Kiss Of Death (Are You Afraid Of The Dark)

14

This Sardo man didn't care that he was driving a car with someone sitting on the floorboards like Gabby had been afraid of. No, he was the one who ordered Gabby in the trunk so he could take them to a hotel nearby so they all could set up their base of operations. It also seemed like it had been a while since he had his driving test. He was all over the road, speeding up and slowing down, taking corners at high speeds. 

Rachel's stomach was still twisting and turning even though they were already in the hotel suite. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, taking deep breaths. She didn't want to barf in front of everyone because of the man's crazy driving. That would be embarrassing. It probably wouldn't be as embarrassing, though, as the blowup she had last night in front of all her friends. She knew that Connor and Graham both agreed with her, but she still hated how she yelled at her friends. She could have gone about it way differently. But there was no changing that now.

"How'd you find us, anyway?" Jai asked Sardo once he stumbled into their suite with the take-out that they all ordered when they first got to the hotel. Even though her stomach was rolling, Rachel was hungry too. "It's not like you knew we were in Henryville since I didn't even know about this town until we got here."

"I tracked Luke's phone." 

Sardo set all the take-out on the desk in front of the couch. Rachel grabbed hers and Gavin's food for them just as everyone else descended on the food like they hadn't eaten in days. She handed Gavin's food to him, and he said a quiet thank you. They really hadn't talked with each other since last night. That didn't set right with her. Hopefully they would be able to talk to each other soon about whatever was going on with him. He was her best friend, and she couldn't stand it when he was upset with her.

"If Sardo can track your phone, Luke, then the police can," Gabby said pointedly to Luke. She had an eyebrow raised, and Luke shrunk away from her. It looked like he had seen this side of Gabby before. "That's why I turned off my phone."

"Me too," Rachel said, but that wasn't the reason why she did. She turned it off because she didn't want to see her mother trying to get in touch with her.

The rest of the boys all pulled out their phones and quickly shut them off. Apparently, only Rachel and Gabby had thought to shut their phones off to keep people off their trail. The only reason Rachel did it was to make sure her mother wouldn't call her, but still, it worked out very nicely either way. Besides, she figured her phone would have died soon enough. She was surprised that their phones were still charged up until this point.

"How long are we going to stay here in this hotel?" Connor asked Sardo, picking at his food.

"Until we figure everything out."

"Then we need to figure out where everyone's sleeping," Luke said with a single nod. 

"Gabby and I get one bedroom," Rachel said immediately. She pulled Gabby toward one of the doors with a flash of a grin on her face. "Since we're the only girls left, we get to share this room while the rest of you boys can fight for the other bed and the couch and the floor."

"No fair," Jai said sadly. 

"You all know I can't handle sleeping on the floor," Graham said to them. His eyebrows were jumping into his hairline. "Who knows what types of germs are on there?"

"Aren't the beds just as germy?" Gavin asked, looking over at Graham. He had a mischievous look on his face, and Rachel laughed quietly to herself. "Who knows if the housekeepers washed the beds after the guests slept in them. Which would you rather take, Graham? Germy floor or unwashed beds?"

"Before we all fight about who gets to sleep where, tell me exactly what is going on," Sardo said quickly, stopping Graham from answering. That didn't stop him from looking terrified. "I need to know what's happening so I can help you all figure this out."

Once they told Sardo everything about what they had been experiencing, he sat in silence at the desk in the middle room. Everyone else was squished on the couch together while Gavin and Luke had to sit on the ground in front of them. Sardo held each envelope and portrait in his hands, staring intently at each of them. Actual fear was in his eyes, and glancing at those who knew him already, that seemed terrifying for everyone else. 

"I never thought it would happen like this," Sardo muttered. He slowly set the portraits down on the desk and placed them in the order that they showed him for the background to appear. "I thought things would level out after you all faced the Shadow Man."

"Well, we did, too," Jai said to him. "But things are happening in a way that is forcing our two groups together. Call it fate, call it destiny, call it whatever, but I believe that we were supposed to meet exactly when we did. I think . . . I think this plan has been in motion ever since we fought the Shadow Man, and they fought Mr. Tophat."

The back of Rachel's neck prickled in fear. Deep in her heart, she knew that Jai was right. The other Midnight Society found them just when her friends started disappearing. It seemed like they had to go through their own supernatural issues before they had to come together to face this one, the worst one yet. Perhaps the final battle they had to fight was now with this group of people. But why were they all disappearing? Shouldn't they be fighting? Rachel wasn't exactly sure. It looked like Sardo wasn't sure about any of it, either.

Rachel glanced over at Connor, who had his eyes screwed shut and his hands covering his ears. His food laid untouched on the coffee table in front of Luke and Gavin. Connor's whole body was quaking next to Gabby. She had her hand on his back, rubbing up and down, trying to calm him. That didn't seem to do anything for him, though. His eyes flashed open, and he looked around at everyone like he didn't trust them. His mouth opened, whispering words to Gabby that she couldn't hear at all. He had been acting so strange lately that Rachel was worried about him.

"You said you could help us," Gavin said to Sardo, pulling Rachel's attention back to the conversation at hand. He leaned his elbows on his knees, staring pointedly at the man. "But you're just as confused as we are. How does that help anything?"

"He's a magician, basically," Luke explained, gesturing to Sardo. Luke looked proud of him. "He owns a magic shop. Plus, he knows a lot about the supernatural realm, more than any of us do. Trust me."

"I only learned it from my dad and from my grandfather," Sardo said, his voice quiet. He hung his head for a second, and Rachel wondered what was going through his head. He seemed like a cocky man in the car, but this side of him made her sad. "And my brother was better than me at this sort of stuff . . ." There was a hollow look in his eyes that Rachel recognized more than she cared to admit. She understood what he was feeling because she was hollow, too. "But I've learned a lot over the years. I'm the best man for this job, am I right?"

"Right!" Jai said energetically.

Sardo's face fell when he looked at everyone on the couch. "I guess I'm not the best man for the job," he whispered, gesturing to the opposite side of the couch where Gabby and Connor had been sitting. Now, though, there were only two envelopes there instead of them. "We lost two more people."

Rachel closed her eyes. Was that why Connor was so scared today? Did he know what was going to happen to him before anyone else could? That had to be the only explanation for it. But no one asked if he was okay or why he was acting like that. Maybe if they had, things would be different. He would still be here. She wasn't sure if that was the truth, though. Maybe Jai was right. This was their destiny to disappear off the face of the earth for eternity. It was only a matter of time for the rest of them to fulfill their destiny, and then what would happen? Would they die? Maybe. Would they survive? Maybe. That was too many maybes for Rachel. They needed to figure this out before it was too late. That was the thing, though; she didn't know how much time each of them had left.