Monday, continued

Louise heard a knock at her door and called, "Come in, it's not locked."

A staff member, a man in his mid-thirties, entered. He handed Louise a small bouquet of roses with a card attached.

"Oh, my," Louise said. "Who is this from?"

The man shrugged. "Left at the front desk. That's all I know." He departed.

Louise examined the roses for a moment, then opened the card.

My Dearest Louise,

I hope you are enjoying your new iPod.

I would love to meet in person. Believe it or not, we actually have much to discuss. Please meet me on the top level of the Henning Street train station at 6:30 this evening.

A long-time admirer

Louise pondered the note for quite a while. There was nothing good about this. Of that, she was certain.

But she was torn about whom to involve. She didn't feel she could contact the police; this was a bizarre incident, and she had a secret bizarre past, so her instinct told her the two were related, though she couldn't yet see how. She was absolutely determined not to drag anyone else into danger with her, yet simultaneously, she didn't want to disappear without a trace. Also, if she handled this alone, the girls would be furious with her when they found out. But she could handle that.

She decided on a compromise.

At 6:10, she put on her shoes, wrapped a blue and green stole around her neck, grabbed her cane, and took a walk. On her way through the lobby, she had an inspiration. She approached the front desk.

"May I have a piece of paper and a pen?" she asked the woman on duty.

"Of course," the woman said. She handed Louise a pen and a note pad.

Louise wrote, Gone to meet my "secret admirer" at the Henning Street train station, top level. Undoubtedly a trap, but I want to get to the bottom of this. Please don't be angry that I went alone.

She folded the paper, wrote her name on the outside, and handed it to the woman. "If anyone comes asking after me, please hand them this."

"I sure will," the woman said.

Louise set out at a leisurely pace. The weather was very pleasant.

When she was about five minutes from the train station, she took out her cell phone.

The cell phone had been a gift from the Gilbert family when she moved into the rest home. The girls had strongly insisted she have it. Louise had protested that she'd made it this far without one, but the girls had been absolutely adamant. They wanted her to have it in case of emergencies. They had helped her set it up and taught her to use it, and had encouraged her not to be intimidated by it.

As doubtful as she'd been at first, she had to admit the little thing came in handy sometimes. Like now.

She called Cleo. It was around dinner time, and Cleo's father was a bit strict on certain things – such as no phone calls at the dinner table – so Louise was reasonably certain she would get Cleo's voice mail, which was exactly what she wanted. And she was right.

"This is Cleo's phone, but not Cleo! Tell me what's on your mind!" Beep.

"Hello, dear. My so-called secret admirer asked me to meet them someplace with no people around. Yes, I know how you'll react. Please don't be angry with me. I'm going because I want to get to the bottom of this, but I don't want to trouble anyone else. If you must know, it's the top level of the Henning Street train station. But I'm sure I'll be all right. I believe I can handle myself. I'll talk to you soon." She hung up, then silenced her phone.

This was Louise's compromise, her way of letting someone else know what was going on without roping that person into danger.

At 6:30, most of the rush hour crowd had thinned. The station's top level was really sort of an overflow area; no one went up there if they didn't have to.

Louise walked past the steps and took the elevator.

At the top, the doors opened to reveal a square open-air concrete platform about a hundred feet on each side. The platform bridged the station, with the tracks passing directly beneath its center.

The sides of the platform to the left and right of the tracks each consisted of a wall, through which people could enter stairs or an elevator, on whichever side of the tracks they preferred. Mounted to each wall, in its center, was a simple digital clock, as found in train stations the world over.

The other two sides, facing the directions the tracks ran, had only a three-foot high concrete wall along their edges.

Louise saw no one when the doors opened. She stepped out and looked around.

Thirty feet to her right, a man leaned on the wall casually, a paperback novel in his hands. Louise got the impression he had just looked up upon hearing the elevator arrive.

She and the man were the only two people there.

The man said nothing at first. He merely looked at her. Louise maintained eye contact as she walked further toward the center of the platform so she could face him properly. Her stole fluttered a bit in the stiff, cool breeze.

"Enjoying your book?" she asked.

The man held up the cover so she could see it. All she could make out were the words, The Destroyer. "I'm a big fan of the Destroyer series. One hundred fifty books, and I've read them all, several times. They're my comfort novels. I find them relaxing. I doubt you've read them, though. They don't seem your speed."

"I haven't had the pleasure, no."

Louise's eyes shifted to a long metal bar and contraption leaning on the wall beside the man. The bar was barbed and had a sharp point. It took her a moment to work out what it was.

She was incredulous. "Is that...a harpoon?!"

The man smiled, and it was genuinely pleasant and charming. "You like it? It's in perfect condition, and works like a dream. It is absolutely as sharp as can be." He gave her an almost embarrassed, boyish smile. "You should be honored. What better way would a mermaid want to die?"

The man's eyes flicked to the clock for a split second, then back to Louise.

She gave him a critical look. "I think you're insane enough to be surprised at how many answers that question actually has." She paused for a moment, wondering what her next question should be. Plain curiosity won. "Why an iPod?"

The man shrugged. "Felt like it. If you don't like the color, we can always return it."

