Authors: C. J. Hill
Slayers (19 page)
A
fter Jesse finished talking to Rosa, he went to find Dirk. “You want to raid the kitchen?” he asked. That was their code for talking privately. Back during Dirk’s first year at camp, they actually had raided the kitchen one night while everyone else slept. Dirk knew how to pick locks—had practiced it the same way he’d practiced martial arts. They’d broken into the kitchen, taken a couple ice cream sandwiches from the freezer’s stash, and sat on the floor talking for half an hour.
fter Jesse finished talking to Rosa, he went to find Dirk. “You want to raid the kitchen?” he asked. That was their code for talking privately. Back during Dirk’s first year at camp, they actually had raided the kitchen one night while everyone else slept. Dirk knew how to pick locks—had practiced it the same way he’d practiced martial arts. They’d broken into the kitchen, taken a couple ice cream sandwiches from the freezer’s stash, and sat on the floor talking for half an hour.
It had become a tradition after that. Once every summer, they broke in, and despite the ice cream sandwiches that went missing, they’d never been caught.
Dirk said, “Sure,” but instead of walking toward the main camp, they went into the forest behind their cabins. These days, they broke into the kitchen only near the end of the month. After a few minutes, the two found a sturdy tree and went up it. Jesse flew and Dirk half climbed, half jumped up the branches.
Jesse always felt more relaxed, more in control, when he was up
high. He could see the world spread out beneath him, like a chess player looking down at the board.
high. He could see the world spread out beneath him, like a chess player looking down at the board.
After they were both situated on branches, Dirk asked, “What’s up, besides us?” Then he leaned back against the trunk while raising his eyebrows. “Let me guess. You want to talk about Tori.”
Jesse did want to talk about Tori, but that’s not why he asked for this meeting. Besides, he wouldn’t have known what to say about her. In the short time she’d been here, she’d mostly managed to frustrate him. Although if he was being honest, she also made him feel guilty because he knew he was being hard on her; and he felt worried because he was afraid her training would be too little too late. And he had other feelings, ones he shouldn’t have because he was a fellow Slayer. And her captain.
“It’s not about Tori,” Jesse said. “I found out something you should know.” He gazed down at the ferns that grew like miniature fountains over the forest floor.
“What?” Dirk asked.
It was hard for Jesse to betray Dr. B’s confidence. Two years earlier, he wouldn’t have done it, but now, well, Dr. B always told them to think for themselves. All last summer Dr. B had emphasized that the Slayers—especially the team captains—had to make decisions on their own. Dr. B couldn’t be in the thick of things, fighting the dragons with them. They had to take charge.
So Jesse had been mulling over the matter all day. “Dr. B can trace our phones from his laptop. If Overdrake got hold of it and broke through the passwords, he could find any of us. Dr. B doesn’t want the other Slayers to know. He’s afraid if they do a Leo and Danielle, they could inadvertently leak the information. But I thought you should know. At some point, the phones could be a liability.”
Dirk nodded, his expression growing serious. He didn’t speak for
a few moments, but Jesse hadn’t expected him to. Neither of them were the type to work through things by talking a lot.
a few moments, but Jesse hadn’t expected him to. Neither of them were the type to work through things by talking a lot.
“It probably won’t ever come to that,” Jesse said.
“But you never know,” Dirk answered.
That was one of the main problems of second-guessing Overdrake—they didn’t know nearly enough. After a few more minutes, Jesse and Dirk slipped down from the trees and walked silently back to cabin 26.
T
ori took a short shower, so short that the other girls were just making their way to the bathroom when she finished. Her sight hadn’t faded yet, and she made her way back to the cabin without a flashlight, which was a good thing, since she’d forgotten to bring one again.
ori took a short shower, so short that the other girls were just making their way to the bathroom when she finished. Her sight hadn’t faded yet, and she made her way back to the cabin without a flashlight, which was a good thing, since she’d forgotten to bring one again.
Jesse no longer sat on her steps. She glanced over at cabin 26, then told herself to stop it. There was no point in having any sort of feelings for him. He didn’t see her that way. He hardly even saw her as a girl. She was just a team member he had to bring up to speed.
