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“That makes sense,” Jamal said, thinking it over. “Only I’m going to have to give it to him now. It’s the only leverage I’ve got to make him reverse the curse and bring Malik back. What other choice do I have?”
Riley chewed on her lower lip. “Look, I don’t know everything about that necklace,” she said, “but Grandma DeSeroux might know more. She has one just like it.”
“Your grandmother has one, too?” Malik rasped. “That’s crazy.”
Riley nodded. “Yeah, and we need to go see her. She’s…special. She lives deep in the bayou.”
Jamal exchanged looks with Malik, then turned back to Riley.
“But the bayou is filled with gators and poisonous snakes,” Jamal said.
But Riley had already started across the track toward the road.
“Just follow me.
And bring your shadow brother with you.” She gave them an annoyed look. “And don’t be such scaredy-cats. I know the secret path through the bayou. My grandmother showed me the way.”
“Uh, right, it’s not like I have a choice whether to bring him,” Jamal said, jogging to keep up with her. “He is a shadow now. He sort of follows me wherever I go….”
They traversed the athletic field, slipped under the perimeter fence, and crossed the road, ducking to avoid being busted by the security guard for skipping school. As they headed for the thick trees that marked the edge of the bayou with shadow Malik trailing them, Jamal felt goose bumps prick the back of his neck. He got the feeling someone was watching them.
That was when the skull necklace lit up.
Jamal glanced back—and his eyes fell on Dr. Facilier. He was standing on the roof of the school, watching them. The creepy dolls surrounded him like a flock. Their mismatched button eyes were also locked on them. They almost looked…hungry.
Dr. Facilier tipped his top hat toward Jamal. How much had he overheard?
Goose bumps erupted all over Jamal’s body. He reached up and clutched the necklace. It felt warm. It probably did have some sort of protection placed on it so Dr. Facilier couldn’t just take it from him. But it seemed like the shadow man was growing stronger.
Jamal couldn’t explain exactly how he knew that. It was more of a feeling. Maybe because the necklace linked them together somehow.
But then they ducked into the bayou and were swallowed up by the trees. The shadow man vanished from Jamal’s sight, but Jamal knew one thing for sure: Dr. Facilier was watching them.
He wants this necklace, Jamal thought with a shiver, and I bet he’s willing to do anything to get it back.
“You know, people stay away from the bayou for a reason—” Jamal started, but then he tripped over a ropy cypress tree root arced out of the soggy earth. He lurched face-first toward a puddle, catching himself at the last minute.
His face was one inch from the putrid, murky water. Mud splashed onto his clothes and face. He tried not to imagine what disgusting creatures lurked underneath the surface.
“There’s tons of Creole people and Cajun people who live out here,” Riley called out. “They just know how to do it right and not gripe. Like some people.”
She glanced back but didn’t slow her pace. She was agile and sure-footed as she led them through the marsh. And it was a good thing she knew the way. Jamal was already completely lost.
All around them spanned the massive wetlands. Brackish water that barely moved housed countless types of wildlife. Cypress and tupelo trees sprouted from the marshy ground. Though Jamal had grown up in New Orleans, he had never ventured this deep into the bayou. But Riley easily located the path that cut through the thick underbrush and led to her grandmother’s hut.
“Easy for you to say,” Jamal muttered, well, griping again. Even the path was hard to follow. “I’ve never been back here. And I’m starting to realize it was for a very good reason.”
“Hey, remember what I said about griping?” Riley said.
“Uh, she’s right,” Malik rasped behind him. “Little J, you are being, like, a major punk right now.”
“Even your shadow agrees,” Riley said with a smirk. “Now hurry it up. It’s gonna get dark soon. We don’t have much time.”
Jamal felt sweat erupt on his forehead. He remembered the shadow man, surrounded by his creepy dolls, watching them from the gym’s roof. She was right: they had to act fast.
He cast his gaze ahead, feeling the muggy air slick his skin with sweat. Their surroundings were like an ancient jungle. Moss dripped off the cypress trees that stretched overhead toward the sky, while their exposed roots looped out of the wetlands.
The sun was beginning its nightly descent into the horizon. Already the sky was stained pink. Clouds were building. Night would fall soon, and with the coming darkness the odds of them getting lost were higher.
