Everneath. Part 13

I put my head in my hands. After several long minutes, I felt someone sit down next to me. I half expected it to be Jack, but when I looked up, I saw Mary. I'd never seen her outside the soup kitchen before.

"Mary," I said. "Hi."

Mary was looking straight ahead. She scratched her arm a few times, as if something there were bothering her. "I come here a lot too."

I grimaced. "Where? The Shop-n-Go?"

"Yes. I come here for supplies. The cashier doesn't notice things."

Great. She just admitted she's a shoplifter.

She patted my knee. "Okay. I have to go. I'm late."

"For what?" I asked.

Her face went blank, as if my question made no sense, and she scratched her arm again. "I hope you find it."

"Find what?"

"What you were looking for." She looked at me like I was the one suffering from dementia. She stood up and wandered down the street, pausing only to ask a couple of tourists for some spare change. I hoped they gave her plenty.

THIRTEEN.

NOW.

School. Less than three months left.

Mrs. Stone read through a rough draft of my paper, and one day after school she sat in the desk in front of me. "Nikki, you seem to have a chip on your shoulder when it comes to ancient myths."

"What do you mean?"

She smiled. "You place an inordinate amount of blame on some of the central figures of Greek mythology."

I was quiet for a moment, unsure of how to answer.

"Don't get me wrong. I love how you've seamlessly planted characters such as Persephone in a modern high-school setting. Superb." She placed the stack of papers on my desk. "But you, as the author, are letting your disdain show through."

"How?" I asked.

She gave me a wry smile. "Like when your modern Demeter, and basically everyone else who's even nice to your Persephone, gets killed or maimed by random acts of violence."

Oh yeah. I nodded.

"Now, if you intended to offer a scathing indictment of heroes, well, you're succeeding."

"I just think they were foolish," I said. "Made irrational decisions in hopeless quests."

"Maybe. But don't forget that what we can glean from these stories is not the string of decisions that got them into harrowing situations but what sacrifices did they make? Did Demeter give up when Persephone was kidnapped? Did she ever lose hope that she would get her daughter back?"

"That's just it, Mrs. Stone. She shouldn't have let herself hope, because she didn't really get her back. Persephone ended up ruling the Underworld anyway. I don't know why she wasted her time."

Mrs. Stone paused. "Now you're asking the right question. Why do we hope when all hope is lost? What if Orpheus had given up hope?"

"Who?"

"Orpheus. We'll talk about him later in the unit, but in a nutsh.e.l.l: The love of Orpheus's life, Eurydice, was taken to the Underworld. He was desperate to get her back, but no one ever comes back from the Underworld, right? Orpheus didn't give up, though. He followed her and pleaded with Hades to let her go. He played music for Hades and touched his heart, so much that Hades released Eurydice on one condition- that Orpheus never look back as they left."

Goose b.u.mps appeared on my arms. I wasn't familiar with the story, but Cole said most myths were rooted in some truth. Could it be that a mortal girl who was bound to the Everneath escaped? I stayed quiet, anxious for Mrs. Stone to go on.

"I'd like you to ask yourself, Who loses hope first? And who never gives up? Because it's not the supernatural abilities that set mythical characters apart." She leaned forward. "It's the decisions the human characters make, in impossible situations, that have us still talking about them centuries later. Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with."

I didn't tell her my opinion about the existence of heroes. I wanted her to talk about Eurydice again. "So this Eurydice escaped the Underworld?"

"Yes." Mrs. Stone paused. "For a moment."

"What happened?"

"Orpheus couldn't help looking back to make sure she was behind him. She was sucked back down." She smiled and patted the papers in front of me, as if she hadn't just obliterated my little ray of hope. "What you've done here is fine work. Good structure. Solid voice. But I think you can dig a little deeper."

I nodded, no longer paying close attention. No one could escape.

"Okay. We're good here. I can't wait to see your next draft, Nikki. Don't shy away."

When I left Mrs. Stone's cla.s.sroom, I couldn't get my mind off the story of the two lovers. Which is why I didn't notice, at first, the small group of students gathered around something at the edge of the football field.

I watched the crowd as I walked toward the parking lot. I wouldn't have stopped, only I saw Jules standing there, and she turned to stare at me. Something in the way she looked at me made me want to see what was going on. As I walked closer, a couple more students turned to watch. As if they'd expected me.

Then a voice rang out from somewhere in the middle of the fray. Jack's voice.

"Leave her alone!"

Another voice. An all-too-familiar voice. Cole-as the dark-haired Neal. "She got to you, didn't she? And you want more. They always do."

Oh c.r.a.p. I picked up the pace and pushed my way into the center, where Jack and Cole were facing off. I wanted to grab Jack, to wrap my arms around him and pull him away. But I didn't feel like it was my right, since he was angry with me.

So I stood in front of Cole.

"Stop it." I put my hand on his chest. Despite being an immortal, he had the physical strength of a regular boy my age, nothing more. He still could have flattened me, but he gave way and stepped back. And I realized my mistake. The way he gave in to me made it look like we were together.

