Auracle. Part 12

He returns from brushing his teeth to find my message on his computer screen.

Any progress? I materialize beside his desk as he's reading it.

Rei shakes his head. He rolls into bed and covers his eyes with his hands. "I need some sleep, too, Anna," he whispers. "I can't even see straight."

By the blue glare of the computer screen, I watch Rei slowly relax for the first time today. From the first phone call with Taylor this morning to Seth's surprise appearance, I realize Rei has not had one peaceful moment all day. No wonder he's exhausted. I focus on the vast sources of energy far beyond us and absorb what I can, until his hands slip away from his face and land softly on the pillow beside his head.

I reach out and touch my fingertip to his, gently, to see if the vibration of my touch wakes him. When he doesn't move at all, I trace my finger down the length of his, releasing a trickle of energy into him. I try to ignore how soft his skin feels to me since every little sensation is magnified when I'm out here, because I'm doing this for Rei, not for my own selfish pleasure. I trace all his fingers, one by one, replacing his tired colors with indigo, then I inch my way up his arm until I reach his shoulder, skim my fingers over his collarbone, his Adam's apple, up to the fine stubble on his chin. It's not his head I'm concerned about today. I take my time, releasing a steady stream of energy until I reach the center of his chest.

Yumi can recite volumes of information about Reiki and how it works with a person's chakras, but I can't keep all that straight. All I know right now is this is where Rei needs me most. I swirl my hand around until I've created a tiny vortex of energy around Rei, and as he gradually absorbs it, I'm relieved to see the indigo unfurl around him.

I can't manage to lift the comforter over him because it's too heavy, but I feel better knowing my best friend sleeps with a clear aura. I know I had promised not to go into Rei's weight room, but I want to make sure Seth is sleeping, too.

In the darkness of the weight room, I locate Seth by his erratic vibration and the wet dog smell that clings to him. He's snoring, not so loud that Yumi or Robert could hear him from the floor below, but loud enough that I know he's asleep. He appears to be half on, half off the futon, which makes sense since he's so tall.

There's nothing else for me to do here tonight, and I don't have enough juice to go check on Taylor. I need a mini vacation ... somewhere sunny.

Some people read the Bible; some read the Koran. I read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It's a lot less violent, plus there's a talking fennec, which is an adorable desert fox with ginormous ears that lives in the Sahara where it happens to be very sunny. In the story, it's the fennec who shares his wise secret with the Little Prince in exchange for being tamed.

I've been to the Sahara before. I've played with a family of fennecs and I know their vibrations well enough to find them now. Fennecs mate for life-another reason to love them.

Rei tries hard to tame Seth and me. I know he feels responsible for us. I know we disappoint him. I know we make his life a living h.e.l.l sometimes, but I know Rei and I will always be friends. I just don't know if Seth and I are ready to be tamed.

I cruise back into Rei's room early the next morning, pumped up on Sahara sunshine and baby fennec bliss, only to find Rei pacing in front of the open door of his weight room.

Even before he blurts it out, I know.

"Seth is gone!"

CHAPTER 17.

Rei blames himself for Seth's escape, but since he needs to sleep and I don't, my guilt-o-meter can't stand the expression on Rei's face.

Don't worry! I'll find him!

I find Seth riding Rei's mountain bike on a back road in New York. I can only guess he's on his way to talk to his brother. Part of me wants to materialize in the middle of the road just to scare the c.r.a.p out of him because it would serve him right for sneaking out and stealing Rei's bike. I will say this much for him: he's fast. He must have left when it was still dark in order to have made it this far. I go back to break the bad news to Rei.

He stole your bike. He's already in New York.

Rei just closes his eyes and sighs. "Then he's going to talk to Matt."

Rei is so organized. He flips through the contacts on his cell phone and calls Seth's brother. It's barely past six o'clock on Sat.u.r.day morning, so it's no surprise Rei gets Matt's voice mail. "Matt, it's Rei Ellis. Call me as soon as you get this. It's important!"

He hangs up and turns to me with that authoritative look of his. "Let's go get him."

And do what? When Matt calls you back, tell Matt what's going on and let HIM try to talk some sense into him. Maybe he'll have more luck than you.

"But I have to do something!" he argues.

Just wait for Matt to call you back. Then you can decide together what to do.

I don't see Rei's mad face very often, and I'm glad for that. I hold my own during the staring contest that follows until I notice his colors cool down and I know he finally agrees. "Fine." His stomach rumbles as he stuffs his cell phone in his pocket. "So do you ever get hungry over there?"

Now he's going to worry about my diet? I can't eat over here.

"Yeah, I figured. That must suck."

It does suck. Everything sucks. I miss cheesecake.

