Name: Clare
Story: Moonsisters
Colors: Antique Brass 1, Okay, could you sound a little more creepy?; The Hills of Iowa 2, Oh, my enemy, beautiful enemy.
Supplies and Materials: Pastels (origfic_bingo, silence)
Word Count: 6,004
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Maureen is SCARY and SCARES PEOPLE. Implied child abuse and possibly murder.
Notes: This is a lot scarier than it was when I first started writing about these characters. When I was, uh, twelve. Also, ...Squirrel takes place during this story.

“Oh my god, your hair is just so silky, isn’t it? How do you do it?”

There were hands in Ivy’s hair. She sat up straight and still. It was a pleasant tone of voice; whoever it was seemed to be just trying to be friendly. But still, they were touching her hair. She twitched her head so it came out of the person’s hands and moved slowly so that she could see who it was. She stayed silent.

It was Maureen, the most beautiful, blonde, popular girl in the school, now standing with her hands on her hips and a teasing smile on her face. “Ivy, right? I mean, your hair is just perfect. What kind of conditioner do you use?”

Ivy could not have explained why. Perhaps it was because Maureen had the silky, straight blonde hair that any girl in the school probably would have killed for, and it was absurd to think that she was actually jealous of Ivy’s Asian hair, or genuinely asking for hair tips. Perhaps it was because there was something a little too false in Maureen’s smile, something glittering in the backs of her eyes that wasn’t friendship. Perhaps it was that the pendant that rested on her collarbone had warmed just a touch, almost beyond perception. But Ivy could perceive it.

Around her, the other Moonsisters stared in similar silence. Laura was very slowly chewing her sandwich, staring at Maureen. Charlotte was clutching a plastic knife. Angel was leaning back, her shoulders almost to the wall, her big brown eyes shiny like she was about to cry.

Ivy was going to have to be the one to say something. “Pantene.”

Maureen snapped her fingers, swinging her hand across her body. “I knew it. Mind if I sit?” She did without waiting for an answer, swinging her leg over the bench to straddle it, thrusting herself into Ivy’s personal space. But Ivy refused to let her know it. Angel was the one who seemed to react, twitching away from Maureen so her shoulders really did bump the wall.

Maureen’s blue eyes flicked over to Angel in the same moment that she twitched. Her smile became more genuine, and she reached over to pluck a French fry from Angel’s lunch tray. Ivy knew in that moment, suddenly but irrevocably, that she hated this girl. Not in the way that she had always hated every popular girl who made fun of her pimples and her brain; not in the way that she hated anyone who tried to pick on her friends. This was something bigger, something beyond.

And Angel… she must have dreamed about her. That was the only explanation for that reaction. But why hadn’t she said anything?

“What do you want, Maureen?” Charlotte finally said, her voice flat and dangerous.

Maureen laughed, a false laugh, and put her hand over her mouth as though to stifle it. “Oh! I’m flattered! You know my name and I don’t even know yours.”

That was a lie. Even if she hadn’t already called Ivy by name, it was a lie. It was a small school, but just like everyone knew Maureen and her cronies, like Chrissy and Elena, everyone knew the four Moonsisters, even if they didn’t know they called themselves that. The four of them dressed oddly and hid in corners and only talked to each other, and sometimes teachers. That was because most people were horrible. But it didn’t explain why Maureen wanted to talk to them.

Charlotte should have known. She might not be able to say it in front of Maureen, but she must know. Ivy glanced at Charlotte and saw the way her thick brows were drawn together, the whiteness of her knuckles on the knife. Somehow she suspected that Charlotte did not know what was in Maureen’s head, even though all four of them were together, even though it should have been easy to scan this shallow pretty girl’s mind.

“Charlotte,” said Charlotte. The other two did not offer to introduce themselves.

“I don’t want anything,” said Maureen. Lying again. Had she said anything true since she’d come over to them? “I just saw Ivy’s hair and thought I would come and chat. You know, my friends can get a little boring sometimes. They always focus on the same old thing. You girls seem like you… could think about bigger things.”

That felt true, Ivy realized with a jolt. She looked at Charlotte again. She had loosened her grip on the knife. Maybe it was true. Maybe Charlotte was seeing into her mind again.