"Before or after you kill me?"

The man tilted his head back and laughed heartily for several seconds, a genuine laugh. "Oh, you're just as sharp as this harpoon!"

"One does one's best. Tell me, before you impale me, might I know what the actual flying hell this is all about?"

For the first time, a shade of anger clouded the man's face. He dropped the book, pushed himself off the wall, and grabbed the harpoon. He casually took a few steps forward.

"I've long wondered if you'd figure it out," he said. "You really don't know?"

"I'm asking." Her voice was crisp.

"Do you recognize me?"

She narrowed her eyes a little, perplexed. "Have we met?"

"Not to my knowledge. But...do you recognize me?"

Never met, but still thinks I should recognize him, Louise thought. She tried to puzzle that out.

"Take a good, long look at my face," the man said quietly, intensely.

She studied his face, and...lo and behold, she did see something familiar.

No, not familiar, she thought. Similar. As in...a family connection! He looks like...

Her mouth dropped open a bit and her eyes widened. "Karl," she whispered.

The man smiled. "I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Louise looked at the man in astonishment. "His son?"

In a burst of righteous energy, he banged the harpoon on the ground, happiness and rage at the same time. "In the flesh! Anthony Karl Warren, ready to avenge my father, God rest his soul, after all these years!"

Louise burst out laughing. She couldn't help herself.

Anthony glared at her.

Louise tried to speak. "It's just...you're just...you're so melodramatic! Oh, my."

Anthony's face was twisted with ugly rage. He raised the harpoon.

Louise was completely unafraid. "So tell me...oh, please tell me. What in blazes did I ever do to your father which needs avenging?"

Anthony stared at her, gobsmacked. He was so stunned he actually lowered the harpoon. "You...you really don't know?"

Louise gave an exasperated sigh. "I didn't ask just to make conversation."

Anthony snorted in derision. "Typical. You ruined his life and don't even remember doing it!"

"Oh, dear boy, I assure you, if anyone ruined your father's life, it was himself."

"Oh, really? You mean my father threw his own camera into the ocean?!"

Louise looked at him with pity. "Oh, my. No, I did that. But that did not ruin his life."

"The man who confirmed the existence of mermaids with photographic proof would have been king of the world!" Anthony ground out in a harsh whisper. "A household name! Famous for the most amazing discovery in human history! That fame could have made him a billionaire! The world would have been his! And then mine!"

"And our lives would have been destroyed."

"So what?!" Anthony screamed. "You're not a person, you're a thing!"

Louise looked at him with a mixture of pity and disgust. In that moment, she knew there would be no reasoning with him. Ever.

"Well, that's funny," Max said. "She always seemed a decent person to me."

Anthony closed his eyes, smiled, and breathed in deeply. He slowly let his breath out and turned around, while simultaneously backing away to one side to keep everyone in sight. "We've never met, but if my logic doesn't fail me now, you can only be Mr. Maxwell Hamilton. Good day to you, sir." Anthony glanced at the clock, then back at Max.

Max stood in the stairwell entryway. "If you say so, and you can stuff your good day up your ass." He took a few steps onto the platform as Anthony continued backing away. The three people formed a triangle. Max eyeballed Louise just long enough to verify she was okay, then asked Anthony, "And who might you be?"

Anthony glared and breathed in, ready to let loose another melodramatic tirade.

Louise had had quite enough of that nonsense, so she simply said, "Karl's son."

"Ah," Max said. He looked at Anthony. "My condolences."

Louise stifled a laugh. Damn, I've missed you, Max! she thought joyfully. Seeing that Anthony was about to say something, she cut him off again. "Wants to kill me for preventing his father from being king of the world."

"Well, I'm sure that makes sense in someone's universe," Max said. He gave Anthony a critical eye. "Is it just Louise...or did you go after Gracie and Julia, as well?"

Louise gasped. She hadn't even considered that!

"I went after them," Anthony said casually, his eyes flicking to the clock again, almost too fast to notice. Almost. "But they escaped justice. I had the devil of a time tracing them. Each took her husband's name, and neither made her marriage public record. Gracie died long before I found her. Julia...I almost had her. I found her just weeks after she passed away."

"How do we know that's the truth?" Max asked, somehow sounding casual and bitter at the same time. "How do we know you didn't kill them?"

Anthony laughed, and again, his laugh was genuine and good-natured. "Oh, believe me, if I'd killed either creature, I would be absolutely boasting about it!"

Max's face grew a little hard at Anthony's use of the word creature.

Anthony continued. "But I have to be honest. Nature robbed me of both prizes. I'll have to settle for Louise, here. You, too, since you're a witness. But that's no loss. You think Louise is a person. Delusional. So I'm really doing the human race a favor by taking you out, too."

Neither Louise nor Max were exactly quaking in their boots, so Anthony tossed out one more casual comment. "I should probably do something about that new set of mermaids, as well."

That did it. Anthony grinned at the looks of cold rage which swept over Louise and Max. "Ahhhh!" he said softly, with a sick, perverted satisfaction. "It's so beautiful when I hit just the right nerve!"

"Hit this nerve, turdbreath!" Rikki yelled as a gigantic ball of ice slammed into Anthony's chest.