Everyone watched. My face was sweating.

"I can't help it, Nik," he said with a smirk. "He's such an easy target."

Jack made a lunge toward Cole, but I stood my ground in the middle. I was about to get squashed.

"Jules!" I called out, as Jack collided with us. He tried to strong-arm me out of the way, but then Jules was there, tugging on his arm, trying to pull him off. I wondered why she hadn't tried to stop it before now.

"C'mon, Jack," she said. "Let's go. Please."

Jack didn't take his eyes off of Cole, but he let Jules lead him away. The crowd let out a collective sigh, probably disappointed there'd be no fight.

Cole turned to me as we walked and licked his lips. "Oh man, his humiliation is absolutely delicious."

"Stop it, Neal. Just stop it. None of this is going to help you get me back."

"It's not just about getting you back, Nik. Poor Jack is smitten. I feel sorry for the boy and what he's going to go through again. I'm doing this for both of you."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Leave Jack out of this. He wants nothing to do with me anyway."

"You're wrong, Nik. He wants everything to do with you."

We both looked over at Jack, who was letting Jules lead him to the parking lot. Jack's eyes cut back and forth between Cole and me. I felt like I was betraying him somehow.

"Poor Jules," Cole said.

I turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you don't see it. She's in love with Jack. And she thought there was a chance, until..."

"I came back," I said.

He nodded, and then shrugged as he turned toward Jules again. "Now she doesn't know what to do. Maybe I can help her decide." He glanced at me sideways. "Do you think I'm her type?"

We'd reached his big black-and-silver motorcycle parked illegally along the curb.

"Don't say things like that, Cole. Please."

"Would that bother you?" He had a strange look on his face. Almost vulnerable. It had come so quickly, and it made him look like a different person.

"Yes," I said. He started to smile, until I added, "I don't want you anywhere near the people I love."

He was taken aback, but then he chuckled and was back to his old self. "You can end this anytime, Nik."

I didn't answer. I had underestimated how much damage he could do before I left. He couldn't hurt me, but he could hurt the people I cared about.

Cole sauntered the rest of the way to the motorcycle, swung a leg over, and kicked it to life. "Just say the word."

He revved the engine and looked past me, toward the parking lot. His expression became smug and he grinned as he pushed away from the curb. I turned to see what had captured his attention. Then it all happened quickly.

I heard Cole take off just as my eyes registered Jack in his black car, peeling out after Cole. Jules was left behind, calling out frantically after him. The chase was on.

Jules and I exchanged silent glances for just a moment. Then we both took off at a run toward my car.

"You drive," I said to her as I tossed her the keys. She s.n.a.t.c.hed them out of the air. My driving was still a bit rusty. Maybe she could catch us up faster.

We didn't say a word to each other as Jules tore through the streets. She kept to the main road, probably figuring the boys had done the same. I hoped she was right.

We didn't see any signs of Jack's car or Cole's motorcycle.

"Look," Jules said. She pointed to an older couple on the sidewalk. They were looking farther down the road, toward a sharp bend, with obviously panicked expressions.

Jules sped up.

As Jack's car came into view, I let out a yelp of horror. The front end of his car was wrapped around a telephone pole. A few people stood near the car, looking in the windows and calling out to Jack. Some were already on cell phones.

I threw open the door and bolted out before Jules could even stop the car.

"Jack!" I called out as I pushed a man out of my way. Jack was slumped over the steering wheel. "Jack. Jack! Can you hear me?"

I pulled Jack away from the wheel. His eyes were halfway open, and his cheek started to swell and turn red. I turned his head toward me. "Jack. Can you hear me?"

His eyes fluttered. "Is the boy okay?"

"What boy?"

"The boy. In the street."

I turned to the man behind me. "Was there a boy?"

He shrugged.

"I almost hit him," Jack insisted.

"There's no one." I pushed his hair away from his eyes and took a closer look at his cheek. Maybe there really had been a boy in the street, but I also wouldn't put it past Cole to make one appear, if he had that power.

Jack's eyes opened fully, and he looked at me with half a grin. "You remember the first time I told you I loved you?" His words slurred together.

"Shhhhh. Don't talk. The paramedics are on their way."

"Do you?"

I touched his cheek and he winced. I could almost taste his pain, as if it were a tangible element in the air. I could feel my body hungering for the hurt. It was the first time since I'd Returned that I craved someone else's energy. Even at my lowest point, those last moments in the Everneath, I'd never felt a need for it. Until now. Until I was faced with emotions this strong.

He tilted his head toward me, and I jerked back. The taste in the air became bitter and sweet, a mixture of pain and longing.

"Tell me you remember," he said. "Please."

The pain was no longer coming from one source. It was behind me as well. I turned, knowing whom I would see. Jules stood a few yards back, watching us, and the look on her face made it clear that she had heard everything.

I ducked my head and walked back through the crowd. As I pa.s.sed her, I said, "He needs you. He doesn't know what he's saying."