Chapter 18 #2
“By what,” Zoe corrected, obviously relishing the telling of the story.
“No one knows. But Val told the cops it was a vampire. It was probably just like an animal or a guy on bath salts. Adam Moore told everyone it was Mothman, but he’s always high and making up crap.
Oh hey, maybe we can ask Hae what he thinks.
If it was Mothman, wouldn’t a god know?”
“Is Chuck okay?” Grace asked, trying to focus Zoe again and to stop them from talking too loudly about gods.
“Yeah.” Zoe didn’t seem concerned. “He’s just in the hospital.”
“Being in the hospital doesn’t sound like being okay.”
“He’ll be fine. I mean, he probably just needs a rabies shot or something, right?”
“Right.” But something still felt off to her.
“Hey, there’s Link.” Zoe nodded in the direction of the dunk tank.
Grace turned to see Lincoln’s head bobbing above the crowd, a few inches taller than most of the other kids. She waved to get his attention. He smiled and was starting toward her when Griffin called his name. Lincoln turned, making his way to him instead.
“That’s the way it is with drones,” Zoe said drolly. “They must obey the hive.”
“Who is a hive?” Hae asked, stepping up to the booth, three churros in his hands. He smiled at Grace as he offered her one, and she avoided his gaze as she accepted it. She could feel a flush rising and didn’t want to give Zoe more ammo to use against her.
“Grace has the misfortune of having a crush on one of Griffin Reed’s lackeys.
” Zoe grabbed their churro as they nodded in Lincoln’s direction.
He stood with half the varsity basketball team, listening to one of Griffin’s stories.
They all burst into loud laughter, Griffin looking pleased to be the center of attention.
“He was my friend before he was Griffin’s lackey. And he’s not a lackey,” Grace said. Even as she watched him laugh obediently along with his teammates.
“If you like him, why not just tell him?” Hae asked.
She ignored the question and took a huge bite of her churro.
“Great question, Hae.” Zoe leaned forward, batting their lashes at Grace.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” she replied. “But it’s because we’re friends.”
“I’m confused.” Hae frowned, clearly not letting it go as Grace had hoped. “Should that not make it easier to speak to him?”
“I don’t want to lose him as a friend.” She folded her arms defensively, hoping Hae would take the hint that she didn’t want to talk about this.
“And crushes and friendships are mutually exclusive?” Hae asked.
Zoe laughed and took another giant bite of their churro. “Listen to the guy, Gracie. He’s a literal god. He must know what he’s talking about.”
“I did counsel the mortals often in my time,” Hae said.
“I don’t need counseling.” Grace set down her own churro and dusted the sugar from her hands. “You ready?”
Hae had taken a bite of his churro but quickly wiped the crumbs from his lips. “We’re going now?”
“Sure.” The sooner the better, Grace decided. Things were starting to feel too comfortable with Hae, better to get him where he really belonged. “Zo, the offer still there to watch the booth?”
“You got it,” they said, then leaned toward Hae. “Don’t forget your promise. A ride in the flying chariot if you ever come back.”
“A god always keeps his promises.” He grinned.
“Come on.” Grace grabbed Hae’s wrist to drag him along.
As night fell, the whirling lights of the carnival transformed the run-down practice fields into a festive spectacle.
In the dark, the chipped paint and dented metal of the rides were no longer as visible.
Her classmates’ screams became louder, more maniacal, as if the setting sun helped the carnival goers let loose.
Grace had to admit it felt more…exciting after dusk.
She remembered being brought to the winter carnival as a kid, clinging to Halmeoni’s hand.
For years she’d told herself she’d find the courage to ride the pirate ship.
And each year, she’d chickened out. She supposed she had a good excuse to skip that promise this year.
She had more important things to worry about right now.
The school itself held an echoing quiet, the shouts and music from the carnival a muted, faraway background noise. Which was why it was easy for Grace to pick up the telltale electric motor of a golf cart.
Oh no. Grace quickly pivoted and pushed against the doors of the science building, but of course they were locked.
So she pulled out the master keys from her purse.
She was supposed to have given these back this morning but had conveniently “forgotten” to find Vice Principal Ross.
They clinked noisily in her hands. The sound felt too loud as she jostled to find the right key.
“What are you doing?” Hae asked over her shoulder and she shushed him just as she unlocked the door.
The headlights of the golf cart slashed across the path, and she yanked Hae into the darkened building. She pulled on the door, cursing the slow-closing mechanism. It finally clicked shut, and Grace ducked below the windows as the cart sped past.
Grace held her breath until the whir of the golf cart faded. She started to relax when a loud clatter behind her made her jump. Whirling around, she found Hae wrestling with the fire extinguisher that should have been mounted on the wall.
“What were you doing?” Grace hiss-whispered, taking the extinguisher from him to return to its holder, but it wouldn’t click into place.
“I barely touched it. It must have been broken already.”
Her arms aching, she was starting to lose her grip. So, Grace set it gently on the floor just as she heard the motor of the golf cart outside again.
Mrs. Krol must have circled back.
“Come on.” Grace raced down the hall and up the stairwell.
When they got to the second floor, she heard the click of the front door opening below.
Crap, crap, crap.
Grace tried the first classroom. Locked. She raced to the second and the third, both also locked. With each unyielding door, her heart sped up another notch.
Finally, the sixth opened, and she scrambled inside.
“Get over here,” she whisper-shouted to Hae, who was across the hall trying another classroom.
Hae rushed to her and she pulled him into the room with only seconds to spare.
Hae started to lean forward to peek outside but Grace heard the sound of approaching steps and did the only thing she could think to do.
She covered his mouth with her hand and used her own body to press him into place just as Mrs. Krol’s flashlight beamed through the door’s narrow window.