Rei nods sympathetically. "Do you miss oatmeal, too?" Now he's teasing me. He knows I hate anything that looks predigested.

Are you trying to tell me you're hungry?

"Sorry. I wasn't sure what the deal was with food in that dimension. I didn't want to eat in front of you if it would bother you."

You need to eat. Don't worry about me.

"Don't worry about you? Oh, okay. I won't breathe, either." He reaches for the back of my neck, then stops and lets his hand drop to his side. He sighs. "I guess I'll go take a shower."

I notice he takes his cell phone into the bathroom with him.

Fifteen minutes later, he's sitting at the kitchen table, barefoot, wearing jeans and a faded gray T-shirt. The newspaper is spread out in front of him, and he's stirring cinnamon into a bowl of oatmeal.

"Yum," he holds up a big gloppy spoonful and sticks it into his mouth. "Mmmm."

I open my mouth and pretend to stick my finger down my throat.

The usual high school crowd doesn't come into the store on Sat.u.r.day, so Robert and Yumi take the opportunity to sleep in until seven. Miraculously, Saya is still asleep, too. Rei turns each page, commenting on this and that, until he comes to the obituaries, and he pushes the paper toward me so we can both see it.

Taylor Ann Gleason ~ Beloved Daughter We both take a minute to read to ourselves all the wonderful things it says about Taylor.

"There are two viewings. Tonight from six to eight is for anyone local, and tomorrow night is for their Long Island people. The funeral is Monday morning. Should we be going to any of this?"

Without the computer, I'm essentially mute. I nod.

"Since we're not going after Seth, we should focus on what to do about Taylor. That sage stuff obviously didn't work. Any more ideas?"

I shake my head. I want to tell him I plan to spend the morning on his computer looking for more ideas, but I can't do that without a voice.

"Well, think about it. I have to work today. Will you keep an eye on Seth for me?"

Of course. I nod.

I ping-pong back and forth from Rei's house to Seth, who is steadily progressing toward Matt's college. Rei and his family leave for the store, and it doesn't occur to me until I hear Rei tell Yumi that Anna doesn't feel well, so he'll babysit the kids at the store while Yumi teaches yoga cla.s.s this morning. Kids love Rei. He's like a human jungle gym, and since we've been taking care of Saya since she was born, babysitting comes naturally to both of us. Still, it's adorable to watch him wrangle a dozen little kids, all under the age of five. I stay and watch the shenanigans until cla.s.s is over and Rei goes off to the back room to do some real work.

I know I'm supposed to be figuring out what to do about Taylor, but I've been avoiding the computer because I know what I'm going to find ...

Exorcism.

I never saw the original movie, The Exorcist, but I've heard plenty of rumors. Rotating heads. Puking pea soup. Flagrant disregard for religious artifacts. The list goes on. I really don't want to go there.

So I decide to check up on Taylor instead. I find my mom and Taylor bonding at the mall. They look happy. My mom is chattering away, laughing, and Taylor responds to her in an easy, comfortable way. I keep hearing the word lavender, lavender. I really hope they're talking about the flower or the fragrance, because I despise the color lavender. In fact, any shade of purple depresses me. Watching Taylor and my mom depresses me, too.

I love my mom and I know she loves me, but aside from a short stature, celery-colored eyes, and an insatiable sweet tooth, we have little in common. She loves shopping at discount stores for designer clothes, trendy jewelry, and knock-off perfume. I like blue jeans, Rei's hand-me-down hoodies, and unscented antiperspirant. Ever since seventh grade, school picture day has started with an argument at my house. "I will not buy another school photo of you wearing that same old black hoodie with your hair just hanging there!" is her usual battle cry. "Can't you at least put on some blush? A little mascara?" she begs.

I respect that my mother works hard to support me and my deadbeat father. What I don't get is why she lets him get away with being such a lush. Why she expects me to change, but not him.

They click-clack over the tile floor, mom in her heels and Taylor in my clogs, heading over to Nadia's Nail Boutique. My nail biting has been a thorn in my mother's side for many years, and she just can't contain her excitement that I'm finally interested in acrylic nails. The chemical stench from Nadia's is overpowering to me. Before I leave, I hear Taylor ask the girl in the white coat for the extra long nail tips.

Delightful.

In the back room of the store, Rei breaks down cardboard boxes and stacks them. He's plugged into his iPod, and his attention is equally focused between the music and the boxes. He jumps a mile when I appear.

"Anna!" He yanks out one earbud and looks around for his parents, but they're in the front taking care of customers-I already checked. "Could you please give me a little warning?" I point to the pocket holding his cell phone.

"You want my phone?"

I nod.

"Why?" he asks as he pulls it out and holds it in my direction with a confused look.

