In human cemeteries, many of the dead lay restless in their graves. Still carrying secrets untold, loves unloved, dreams unfulfilled, lies left to fester. Regret, then, is what binds a spirit to this plane.
But animals have none of that. In life they prowled, chased, slept, ate, all without pretense.
That is why the pet cemetery was usually so peaceful. The animals had lived their lives without regret. There could be a lesson there, but one I've not yet learned, despite having lived more lifetimes than most.
If I really was a girl in a horror movie, now was the time I would ignore Cal's warning and take a step forward onto a secret trap door and drop directly into the murderer's lair. (While screaming.)
Or a monster would emerge from the black smoke and vaporize me. (There would be no screaming because it would be instantaneous.)
Or possibly, Cal was really a shapeshifter in disguise. And in seconds, he would change into his true form and gobble me down like I was Thanksgiving dinner. (Lots of screaming in this scenario as apparently being eaten is quite painful.)
(Honestly, girls in horror movies were not the smartest, but I blame the screenwriters. Most girls would know to avoid trap doors, shapeshifters, and weird black smoke that smelled like rotted eggs.)
Anyway, I knew this was real life, not a movie, and I refused to be the dumb girl. Which meant I needed to be cautious. Assess the situation. Analyze the facts. Which were these:
There was a three-legged Cal-shaped cat, only a few feet away.
The cemetery appeared devoid of catnappers and other humans more broadly.
The weather over the cemetery had turned dark and spooky.
Weird black smoke rose from the grave where Cal was standing.
Add to that the crow that kept staring at me, and we had a full-on horror movie scenario. The crow leapt to a closer branch, which bowed under its extra burden, and fixed me with a dark, piercing gaze. Electric prickles of fear danced up my spine, making it super hard to concentrate on my facts list. But this was stupid. Crows didn't bite. I didn't think.
I waved the crow away with a broad swipe of my arm. "Hey, crow! Git. It's not my fault I'm in the back end of a horse costume. Long story, okay? Shoo."
The crow did not shoo.
Wow, I hated being in a horror movie environment. Why couldn't I be in a romcom or a documentary about hackers? Something more enjoyable that might have involved kissing or world domination.
Sigh.
Back to developing a fool-proof rescue plan ...
Given that this was real life, despite indoor tornadoes and seemingly sentient crows, it was safe to assume that Cal was the real Cal and not a shapeshifter. And assuming the catnapper hadn't been run over by an errant garbage truck and therefore delayed, he/she/it was probably hiding nearby. I didn't see anyone peeking over gravestones or from behind trees, which meant the catnapper probably didn't have a line of sight. Ergo, he/she/it was listening to my every move. I needed the villain to think I was somewhere other than where I was, which called for a deception. If I could be in two places at once, it would be easy. But no. Of course, I could only occupy one place in the universe at a time. Where is science when you need it most?
Aha! I knew what to do:
Throw a rock!
Trick the catnapper into thinking I was somewhere else.
Grab the cat.
Run.
I had a plan!
Preparing for action, knees bent, breath suspended, I scooped up the biggest rock within reach and lobbed it as far from Cal as I could. It clattered against a headstone about twenty feet away. Then I dove full speed at Cal, arms outstretched in grabbing position.
And hit a brick wall.
AAGGGGGHHHH! My arms accordion'd against, not a real brick wall, but what seemed to be an invisible barrier.
I collapsed onto on the wet grass, my arms wracked with pain, tears springing from my eyes, crumpled in a ball. I clenched my teeth to suppress the sob gathering in my throat and listened for any sign of the catnappers. But the only sounds were the crinkling of dried leaves whirling in the wind and the whooshing of cars from a street nearby. "What kind of lame catnapper is tardy to his own crime?"
Cal meowed.
"That's all you have to say?!" I hissed, holding my aching arms against my chest.
"Meow."
Poor, Cal. I was really failing at this whole rescue mission.
