats missing, too long neglected. What remained leaned this way and that; the paint — appearing to defy gravity — barely clung to the rotting wood. Things hadn't changed much.

Still, it'd been a long time since she'd stood on these steps. She tried phoning once or twice, but always lost her nerve. Her mom probably didn't want to talk to her anyway. Ever since that schoolyard fight, her mom had pulled away like she was afraid, just like she did around dad. It didn't help that he constantly brought it up, like he was somehow proud. It hurt deeply that her mom didn't believe her. It was an accident. It was so unfair.

Mandy took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell. Her mother opened the door wearing a threadbare housecoat and ratty slippers. Her right eye was black. Things hadn't changed much on the inside, either.

"Hi, Mom." Mandy looked into her mom's sad, hollow eyes. Breaking eye contact, she peered around to see if her father was there.

"He's not home. What brings you by, Mandy?" Dolores asked.