Projection (30 page)

“Whoa,” Nick said, quietly.

“What are you doing, Rob?” Michelle asked. Her voice sounded deliberately calm.

“Tell me how it works!” he shouted at her. “Tell me!”

“It doesn’t work,” she answered. “It’s just a legend.”

“No!” he yelled. “It does! I read about it! Plotinus and the anklet! It’s why the Oculus Society is so hush-hush about everything!”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it’s just a story. Plotinus was crazy. He made it all up.”

“I hate you!” he screamed at her. “I never should have married you! You ruined my life!”

“Please, Rob,” she said. She had slipped into her TV voice, over-enunciating every syllable. “Please take your little Thumbelina off of that gun.”

“He’s armed!” Mitch shouted.

“Move, move!” Jack yelled. In one swift motion, the three of them had drawn their weapons, slid open the door, and taken off running down the sidewalk.

“Stay there!” Finn commanded them over his shoulder. It had all happened so fast, Jessica hadn’t even realized that she’d started to cry until Ariel quickly slid the door, to the van shut again with a loud
swoosh
.

“She’s going to be fine,” Ariel assured her.

“I don’t have anyone else,” Jessica whispered. It was the first time that she understood this to be the absolute truth. Rob was a criminal. Michelle was the only family she had in the whole world.

“I know,” Ariel said. “I’m in the same boat. I get it.”

“Me, too,” Gretchen seconded.

Suddenly, a shot rang out. They heard it in stereo, both from outside and through the audio of the camera. On the screen, they watched as Michelle collapsed.

Jessica’s hands flew to her mouth. “No!” she screamed.

“Drop your weapon!” came Jack’s voice. They heard the clatter of the gun as it hit the ground; a split second later, Jack and Mitch were in front of the camera. It jostled, then went black.

“I’m going,” Jessica heard herself say. She was out of the van before she even realized what she was doing. Gretchen and Ariel leapt after her. Her ankles felt like jelly as she rounded the corner into the alley. Time seemed to freeze. Sirens wailed in the distance.

When they reached the scene, the first person they saw was Rob, lying facedown on the ground, his hands cuffed behind his back. Jack was standing guard by his side. Behind him, Nick was sitting on a concrete step beneath the bank’s huge steel door. He looked pale and shaky. Ariel ran to him. And just few feet away, Michelle was stretched out on her back, her head resting in Mitch’s lap. Jessica held her breath as she searched for the pool of blood that would indicate where Michelle had been shot. But there was nothing. She kneeled down next to Mitch. Michelle’s eyes squeezed tightly shut.

“Is she okay?” Jessica said in a terrible whisper.

Michelle’s lids flew open. “I’m fine,” she said, coughing as she spoke. “I just got the wind knocked out of me.” She made a fist with her right hand and rapped on her chest with it. “Thank God for Dragon Skin,” she said.

“Best invention since sliced bread,” Mitch agreed.

Jessica’s legs finally gave out from under her. She collapsed on her rump at Mitch’s feet. Tears fell from her cheeks.

The sirens were almost on top of them now, and within moments two police cars had screeched to a halt in the alley, followed by an ambulance. As the EMTs examined Michelle, one of the policemen questioned Nick, while the other hauled Rob to his feet. He kept his eyes glued to the ground as the officer read him his rights. It was only as he was being led toward the police car that he finally noticed Jessica standing there, watching him. His eyes lit up when he saw her. The policeman opened the door and pushed Rob toward it.

“Jess! You’re still on my side, right?” he shouted at her, his voice full of hope.

Jessica turned back around toward Michelle. From behind her, she heard the door to the police car slam shut.

