"So, did you kiss Shantel yet?" asked Luke.
"I can't kiss her at Delilah's," said Troy.
"Why not?" asked Luke.
"She's kind 'a nerved up there."
"Go to her house."
"I don't like going there," said Troy, taking a sip of orange juice.
"You don't want to deal with Ryan there?"
"Not really."
Ryan stared at Mr. Ross anxiously.
---
A white SUV drove into the parking lot.
"My dad's here," said Luke. "Are you ready?"
Ryan ducked down and Mr. Ross played a game on his smartphone. Luke and Troy glanced around the restaurant and left.
"Don't worry, Rye," he said. "They don't know me. They didn't see you."
"Shantel didn't say she went to Delilah's," said Ryan. "What's up with her and Troy?"
"Girls like to have a buddy and a boyfriend," he said. "What do you care?"
"I shouldn't," said Ryan. "But I thought I was the boyfriend."
"You are. Did you see Troy and his dad there stuffing their faces at a free, Thanksgiving meal?"
"No."
"Let it be. You survived a death drop and you're not even at Wee Wee World."
---
Ryan removed the sling in the bathroom at home carefully. He took a shower slowly, washing white dust out of his hair. Then he dried off.
The strange man with crazy eyes appeared behind him in the mirror and he ran in his room.
He typed "Delilah's" in the search engine on his tablet.
A picture of a mahogany counter with a wide stage in the background and tables in front of it popped up in the window. "Delilah's Coffeehouse, Where Songwriters Thrive in Chicago" titled the page on top.
Ryan read:
Open Mic Night Invites You
Saturdays from 6 to 9 pm
Registration Required
All Ages Welcome
Under Eighteen
With A Parent Or Guardian
Ryan clicked on the menu and the coffeehouse served appetizers mostly. The coffees cost a pretty penny, but the bar drinks cost much more.
Then he logged on to www.eljorian.org and clicked on "Lucifedors":
Lucifedors carry a printed photograph of their victim which they acquire from a relative of friend. When something sets them off they stare at the photograph repeatedly until they send a proprietary to the victim.
A lucifedor can send a proprietary to someone he or she knows at any age. But the proprietary doesn't attach to this victim until the soul is fully developed which is usually at age thirteen.
Ryan clicked on "Angelkin Rituals":
At the first sign of odd behavior or occurrences, the victim must write down as much about the experience as possible and conclude if a proprietary or proprietaries caused it.
The victim must seek a counselor to identify the proprietary or proprietaries. The counselor decides how to banish it or them with help from an angelkin.
If the victim is an angelkin and already has the talent required, he or she can banish his or her proprietary or proprietaries without the ritual.
If the angelkin needs help from another angelkin, that angelkin must banish the proprietary before the ritual. Then the angelkin can write what the proprietary is called on a white piece of paper.
If there's more than one proprietary, the angelkin must wait thirty days to get help with the second one and so on.
The angelkin can prevent the lucifedor from sending the proprietary again by performing the ritual from the phylum that banished it.
If you're not an angelkin, the rituals will not be successful. Please attend the retreat instead. More information is provided on the website.
The Ergbear Ritual:
Cut the piece of paper around the name of the proprietary, forming a circle. Blow on it for three seconds. Place it on the bottom of a small, paper cup and put it in the freezer. Throw the cup out after three hours.
The Burwolf Ritual:
Cut the piece of paper around the name of the proprietary, forming a rectangle. Bury it under the soil of a potted plant. Leave it for three hours and throw the plant out.
The Okehawk Ritual:
Cut the piece of paper around the name of the proprietary, forming a triangle. Light a small, white candle and place the paper on the flame, letting it burn. Blow the candle out and leave the burnt paper on it for three hours. Then throw the candle and paper out.
The Tergator Ritual:
Cut the piece of paper around the name of the proprietary forming an oval. Put it at the bottom of a small, paper cup and fill it with water. Wait three seconds and put it in the fridge. Throw it out with the water in it after three hours.
The Acebee Ritual:
Cut the piece of paper around the word "banelor", forming a star with five points. Fold it in half and tape it closed. Tape it to the wall at the place of slumber for three hours and throw it out.
---
Ryan rested on his bed, hearing the wall clock ticking.
He tossed the sling in the closet.
---
He walked into Homeroom and sat down. Shantel wrote in a notebook busily. He put a note on her desk and she read it:
Shantel,
I need your help with
something important.
Will you be home
today?
Ryan
"Yes," she said.
---
In the school cafeteria, Ryan watched Troy talking to Shantel at her table. He gave her a chocolate brownie off of his lunch tray.
"Uh, did you see that?" said Pablo. "He's giving her chocolate like it's Valentine's Day."
"I'm going to her house later," said Ryan.
"Are you dodging the hemjow?" asked Jamal.
"Ryan dodges a lot of things," said Sloan.
"What now?" asked Jamal.
"He got dropped in an elevator," said Sloan.
"I don't want to talk about it," said Ryan.
"Kiss the girl and get it over with," said Pablo. "You could die tomorrow."
---
Sigourney open the front door.
"Shantel's upstairs," she said with a smile and went in the sun room.
Shantel sat on her bed with the bedroom door open and Ryan sat down beside her.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"The mimlock dropped me in an elevator crash."
"Are you okay?"
"My shoulder still hurts."
"Are you ready to join?"
"Not yet, but I went to a party at Galapos Casino with my dad and a man named Devon Levine was there. He used to manage Dar Tenian. I think he wants to revenge them by hurting me."
"So, Alex really knows you. Maybe he's your dad."
"Why wouldn't he tell me? He lives less than an hour away."
"He's hiding you for some reason."