And did no damage whatsoever.

Anthony didn't even flinch. It was as if the ice had struck an immovable column of pure diamond. The ice disintegrated into a thousand pieces, which vaporized immediately.

Louise scowled in frustration, truly afraid for the first time that evening. She absolutely did not want the children there! She cursed Cleo for listening to her voicemail so damned quickly.

Emma, Cleo, and Rikki poured out of the stairwell behind Louise and surrounded Anthony, about thirty feet from him. Cleo hovered protectively near Louise; Emma stood roughly halfway between Louise and Max, but a little further out; Rikki stood protectively near Max.

Anthony merely raised an eyebrow and looked at the teenagers as if they were mildly interesting.

Rikki didn't know why the ice had done nothing, but she wasn't the kind to sit around and analyze. She raised her hands and hit Anthony with pure heat. A heat shimmer appeared in the air around him, but he was completely unaffected. He merely gazed at her.

Rikki lowered her hands, and the heat shimmer died away. The girls stood there, baffled.

"Finished?" Anthony asked.

"Are you guys okay?" Cleo asked Louise and Max.

"Yes," Louise said curtly, while Max merely nodded. "But I did not want you girls to come here!"

Emma glared at Louise. "We'll discuss that later. Who's the jackass?"

"We'll discuss that later," Louise said. "The harpoon he is holding is no joke, and he will use it! Beware of it!"

"How is he immune to our powers?" Rikki asked.

Louise looked at Anthony shrewdly. "I don't know."

Anthony laughed, and this time, it was a sinister laugh, as he reveled in his power. "It amazes me how much you all play with forces you don't even understand!"

Keeping one hand on the harpoon trigger, with his other hand, he drew a necklace from within his shirt. A silver disc about six inches across. Glued and taped to the disc was a set of nine blue stones, or crystals, arrayed in a particular pattern. It was rough circle, with a jagged perimeter rather than a smooth one, and the pattern was symmetrical.

Anthony let the necklace fall outside his shirt, and held the harpoon with both hands again. "I gather that by now, you've seen the damage I inflicted on your precious moon pool cavern," he said triumphantly.

The girls glanced at each other, puzzled.

"Nope," Cleo said.

"We haven't been to the moon pool in several days," Emma said.

"Oh." Anthony was genuinely disappointed. "After I went through all that trouble to leave you a calling card. Well, your precious cavern is infused with these pretty blue magical crystals in the walls, and you've probably never known that. And you clearly have no idea that when nine of these crystals are arranged in the specific pattern you see before you..."

He gave them a slow, evil grin. "They negate all your basic mermaid powers."

Rikki snorted in derision. "You think that'll protect you?"

Anthony's grin grew even bigger. "It already has!" His eyes again flicked to the clock.

Why is he so blasted obsessed with the time? Louise wondered. She caught Max's eye. He had noticed it, too.

"How do you know about the moon pool?" Louise asked.

Anthony looked at her with hatred. "After you altered the course of my father's life, he kept investigating. He followed your movements very carefully over the next six months. He learned you mermaids had a base on Mako Island. He staked out the island, and one day, he saw Max hiking through the forest. He followed Max to the cavern, and learned everything! He wasn't able to do anything to any of you, but he wrote every detail in a journal!"

"And then...what?" Max asked. "Poisoned your mind every day of your childhood with his bitterness? With stories of how the big bad mermaids had wronged him?"

"Yes!" Anthony snapped at Max. "He shared his true legacy with me! He made sure I knew exactly what they did to him! And I knew that if I ever found the chance to avenge him, I would move heaven and earth to do so!"

"Tell me, Anthony," Louise said softly, even kindly. "Before you came here tonight, did you dig your second grave?"

Slowly, evenly, Anthony half-closed his eyes and raised them at her, giving her an appraising look. It was clear he understood the reference. "I dug all the graves I needed to," he said with quiet certainty.

He and Louise locked eyes. From below came the sound of a train arriving. It began braking into the station.

"Why did it take you so long to come after me?" Louise asked. "Gracie and Julia didn't make their name changes public, but I did."

"Oh, yes, I knew your new name was Chatham," Anthony said. "But after your husband died, you dropped off the grid. Now I know it was because you lived on a boat, and never bothered registering anywhere you went!"

The train came to a stop. Everyone heard the brief hiss as the brake system vented.

Anthony continued. "I only found you when you filed an insurance claim on the Lorelei two months ago, which included a required police report. A claim they denied, by the way, since the boat was evidently a floating disaster. And you didn't actually have a policy in the first place. Kudos to you for trying to put one over on the insurance company, though. Bold move. I got mad respect for that."

"Somehow, I'm more offended at you lecturing me about my boat than I am at you trying to kill me."

A bell sounded, and the train began pulling forward.

Anthony said, "As pleasant as this little chat has been, it's long past time to right a great wrong." At these words, Max made a move, but stopped when Anthony raised the harpoon in his direction, smiled, and said, "Uh uh!"

"Anthony, please listen," Louise said. "You must consider the possibility that your father was just plain wrong, and poisoned you with lies."