The lights were dimmed
in the back room of the Oculus Society building; white candles on silver trays cast a pale yellow glow on the walls. The white, silk curtains were drawn tightly, like lips set in a grim line, refusing to talk. The last two times she’d been back there, Jessica hadn’t even noticed that there
were
curtains. She glanced around, taking in the other details that had escaped her before … the two matching, narrow bookcases running from the floor to the ceiling. The dusty hardbacks that lined its shelves. The pale blue patterned rug spread over the white washed, hardwood floor. The large, black-and-white photograph of what remains of the Roman Pantheon …

At the center of the table that dominated the room sat Tina Holt. Her crystal gavel rested atop the table beside a rectangular, black velvet jewelry case. To her right was Michelle; to her left, Kristen Renwick. Jessica sat at the end, with Joan Hedley at the other end. Before them stood Gretchen, wearing a white robe, just like the rest of them. Her dark hair
had been blown out into shiny, long waves, and she stood up straight, her shoulders back, her head raised. She looked, Jessica thought, strikingly like her mother.

Tina banged her gavel against the table once, then twice, bringing the meeting to order.

“As you know, Gretchen, your mother had a long history of service to the Oculus Society. It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the board, where you may continue in her footsteps.” Tina’s voice broke just the slightest bit. “It’s all she ever wanted for you.”

“With a seat on the board comes great responsibility,” said Joan. “This group was created specifically to protect the secret of the Plotinus Ability, which has existed under the sole province of women for over two thousand years. Thanks to you and some fellow board members, the secret is safe once again.” She nodded to Jessica and Michelle.

Jessica smiled back at her.

Kristen Renwick stood up from the table and stepped forward. “Please raise your right hand,” she instructed Gretchen. Gretchen did as she was told, and Kristen began to read from a sheet of paper.

“The board of the Oculus Society operates in total secrecy. Do you solemnly swear not to divulge or admit the existence of the board to any non-member, even if such non-member is a general member of the Oculus Society?”

“I do,” Gretchen answered.

“The existence of the Plotinus Ability is known only by members of the board. Do you solemnly swear not to divulge or admit the existence of the Plotinus Ability to any non-member, even if such non-member is a general member of the Oculus Society?”

“I do,” Gretchen said again.

“Then by the power vested in me as Vice-President, I hereby declare you a member of the board of the Oculus Society.”

Jessica snapped her fingers in congratulations along with the other board members. She could see the tears in Gretchen’s eyes as she bowed her head.

Tina lifted her gavel again and banged it lightly on the desk. The snapping subsided.

“Since we’ve had some, ah,
special circumstances
, I think we can dispense with the formalities from here on out. Gretchen, Jessica has requested that you take her place as the rightful holder of the Plotinus Ability. We obviously don’t need to explain to you what that means, or what’s involved with projecting. We just need to know that you accept this designation as the Leader.”

“I do,” Gretchen said.

“Excellent. And I understand you’ve already decided on a partner.”

“I have. I’d like for Jessica to be my partner.”

“Agreed and accepted,” Tina said. Jessica smiled. It was such a relief to be doing this the way it was supposed to be done, in accordance with the rules, and not in secret, sneaking out to the teepee after dark. She’d been worried that they were all going to get kicked out of the Oculus Society for what they’d done, but Tina was so relieved to have the anklet back in her hands, she was willing to forgive everything.

“So, then. Who will be your witness?”

Gretchen glanced anxiously at Michelle. Michelle smiled and nodded to her encouragingly. “I respectfully request that Ariel Miller be allowed to join the board as my witness,” she said.

Tina looked down the table to her right, then down to her
left. “Let’s take a vote, please. All those in favor of admitting Ariel Miller to the board, say ‘aye.’ ”

“Aye,” they all responded in unison.

“All those against?” Silence.

“Very well, then. Bring her in.”

Michelle stood and took off her robe, then left the room. A moment later she came back with Ariel. Jessica looked her over. Her hair, too, had been blown out for the occasion. Straight and thick, curling up just the slightest bit at the ends. But Jessica noticed that her face looked blotchy, and her eyes were red-rimmed. She knew that Ariel had ended things with Nick last night. It must have been hard. He may not have been the god they’d dreamed him to be, but he was a good guy. It wasn’t enough, but it was something.

Michelle slipped her robe back on and handed one to Ariel, then led her to the spot in front of the table where Gretchen had stood just moments before.

“Well, Ariel,” Tina said. “It’s very unusual for someone to be initiated into both the Oculus Society and the board on the same day. But then again, everything’s been pretty unusual around here lately, I suppose.” She let out a long sigh. “Joan?”