Tori lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders. She would show Jesse how quickly she could catch up to the rest of them. If it meant hard work, fine. And fireballs? Well, at least she could hear them coming.
She walked inside her cabin, picking up her iron from the floor where it was propping the door open again. She set it back on her dresser, braided her hair so the extensions wouldn’t tangle while she slept, then read one of her books until the other girls came in. Lilly and
Alyssa’s blow-dried hair flowed down their backs in straight blonde curtains. Rosa had a towel wrapped around her head and chided Bess for leaving her wet hair uncovered. “You’ll catch a cold,” she said sternly.
Alyssa’s blow-dried hair flowed down their backs in straight blonde curtains. Rosa had a towel wrapped around her head and chided Bess for leaving her wet hair uncovered. “You’ll catch a cold,” she said sternly.
Bess flipped her hand through her short curls. “I never get sick. I laugh in the face of germs.”
“I’ve had colds before.” Rosa turned to Lilly and Alyssa for support.
“I’m as healthy as a horse,” Lilly said.
Bess nodded with an air of seriousness, which made her look like her professor father. “And that’s just one character trait she shares with our equine friends.”
Lilly narrowed her eyes. “Like you would know, Elspeth.”
“Elspeth?” Tori asked.
Bess flopped down on her bed with an exaggerated sigh. “Yeah, medieval scholars really shouldn’t be allowed to name children.” She put her feet up so they rested against the footboard. “Technically, my first name is Elspeth, but no one calls me that as I tend to rip the limbs from the people who do. I’m only making an exception in Lilly’s case until we kill the dragons. Then she’s going to be completely limbless.”
“Oh, grow up,” Lilly said.
Bess stretched and shut her eyes. “I laugh in the face of growing up.”
Tori smiled. She’d been expecting the camp director’s daughter to either be a prima donna or some sort of informer and was glad Bess hadn’t turned out to be either. It made Lilly and Alyssa seem bearable.
The next moment, a wave of exhaustion washed over Tori, and she put her book on the floor under her bed.
Rosa climbed on top of her bunk. “You can always tell when the simulator has been off for half an hour. It feels like you’re hit with a bag full of tired.”
Alyssa grumbled an agreement, turned off the light, and the room went black.
After seeing so clearly, the dark seemed unnatural, and Tori blinked as though she could refocus if she tried hard enough. When she couldn’t, she shut her eyes and forced herself to relax. She heard the sound of the other girls rustling into comfortable positions. Then the crickets outside. The smooth hush of branches moving in the wind. An owl calling in the distance. And the heartbeat. Just like last night.
Tori propped herself up on one elbow, listening more intently. She wasn’t dreaming; it was a real sound.
“If the simulator is off, where is that noise coming from?” Tori asked.
Lilly grunted in annoyance. “What noise?
“The noise that’s going
tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-thump
.”
tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-thump
.”
“I don’t hear anything,” Bess said.
Tori gripped her blanket in annoyance. “Well, I’m not making it up. It’s there, and it sounds like the simulator.”
“How come no one else hears anything?” Alyssa asked.
“I’ve always had exceptional hearing. I can hear things other people can’t.”
Lilly snorted. “You mean like voices in your head?” She and Alyssa both snickered.
Rosa said, “Alyssa, turn on the light.”
Alyssa gave a moan of protest, but Tori heard her slide out of bed and feel along the wall until she found the switch. Light washed through the room and Tori squinted, adjusting her eyes. As she did, the sound stopped.
The other girls sat up in bed and stared at Tori, waiting for her to say more. She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “It’s gone now.”
Lilly lay back on her bed with a
thump
. “Along with five minutes we could have been sleeping.”
thump
. “Along with five minutes we could have been sleeping.”
But Tori wasn’t about to let it go. She thrust her covers off and got out of bed. “Is this some sort of prank?” She strode to the window and pushed the curtains aside. “The guys are out there making that noise, aren’t they? That’s why they stopped when the lights came on.”
Rosa gave the other girls pointed looks. “Is it a prank?”
“Not one of mine,” Alyssa said.
