The Messenger

42

Tyler and Amanda made their way down the steep slope below the deck and reached the gate without any sign of the dog, which they referred to as Wraith. Shade made his way alongside them, although at times Amanda could not see him in the darkness.

Tyler unlocked the gate and they stepped through it onto more level ground. Amanda could now see her house. Every light seemed to be on, including the outdoor floodlights. “I guess Rebecca is all for global warming,” she said.

“Perhaps she feels afraid, being there alone.” He glanced at his watch. “Alex will be sending someone to patrol in a few minutes.”

Between the lights from the house and the light of the moon, Amanda’s eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness. She only used the flashlight because she didn’t want to trip over a root or step in a hole. Which, she reflected, would be just like her.

The day had been warm, and the trees and shrubs that grew throughout this little patch of woods gave the air a sweet scent. As she looked out at the sea of lights that was Los Angeles, she sensed something odd. It took her a moment to realize what it was. “I wonder why the crickets are so quiet.”

Tyler, who was a few feet away, stood still, as did she, listening.

“It’s as if there aren’t any,” he said, frowning.

When they started walking again, Shade began to circle them, as if trying to get them to move closer together. Once they were next to each other, they stood still.

“What is he doing?” Amanda said.

“Herding us.” He looked down at the dog and said, “All right, Shade, we’re together. We’re staying right here.”

Shade sat and stared up at him.

“What is it?” Tyler asked.

The dog looked from Tyler to Amanda and back again.

“Now?” Tyler asked. “Out here?”

Shade barked, making Amanda jump.

“You’re scaring her,” Tyler said.

“I think I’m over being scared of him,” she said. “He just startled me.”

Shade continued to stare at Tyler.

“What’s going on?” Amanda asked.

“I believe he’s requesting-or insisting-that I have a conversation with you.”

Shade wagged his tail.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “We’ve been talking to each other all evening.”

“Yes, well…he wants me to have a particular conversation.” He turned to the dog. “Not now. Your timing couldn’t be worse.”

Shade didn’t budge. When Tyler tried to take a step forward, the dog blocked his way.

Amanda found she hadn’t completely overcome her fear of Shade after all.

“Is the arrangement,” Tyler asked Shade in a low voice, “that you command me? Or even that I, in reality, command you?”

Shade looked away for a moment, glanced back at Tyler, then moved out of their way.

“Thank you,” Tyler said. “Now, if you don’t mind helping us find Wraith…”

But Shade kept moving, and trotted back toward the house.

“Shade!”

The dog ignored him. He soon disappeared in the darkness.

Amanda stared after him, then looked up at Tyler. She could just make out his features and thought he looked bereft. She moved closer to him and took his hand. “Maybe we should go after him. The ghosts…”

“No, he’ll come back to me if I’m in real need, or when he’s decided he wants my company again. If he doesn’t care to be with me right now, we’ll spend the whole night running through the canyon trying to catch up with him.”

“Has this happened before?”

“Yes, but not very often. I suppose he needs a break from me now and then.”

They were distracted from their conversation as, below them, the lights outside Amanda’s house were turned off. Next the indoor lights went off, downstairs first, then upstairs, until only one remained on. Oblivious to their presence, Rebecca was calling it a night.

“Do you want to wait for Shade to come back?” Amanda asked.

“This would undoubtedly be easier if he helped, but since he’s on strike or pouting or whatever, let’s do what we can on our own. Are the ghosts here?”

She looked around. “Not at the moment.”

“Well, we’ll do what we can. Let me know if you see them.”

“Do you mind if we search up here first, away from my house? I want to give Rebecca a chance to fall asleep-I’d rather not have to explain to her what we’re doing out here.”

He agreed to this. He kept hold of her hand as they walked. Not perhaps the most efficient way to search, she thought, but she was glad to have him at her side. She could not shake a feeling of foreboding.

That feeling, she realized, probably had to do with this “conversation” Tyler had mentioned. She didn’t want to bring it up-if he was willing to be at odds with Shade over it, he clearly didn’t want to talk about it now. Not a good time to push.

They found fresh tracks-prints made by a large dog-leading toward Tyler’s house, then realized they’d probably been made by Shade.

They were again distracted, this time by the Danton’s Security car going down the driveway at Amanda’s house. They heard rather than saw the guard get out of the car, and the lights in and outside the house started going on again. Rebecca must have stepped outside to talk to the guard, because although they couldn’t make out what was being said, they could hear male and female voices.

When traffic let up, Evan and Daniel drove the truck closer to the house but parked at the side of the road when they saw a security patrol car leaving the driveway. They got out of the truck and made their way on foot, even though both of them feared being so vulnerable to the dog. Lights were on all around the house-not good for their purposes.

But almost as if they had wished for it, the lights started going out again.

“Let’s not sit around out here waiting to get caught by that dog,” Evan said.

Several of the windows upstairs were open, and Daniel could have entered by any of them, but sooner or later they would need to use a door, so he went to the alarm box. Setting up a bypass on the alarm system, which would make everything appear to be in fine order to the security company, took only a few minutes, and the lock on the kitchen door even less time. This was their old profession, and Daniel felt some comfort in returning to it.

The woman was upstairs. Evan signaled that he would get her, for Daniel to keep a lookout. Daniel started to protest, then decided even Evan wouldn’t be such a fool as to do damage to a woman Adrian wanted for himself. Let him be the one to haul her down here.

Tyler told himself that he had made the right choice in not talking to Amanda just yet. If Wraith was meant to be hers, then nothing he said or didn’t say would make a difference. He had been told, though, that he had a choice, and he would never choose to make her into what he was.

Still, he began to wonder what would happen if she called to the dog.

They stood on the slope, watching as the lights at Amanda’s place started to go out again.

“The ghosts haven’t shown up yet, have they?”

She looked around and tensed. “Oh, no,” she said, “Tyler, they’re nearby! Maybe you should call to Shade-something strange is going on…”

“What?”

“My mom and dad are here. My aunt and uncle aren’t. They’ve never split up before. My dad is pointing toward the house. They seem to want us to go down there. Wait-they’re gone again.”

In the next moment, they heard a sound-not quite a scream-coming from Amanda’s house.