Grace captured Hae’s surprised eyes with hers, mouthing for him to stay quiet. He gave a small nod in acknowledgment as the flashlight swept across the room.
Shifting diamonds appeared on the desks, created by the crisscross of security wire in the window glass.
But the light couldn’t reach the corner where Grace valiantly held Hae.
His hands rested lightly at her waist. His fingers gripped at the hem of her shirt as if he were holding her in place instead of the other way around.
Don’t focus on that, Grace told herself, slowly releasing his mouth.
He stayed in place, but his gaze stayed glued to her face, making her itch with discomfort.
She looked away from him, trying to see into the hallway to gauge if Mrs. Krol had moved on or was still lingering outside.
She couldn’t see anything from this angle.
And when she leaned over to get a better view out the small window, her cheek pressed into Hae’s chest.
“What’re you doing?” Hae asked. The hum of his question reverberated against her ear. She was practically burrowed into him, could even hear his heart thudding an odd, uneven cadence.
Grace leaned back to look up at him.
Their eyes met in the darkness, his catching the reflection of the lights outside, flashing gold as they moved across Grace’s face.
She couldn’t tell if he was upset, or what.
But she knew that she could still feel the ghost of his warmth.
“I think she’s gone.” Grace stepped back. Her chest had gone tight again. Not a panic attack, but something unsettling that she couldn’t quite shake.
“So, can we go?” he asked, reaching toward her.
She almost moved back, until she realized he was going for the door, not her. Embarrassment spread over her cheeks, thankfully hidden by the dark.
“What?”
“To the roof. Can we keep going?”
She nodded, avoiding his eyes. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
Grace pushed out ahead of him, speed-walking down the hall so Hae couldn’t see her beet-red face.
They made it to the library without any more run-ins with Mrs. Krol, and Grace used the admin key to unlock it. She silently apologized for using the keys for unsanctioned activities.
She’d never been to the library after hours, but it was spookier than the classrooms. The tall bookcases cast extra-long shadows that could be hiding anything.
Or anyone. But Grace told herself that they were the only uninvited guests in here.
She easily found the keys to the roof, thanks to Mrs. Jepson’s librarian organization.
She shoved them in her pocket as she gestured silently for Hae to follow her to the back stairs.
In the stairwell, the sound of their steps echoed against the concrete-block walls, making Grace’s insides twist with anxiety. The door at the top had a huge No Entry sign. And the push bar was the kind that would set off an alarm if opened.
Grace used Mrs. Jepson’s key to turn off the alarm. But her heart still dipped at the idea of ignoring the sign. It was a rule. And Grace hated breaking rules. She must have hesitated too long, because Hae pushed the door open himself. His body brushed against hers as he slid past.
Grace took a second before following him out. The night air hit her face. It was thick with the threat of a coming storm, and Grace found herself wondering when the constant rain would end.
Hae turned in a slow circle before facing her again. “Where to next?”
Grace looked around. She’d never actually been up here.
There was what looked like a storage shed with a lock in front of them.
Beside it was a pile of broken and discarded chairs similar to the wooden ones in the library below.
The rooftop she’d drawn in the webtoon wasn’t an exact replica of this one, but it was based on this one, so it had the same general shape of the building.
She tried to remember where she’d put the portal. It never actually showed up in the webtoon, but the characters talked about where it was. Then she remembered. “Oh crap.”
“What is it?”
“I was trying to be dramatic,” Grace began, but trailed off when Hae shot her a wary look.
She was really hating her past self right now.
“So, instead of putting the portal on the roof, I kind of put it…a step off of the roof.” In thin air. Over a three-story drop.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I’m sorry,” Grace said.
He let out an exasperated huff. “What ledge is it?”
Grace pointed to the southwest corner of the building.
The lip of the roof had a waist-high wall for safety. Hae jumped nimbly on top of it, balancing easily as he reached out, swiping at the air.
Nothing happened.
“Can you feel anything?” Grace moved closer but kept well away from the edge. She didn’t really like heights.
Hae leaned farther out. The wind whipped at his blazer.
“Is it there?” Grace looked out at the dark night beyond the roof. She couldn’t see anything as Hae’s hand waved through the air.
“I’m not sure,” he said.
And then she thought she saw a quick refraction of light. Had the air wavered, or was that just a trick of the eye?
“Wait.” Hae reached farther, his hand straining. “I think I feel it.”
He was leaning so far that his feet almost left the ledge.
A crash of lightning slashed across the dark sky.
And he jerked forward in surprise. Grace scrambled to grab his arm before he plummeted three stories down.
Thunder echoed as she pulled him back. He fell from the ledge, crashing into Grace.
Her arms encircled his waist and they barely managed to keep upright as they stumbled backward.
“It’s not there,” he said.
“Huh?” Grace was still holding on to Hae, practically hugging him from behind, cheek pressed into his shoulder. With an awkward cough, she released him, stepping away. “Um, it’s not?”
Hae shook his head in disappointment.
“I thought you said you felt something.” Grace turned toward the southwest ledge of the roof as if she would catch sight of a burst of light.
“Whatever I felt, it’s gone. Or maybe it was nothing.”
“How can you tell?”
“I’d feel it. I have a connection to the realm of the gods. Its energy calls to mine. It’s kind of what I feel when I…” He trailed off, watching her oddly.
“When you what?” she asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
“When I find you.”
Her cheeks flushed. She wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like he was saying anything new. But now his words made her nervous.
“Maybe we should try the other corners of the roof?” she suggested, her voice strained as she refocused on their mission. And not on the way her pulse was an uneven staccato. “I could’ve been wrong.”
But Hae was already starting back inside. “It’s not here. We failed.”