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“It has special powers,” Riley said with a frown. “You gotta be careful with that stuff. You never know who might be drawn to it.”
“Jamal, she knows about the necklace,” Malik rasped excitedly, shifting around on the ground. “Maybe she knows something that can help us.”
Riley flinched and her eyes widened in fear. She glanced from Jamal to the shadow at his feet. “What the…Your shadow…can talk?” she said in shock, her eyes fixing on Malik.
“Wait, you can hear me?” Malik rasped hopefully.
“Whoa! No way! You’re Malik,” she said, recognizing his voice. “Jamal’s brother. But you’re…a shadow?”
“You remember him?” Jamal asked.
“Of course I do,” Riley said. “Why? What’s going on?”
Jamal hesitated, unsure if he could trust Riley. He had only known her for a few days. But she was the only person in the entire school who remembered that Malik existed. That had to mean something. Plus she’d been nice to him from the day she’d arrived at school. There was definitely something different about her. And she seemed to know things about the necklace that he hadn’t told anyone other than Malik. Maybe she had information that could help them.
And right now we need all the help we can get.
“Go ahead, spit it out,” Riley said with an impatient sigh. She crossed her arms and stared him down. “This day can’t possibly get any weirder.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Malik rasped. Even as a shadow, he still had his dry sense of humor.
“Literally,” Jamal said with a frown. “Okay, it’s a long story….”
Jamal glanced around to make sure that nobody was watching them, but the athletic field was deserted, because everyone was still in class. Bright sunlight beat down on them, but soon it would be late afternoon and the sun would start to fade. He glanced around, scanning for the security guard, but he wasn’t lurking nearby.
So he took a deep breath and told Riley everything. He explained that Dr. Facilier had promised him that he could step out of his brother’s shadow if he gave him the skull necklace. But the necklace always glowed to warn him about the shadow man. So he’d traded his brother’s trumpet instead, but then he’d woken up and Malik was gone…until he revealed himself to be a shadow.
“We think he double-crossed me,” Jamal finished, digging the toes of his shoes into the field. “This wasn’t what I meant to happen when I made that deal.”
“I can’t believe you’ve been messing with the shadow man,” Riley said, her voice wavering with fear. “You can’t trust him. Everybody knows that.”
“Okay, I get it,” Jamal said, casting his gaze down. “I feel so stupid. I just wanted to know what it would feel like to have friends for once.”
“But you did have a friend,” Riley said in exasperation. “I’m your friend. Didn’t you notice?”
Jamal’s eyes darted to his brother. “Yeah, but you would’ve forgotten me, too, once you met my brother. That’s what always happens….”
Riley smirked. “Hey, hate to break it you. Your brother’s cool and all that jazz, but I like you way better.”
“Wait, you do?” Jamal said.
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Riley said.
“Uh, guys, I’m, like, right here,” Malik rasped. “Even if I am a shadow, I can still hear you talking about me.”
They all laughed—it felt good to laugh—but then Riley turned more serious. “Look, at least you didn’t give Dr. Facilier that skull necklace. That would’ve been way worse.”
“Uh, what could be worse than this?” Jamal said, pointing to his shadow brother. “Also, if he wants it so bad, why doesn’t he just take it? Why go through all of this?”
Riley frowned and studied the necklace more closely. Her fingers stroked the eye sockets; then she looked up. “My best guess is that it’s got a protection spell placed on it.”
“Protection spell?” asked Malik.
Riley nodded. “You said it glows and warns you when the shadow man is nearby?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Jamal confirmed. “Every single time.”
“Well, then maybe it also has a spell placed on it to prevent him from taking it,” Riley went on. “If that’s the case, then the only way he can possess it is if you give it to him.”