From the look of pure rage which overcame Anthony's entire being, this was clearly the worst thing anyone could have said to him.

Cleo braced herself.

Anthony screamed, "My father was a great man, and this is for him!" In a flash, he raised the harpoon and fired it at Louise.

"No!" Cleo screeched, and threw herself in its path.

The harpoon pierced Cleo through her lower right lung and slammed her twenty feet through the air, spinning and flaying blood everywhere. She hit the ground hard.

"No!" Louise shouted. She, Emma, and Rikki raced to Cleo's side while Max charged Anthony in a rage.

With a sadistic grin, Anthony turned and raced full speed for the edge of the platform...

And jumped off.

Max reached the edge a second later and stopped, his hands slamming onto the low wall, just in time to see Anthony land on the final train car as it passed below.

Max watched helplessly as the train sped away. Anthony stood and gazed back at him with triumphant defiance, until the train curved out of sight.

Cleo lay on her left side, convulsing and writhing madly, shock in her eyes, screaming through clenched teeth. Emma, Rikki, and Louise knelt beside her, desperately wanting to help but having no idea what to do. A thin, four-foot shaft of metal stuck out of Cleo's front and back. If they pulled it out, they might do even more damage, and whether they did or not, Cleo would be dead in moments. It was clear that even if she were in hospital at that very second, no doctor could save her.

Max joined them, shock and horror on his face as he took in the scene.

Louise suddenly lowered her face inches from Cleo's. "Cleo! Listen to me! Create water and turn mermaid now!"

Despite her shock and pain, some part of Cleo's mind registered Louise's words. A glob of water appeared out of nowhere and dropped onto her face.

Emma was kneeling next to the point at which the harpoon stuck out of Cleo's back, so Louise chose her. She spoke as fast as she could. "Emma! When you transition from one form to another, you actually turn into water for half a second between forms! You know this?!"

Emma nodded, desperately trying to concentrate on Louise's words through her shock.

"Pull the harpoon out of Cleo during the split second she's water! Now!"

Emma realized that despite her shock, her automatic ten-second countdown had been going inside her head.

Two...

Emma frantically grabbed the harpoon. It was the pointed end, so the barbs wouldn't pass through Cleo a second time.

One!

Cleo became water, and Emma yanked with all her might, pulling so hard she rocketed to her feet and almost fell backward.

The transition finished. Cleo lay in merform, panting and covered in blood...

But no longer writhing in pain.

Cleo slowly rolled onto her back and looked down at herself. She wiped blood from the spot the harpoon had impaled her.

The wound was gone. Magically, perfectly healed.

Everyone panted as their heart rates calmed, trying to take in the fact that, at least for the moment, the crisis was over.

"What about when she changes back?" Rikki asked quietly, terror on her face. "Won't the wound still be there?"

"I don't know," Louise said. "I've never done this before."

Cleo looked up at them. "There's only way to find out. And we might as well get it over with."

"Cleo!" Emma protested, but stopped, realizing she was right.

Cleo was amazed at how calm she felt. In that moment, she learned that, sometimes, when something is unavoidable, the fear just can't be bothered to appear.

Cleo gave Emma a little smile. A farewell, if this didn't work. Emma stared back, emotions crashing around her face. She put a hand over her mouth, horrified at what might be about to happen to her best friend.

Cleo used her power to move the water off her face, into a ball floating above her. It vanished.

She transitioned back to human.

The wound was still gone.

Everyone, especially Cleo, breathed a gigantic sigh of relief. Emma tossed the harpoon to one side. It clanged on the ground.

Cleo lay there, collecting herself, trying to absorb what had just happened, and how close she'd just come to death.

Louise leaned over her. "Listen, and listen carefully. I am sixty-five, with my life mostly behind me. You are sixteen, with your life mostly ahead of you. I know you love me, and I appreciate that. But don't you ever, ever, ever do something like that again!" Louise's tears fell onto Cleo's face.

Cleo just smiled. "What kind of monster would I be if I followed that advice?"

Louise somehow smiled and glared at Cleo at the same time, but she didn't answer. She knew neither she nor Cleo would win that argument.

Cleo turned back into a mermaid. She laughed, and said, "Well, I guess another person's tears are enough to trigger the change!"

Laughing also, Louise wiped the tears from Cleo's face with her stole. Cleo changed back.

Louise and Rikki helped Cleo sit up. Cleo's clothes were covered with blood. Some blood was smeared over the others, also, but Cleo clearly had it the worst.

"You've lost blood," Louise said. "Can you stand? There's no shame if not."

Emma, Rikki, and Louise helped Cleo stand, but she had no problem. "I feel fine."

"Are you sure?" Max asked. "After a blood loss, you'll feel weak for a while."

"I'm good to go," Cleo said.

"The transformation repaired her skin and organs," Emma said. "It's only natural it would have fixed her blood loss, too."

"We hope," Max said. He looked at Cleo. "Even so, don't do anything strenuous right now. Please."

Cleo nodded.

Rikki looked around. "Where's jackass?"

"Gone," Max said. "He caught a train."

Together, Emma and Rikki hugged Cleo tightly.

As their two elders stood there collecting their breaths and their wits, Louise turned a bit and found herself facing Max. They regarded each other.

