Little Spark

18 - Monsters

That night, Ruby sleeps in her own bed for the first time since the monster incident. After learning some of the stuff the Shadows can do, I'm convinced that the things in her room were Shadows in their "non-corporeal form" as Candis would say. Now I'm even more bent on protecting her, but she tells me that Gigi told her (telepathically, of course) to face her fears.

To celebrate her first night's triumph, the following afternoon she and I go to Common Grounds for hot chocolate. "You know, Bliss," she says as we take seats by the window, "I'm glad we get to share this time together."

I laugh. "Me too, Rube."

"So how's your friend with the fire-head?"

"Oh, she's fine. Back to her normal self. Why do you ask?"

"Well, being here reminds me of what the bad people did to her mommy," she says. "It's not nice when people put stuff in your drink."

I take too big a gulp and burn my throat.

"This one time," she goes on, "Tobin spitted a chewed-up gummy bear in my apple juice and I didn't even know it! I forgave him though."

"Hold on a second, Ruby... Are you saying someone put something in Mrs. Cornwell's drink?"

"Uh-huh. Right outside over there." She points out the window.

I shove my hands under the table just before they spark. "Okay, tell me what happened."

"She got some coffee without a top, but she was talking on the phone, so she didn't see when the tall man in the suit dropped a jelly bean in her cup."

"A jelly bean?"

"Well, it looked like a jelly bean. It was little and round and purple."

A pill.

"Ah ha. And you saw all this in your mind?"

"No, silly. I saw it with my eyes," she says, tapping her eyelid. "I was sitting here with mommy and I saw through the window."

I'm shocked.

"And you didn't say anything, Rube?!"

"I thought he was being nice!" she says, raising her palms. "I know I wouldn't mind a jelly bean in my coffee."

I can't help but smile.

"But then when we were driving home I saw a picture in my head of a fire-head like your friend inside a car that was doing lots of flips, and I knew she wouldn't wake up when she hit the tree. That's when I knew it was a bad jelly bean."

I need to tell Candis about this. "And you still didn't tell anybody?"

She shrugs. "Who would believe me? I was only three years old!"

"Well, I believe you," I say, smoothing her hair. She smiles at me like I invented rainbows and ponies. "Now, is there anything else you need to tell me?"

"No... Wait, yes! Tobin ate a worm yesterday! It was so icky." She scrunches her nose.

"Now why in the world would he do that?"

"This other boy in my class said he would give him a dollar. The things people do for money..." She shakes her head.

"So, do you tell people at school the stuff you know, Ruby?" Now that I've got Candis's mom on my mind, I remember what happened to her brother.

"No. I don't really talk much at school. I only really tell you and Gigi all the stuff I know. Oh, and Tobin. He's a Sparkler like you! This one time he accidently started a fir—" She stops midsentence.

I nudge her with my elbow. "Don't worry, Rube, you can tell me. I won't get him in trouble. We Sparklers have to stick together."

No response.

When I see how petrified she looks, the lights in the café flicker. "Rube are you ok?" I ask, following her gaze out the window. Reign, Mauro, and Lylah are on the bench across the street immersed in conversation. The sight of Mauro, who I have successfully dodged for three weeks, makes my flesh crawl.

Reign looks up and our eyes meet. He lifts his chin in acknowledgement and grins, but when he sees Ruby, his smile fades, and all the color drains from his face. Confused, I look back at her. She's trembling.

"Ruby, what's the matter?" I look at Reign again. He's staring at me, wide-eyed and panicked.

"It's them," she whispers as if they'll hear her.

"It's who, Ruby?"

"The monsters. The ones that were in my room. Those two boys."

I gasp. Outside, Reign shakes his head like he doesn't want it to be true.

I remember the life draining from me when a figure stepped in my path that night—Mauro. I should've known. Which means the figure hovering over my little cousin, scaring her half to death...

"Let's get out of here, Ruby."

We go over to Mr. Tate who, upon seeing Ruby's face and looking out the window, seems to puts two and two together and offers to drive us home. I'm so shell-shocked, I can hardly breathe.

As we pull of out the parking lot, I look back over my shoulder at them. One thing is certain: I completely underestimated the Shadows.

They came after Ruby.

Reign came after my little cousin.

I don't care what it takes: I will complete Little Spark and bring the Shadows down.