"I looked through my dad's address book and someone named Alex Peter Young lives on Grove Road in Chicago."
"I wrote that name down just in case," said Shantel. "Hold on."
She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to Ryan. He read:
Melody Bistro
155 North Street
Aurora, Illinois
Proprietor -
A. Peter Young
"My sister's boyfriend took me there," said Ryan. "It was nice. People sing there."
"It's just Karaoke," said Shantel.
"Have you been there?"
"Yeah. Me and Skyler went there a lot, but no one gets discovered there."
"Where do they get discovered?"
"In Chicago mostly. They have 'Open Mic Night' and people sing and play their own songs."
"Where . . . exactly?"
"There are a lot of places. Are you singing right now?"
"Yeah, with my dad."
"What song?"
"'Who I Am'."
"By Dar Tenian?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Ryan.
"You should sing it at Melody's. Maybe Alex will find out about it. They keep a log of the people who sing there for inventory reasons."
"What's that going to do?"
"You never know. Have you talked to your real mom?"
"No," said Ryan.
"She's the best person to ask," she said.
"She lives in Los Angeles. She works at a hair salon."
"You want to confront Alex instead?" she asked.
"I don't know if I should."
"Do you want to go to Melody's now? Sigourney can drop us off. My grandmother will get us later."
"I don't have any money," said Ryan.
"Can you sing in front of people?"
"Well, I'm not that good yet," he said.
"So - what? No one will care."
---
Shantel and Ryan walked into Melody Bistro, admiring the tall Christmas tree in the front corner decorated with green lights, red ornaments, tiny, elf dolls and gingerbread men.
Shantel stepped up to the counter. "Hi, I'd like a medium, cafe latte, regular with a vanilla shot and my friend, Ryan wants the list."
"Okay," said a young man with black hair and a goatee, handing Shantel a green paper. She looked it over. "Great, it's on here. He's singing 'Who I Am' by Dar Tenian."
Ryan gulped.
"A lot of guys pick that one. How old are you?" he asked.
"Thirteen," he said nervously.
"I'm Liam. Good luck." He picked up a small, standing microphone on the counter and pressed a button on it, making a buzzing sound in the intercom overhead. "Melody Bistro patrons, Ryan will be singing for a free drink today."
A group of older men cheered loudly, drinking coffee at a table near the windows and a little girl turned around in her chair, sitting at a table with a woman who seemed peeved.
Three young women smiled at Ryan pleasantly and sat in chairs in front of the stage. Shantel sat at the table closest to the stage with her drink.
Liam held up a remote control and aimed it at a machine on stage. Karaoke music for "Who I Am" by Dar Tenian played.
Ryan stepped on the stage in front of the standing microphone, feeling everyone's eyes heating him. His heart raced and his palms sweated, but he squeezed the microphone.
He sang.
"Time for anyone, time for everyone
Pleasing you, not pleasing me
I don't know how I do it all
It's a matter of factory
And who I am is what I am
I don't really care
But I'll be good
As long as you give a damn
Love me the way I am
A way to go with no regrets
Take your fill, then you leave
What you see, is what you get
Keep it in your memory
And who I am is what I am
I don't really care
But I'll be good
As long as you give a damn
Love me the way I am
If you really want to make up with me
Fill my curiosity"
Ryan sang the chorus again and stopped.
The young women cheered and the men in back whistled. The girl stared at Ryan intently and the woman with her smiled. Shantel smiled brightly.
Liam grabbed the counter microphone. "Alright, Ryan! Thank you! That was fantastic! Come to the counter!"
Ryan looked at Shantel and she clapped loudly, almost laughing. He stepped up to Liam.
"What's your last name?"
"Ross," said Ryan. Liam wrote something on a page in a green binder on the counter.
"What can I make for you?" he asked.
"Um . . . I'm don't know how to order - "
"You like hot milk, coffee and sugar?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Vanilla?" asked Liam.
"No."
"Okay. I'll make you a medium, cafe latte, regular."
Ryan took the hot drink and sat at the table.
"You sounded great," said Shantel. "But you need to relax. You squeeze the notes a little."
"I'm working on it."
"You need to audition for Ergbear."
"I know."
"I did."
"You didn't tell me. How did it go?"
"Great. I sang 'Your Dreams' by Nina Vivo. My speciality is ripgrots."
"Cool. What was Counselor Elmund like?" he asked.
"He was really nice."
"The counselors sing in all three styles in their phylum," said Ryan.
"I know. They're marble angelkins," said Shantel.
"Do you want employment?"
"Yeah."
"Did you tell him about your ability?" asked Ryan.
"No. I guess I'm a messenger angelkin, but I don't want to tell him right now."
Ryan sipped his latte and a young man with light-brown hair in a brown, leather jacket walked in with a young woman with dark-blonde hair wearing a black, leather jacket and jeans. They waved at Liam.
Then they came over to Ryan. Shantel looked down.
"Hi, Shantel-ly. Who's this?" asked the young man.
"My friend, Ryan."
"Your boyfriend?" he asked abruptly.
"No."
"Did you sing?" he asked.
"No," said Shantel.
"Let me know when you do," he said.
"I sing too, Tristan," said the young woman.
"I know, Robyn," he said.
"Does your boyfriend sing?" asked Robyn.
Shantel didn't respond.
"Yeah, I do," said Ryan.
"Did you sing yet?" asked Tristan.
"Just now," he said.
"Oh," he said disappointedly. "Let me know next time." They headed to a table in the back and sat down.
"Who are they?"
"They go to Londwell. Tristan used to date Skyler," said Shantel. "He watched me sing here a lot."
"He's real bossy. How are we supposed to let him know when we sing here?"
"He texts Skyler about homework and stuff."
"She needs to forget him."