"Hi," Louise said.

"Long time no see," Max said. "I came to visit. Thought we'd have a quiet evening and a nice chat. Play checkers or something."

"Well," Louise said. She looked around at the bloody aftermath of the battle, as if she didn't quite know what to say, then back to Max.

"Yeah," Max said.

Louise suddenly clutched Max's arm with one hand and her own chest with the other, and grimaced. "No, not now!" she ground out through gritted teeth, and sank to her knees.

"Louise!" Cleo cried.

Rikki whipped out her phone and dialed 000. "Yes, I need an ambulance. We have an elderly woman having a heart attack at the Henning Street train station. Please hurry!"

Cleo, Emma, and Max carried Louise to the wall slowly and carefully, so she could sit with something to lean on.

"Oh, it's not as bad as the others have been," Louise said as she gratefully sat back, her face scrunched up and her eyes closed. "Either that or I'm getting used to them!"

"Hang on," Cleo said. "The ambulance is on the way."

"I wonder how many of these I have left," Louise whispered.

Rikki finished the call and hung up.

"You girls are covered in blood you can't explain," Max said. "The paramedics must not see you. Go. I'll stay with Louise."

The girls grimaced, but they knew Max was right.

"Take my stole," Louise said to Max. "Give it to Cleo. It will cover most of the blood."

Max did so. Cleo draped it around her neck, crossed it over her chest, and let it hang, covering her torso. "Louise has blood on her, too," Cleo said. "They'll wonder about that."

"We're out with friends," Max said. "You fell and hit your head, cutting yourself open. Head wounds notoriously bleed a lot. You bled on Louise when she tried to help. You decided just to go home, and two of our friends went with you to make sure you were okay. Then Louise collapsed after you left. The shock of seeing you cut your head open may have contributed to this attack."

"All right," Cleo said with a resigned nod. "We'll change as quick as we can. Tell us where we can see her later."

Max nodded. "Will do."

Each girl hugged Louise, then they left. Emma picked up the harpoon and tossed it into a trash bin.

 

As soon as the train carried Anthony around the curve so that Max was no longer in sight, he tossed the harpoon gun away, tucked the pendant back inside his shirt, and lay flat. At the next station, he slid off the rear of the train, landed on his feet, and casually walked away like it was no big deal. If anyone saw him, they'd be too meek to question such an unusual event. But he didn't think anyone had seen him.

Anthony smoothly walked across the tracks to the opposite platform and took a seat. He didn't need to buy a ticket, as he'd bought a day pass that morning. He lamented that he'd left his novel at Henning Street Station, so he had nothing to read.

Five minutes later, a train arrived. He stepped aboard. Within moments, he was headed straight back to where he'd just been.

Anthony's philosophy was bold: when an enemy sees you make a getaway, they don't expect you to return moments later. An immediate surprise return usually catches your foe massively off guard. It also attacks them psychologically in a huge way, as it keeps them constantly guessing forever afterward. It was such a beautiful tactic that if it was a piece of art, it would hang in a museum. It was why Anthony hadn't patted himself on the back for winning round two, yet.

Round two wasn't over.

Anthony exited the train at Henning Street Station, completely unconcerned whether Louise or her friends saw him. He had no plan. He was simply prepared to take advantage of whatever situation he found.

What he found was Louise Chatham being loaded into an ambulance, with Max beside her. The teenagers were nowhere in sight.

Interesting. He'd skewered one of the new ones (robbing him of his main prize), and she must be dead by now. He hadn't quite known what he expected, but an ambulance focusing on Louise wasn't it.

He strolled to the ambulance as its back doors closed. He could tell quite clearly that neither Max nor Louise had seen him.

The driver was a woman in her late twenties. As she strode to the driver's door and opened it, Anthony casually said, "I'm a friend of Ms. Chatham's. Which hospital are you taking her to?"

"Timberwood," she said as she climbed in.

"Thanks much," Anthony said and strolled away.

He calmly walked up the stairs to the platform and looked around. It was deserted, with plenty of blood stains on the concrete. Whatever they had done with the body, they'd done it quickly. Impressive.

Whistling to himself, Anthony picked up his novel and went back downstairs.

 

Cleo knew her father would almost certainly be watching one of his nature programs, so her plan was to run upstairs before he saw her. If he asked her to come see him, she'd tell him she had to use the restroom urgently.

Her plan disintegrated when she almost ran into Lewis on the porch. He was coming out of her house. The door wasn't quite closed behind him.

"Cle-"

She placed a finger on his lips, shushing him.

"Where've you-"

She pressed harder and gave him a warning look.

Lewis's eyes grew wide. "Is that blood-"

She pressed so hard she almost bowled him over backwards. She put her face in his, her eyes flashing lightning. Lewis finally got the message.

Cleo whispered so lightly, Lewis could barely hear her. "Shut it! Come upstairs! I'll tell you later!"

She and Lewis entered her house.

"Never mind, Mr. Sertori," Lewis said. "She just arrived."

Cleo was already halfway up the stairs. Her father, as she predicted, was sitting on the couch watching TV. "Where've you been?" Don called after her. "Lewis says you were supposed to study tonight!"