Laura was frowning. She had her hand over the collar of her shirt, hiding her necklace. Not that anyone could see it—it was tucked into her top just like Ivy’s was. Charlotte and Angel seemed comfortable wearing theirs openly, but not her.

“I think we’ve got enough on our plates with school and all,” Ivy said. “Thanks.”

“No problem!” Maureen giggled and stood up. “But if you’re ever looking to make a bigger impact on the world, come talk to me.”

Ivy watched her until she was gone, far enough away that she couldn’t hear them talking. Then she leaned in close. “What the hell was that?” she hissed.

“I don’t know,” said Charlotte faintly.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Angel said, sitting up straight and suddenly.

“I mean I don’t know,” said Charlotte, a little more forcefully. “I mean I have no idea and I don’t know why and I don’t understand it. I mean I think we should keep away from Maureen.”

The other three all nodded in unison. “I don’t know why, though,” said Laura. “But she seems dangerous.”

“Dangerous is the word,” said Ivy. “And she thinks we want to be dangerous, too.”

“You really couldn’t hear anything from her?” Laura asked Charlotte.

“I had an impression that she was telling the truth for the first time when she started talking about her friends being boring.” Charlotte shook her head. “Other than that, no. She’s a complete blank. And I don’t think that would bother me if she didn’t sound so threatening.”

“She wasn’t threatening us,” said Ivy. “I don’t know why, but I feel certain of that. But maybe she thinks we want to threaten other people. Could she know about us?”

“I don’t think so,” said Charlotte. “We’ve been pretty circumspect.”

“Not the first day of school,” said Angel. “Remember? When I saw that Laura and Ivy were coming and we all found each other and talked about our necklaces. If she was paying attention then, she could have figured some things out. But then why wait so long to talk to us?”

“She wasn’t even there then,” said Laura. “She just started this year. Maybe she just thinks we’re the school-shooter types because we’re unpopular. Or maybe she’s the one who’s a school-shooter type and she wants to get us on her side for some reason.”

Ivy couldn’t help smiling. She and Charlotte probably did look like school-shooter types in their black clothes and silver chains. But even if they’d wanted to hurt everyone else in the school, their powers wouldn’t let them—Ivy would be healing everyone as soon as they were injured and Charlotte would hear all the fearful thoughts. It just wouldn’t work.

“Maybe we should find out more about her,” she said. “Angel, you’re in gym class with Chrissy, right? Listen in to what she says about Maureen. Talk to her if you can.”

“Okay,” said Angel. “What do you think we’re going to find out?”

“What she wants, I guess.” Ivy shrugged. “What she means about making an impact on the world. If she’s serious about it, she would have to tell her friends, wouldn’t she?”

“As long as we’re careful not to get caught up, I’m in on that,” said Charlotte. “I’ll listen to her. Maybe she’s just very controlled, but I should be able to catch something in class or something.”

“Great,” said Ivy. “I’ll ask John if he knows anything. She probably hangs out with the older popular kids.”

“What can I do?” asked Laura.

“Be cute?” suggested Charlotte with a grin. Laura sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Whatever you can think of,” said Ivy. “Maybe… try to get into school records? See what they have on her? I don’t know where she came from before this year.”

“Um, right,” said Laura. Ivy could tell she wasn’t satisfied—and it wasn’t as though she would have much of a chance to get close to any school records—but she couldn’t think of anything else for Laura to do. She didn’t have any way to get close to Maureen without being detected.

—

Over the next few days, they found out a few interesting things about Maureen. Angel discovered that she was a foster kid, and that her father was in jail for killing her mother; apparently she didn’t even try to keep that a secret. Ivy learned that although everyone seemed to like Maureen, especially the older guys, there were some pretty unpleasant rumors about her—some accusing her of promiscuity, some connecting her to the disappearance of other foster children in households she’d lived in. Charlotte discovered that she never let anything slip from her mind, not even when startled. And Laura learned that her father worked with Maureen’s foster dad and that their other foster child, barely out of diapers, was afraid of Maureen and wouldn’t say why.

“His other kid is scared of her and he hasn’t sent her to another foster home?” Charlotte asked.

Laura shook her head. “My dad thought it was weird, too. He said it sounded like the foster dad had the hots for Maureen—well, that isn’t what he said, but it’s what he meant.”