Joan stepped forward and administered the same oath to Ariel that she’d just given to Gretchen.

When it was over, Tina asked Gretchen and Jessica to stand with Ariel in front of the table. Jessica stood to Ariel’s right, and Gretchen stood to Jessica’s left, so that Jessica ended up sandwiched between them

“Ariel,” Tina continued, once they were assembled, “since you’re already familiar with the Plotinus Ability, we’ll get straight to the point. You’ve been brought onto the board to serve as the witness for Jessica and Gretchen. Now I know
the three of you had your own way of doing things while you were—shall we say a rogue operation—but we have a system in place for everyone’s protection. If you’re the witness, then you’re only the witness. You don’t project. Is that understood?”

Ariel nodded. “Yes,” she said. “I really have no desire to ever project again,” she added.

Tina chuckled. “That’s excellent to know.” She picked the jewelry box up off the table and opened it, revealing the anklet and its disc of translucent amber.

“Ariel,” she said. “As the witness, I present you with this anklet that was handed down with the Plotinus Ability, from Gemina to Amphiclea, to their daughters Gaia and Alexia, and to their daughters, and on through the ages. Though we know now that it holds no power it still serves as a symbol of protection to those who project, so that they will always be able to find their way back to their true selves.”

She handed Ariel the box.

“Gretchen and Jessica,” she continued. “As the keepers of the Plotinus Ability, you must only project in the presence of your witness. As we know from the unfortunate fates of Plotinus and Gemina, projection is not something to be done at whim. It may only be exercised with the express permission of this board, and only when the circumstances are such that they adhere to the spirit of the ritual. Namely, to right a wrong done to a woman who is unable to help herself. Because of this rule, projection has not been practiced for several generations. You are the first to have achieved it in recent memory. And although you went outside the rules, we believe that it was in this spirit that your projection took place. Therefore, we pronounce you the Leader and the Partner, and we trust that it is only in this spirit that you will project again, if ever.”

Jessica closed her eyes and exhaled. Her stomach, which had been swirling with anxiety, suddenly became still.
They have nothing to worry about
, she thought.
My days of rogue projecting are over
.

When she opened her eyes again, Tina was smiling at her, as if she knew exactly what Jessica had been thinking. “Let’s say the oath,” she directed.

Tina, Michelle, Kristen, and Joan joined the girls in front of the table, and they all joined their hands in a circle.

“Empistosýni mas kai ti n písti mas tha férei ti dikaiosýni. Af tí eínai i ypóschesi pou pani gyriká kratí sei
.”

“Our trust and our faith shall bring justice,” they translated together. “This is the promise we solemnly keep.”

Jessica squeezed Gretchen’s hand, then Ariel’s. She glanced at Michelle, standing across from her, and smiled.

Michelle smiled back. Her mascara was running again.

Jessica held her gaze. There was no doubt that Michelle would always be who she was. Difficult, narcissistic, impatient: a bitch. But not evil. There was a difference. She’d assumed Michelle was what she’d wanted Michelle to be. Wasn’t that what projection meant, really? These women and girls around her, they were imperfect, every single one.
We’ve all lost so much
, Jessica thought. Mothers, fathers, sisters, husbands, boyfriends …

Looking into her aunt’s eyes, she saw the truth of the Plotinus Ability. She and her friends had traded places to find what had been in front of them all along, all that remained, and in the end, all that mattered.

Many thanks to Bronwen Hruska and to everyone at Soho Teen for the work they’ve put into this book. I’m forever indebted to Dan Ehrenhaft for his guidance, for his encouragement, for his ability to cut straight to the heart of what is wrong with a scene, and for his uncanny insight into how teenagers think. Thank you, Dan, for believing that I could tell this story. Thank you to Merrill Sparago for helping me to set myself free. And of course, thank you to my delicious family. To my husband, Michael, for your support and unbridled enthusiasm, and for understanding when things don’t get done because the days disappear. To Harper, for always inspiring me to be fearless, and to Davis, for being so proud of me. I love you all so very much.