"Restroom!" she called back. "Lewis, get up here!"

Lewis shut the door and shrugged apologetically to Cleo's father. Don just shook his head, puzzled.

Cleo grabbed clean clothes, rushed into the bathroom, and shut the door. She heard Lewis arrive in her bedroom as she changed and cleaned the blood off her skin.

Two minutes later, she stepped out and tossed the soiled clothes into the corner. They'd need special treatment. The shirt, with two extra holes in it, was ruined, but she dared not throw it away in a house trash can, or else Kim or her father might see it.

Lewis was sitting on her bed. "What is going on?"

Cleo checked her phone. Max had texted a few minutes earlier with Louise's hospital location and room number.

"I'll explain on the way." She looked at him fiercely and held up a finger. "Don't you say a word about anything you saw! I swear, Lewis!" Then she rushed out.

Baffled, Lewis followed her back downstairs.

Cleo paused by the front door. "I'm sorry, Daddy. Rikki and I have been talking about her grades, and she wants to join me and Lewis's study sessions, so we're off to meet with her. Sorry about not being here on time, but for Rikki to make a request like that is a really big deal, because Emma and I have long pressured her to study harder. It was worth my attention."

Don nodded approvingly. "Okay, I can see that."

Cleo smiled. "Great, thanks! Bye!"

She practically dragged Lewis out the door.

 

Louise lay in a hospital bed, weak and drowsy. Emma was the first to arrive, and as soon as she did, Max left to get some food. He'd be back in a while. Emma sat beside Louise, holding her hand. They were alone, and enjoyed a mostly comfortable silence.

"I know you're upset with me, dear," Louise suddenly said. "I beg you not to be."

"I'm sort of upset with you." Emma thought for a moment, then said, "No. I'm incredibly upset with you, but I also understand completely. Those two things almost cancel each other out, so I'm only sort of upset with you. There are moments when I'm right royally peeved. Really, Louise, what was your plan?"

She shrugged. "Wing it, like I usually do. But I also have a pretty good feel for people's psychology, and I knew the person who sent the note would be quite chatty. It was clear he had something to say, not just something to do. Based on that, I felt confident I could manage the situation."

"He tried to kill you."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but...on my own, I feel I could have talked him down."

"He literally tried to kill you immediately after you said the wrong thing."

They looked at each other for a moment. Emma raised an eyebrow and looked at her meaningfully.

"Well," Louise said. "All right. I miscalculated."

Emma's attitude softened. "It wasn't anything you said, anyway. His hatred of you is absolute. He was always going to pull that trigger. You came close to death tonight."

"Emma...I'm close, anyway. There's no use pretending. I'm not afraid, and I won't be afraid."

"I know," Emma whispered, and lay her head on Louise's shoulder and clasped her hand more tightly. "I know."

 

Ninety minutes later, Louise was asleep and Max had left for the night. Lewis and the girls sat in the waiting room, reviewing their situation. The waiting room was simply an open area at the end of the corridor. The friends remained at the hospital because none of them wanted to be far from Louise, not until visiting hours were over and the hospital kicked them out. Which, they knew, was only about ten minutes away.

Lewis had been distinctly unhappy to learn his girlfriend had almost died that night. He sat next to Cleo, holding her hand tightly. Cleo let him, because she knew he was really upset, and frightened for her.

After half an hour of discussing everything, they were nowhere near a solution. Anthony was still out there, and still gunning for Louise. The four friends sat silently, brooding.

Cleo suddenly said to Rikki, "Oh, by the way, I was supposed to study with Lewis tonight. My excuse was that you're so concerned about your grades that you asked to join our study group. So you have to study with us now, at least for a while."

Rikki gave her a look of surprised disgust. "Thanks?"

"It'll do you good," Cleo said.

"You couldn't come up with a better cover story than that?!" Rikki asked.

Cleo didn't respond. She was looking past Rikki, down the corridor.

Cleo pulled her hand away from Lewis and suddenly stood, full of apprehension and fury, glaring down the corridor. She was so intense, the others immediately leaped to their feet to see what was wrong.

Anthony stood at the other end of the corridor, a hundred feet away. Smiling at them.

Emma, Cleo, and Rikki glared. If looks could kill, Anthony would have dropped on the spot.

Lewis said, "Whoooo..."

"That's him," Rikki said quietly, intensely.

"He wouldn't dare attack Louise while she's in a hospital, with witnesses around!" Emma said. "Would he?"

Cleo's eyes and voice were ice cold. "Let's find out." She started walking.

Her friends were right with her.

Anthony just continued smiling as they approached. When they were halfway to him, he casually turned and walked down the cross corridor.

The four friends hurried and turned the corner. They caught a glimpse of Anthony disappearing through a service door.

They followed him through rooms, halls, and two more doors. Each time, Anthony allowed them to see a glimpse just as he disappeared, leading them on.

The teenagers tumbled out the final door onto the loading dock. The door closed behind them, and Lewis tested it quickly to find it locked from the outside, as he expected. He turned to look at the loading dock. It was long after sundown, and no one was around.

Except Anthony. Waiting for them.