“Creepy,” said Angel. Laura nodded.

“Well, if her father really did murder her mother, we can’t be surprised if she is psychologically damaged,” said Ivy. “Maybe that’s her problem. She wants revenge on a world that took both of her parents away from her.”

“But Chrissy really didn’t say anything about whatever it is Maureen wants to do, or thinks she’s doing?” Charlotte asked Angel.

“I didn’t want to ask,” said Angel. “I was just listening to her talk to someone else. But she sounded just as shallow as she ever does.” And then she was distracted by a group of guys walking past, one of whom seemed to shout a greeting at her. Ivy wondered what that was about.

“Maybe they know more about Maureen,” teased Charlotte.

Angel laughed, but perhaps not as much as she should have. “I hope not. They’re not the same kind of guys who usually hang around her and Chrissy and Elena.”

“I hope not,” said Charlotte, suddenly stern. “Even if we weren’t worried about Maureen I wouldn’t want you talking to guys like that.”

“Oh, come on,” said Angel. “I know you’ve been my best friend forever but—“

“Charlotte, don’t tell her—“ Laura began at the same time.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Ivy. “Angel is wise enough to make her own decisions. Angel, you haven’t had any dreams, have you?”

“I might have had one that night before she came up and talked to us,” said Angel. “I’m not sure that’s what it was. There was just a dream of a single burning light. It didn’t really tell me anything. I wish my power were more useful like yours sometimes…”

“We wouldn’t have found each other without your power, so don’t feel bad,” said Laura. “Now, do we want to try a more direct approach? I could go flirt with her.”

That was such an obviously absurd suggestion that they all burst out laughing, and the conversation turned back to what Chrissy had said about Maureen.

--

The next day Laura had some news. “This could be good or bad,” she said. “I guess my dad thought Maureen was a friend of mine because he’s invited her and her whole foster family over for dinner tomorrow night. I’ll have a chance to learn a lot more about them, but…”

“You don’t want her in your house, or looking at you that closely,” said Charlotte. “Can we come over?”

“I asked my dad and he said I could invite one friend. It should probably be you—“

“Of course it has to be Charlotte,” said Ivy. “She can hear what the foster parents are thinking, and maybe the little boy, too. Do children have coherent thoughts, Charlotte?”

“Sometimes,” said Charlotte wryly.

“And you can text us all night,” said Angel. “Ivy, can I come to your house?”

“I was just going to suggest that,” said Ivy. “That way we’ll be close by and can confer if necessary.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Laura in relief. “Okay, I’ll tell my dad.”

—

Ivy wished, not for the first time, that she had Charlotte’s power. This time it wasn’t so she could hear what her parents were really thinking or figure out whether that cute guy had a brain to match his face; this time it was just so she could be the one at Laura’s house, listening to what was strange about Maureen. Instead, she was stuck in her bedroom with Angel, waiting for a text.

“Thanks for the save the other day,” Angel said out of the silence.

“With the boys?” Ivy asked.

Angel nodded. Ivy thought she was blushing a little. “Don’t tell Charlotte, but… the one who called to me?”

“So he was talking to you?”

“Yeah. His name’s Antwon. He’s in some of my classes. We’ve, uh… talked a few times.”

Ivy couldn’t help grinning. Angel was really blushing now, and it was obvious that she liked this boy Antwon. He must have liked her back, to call a greeting to her even as she was sitting with her weird group of friends. “Is he nice?”

“He’s really sweet. He asked me to go to the movies with him on Saturday. I said maybe. I don’t know if I really should.”

Ivy leaned back on her headboard and crossed her arms. “Let’s look at this logically. You like him, right? And he likes you?”

“Yeah.”

“What are the consequences if you go on the date and it turns out badly?”

Angel frowned and shook her head. “That’s not really what I’m afraid of. If it goes badly, then we stop talking to each other. It doesn’t really matter.”

“What are you afraid of?”

She sighed. “I guess I’m afraid of being different from you guys—being separate. None of the rest of you seem to have any interest in guys. I mean, obviously Laura doesn’t, but I’ve never seen her try really hard to date a girl, either. But if I have a boyfriend and the rest of you don’t, then you’re always doing stuff without me, and I’m left out.”