Bess held up her hands, palms forward. “Don’t look at me. I had nothing to do with it.”
Lilly put her arm over her eyes to block out the light. “There’s nothing there. Now, will you guys please be quiet so we can go to sleep?”
Alyssa turned off the light, and the other girls settled back into their beds. Tori stayed by the window. She took her flashlight from the dresser, but didn’t turn it on. If she waited long enough, she’d be able to catch whoever was hiding outside the window.
She waited. The sounds of the night surfaced again. The crickets. The wind.
The heartbeat.
The noise had to be right outside. She flipped on the flashlight and pointed it out of the window. She expected to see someone crouching by the cabin, or at the very least, running away. She only saw a scraggly bush and a couple of small boulders.
Alyssa let out a groan. “What are you doing?”
Tori didn’t answer. Alyssa’s words had drowned out the sound of the heartbeat, and she needed to focus to find it.
There it was again.
She made her way to the door, then stepped outside. The sound of her own footsteps nearly covered the noise, but she walked across the patio and down the steps, still able to keep hold of it.
She swung the flashlight around, searching.
Nothing.
Fine. She’d find whoever was drumming the heartbeat by sound
alone. She walked into the space that separated the cabins and shut her eyes. The heartbeat grew louder.
alone. She walked into the space that separated the cabins and shut her eyes. The heartbeat grew louder.
Tori drew in a sharp breath and opened her eyes. It had been a mistake to come outside. Here, alone in the darkness, the sound took on a more sinister tone. The shadows drew closer. Things in the forest rustled.
“Stop it!” she yelled. “It’s not funny!”
She tried again to tell where the sound came from, but couldn’t. She jerked her head in one direction, then another. The heartbeat seemed to be everywhere—coming from the boys’ cabin, coming from her own. It was above her, beside her, growing louder. Now she wanted it to stop, but it wouldn’t.
A loud, creaking noise sounded at her side. She swept the flashlight in that direction.
Cabin 26’s door had opened. Dirk peered outside, with Jesse standing behind him. Dirk put his hand up to block the flashlight beam, then turned his face away. “You want to point that thing somewhere else?”
Jesse stepped around Dirk onto the patio. “What are you doing out here?”
“Is this some sort of practical joke?” she asked. “Because I’ve had a long day, and I want to get some sleep now. So just turn that thing off!”
Kody and Shang joined Dirk and Jesse on the patio, staring at her cautiously. All of them wore pajama bottoms and sweatshirts. “What are you talking about?” Dirk said.
“What’s going on?” Kody asked.
Behind her, the door to cabin 27 opened. Lilly called, “The new girl is having a nervous breakdown. She must have got slammed into the ground one too many times.”
They were all coming down the stairs now, filing out to look at her. Tori felt breathless under the weight of their gazes.
She pointed the flashlight down so it wouldn’t blind anyone, even though she wanted to keep hunting for the source of the heartbeat. It couldn’t really be the heartbeat of a dragon. She would notice a dragon hanging about, and besides, if one came near, everyone would have their powers again. She wouldn’t need a flashlight to see in the dark.
But what was it?
Dirk ran a hand across his forehead. “Did Dr. B put you up to this? Are we supposed to assume Overdrake is attacking? Because if that’s what this is, you need to be more specific about what’s going on.”
The heartbeat was so loud now that it reverberated in her ears. She looked from face to face. Their expressions were half-hidden in shadow, questioning. “I can’t be the only one hearing it.” Her grip tightened around the flashlight. “It sounds like the simulator. Why are the rest of you pretending it doesn’t exist?”
Jesse took a step closer, a sudden understanding in his eyes. “You hear something that sounds like the simulator?”
“Yes.”
Jesse held his hand out for her flashlight. She wasn’t sure why he wanted it, but gave it to him anyway. He handed it to Bess. “Run and get your dad. I think we found Tori’s talent.”
Tori looked at him questioningly. “And that would be what?”
Jesse smiled, but it had an air of sadness to it. “You’re Dirk’s counterpart. You can hear what the dragons hear. And right now, all they hear is the sound of their own heartbeats.”
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