The friends slowly spread out around him. Though Anthony's protective pendant wasn't visible, each noted the chain around his neck, leading under his shirt.

Anthony eyed them with the tiniest hint of amusement. "Well, if it isn't Eeny, Meeny, Miney, and..." He looked at Lewis. "...Moe." He turned to Cleo. "My congratulations. You look spectacular for a dead girl."

"What do you want?" Emma asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Anthony said. "I assumed Louise and Max would explain everything."

"They did," Rikki said.

"Then you already know what I want. Don't ask stupid questions."

"What do you want here, now, tonight?" Cleo asked. "Because there's no way you're getting to Louise in a hospital room!"

Anthony looked thoughtful. "Mmm, probably true. But here's the thing. Maybe I won't get her tonight, but I will get her eventually. We all know it. Because you can't stop me, and I won't stop. I will never stop hunting her, and I'll never stop hunting you."

"What have you got against us?" Emma asked.

"Aside from your unnatural, filthy, evil existence, you mean?" He scoffed. "Even roaches are more pleasant to consider. At least they're part of nature's plan. You're just abominations. Perversions of humanity."

"Using the same language as racists and homophobes isn't the flex you think it is, surperturd!" Emma snapped.

"You are not human," Anthony said. "That is a fact, not an opinion."

All four friends looked baffled and disgusted. His comment was so absurd, there literally was no answer for it. Louise had said he couldn't be reasoned with. They were seeing that firsthand.

"Are you independently wealthy?" Rikki asked him.

Anthony gave her a strange look, and thought for a moment. "Yes, I am. I'm not sharing, in case that's why you want to know."

"So you can just let all this go and actually enjoy your life," Rikki said. "We're nothing to you. Two of the people you hate have already died, and Louise is in the last stage of her life. Your father's gone. You've got a nice life. Just...go live it. Live and let live. We're no threat to you."

Anthony looked at her with scorn and hatred. "You obviously have no idea what it's like to be wronged on a massive scale," he ground out. "There's a thing called justice, and sometimes it demands to be done! Blood cries out from the ground for justice! My father was wronged! That is not something I could let go, nor should I let it go! How dare you?!"

"Wow," Lewis said. "You are a seriously messed-up piece of work."

Anthony snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "Hey! I don't know you, but if you want to be added to the hit list, you just keep talking."

Rikki's arms hung at her side, but she slowly clenched her fist. In a perfectly clear sky, lightning flashed overhead, just for a moment.

Emma caught her eye and gave a slow shake of her head. Rikki took a deep breath, trying to cool the heat. But the energy had to go somewhere, so almost subconsciously, Rikki slowly started walking forward.

She approached Anthony. "Earlier, you bragged about how much you know and how ignorant we are," she said mockingly, locking eyes with him. "Has it ever occurred to you that it's the other way around?"

"Not really," Anthony said simply.

"You assumed we didn't know about the crystals in the walls," Rikki said, still slowly approaching. "You know what happens when you assume, right?" She looked at him scornfully. "But we know something about your precious little magic shield that you don't."

"Bullshit," Anthony said, as Rikki continued approaching. She was just a few feet away now. "You didn't know anything about it. Neither did Louise. You literally had that conversation right in front of me a few hours ago! Are you that stupid?"

Rikki stopped two feet in front of him and looked him in the eye. "There's more than one way to block our powers. When I asked Louise how you were blocking our powers, I was asking her which method you were using, dumbass! And then you were stupid enough to tell us, yourself. And what you evidently don't know about this particular method is: if someone gets close enough, inside its shield, like I am right now..."

Rikki raised her right hand, fingers curled, and smiled.

"They're back in business," she whispered.

Anthony snorted with derision. "Take your best shot-"

Like an explosion, Rikki suddenly kneed him in the groin. As hard as she could.

Anthony dropped like a cut puppet. He lay on the ground, clutching himself, gagging and whimpering, madly kicking one leg.

Rikki quickly knelt and tore the necklace off Anthony. She stood and turned to Lewis. "Does it hurt as much as I've heard it does?"

Lewis nodded calmly. "All that you've heard, and more."

Rikki tossed him the necklace. "Do something with that, please."

Lewis ripped the tape off the necklace, dropped it to the ground, and smashed it with his foot. The crystals didn't shatter, but the superglue broke, scattering them.

Rikki casually strolled away from Anthony as he slowly sat up, gritting his teeth and panting.

"So, about that magical protection," Rikki said, not even bothering to face Anthony. "Why don't you brag about it now?"

Still grimacing and writhing a little, Anthony glared at Rikki in hatred, but Rikki still didn't turn around. She admired her fingernails as if she had nothing particular on her mind. "Cleo, would you do the honors?"

Two bars of water, in an X shape, wrapped over Anthony's back and pushed him fully to the ground. The bars contoured to his body and extended along the ground away from him. They instantly became ice, trapping him.

A sphere of water encased Anthony's head. Suddenly, he was drowning. Madly, uselessly, he thrashed against the ice bars pinning him to the concrete.

Rikki turned to watch, a look of calm, superior triumph on her face. Emma and Cleo also watched, unmoved.