“Hmm.” Ivy thought about that for a moment. It did seem to be a legitimate fear. But she wasn’t sure that was enough of a reason to just refuse to date a guy. “Well, if it makes you feel better, I definitely have interest in guys. But I try to hide it, because I haven’t found any who can keep up with me.”

Angel smiled and poked Ivy in the arm. “We can’t even keep up with you half the time.”

Ivy nodded, smiling a little. “Exactly. And even if I could, my parents won’t let me date, so I’ve decided to just wait until college. And—there you go, that’s another point. Even if the four of us do all go to college, and go to the same one, we can’t be only friends with each other forever. Not if we want to have full lives. We can’t just stop ourselves from doing other things we like because we’re afraid of separating from our friends.”

“It’s not just the friendship,” Angel said. She looked down and fiddled with her phone. “It’s that I think we’re meant to be doing something. I don’t know what, but—“

“It came from one of your dreams?”

“Maybe not even one of them. All of them, ever. I feel like we have a purpose, and dating will distract from that purpose.”

“If we do have a purpose, then how could dating, or anything else, distract from it? If we were put here, and given these necklaces, to do something specific, then we have to do that. We can’t do anything else.” She pinched the malachite stone in her necklace between her fingers. She’d wondered if that might be the case, too. They hadn’t just happened to all find similar necklaces—they had been given to the three of them. There must be some meaning, some purpose. She just wasn’t sure what.

Angel shook her head. “I’m not sure it works that way. I think we might have to keep ourselves focused.”

“But we don’t even know what the mission is,” Ivy pointed out. “We can’t be mad at ourselves—and whoever gave us the mission can’t be mad at us—if we deviate from it when we don’t even know what a deviation is.”

Angel didn’t look convinced, but then her phone gave a little trill, and she brightened. “Oh! Text from Laura!”

Ivy pushed herself over so she could read the text over Angel’s shoulder. OMG my dad thinks I want to date her. And she’s so pretty. It’s not fair.

They both burst out laughing. “Poor Laura,” said Angel. “At least Charlotte is there to protect her.”

Ivy’s phone beeped and she quickly opened it to see a text from Charlotte. This kid is SCARED. I don’t know what’s wrong but he does not want to be around Maureen, not ever.

That took the laughter away quickly. anything from Maureen? Ivy texted back.

No. Still the same.

“Damn.” Ivy let out a slow sigh. “She’s got to be… there’s something wrong with her.”

“Wrong?” Angel echoed, puzzled.

“That would explain why Charlotte can’t hear anything from her.”

“She seems normal,” said Angel. “I mean, she does well in school and everything. And has lots of friends.”

Ivy nodded. “I know she seems normal. She’s good at that, I think. But…” She ground her teeth, frustrated. She wasn’t sure what she was trying to figure out and she definitely didn’t know how to explain it to Angel. “I’m going to have to do some research. But maybe we can figure it out before the end of the night.”

Angel shook her head and went back to watching the phones for more texts. Charlotte texted them a few more times that night; she said that the foster parents seemed bedazzled by Maureen, like they couldn’t tell there was anything bad about her even when she knocked the kid’s drink into his shirt accidentally-on-purpose. The dad is attracted to her, but that isn’t it, she wrote. He still thinks of her as a kid. A kid who can do no wrong.

Laura texted them a few times, too, but that was mostly to complain about what an awful dinner party it was and how Maureen creeped her out. She did say, I think she’s flirting with my dad. Gross. But she insulted his job. I don’t get her.

“If she insulted his job, she insulted her foster father’s too,” said Ivy.

She just insulted the dad. He doesn’t seem to care, Charlotte wrote moments later.

“This is so weird,” muttered Angel. “I wish we could be there.”

Ivy nodded. “I wonder if… hmm.”

“What?”

She texted Charlotte. Doesn’t she seem fake to you? Like she’s just pretending to be normal?

Yes, Charlotte texted back. But I don’t know if it just seems that way to me because I can’t hear her. It’s like she’s a face on the front of a blank wall, and

“And?” cried Angel. Charlotte’s text had sent without being completed.

??? Ivy sent back. And then they waited.