This had to be the work of a foreign government or alien civilization, possessing the advanced science needed to create an invisible barrier. In any case, I had to face facts. I was in over my head. Time to text my dads. I mean, technically, I wasn't disobeying the ransom note as I came alone. It said nothing about staying alone, right?
With the pain in my arms already subsiding, I retrieved my phone from my pocket and quickly texted: Am at the pet cemetery. Help! Then put the phone back. You would think that notifying my dad about my whereabouts would make me feel better, but instead, I had a cold emptiness in the pit of my stomach. Had I made it worse?
"I'm the most incompetent rescuer ever. Sorry, Cal. I've failed."
"Meow."
"You're right! I should keep trying just in case the parental cavalry doesn't make it in time."
He said nothing understandable, but I was tired of all the internal dialogue. Better to talk to a cat.
I carefully scrambled to my feet to further investigate the barrier. If I squinted, I could see a faint iridescent dome-shaped shimmer encapsulating Cal. I pressed my hand gently against the dome and felt a warm tingle, almost like electricity buzzing against my palm. In an oddly human move, Cal brushed his cheek on the other side right where my hand was as if to calm me, but I couldn't feel his warm fur, only the warm electric pulse.
Electricity! Whoa. A light bulb went off in my head. Electricity needed a power source. All I needed to do was find it and turn it off.
(Okay, I know what you're thinking right about now, Rowen! There was a tornado in the gym. You're experiencing weird body transformations, like added strength and speed and fast healing. How can you not know at this point that something supernatural was afoot? We thought you were smart!
And in retrospect, I would agree with you, but imagine if this happened to you. Wouldn't you have a hard time accepting a supernatural explanation? Try to contort your brain into the most pretzel-like yoga position to find a rational explanation?
No? Just me? Okay, well, science has always worked out for me in the past, and for now, I was still going with it.)
"I wonder what powers this thing?" I asked Cal.
"That would be me," said a voice like a summer breeze.
No. Please no. It couldn't be. But I knew in my heart my least favorite person in the universe had shown up. Not only that, but could she be the catnapper? It made no sense.
Tyra emerged from behind an ivy-covered obelisk, glowing with ethereal beauty. Oh, and she had giant gossamer wings attached to the princess costume. A little over the top if you asked me.
I clenched my fists, imagining what she'd look like with a black eye, which made me feel a tiny bit better. "Dude, nice wings. Let me guess. You're a fairy now? Not an angel, for sure."
Tyra rolled her eyes. "You are not very bright. How have you survived this long?"
"Have you ever heard of sarcasm?" I countered.
Tyra giggled, and it sounded like Christmas sleigh-bells. Ugh! "Honey, fairies invented it. Sarcasm is a way of telling a lie by telling the truth. That's the fairy way!"
Look, dude. Fairies aren't real, but I see now why you thought there were bathtubs in schools. You live in a dreamworld."
"I admit, that was a mistake in my preparation for this mission. But even fairies make mistakes once every century or so. Makes us more relatable."
"Yeah, you're totally relatable. Can you go, please? I'm super busy right now dealing with a. ... situation. You can mock me at school tomorrow if that helps." Please don't let her be the catnapper, I prayed. I'd honestly take my chances with an alien or hostile foreign government over Tyra.
She looked up at the crow and threw out her arms, visibly frustrated. "Do you see what I've had to deal with?"
"Caw."
I couldn't really dis her for talking to a bird since I'd recently been having a conversation with a cat.
Tyra stomped her tiny Cinderella foot, the leaves crunching beneath her shoe like breaking bones. "Pandora, face it, she's not The One. She can't even counteract a simple protection spell to free a cat. Utter fail! I'm going home."
"That's adorable. You named your crow Pandora," I taunted.
Tyra scrunched up her face and looked at me like I'd grown a third eyeball.
"She must be The One, Tyra." Wait, the crow can talk? It hadn't even moved its beak. Did crows have vocal cords? "I've been watching her."
Well, that explains the stalkery crow. I hadn't imagined it. "So, it's you who've been lurking around all this time," I accused, feeling a little silly that I was now talking to the crow.
Tyra smirked her villain/used car salesman fake smile. "Are you talking to the crow now?"
