doesn’t look like any fish I’ve ever seen.”
The camera cut back live to the studio, and the male anchor laughed warmly. “That kid’s got quite a theory, Lindsay.”
“Well, he is right about one thing, Geoff. It is a sensational find, and the DNR is investigating it as an unusual specimen, possibly a new species, but not anything mythical. Although I have to admit, that would be a lot more fun.”
More chuckling between the two anchors, as they cut to footage of the DNR picking over the decomposing remains. The remains of Tallulah White.
I grabbed my stomach and ran upstairs to the bathroom, vomiting half-digested tuna roll into the toilet. How could this be? Tallulah’s body was supposed to stay hidden forever. What did this mean for Calder? Is this why he’d vanished?
I rinsed my mouth and staggered to my room. Rain splattered on the window, leaving long-fingered patterns behind. Outside, the sky seemed to pull me from the house, like a black hole, endless and unforgiving.
There was a flash of lightning, and—happy to do anything that would get my mind off Tallulah—I began to count for the center of the storm. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. At three seconds, the house rattled with thunder. “Three miles away,” I whispered to myself.
The storm was getting closer and Calder was out there—somewhere. I wanted desperately to reach him, for him to tell me nothing would change, that the discovery of Tallulah meant nothing. That everything would be okay. That he was coming soon.
I lay my palm flat against the window pane. Down below, something moved in the darkness. I threw open the sash and leaned out into the rain. My hair plastered to my face and shoulders. My vision distorted. I curled my arm across my forehead to shield my eyes. It seemed the whole world was underwater.
Another flash of lightning illuminated the street in a vibrant blue. I sucked in my breath, certain I must be dreaming, because in that flash I saw him, standing between the parked cars, looking up at me. His sad eyes pleading.
“Calder!” I called, reaching for him. At the sound of his name in the air, electricity surged not from the sky, but up from where he stood on the street. It blazed through my bloodstream. And everything went dark.
4
CHICKEN
I didn’t remember getting into bed, but that was where I woke up. In my pajamas, no less, and I didn’t remember putting them on, either. My head pounded, and I reached behind me. An enormous, throbbing egg was growing out of the back of my skull. When did that happen?
The storm had marched on, leaving shards of bright light streaming through my window. I groaned, rolling away and making my pillow crackle.
I slipped my hand to the cold side of the pillow and felt a piece of paper, folded in half, at the edge of the mattress.
WAY TO RUIN A PARTY LILY. HOPE YOU’RE FEELING BETTER.
I dropped the note on the floor and threw back the covers. My hair hung wild and tangled in my face, and I blew a few tousled waves out of my eyes. Jules cracked open my door.
“How you doing?” she asked. The way she said it made me feel ridiculous. Maybe she knew how I got the goose egg.
“Not sure,” I said, my voice froggy.
“You freaked everyone out last night.”
“I did?”
“When you didn’t come back downstairs, Robby got worried.”
I must have frowned, because Jules reproached me with a look that said I could be a little more appreciative of the fact he’d been paying attention. She was right, of course. He was only looking out for me.
“So we came up to check on you,” she said. “You had the window open and you were lying on the floor in about a quarter inch of water.”
“I don’t remember opening the window,” I said, more to myself than to Jules.
“Your dad was all freaked out. Thought maybe you’d been hit by lightning.”
“Was I?” My body did feel a little tingly.
“Judging by the fact that you’re talking to me, I’m going to go with no. But you did get pretty soaked.”
I glanced at the floor. It was dry. My mind flooded with light, over and over like the flash on a camera. A silhouetted figure filled the lens.
“Robby and I soaked it up with bath towels. Don’t worry. My mom never saw it. You really don’t remember anything?”
“Is my mom okay? She’s not worried, is she?”
“No, not once we got you in bed.