There was no response for more than ten minutes. “Do you think something’s happened?” Angel asked, biting her fingernails. “Did she use her mojo on them to scare them or dazzle them or whatever? Should we go over there?”

Ivy shook her head slowly. “It will look suspicious if we just show up. I don’t think she could do anything to Charlotte anyway. They must have just been interrupted or something. It will be okay.”

They waited some more. Ivy got up and paced, then sat down at her computer—a hand-me-down from her brother—and started to Google “people who only seem normal.” Then her phone rang and she leapt up again to put it on speaker.

“Sorry,” said Laura, sounding breathless. “My dad caught us texting and made us put our phones in another room. They all just left—my dad is taking Charlotte home and Maureen and her family are going home.”

Ivy breathed a sigh of relief. “Did Charlotte tell you what she was going to say before the text cut off?”

“No,” said Laura. “We didn’t get a chance. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow at school. I’ve got to go, Dad will only be away for a few minutes and I want to be on my best behavior for the rest of the day so he’ll let me go out this weekend.”

“Okay,” said Ivy. Laura hung up. Ivy frowned and turned to Angel. “Do you think she got to Laura’s dad and that’s why he made them stop texting?”

“Maybe,” Angel said, frowning. “Or maybe it just took him a while to notice. You know how he is.”

Ivy nodded and wondered if he would tell Charlotte’s parents she’d been texting during dinner. Now she was relieved not to be the one with the mind-reading powers—her parents would have grounded her for a week if she’d been that rude to someone’s guest. And right now she definitely felt as though she couldn’t afford to be grounded for a week.

—

Ivy would have tried to get the early bus to school, but John didn’t want to take it, and her parents wouldn’t believe that she wanted to go into school early if he didn’t. So she grumped at him and took the usual bus. When she arrived, Laura was also at the bus stop, wearing just as grumpy a face. “My dad didn’t believe me that I wanted to go to a study group before school today,” was her greeting to Ivy.

Ivy grimaced in response. “I should have thought of that. Maybe my parents would have let me go. But I guess it doesn’t matter—we would have had to wait for you anyway.” Hopefully Angel and Charlotte wouldn’t be sitting around at the school waiting for them. She really wanted to find out what Charlotte had been about to say when her text cut off.

John regarded the two of them in exasperation. “What could be so important that you would actually get up early and go in early to school?”

“You did,” Ivy reminded him. “For National Honors Society.”

“Which you’re not in, so I can’t imagine.”

Ivy and Laura looked at each other. They couldn’t read minds like Charlotte could, but among the four of them they still had pretty good abilities to read each other’s expressions. They were both wondering how much to tell John, if anything. He knew about them, at least to a very minimal extent; he had been the first person Ivy had told when she realized what she could do while she wore her necklace, and the only one until the other Moonsisters. He’d protected her secret and he knew that her friends with the matching necklaces had similar secrets, but that didn’t mean it was a good idea, or even safe, for him to know everything.

“It’s something we have to talk to Charlotte and Angel about,” Ivy said at last. “Just social stuff. You never have to worry about this stuff because you’re already popular.”

John rolled his eyes and started to speak, but the bus arrived and the noise drowned out his words. Ivy and Laura hurried on and found seats together. However, John made his way through the crowd and held onto the bar next to them to lean down and speak to them. “Is this about that Maureen girl you were asking me about?”

Ivy sighed. “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Be careful with her. She’s bad news.”

Ivy frowned. “We know that. All you told me is that she’s promiscuous and doesn’t like children.”

That made him smirk, but he continued seriously, “Well, I’ve heard a little more. She says that her father is in jail for killing her mother—“

“We knew that,” said Laura.

He nodded. “And for killing another woman in Las Vegas. I also heard a rumor that she’s the one that turned him in.”

“I would,” said Ivy, though the news surprised her. “Wouldn’t you? If one of our parents went crazy and killed the other?”

“I also heard she got in trouble for killing a guy’s dog back in some other state,” he said. “That she says that’s what she does to people who get in her way.”

Ivy felt Laura stiffen beside her, and it made her a little queasy, but she was still skeptical. “Who’s spreading that rumor? Someone whose heart she broke?”

“No,” said John. “Someone… well, I shouldn’t give out people’s information like that. But it sounds like she’s spreading the rumor herself. She wants people to be scared of her.”