Cleo let Anthony drown for about ten seconds, then took the water away.

"Are you gonna leave us alone?" Emma asked.

Anthony hurled a string of profanity at them, so Cleo put the water back and the drowning resumed.

The girls stood there, watching impassively. Lewis grimaced, obviously uncomfortable.

"Hey, did you guys see the latest episode of Bachelor Island?" Emma asked.

"Yes!" Cleo gushed. "I can't believe Esmerelda betrayed Corky like that! I never thought even she would sink that low!"

"I know!" Rikki said. "Corky's the sweetest girl ever. Esmerelda straight up lied to her about Zack, then lied to Zack about her, and made them hate each other! Pure evil."

"I don't understand why Zack keeps believing her!" Emma said. "He knows she's a liar!"

Cleo took the water away, allowing Anthony to breathe. He coughed and sputtered.

"Will you leave us alone, now?" Rikki asked.

"I'm gonna kill you bitches-"

Cleo put the water back. "Yeah, exactly. Zack knows Esmerelda lied to Amanda. He literally saw her lie to Courtney and Brianna with his own eyes. But when she comes to him and is all, Oh, Corky's mad at you and thinks you're a douchebag, he believes her!"

"I think they give people on these reality shows IQ tests, and they choose the dumbest ones," Rikki said.

"Right?" Emma said. "Jackie's the smartest one, by far, and Zack barely notices her."

"Good," Rikki said. "Zack doesn't deserve Jackie. I hope he and Esmerelda have a miserable life together."

Lewis watched all this stupid banter while Anthony thrashed in agony. The nausea in Lewis's stomach grew by the second.

Cleo took the water away. Anthony coughed and sputtered for a while, but this time, he remained silent.

"Oh, so you can learn," Emma said.

The ice bars disappeared. Emma looked quizzically at Rikki, but Rikki was equally mystified. They looked at Cleo, who was also clearly puzzled.

Cleo re-created the water bars...but nothing happened. She looked at her hands, then looked at Emma and Rikki in alarm. The concerned, baffled looks on their faces mirrored her own. The other girls tried their powers, too, but nothing happened. They all looked at the necklace, but it was still on the ground in pieces.

Anthony, still coughing and gasping for air, didn't notice any of this.

Rikki suddenly stepped forward and pulled Emma and Cleo close. "Don't let him know we're powerless," she barely whispered.

The other girls nodded.

The girls casually walked away, acting as if they had let Anthony go on purpose. Cleo made eye contact with Lewis, who quickly knelt to pick up the necklace and the crystals.

"That's just a taste of what you'll get if you keep on with your stupid crusade," Rikki said.

"Word to the wise," Emma said. "Leave Louise alone."

"Leave us alone," Cleo said.

The four friends hopped off the loading dock and walked away, leaving Anthony shaken and gasping.

They didn't look back.

They didn't hear him croak to himself, "Round two is a draw."

 

The four friends didn't speak until they were a block away, and they knew Anthony wasn't following them.

"Okay," Emma said. "What the heck happened?"

"Anthony has some kind of backup device or magic to block our powers," Cleo said.

"Then why didn't he use it earlier?" Rikki asked.

"Who knows?" Emma asked.

"It wasn't Anthony," Lewis said. His words were intense, and he didn't look at his friends.

Cleo said, "What do you mean-"

Lewis rounded on them and exploded. "All of you know exactly what I mean!"

The girls were speechless. They'd never seen Lewis enraged.

"We really don't..." Emma began.

"You do!" Lewis snapped. "You just don't want to admit it!" He glared at them. "Go on. Use your powers right now!"

Hesitantly, Cleo tried to create water. Nothing happened.

Emma tried to freeze something. Rikki tried to create heat.

Nothing.

"Why-" Rikki began.

"You know why!" Lewis snapped at her. He walked away from them. "You were awful! I've never seen you like that!"

"He tried to kill us!" Rikki said. "He almost killed Cleo!"

Lewis turned to face them but continued walking away. "What do his sins have to do with yours?!"

"What sins did we commit?!" Cleo asked, dumbfounded.

Lewis stopped and glared at her, and his voice was ice cold. "It was the fact that you enjoyed it."

He turned around again and continued walking. It was clear that, at the moment, he wanted nothing to do with them.

The girls watched him go, stunned.

"What did he mean by that?!" Rikki asked.

Emma had a stone hard look of acceptance and bitterness on her face. "He's right," she said quietly. "We don't have to ask. We do know what happened, and we don't want to admit it."

They looked at each other solemnly.

"But...we did what we had to do!" Rikki said.

Cleo's shoulders sagged. She looked utterly forlorn. "That's not the point, Rikki. It's not what we did, it's how we did it. Lewis is right. We got our thrills from it. We rolled in our power like a pig rolls in mud or a politician rolls in people's tears. We can't blame Anthony for that. That was something we chose to do!"

Cleo looked hard at Emma and Rikki, feeling nauseous. "We just got our sick jollies out of torturing another human being."

Rikki was dumbfounded. "What, and...we're being punished?!"

"Apparently," Emma said quietly. "We abused our powers. We used them for evil."

"So the moon pool's taken them away," Cleo said.