Guess what, I text curtly.

"Oh ... okay, what?"

I'm getting acrylic nails. Extra long.

Rei grins. "Oh, boy!"

I glare at him. My mom likes shopping with Taylor better than me.

"No, she doesn't," he says rea.s.suringly, but we both know it's true. "Taylor just likes all that trendy stuff your mom likes. Just hope they keep the receipts."

Texting is hard. Even with Rei and his super Zenergy right here, texting requires too d.a.m.n much effort. I hover over a neat stack of empty boxes and fume.

"So I finally talked to Matt. I told him to call me as soon as Seth shows up." Rei motions to the stack of boxes. "I need to finish up a few things, and then I'm heading home. You're not going to the viewing dressed like that, are you?"

I summon up all the energy I can muster and send the stack of empty boxes tumbling down around him. He laughs, which annoys me even more. "Okay, I deserved that. Hey, can you check on Seth and meet me back at my house in about an hour?"

I nod and let myself dissolve in front of him. I've been checking up on Seth all day, anyway. He's robotically pedaling along in his bubble of gray, like he's surrounded by his own personal rain cloud. Ahead of him, the road curves and rises, and the pavement is scarred with frost heaves from the long, hard winter.

A week ago, Seth had a pretty good idea about where he was going in life. I don't think he expected anything too fancy: maybe go to tech school, get a job working with cars, hopefully deal with the fact that his mom abandoned him, and realize that not all women are selfish and hurtful. Now he has no idea if he'll make it around the next bend without getting arrested. And maybe Seth is right: if he didn't try to save Taylor, things would probably be a lot different right now. Maybe he would still be a suspect, but there would be no evidence against him. Except Taylor would still be claiming to be Annaliese Rogan, the only eyewitness.

It all comes down to me.

This does nothing to improve my mood. I'm not a big fan of responsibility and I hate to see people suffer. As soon as Rei gets home, we exchange a wave and he immediately heads for the shower. I leave Rei a message on the computer to read when he comes back, because I don't want my bad mood diluted by the cheerful scent of his citrus soap.

I'm going to check on Taylor and her stupid new nails. I'll see you tonight.

Taylor stands in front of my dresser, brushing blush onto her cheeks in front of my pink magnifying mirror. She's sporting a sparkly diamond nose stud that wasn't there earlier, so it must be with my mom's blessing. What was that woman thinking? Just for my own childish pleasure, I knock her mascara off the dresser. She bends to pick it up, clasping it carefully between her ruby red, extra long nail tips, and sets it back on the dresser. I knock it off again. She looks around suspiciously.

"So you're still around, eh?" She picks up the mascara and clutches it in her hand. "I thought by now you would have found something better to do." She opens the mascara and looks into the mirror, opening her eyes wide to sweep the wand across her eyelashes. My eyelashes. "Your mom is such a sweetie. Did you see all the amazing stuff she bought me? I didn't even have to use any of your money stash. Which I found, by the way."

Great ... I'd managed to save close to five hundred dollars by babysitting the kids at Yumi's store over the past two years, and now that money's at the mercy of Taylor Gleason.

Sweep, sweep. I nudge her arm, and she pokes herself in the eye with the wand. "Ouch! You little...!" She grabs a tissue from the bookshelf to blot the big black tears. "You can scratch someone's cornea doing that, you know."

Yeah, MY cornea. I flick her blush compact onto the floor, and take great satisfaction in the crunching noise I hear when the powder cake inside shatters.

"Stop it!" she hisses. I roll the eyeliner, a bottle of foundation, the blush brush, eye shadow, and a small bottle of cologne, one by one, onto the floor. The cologne hits her in the head while she's leaning over to pick up the other stuff.

"STOP IT!" she orders again.

There's nothing left on the dresser to dump, anyway.

There's a knock at my bedroom door and my mom pops her head in, smiling expectantly.

"Did you just call me, honey?" she asks.

"No, mom, I was just talking to myself," Taylor says sweetly.

As soon as the door shuts, she glares around the room. "Go away, Anna," she says in a cold, quiet voice. "You don't live here anymore. In fact, you don't live anymore, period."

CHAPTER 18.

McGregor & Sons is the only funeral home in Byers. Separated from Main Street by a wide circular driveway and two adjoining parking lots, it's a huge white Queen Anne-style house with black shutters and a deep wraparound porch, complete with rocking chairs and ashtrays shaped like genie bottles. Mr. and Mrs. McGregor and their two sons, who are still in elementary school and apparently doomed to follow in their father's footsteps, live on the top floor. There's an ornate three-car garage that sits separately from the house, and in back of that, out of view, I discover ... the embalming room.

I dare myself to go inside.