“She doesn’t have to try that hard,” said Laura.

“Be careful,” John repeated. And he escorted the two of them out of the bus and through the schoolyard until they got to the auditorium, where Angel and Charlotte were waiting.

“I thought you guys might be early,” said Angel. “We really wanted to know what Charlotte was going to say in the text.”

“You did?” said Charlotte. “I would have told you.”

Angel nodded. “I wanted to wait until everyone was here. So, quick, tell us before we have to get to class.”

“Oh,” said Charlotte. “It was just… I said she was like a blank wall with a mask on, right? Well, it’s like there’s something scary behind the wall. I don’t know if it’s trapped, or just…” She shrugged and shook her head. “It doesn’t even really make sense. I’m probably just imagining it because she’s the only person whose thoughts I haven’t been able to read. It makes her seem threatening to me. But it’s probably just weird to me because I’m used to knowing a little bit more about everyone than other people do.”

“But you keep your mind shielded most of the time, right?” Ivy asked. “I know it’s difficult to do with the three of us, but you’ve said you’re able to block out most people’s thoughts.”

Charlotte nodded. “Yeah, I do that almost all the time. It just really sucks being able to hear everyone’s thoughts all the time. Most people are stupid.”

“Then I don’t think it’s just because you’re used to hearing people’s thoughts,” Ivy said. “You’re also used to not hearing them plenty of times. I think you should go with your instincts. My brother John told us a pretty scary rumor about her.” She repeated what John had said.

Angel shivered and hugged herself. “That can’t be true, can it? Who would kill someone’s dog?”

“An awful person,” said Laura. “Someone who doesn’t care who she hurts.”

“Can you tell us any more about what you heard from the little boy, Charlotte?” Ivy asked.

Charlotte frowned. “He’s too young to really have coherent thoughts—he doesn’t form them into words. I can get images sometimes, but words are a lot more reliable. He definitely didn’t want to have anything to do with Maureen, though. He wished she would go away like his other foster sister.”

Ivy felt dread in her stomach at those words, but she wasn’t sure why. Foster kids came and went all the time—or at least, that was her understanding. The little boy just wanted Maureen to be placed with another house. And she certainly couldn’t blame him.

The bell rang for class and they all jumped up, startled. “I’ll see you at lunch,” Ivy said, then hurried off to her first class.

—

They had no more run-ins with Maureen that day, though whenever Ivy saw her in the building she was uncomfortably aware of the blonde girl’s presence. They passed each other in the hallway once, though Maureen didn’t appear to notice, and of course they ate lunch at the same time. The Moonsisters took their usual corner and kept themselves protected, but no one bothered them that day. They escaped to the weekend free and clear.

The next day they all went to Angel’s house to hang out in her basement. They hadn’t made any specific plans; they just usually did that, since Angel’s mom was willing to let them hang out unbothered and even brought them snacks as long as it was only girls that Angel had over. But as soon as Charlotte walked in, Ivy could tell by the expression on her face that something had gone even more wrong. “What is it?” she asked before they even sat down.

“This.” Charlotte reached into the messenger bag that she carried and pulled out a newspaper.

Ivy took it from her and began to read the article that it was open to. Her eyes widened as dread pooled in her stomach. “This is very bad,” she said softly.

“What is it?” Laura asked urgently. “Read it out loud!”

Ivy decided not to read it out loud—she wanted to spare Angel and Laura having to read it, which was probably why Charlotte had decided to hand it to her. “The little boy… Maureen’s foster brother. This is him, right?” She looked up to get Charlotte’s confirming nod. “He’s missing. The police think—well, they’re not saying, but I’m pretty sure they think it was a child molester. But I don’t think that can be right.”

“What happened to him?” Angel asked softly, her fingers over her mouth.

Ivy shook her head, folded the newspaper, and handed it back to Charlotte, who stuffed it in her bag. “Nothing good.”

“He’s just… disappeared? But if Maureen did something to him, wouldn’t she have to keep him somewhere?” Laura asked.

“I don’t know,” said Ivy. “I can’t say I understand it. But there’s no way this can be a coincidence.”

“I agree,” said Charlotte. “I think we need to keep an eye on Maureen.”

