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"Where's Aunt Brenda?" I choked out.
The tall stern woman approached me, but her face no longer looked rigid and cold. Instead she looked at me sympathetically. That scared me most of all.
"Caitlin, we don't know what happened. The police were here last night looking for Brenda. Apparently they received a 911 call informing them that Brenda had been attacked. One of her neighbors called me bec
ause she knows I'm the closest thing Brenda has to a relative around here. No one's seen her, and the police aren't doing anything right now because they don't believe any foul play is involved. They said we have to wait 48 hours to file a missing person's report."
"That was me." My voice was shaking, but I forced my lips to form the words. "I called the police. I was on the phone with her, and I heard something attack her. She was screaming and she sounded terrified. She sounded like—" I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. "She sounded like she was suffering."
Cecelia and Marie both turned to the tall woman, as if they were waiting for her to take the lead. She walked towards me, clasping my hands in hers. "I think we should all sit down before we discuss anything more. I'm Lenore and I've been Brenda's friend for a long time. I know how much it meant to her to reunite with you. We'll do everything we can to help you find her."
I let Lenore lead me into the living room and guide me gently onto the couch as I wiped away my tears, trying to get a hold of myself. I had to remember to be strong. A scared sniveling seer wouldn't do anyone any good. Especially my aunt. Or Simon and Sarah.
The thought gave me renewed strength and I took a deep breath, steeling myself for whatever I learned in this conversation.
"So you think she's alive? You think we can find her?" I was desperate to believe that my aunt was still alive somewhere.
"We're not sure," Lenore replied as she sat next to me. "We've been checking everywhere she could be, but we know she wouldn't disappear of her own free will without telling us. It's useless trying to call her because she left her cell phone behind."
Cecelia and Marie sat opposite us, both looking at me with concern. I was relieved to have found people who could help me, people who understood what was happening, but at the same time I felt like I was under a microscope and it was an uncomfortable feeling.
"Caitlin," Lenore continued, watching me closely. "What was Brenda able to tell you before...you two were disconnected?"
"She told me that you had put her under hypnosis and she saw that the vardogers were after me. That somehow Sarah and Simon's vardogers were able to detach themselves and are trying to kill me." My voice shook at my last sentence, not wanting to believe it. "They're working with my own vardoger and Claudia, who's already been overtaken."
My body tensed as I thought about the girl who had tried to kill me. Or more accurately, the vardoger that had overtaken Claudia's body. I looked around nervously. "Maybe they're here now," I whispered.
"Don't worry," Cecelia interjected. "We're here to protect you. Your aunt was probably just taken off guard and that's why she..." Cecelia trailed off, as if she realized that her answer wouldn't reassure me. I caught Lenore's sharp look at her before she turned back to me.
"You're wearing iridium, right?"
I pulled the iridium coin out of my pocket, raising it for her inspection. I thought about the necklace that Claudia had torn away, the last piece of my mother I had. Ever since my aunt had told me that iridium would not only protect me from vardogers entering me, but allow me to kill them, I had never taken it off. Now it was lost in an alleyway, my fear and disorientation after Claudia's attack making me leave it behind. I pushed the pain away as I spoke. "I used to have a necklace but it was taken away from me. I'm planning on making this into a necklace as well so I'm always in contact with it."
Lenore nodded in approval before continuing. "Your aunt was able to see a lot when she was under hypnosis, but we don't understand everything that she saw. I'm sure she told you that the actions of vardogers are hard to predict because they're constantly evolving, but never at the rate we're seeing now. We don't understand how the vardogers have detached from your friends and are working together. But we're here to help you."
I felt relief that I wasn't alone, but I still didn't have answers about my aunt. "What about Aunt Brenda? What if she's somewhere and needs our help? What do you think happened to her?"
"We're not sure, Caitlin," Marie said, leaning in closer to me. While Lenore and Cecelia looked to be around my aunt's age, Marie looked like she was only in her thirties. I wondered how long she had been fighting vardogers since she looked so young, but I pushed the thought aside. I wasn't about to begrudge anyone's help right now. "We came here today because Cecelia is very attuned to energies and we wanted to see if she could pick up anything."
I looked at Cecelia expectantly but she shook her head, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry, dear. It's like the slate has been wiped clean. I can't pick up anything."
"I think the best idea is to go back to my house," Lenore said, taking control of the situation. "It's not a good idea for us to be here too long. We don't know what could be coming back."
Lenore's words scared me, but I thought of my aunt's scream. "Isn't that exactly why we should stay here? So that we can confront whatever comes back?" I was scared witless about what could possibly return to the scene of the crime, but it wasn't bravery that made me want to stay. It was a burning anger. I would make whatever hurt my aunt pay.
"I understand why you want to stay," Lenore said gently. "But it'll be pointless if we don't know how to defend ourselves. We need to learn more about what's happening."
"How do we do that?"
Lenore paused before answering me, looking uncertain. "We can put you under hypnosis."
"Lenore!" Marie exclaimed, looking dismayed. "You know that's the last thing Brenda would want. It's too dangerous. It's dangerous enough for any seer but Caitlin has no experience. She's just a beginner. What if we're not able to pull her back?" She turned to look at Cecelia for backup, but Cecelia just stared down at the floor. Marie turned back to me when she saw that she wasn't going to get Cecelia's support. "Caitlin, I know how important it is to find your aunt. But you have no idea how dangerous it is to put you under. Even with our energies, if you're not strong enough, it doesn't matter how hard we try. We won't be able to pull you out of it. And there's no guarantee that you'll see anything helpful while you're under."
"Marie, Brenda told us herself that Caitlin is more powerful than any seer she's encountered. And Brenda was the most powerful of us all." Lenore turned to me, looking grim. "I'm not saying there's no danger involved. There's a chance that you might not be strong enough for this. But I believe you are."
I nodded, knowing that there had never been a doubt in my mind once Lenore suggested it. "I'll do it."
Marie sighed, shaking her head but looking resigned. Cecelia looked up at me with a smile, her hopefulness almost childlike. Lenore stood up briskly, looking determined now that she had a course of action.