"Weren't you?"
"The crows here don't talk, stupidhead! I was talking to ..."
"Me."
I gasped. Ms. Piltz stepped out from behind the tree. Her face was flushed, and her hair stuck out at odd angles, as if she'd been doing tree pose for so long, she'd sprouted branches out of her head. A powerful dizziness overtook me, and I swayed, struggling to stay upright.
The world did not compute.
"Ms. Piltz! But ... you ... you ... You're my AP Comp Sci teacher. I thought we liked each other. I mean, you never sent me to the principal's office."
"She never liked you!" Tyra snarled. "She was just hoping you'd be The One and her powers would be restored."
Powers? What? I grabbed onto the closest headstone to keep from collapsing. "Ms. Piltz, tell her that's not true." My lip quivered, but only slightly.
Ms. Piltz wouldn't look me in the eye.
"Who do you think sent the ransom note?" Tyra said.
So, Ms. Pitz was the catnapper! It all suddenly made sense. A teacher would have access to the Candygram box. But it had to have been Tyra's idea. "You two are working together? But why? Why kidnap a cat? Why to all of this?"
"You were being tested," Ms. Piltz said.
"And you failed. Royally," Tyra laughed.
"I don't agree," Ms. Piltz said. "She made the spider fall."
I did?
"A coincidence. You didn't hang it well enough," Tyra replied.
"She created a tornado in the gym," Ms. Piltz said.
Oh, my god. I did!
"True, but a real queen would have control. Even if she has magic, it's primal. Untrained. And no help to us. The coronation is a month away. Face it, you found a dud." Tyra shrugged her narrow shoulders, making her wings quiver. "It happens. So, you failed and will never have your powers restored. At least you made the effort!"
Queen?
Ms. Piltz hunched over as if in pain. "Please, Tyra! I promise you. She is The One. Just one more test."
"Look, guys, I hate to agree with Tyra about anything, but I am no One. Release Cal, and you two can go back to your fantasy kingdom or whatever loony bin you came from."
Ms. Piltz dropped to her knees in front of Tyra. "One more test. Please?"
"Fine," Tyra snapped, and flicked an arm in the direction of the road. An engine came roaring down Lynx Lane.
"What's happening?" I asked, my voice came out lower, thick with fear.
At that moment, a minivan came into view, careening toward us, tires squealing.
"Please let Cal go. Please!" I cried. "I'll do anything, even be The One if you want!"
"You can do this, Rowan!" Ms. Piltz yelled over the roar of the engine.
"Do what?" I screamed. "Wait, will the invisible wall keep Cal from being hurt?"
Tyra laughed. "No, it only stops people, not cars. My magic; my rules!"
A volcanic fury rose inside me. The blood burned in my veins. The buzzing sound I experienced in the gym filled my ears. A horn blasted forth from the minivan, which jumped the curb, crushing dried leaves as it zoomed closer and closer. Oh, my gosh! It wasn't just a minivan. It was our minivan! And my dads were in the front seat! "Dad! Stop!" I begged, but the nightmare kept going. As they got closer, I saw the fear in my dads' eyes. The van was out of control. "Tyra, please!" I stepped in front of Cal, putting myself between him and the moving car.
Tyra floated into the air a safe distance away. "I do love when you beg."
I erupted.
Literally.
Power blasted out of me, like blue lightning. It surrounded the minivan and a split second before Cal and I would've become literal roadkill; the van drove up at a ninety-degree angle, right into air. My entire body shook, and I wheezed, fighting for breath. The minivan was frozen in space. Hanging over us like gravity had ceased to exist. The lightning spread across the cemetery like a hurricane.
Was that magic? My magic? My worldview came crashing down, unlike our minivan. Where was a trapdoor when you really needed one?
Now we know who the catnapppers were. Were you surprised? Probably not about Tyra! She had catnapper written all over her! I look forward to your comments, suggestions, and predictions!
This chapter is hereby dedicated to Moondust914 because of all the lovely comments! I am so grateful!!!