“Do you think we could look for him?” Angel said. “Maybe he’s still all right. Maybe she’s just frightened him.”

“That’s possible,” said Ivy, though she didn’t think it was likely. “I suppose if anyone could find him, it would be us. We could go out to where Maureen lives and look for him. Do you know where she lives?”

Before anyone could respond, Angel’s mother could be heard, pushing open the basement door and calling down to them. “Girls, I made you same bagel pizzas. Do you want sodas or chocolate milk?”

“I think we’re a little old for chocolate milk, Mom,” Angel said, grinning as she hopped up to take the tray of bagel pizzas from her mom. “Thanks. Hey, Charlie,” she added to her little brother, who was tagging along behind her mom. She turned away, but Ivy saw a shadow pass over her face.

“Then the chocolate milk is all for me!” cried Charlie triumphantly.

Angel’s mom laughed and rubbed his head. “All right, I guess so. I’ll be right back with the soda. Are any of you sleeping over? I’ll make green bean casserole for dinner tonight if you are.”

Ivy smiled. “I think we all are.”

—

They didn’t find anything that night—nothing except for a dead squirrel, which frightened all of them, even though Ivy found it somewhat fascinating. But that probably didn’t have anything to do with their quest. They looked through the woods behind Maureen’s house all night, but saw nothing, and Charlotte heard nothing. Ivy hadn’t realized how she had hoped to find the boy and heal his hurts until they’d given up and were walking back. It felt like a shard of ice in her heart.

They did actually sleep over at Angel’s house that night, though they went to bed much later than Angel’s mom thought. Angel woke them all up in the morning by sitting straight up in bed, flinging her arms out to the side, and breathing in low, shallows gasps. Ivy started to jump to her feet, got tangled in her sleeping bag, and fell over, hitting her shoulder on the bed frame. What was wrong with Angel? Was she having a seizure?

Before Ivy managed to get herself untangled, Charlotte was there, clasping one of Angel’s hands in her own. As soon as they touched, Angel relaxed again, though she continued to shiver and look around.

Ivy finally made it to Angel’s side, taking her other hand. “What happened? Are you all right?” She tried to find something wrong in Angel’s body, something that would have caused that, but nothing showed itself to her magical senses. Not that she expected it to—she hadn’t yet been able to find anything wrong that wasn’t also physically obvious.

“I’m fine,” said Angel, yawning and then wrinkling her nose. “You can let go of my hands. I just had one of the dreams.”

Ivy let go of Angel’s hand and leaned back in surprise. She’d never seen Angel wake up from one of her prophetic dreams before. Obviously, though, Charlotte had, and knew how to help her.

Laura joined them on the bed. “What is it? Can you tell us about it?”

Angel nodded. “There was a little boy. I think it must have been Maureen’s foster brother, but I don’t know for sure. He came up to me and thanked me. But there are never clear words in the dreams—I just know he appreciated something I’d done. I guess it was looking for him. But he seemed so sad. That’s what scared me, I think. He was so sad and scared.”

Ivy shivered. That certainly sounded unpleasant. “Does that mean we’re going to find him?”

“Maybe,” said Angel. “But the dreams are usually more symbolic. It might mean something else, not literally finding him.”

“I doubt we’re going to find him,” said Charlotte. “But I think this dream means we’re on the right track. We need to keep paying attention to Maureen. Maybe next time we can stop her before someone disappears.”

—

On Monday at lunch, Maureen came up to them again. This time she didn’t try to sit on the bench next to them, just leaned on the end of their table and smiled at them all with teeth like a shark’s. “It was nice of you to have dinner with me on Thursday,” she said. “We should do it again sometime.”

“No, thank you,” said Ivy.

“But we’ll have such a good time!” Her smile faded and she looked at each of them one by one. There was nothing in her eyes. Ivy fought the urge to shiver. “I think I could have a better time with the four of you than with anyone else.”

Ivy was not sure whether that was a threat or genuine. “Like you did with your little foster brother?” she asked softly.

Maureen’s face lit up. “Oh, no,” she breathed. “No, we’ll have much more fun than that.” She continued to look around at them. But when none of them said anything, she just pushed herself away from the table and walked off without a single glance back.